[Closed] Swinley Regulars

There's a pub just past KFC on way to M4, Harvester type jobbie... been in once and way pretty much as you'd expect.

Not a regular but the Stickler has had a lot of work done - I really like it, entry/exit might have changed.

You can eat at the lookout...

Labrador is not far from the look Out and supposedly is reasonable. From Look out, turn left and pub is on the opposite side of the roundabout at the end of the road.

From there, easy to retrace steps back which will only add a couple of mins to your journey, or from there you can bypass bracknell and come out at the 2 bridges roundabout.

Yep the Stickler's been extended & all joined up with a bermy yellow brick road - no other 'official' trails that I know of though, but I saw talk of a 5 year trail building plan somewhere so we can live in hope.

I'd guess it's about as dry as a dry thing that's been left in the sun to dry at the moment.

is the Labrador the same as the Golden Retriever

http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/thegoldenretrieverbracknell

could be good.

thanks for the Stickler note akak/thepurist - will highlight that on my old map to make sure we take it in

Riding Friday - fingers crossed the weather stays till then

Depends what your expectations are, but there's loads of well made and well maintained XC singletrack, nice tight bermed corners, labyrinth is about as downhill as it gets, I'm a big fan of Swinley, they really make good use of the terrain. Pub wise I pass a few on the way from Bagshot.

Edit - is Stickler the one by tank tracks? If yes that's a tight one, good fun.

Double post

That Sticker extension is tedious, imo obviously!

Golden Retriever pub is close and it's got a nice beer garden (if you don't mind being by the car park), but the food is terrible, IMHO.

due to differing points of view, i will try to remember to come back to the thread and share my thoughts on the stickler.

ive ridden swinley a few times before, so i wont be disappointed by the 'DH'

Pubwise - i was hoping to get food (beer festival at the local when we get home, so be good to have eaten before we arrive) any other reviews/suggestions

Yes, labrador = retriever

Dogfusion, sorry.

Golden Retriever is not too bad and nice atmosphere. Food is better than some places, but worth the money? Not so sure, but then most pubs are rediculously overpriced for food these days. Service varies apparently. Maybe not the best in the world, but if you want a pub near Swinley I'd pick that over a Harvester generic type with screaming kids.

Only main thing that's changed at Swinley is Stickler aside from a bit of maintenance here and there. Stickler just has a lot more twisty stuff to it. Pointlessly pedally in my opinion, but some people like it.

Oh and the other big change is just coming - parking charges at The Lookout. In the next few weeks supposedly.

is the permit still £3.50 per person?

is the parking likely to be on top? I guess so as most of the forest users dont pay.....

£2 a day or £25 for the year (less if you get it after Oct but expires in March) - http://www.gorrick.co.uk/swinley/index.php

and yes it's on top of the parking.

Those who use the Lookout discovery thingy get a refund of a couple of quid. Us lot on bikes who pay for the permit... we get no reward and pay full whack.

Not right, but then the parking is all down to the council who own/lease the land The Lookout area stuff is own and not related to the estate or Gorrick.

cool, its either gone down, or my memory is slipping

REVIEW:

Stickler extn: ok, so i dont really remember what it was like previously, but the 'yellow brick road' is pretty obvious, great fun twisty turny loop, yes its pedally but if you are at Swinley for DH, you have only disappointment ahead

Felling by the Jump Gully - wow, didnt recognise the area at all, found my regular fire road crossing easily enough but after that it was just luck i spotted a couple of padded up guys.

Labyrinth - I dont know the naming for the top sections that lead to the labyrinth, but one of them is deep in loose gravel, which appears to be being slowly dragged down the trail to help with repairs.

Parking Charges - the parking meters are in place in the Lookout Carpark, that will be another couple of quid per car and that money (i believe) is going to the local council. Real shame that the riding permit cannot also cover parking.

The Labrador - BINGO, the pub is less than five minutes down the road, well kept ales, friendly and knowledgable staff, good value food. HIGHLY recommended.