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[b]The Wyre Forest also seems to be suffering from similar, albeit they are not constructing 8' wide family friendly trails, just devastating the forest in general, will soon become the wyre series of copses with large areas of scrub land in between, seems every time we ride there a section of singletrack has been covered in felled trees.
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it's a working forest though, not a trail centre, the Fc gets no revenue from mtbs, they get cash for trees though, they will plant more and the cycle starts again, you just need to be around in about 25 years time.
wasn't CG wanting us to support some trail building down south by the Fc, we tried to point out it would be a tarmac path but she couldn't see it
It would be nice if they were complimentary!
😆
The FC develop the major trail centres like the Stanes, the Welsh ones, Dalby, etc and you get decent singletrack, trail features, etc. Generally they focus spending on these and derive revenue from MTB activities at these - ity makes economic sense for them. The rest of the forests/woodland is pot luck - I live near Wharncliffe and you find your own trails there and they change according to felling, weather conditions, etc. The FC has never spent any money on Wharncliffe for bikers beyond some signposting and they probably never will. I still love biking there though and you're free to go pretty much where you like (so far).
LOL
The local guys, under the SingeltrAction banner, tried for several years to develop things at Wharncliffe. However, not even the support of World class DH legend and local Dr Peat was enough. Consensus on the ground with the guys who really pushed it was the problems were the Beat Forester not being interested (or made to be interested) and the support from Sherwood's Rec' Ranger (Chris Bray). Fair play he had the Pines to do but then again we didn't really need him to be very involved as we've built the odd bit of trail before 😉
There are still riders in Sheffield trying to make things happen (see recent Bikeradar article). IMO it is a crime proper development at Wharncliffe hasn't happened as it fits beautifully with all sorts of needs and desires. Sadly it seems to be an all too often encountered situation where FE can't or won't engage and would rather stick their head in the sand and not respond than come out with some straigh-talking honesty. Better to know clearly where you stand and why IMO.
NB: I think FE have done some great stuff and will acknowledge it where I see it (Dalby, Stainburn etc) but there's no point ignoring the bad stuff because that's what makes the biggest and longest lasting impression.
Gutting because some of the Sheffield locals put in huge amounts of time, effort and their own money to try and make it work. That FE have squandered all that is disgraceful.
I think FE often fail to appreciate and understand volunteers. We may well not appreciate them but at least they're paid and have a job description that includes dealing with us. The ball is firmly in their court / within their control to educate us. Volunteer groups can be great at informally policing and carrrying out much higher levels of supervision and maintenance than FE can for little to no cost. They also provide a route for engagement and education. But, if they don't give volunteers something (like trail projects to work on and I don't mean filling potholes and tidying up) then they'll loose all the engagement and goodwill and you'll just have loads of people doing their own stuff.
But, if they don't give volunteers something (like trail projects to work on and I don't mean filling potholes and tidying up) then they'll loose all the engagement and goodwill and you'll just have loads of people doing their own stuff.
Oh yes. That's exactly where we are.
Sadly it seems to be an all too often encountered situation where FE can't or won't engage and would rather stick their head in the sand and not respond than come out with some straigh-talking honesty. Better to know clearly where you stand and why IMO.
Agreed - I think everyone now understands only too well where the FC stands regarding trail development at Wharncliffe - they're not interested!
It seems to me that they cynically tried to get volunteers to solve some of their issues with MTB'ing interacting with other forest users under the mantle of trail development.
Your lucky you have access to FC woods. Both of my local woods have access limited to a short length of bridle path. All the rest is restrited as let to shooting syndicates.
It seems to me that they cynically tried to get volunteers to solve some of their issues with MTB'ing interacting with other forest users under the mantle of trail development.
think this is true and i'd be a bit unhappy if i'd spent my time trail building - positive outcome was that open access to wharncliffe woods was maintained and that mtb'ers showed that we could set up an effective body that could relate with other users and be sensitive to them
as to the general issue of trail sanitising a positive outcome is that it means that cycling is accepted and i would try and view the trails that are intended to appeal to a larger user group as a means of access to developing viable and non conflicting single track
this doesn't mean i'm 100% in favour of trail taming (and seen some shocking examples where it is unclear who benefits) - need to be on the front end of what is happening (hopefully like the newly formed Sheffield group) and input and get agencies at the planning stage to look at alternatives and keep all parties happy
[pennys]0[worth]
FC is a goverment body, we pay there wages in our Taxes, they dont put road tax on there vehicles, we own the forests, we SHOULD have a lot more say in what they can and cannot do.
Actually they do make money from the MTB community - although in the grand scheme of things it probably doesn't wash their faces by a long shot - paying for parking, paying for FC facilities like cafes (although admittedly there are very very few FC run cafes) - they do make money from us - if it isn't priced properly then that is their issue if they feel they don't make enough.
Want to put an event on (when I was doing this) - that'll be £1.50 per head on top of the fee charged for the permissions (wasn't a major issue at the time) so they are making money for doing nothing - the events had their own insurance so it wasn't even to give us insurance cover for the day.
They like to plead poverty but I'm sure there are many areas where vast improvements could be made that would save thousands and could have the money directed to more appropriate areas - whether MTB trails (for family, beginners, enthusiasts and pros) is part of that appropriateness remains to be seen...but it is a largely inefficient group (as is most government-based groups).