[Closed] Woburn Backwoods closed for foreseeable

Do you mean other side of golf course? The old tin shack runs etc? Churchside?

😭

Where'd you hear this?

It's on the Woburn riders Facebook page concrete blocks & everything 😭

And how are they going to police this closure? Pay the warden to turn people away? 24/7?

The trails have been their as you say 20 years or more, people will, imo, ride and walk them unless you physically stop them?

Seems silly, there aren't many walkers on the Church side and the few I see always seemed friendly. Maybe it's just time to make the trails official, I'd happily pay to ride there.

And how are they going to police this closure? Pay the warden to turn people away? 24/7?

The trails have been their as you say 20 years or more, people will, imo, ride and walk them unless you physically stop them?

Most of them have been dug in and evolving over more recent years haven't they? 15-20 years ago there weren't as many as now and I think they were always tolerated rather than permitted. Prob 15 years since I first rode there.

Hi , interesting. I was there this morning and noticed a couple of private signs and a Land Rover parked on the Bow Brickhill side. I know quite a few in the village (Bow) who have grumbled about bikes recently . No evidence of concrete blocks and had a family walk around there this afternoon as well

more people will be using the lonslade side niw, which makes conflicts with other users more likely

Got turned back yesterday from the bottom of the main coaster. Ranger was a bit vague on his reasons for closing but said it was due to accidents. Not surprised it was due to clashes with dog walkers, people on both sides have no manners these days. Everyone is set for conflict from the moment they clap eyes on each other.

There was also warden or the like at the entrance to the Golf trail - so where the big concrete block is Little Brickhill side. You can get the latest from Riders of Woburn Facebook page. My view is let it calm down and see what happens. The most friction seems to be around the trails closest to the Church in Bow Brickhill so I’ll avoid those in the interim. I’ll be night riding next week and expect it won’t be like this - fingers crossed.

I've been riding the trails for 25ish years, when the few trails that there were super cheeky, natural and generally really hidden. Fast forward 10/15 years and Strava, Trailforks and the increasing popularity of the sport has drawn in crowds. I've seen it so rammed full of riders the past few years I'm surprised the landowners haven't stepped in sooner.

As for closing it for accidents, a friend of mine was put into a coma from an 'off' on the Roller Coaster, air ambulance the lot. That was about 16 years ago. They pretty much turned a blind eye then, until now.

Seems silly, there aren’t many walkers on the Church side

Yet mostly the ones I've encountered were on the 'bike' trails. Some measures were put in place to keep some sort of safety but it's generally lawless and something does need to be done.

You do see a lot of people cycling on the footpath from the church, I know it's not a long piece of path but it's an easy way to irritate walkers/locals.

I mostly ride in the evenings when it's nearly always empty so hopefully won't affect me. I think it would be a struggle to stop everyone for good but I guess we'll see what comes of this longer term.

Bugger, I was planning to ride there tomorrow eve.

As has been said above, I'll give it a wide berth for now, let things calm down.

Shame it was apretty secluded bit of woodland, never really saw anyone on fooit, just riders.

I’ve seen a few walkers by the roller, not just at the end but also on the ridge area near the top. But I don’t think that area was particularly dangerous for walkers as sight lines are good. In other areas there are a couple of shoots that do spit you out into a path which could lead to incidents.
It’s a real shame as the red route was sanitised before lockdown. It was family safe as it was but now feels billiard table smooth in places.
I can see chicksands getting busier at weekends.

Gutted!!! Hopefully things will calm down soon.

To throw a bit of positive news in here, Rushmere round the corner have just cut in 4 new trails. They were described as 80% done by the person working on them I was speaking to, apparently the greensands trust want to divert more people away from woburn to lighten the load there.

phead, are these official or off piste? I've only been once, keep meaning to go back.

Sadly the more things are restricted, the more it concentrates things into a limited area thereby making the problem worse.

Bagstard, official it was greensands staff(or maybe a contractor) I was speaking to. The were putting up the new signs for the new trail entrance.

phead, that's great news! Where is the best place to park? The main Heath and Reach car park is a bit of a pain, you end up queuing to leave!

And how are they going to police this closure? Pay the warden to turn people away? 24/7?

Especially as there is a bridleway that runs through the woods.

phead, that’s great news! Where is the best place to park? The main Heath and Reach car park is a bit of a pain, you end up queuing to leave!

Not sure there are any other carparks. There is the Stockgrove one but thats tiny.

If I had to drive I think I'd just park Woburn side and ride the 10 mins to Rushmere.

So the fix for walker problems at Woburn is to divert riders to Rushmere which has far more walkers, kids, dogs etc.

Seems lockdown has concentrated a lot of conflict. I really hope things ease up there. It's such a nice area and I very rarely would see any walkers. Only when riding back to the car. Always friendly, polite, courteous.

We normally park up by the bent oak car port house and ride each way for off piste and official..

Seems there's fewer and fewer places to have a bit of quiet cheeky now. Too many C-wombles about.

Where is the best place to park? The main Heath and Reach car park is a bit of a pain, you end up queuing to leave!

I'm local so dont park. I haven't seen a queue, but cash has been banned so that might have improved it.

If I was looking for free parking I would pick a random road off plantation road and park there.

If you don't mind a short(ish) uphill road ride, then you could park at the three locks for free. Added bonus of a decent(ish) pub for post ride pint.

Is there an off road route from Woburn to Rushmere?

Not really, you ride along the path off the side of the main road, its not too bad as its not on the road and isnt too long.

As above, over A5 bridge to Lt Brickhill and turn left. Road turns into a cycle path and is prob half a mile long. Then a right turn along a bridleway through Horse Paddocks brings you out at Stockgrove.

From Facebook

Copied from riders of Woburn
Had lengthy talk with John, Steffan Beds estate guys at top of hogans, footpath area. New sign up "private" we all new that fact! The estate have to be seen to be acting on complaints by locals, plus incidents and growing use of barns hill, downs covert & backwoods area's. Inclusion in mbr, and the inclusion into trail forks including heat maps have only served to polarise the areas permissive and non sanctioned trails we love. So we as a group as hard as it may be, need to be seen to be onside with what the estate are asking and reached out to me to put this out. We need to stop riding said sections for the foreseeable future until things settle and im hopeful an amicable resolve can be found. To a point of re engaging with the estate going forwards. The trails are still in place and have not been removed but we as riders need to play the long game here. If they state its private land that president is set for all regardless of your chosen method of using the woods, bike, walking, running, on horseback, walking a dog etc were all trespassing FACT its an easy act for disgruntled locals walkers to levy compliants when them themselves are also in breach of said legal rights of way. Solution would be to add them or a selected bunch of lines, to the permissive trails, offers defined segragation, riders keep to trails, walkers stick to legal footpaths and dont feel obliged to think they have the right to roam anywhere! Arguments for another day in the correct way with the estate people for now guys n gals 🙏🙏 be cool with estate guys if you come across them over the coming weeks please i portrays local rides in a better light 👍

I'll be quite honest here. Those land owners wouldn't own that land if it wasn't for the previous generations losing their lives to fight the tyrant that was Hitler. Previous generations..our relatives. We need to take the land back for all to use!

We need to take the land back for all to use!

But who decides what. You assume it will be MTB trails. Some one else will want to make a peoples golf course. Some people will want to build huts and move in. Some one else could pitch up with a digger and sell the sand. Ot maybe it could be a permanent rave venue. The 4x4 guys might fancy a slice of the pie with motocross guys. Some one might build a shopping centre there

Thanks for posting that Ampthill. All sounds fairly sensible. Let's hope we can hang on and use the area once again.

riders keep to trails, walkers stick to legal footpaths and dont feel obliged to think they have the right to roam anywhere!

Nah, not how I'd see it in a place like that. Walkers, kids, dogs etc can and will walk anywhere they like if they see a path there. Normal, not great but to be expected. Like it or not we have to be ok with riding within ability to halt a run or a group ride line to give way sometimes?

I've been riding the backwoods long enough to remember when at least 3 of the trails where actually hidden behind bushes and shrubs you had to push through from the main paths to get the very difficult to find start of the good trails!

Yes, it's buisier than ever, especially at the weekends (i never ride their at w/ends..) but you'll have the entire place to yourself on a wet tuesday eveing in Feb, which considering there is a town of some 230,000 people less than a mile away is pretty amazing really.

I also find all the scare stories of "walkers mown down by bikers" to be just that. Let me ask a quesiton, in say the last 20 years, how many people have been addmitted to hospital after being hit by a bike? I'm going to suggest it's actually precisely zero.

In the 20 oddd years i've ridden their, i've met a lot of nice people, and a few total idiots, on foot, wheel and hoof, and mostly people just get along and are actually pretty corteous. A wave, a big smile and a cheery "hello, lovely day to be in the woods isn't it" goes a long way ime!

Give it a few months, the winter nights and rain will drive away the crowds, and we can all just go back to enjoying the trails at our own pace, time and chosen method of propulsion......

I mainly with maxtorque that I have really had very few problems at Woburn and I'm probably a dog walker as often as a cyclist

However my experience which chimes with what I've heard is there are more cyclists in the winter than the summer

Lockdown raised the number of visitors regardless of propulsion - the car parks are rammed at times. Though I’ve been in in the week a few times and it’s been pretty quiet. This won’t change much in the short term whilst we are under restrictions, I’d say, but as Maxtorque mentions, we will see a decrease in footfall when it gets wet, muddy and cold. The ones that have always ridden up there will continue to do so in all weathers - one of the benefits of the sand means it’s good trail conditions all year round.

Just wondering if anyone has been out here recently? Still closed? Any problems?

All the signs are right by the Church end saying the downhill jump area is closed. Only seen one "private" sign on the first trail that end. I've just avoided trails that end and accessed from the other end of the woods nearer the golf course entrance, no issues and seen a few other riders too

Same. But the less said about it the better 😉

I popped over on Wednesday for a ride around. I parked up sandy Lane carpark and did the red route then across the road and back in for a few laps in the bike park before dropping down to church road and up the hill towards the church before turning left down the track that brings you out down near the a5 before turning back into the back end of the woods and then rode all around the backwoods before returning to Sandy Lane and I didn't see any signs or have any issues with walkers either. Saw loads of other bikers in the woods near the church and no one mentioned anything about it being shut. Might be an idea if there was more signage to let us know but I'll stay away from there for the time being now I know

Just wondering if there is any update on this? I’m not on Facebook so can’t see any updates on that.

I was on a road ride past the back woods side of Woburn and saw a few mountain bikers around.

Are the trails over that side open again? or are we supposed to stick to the red and blue routes?

No update as such on the page. The situation is as it was.

Plenty of chat about it though.

I don't know the trails and have never been...however, if there are other established tracks to the existing bridleway, especially if they connect to other bridleways and roads, it sounds like the local riders would have no problem proving constant use/evidence and getting them added to the definitive map and ensuring access in the future.

(I'm suggesting the main tracks, not all the single-track)

If you Google 'Definitive Map' your local council will have detail on adding unrecorded paths. 2026 is currently the date they will stop new trails being added.

Also, CyclingUK have a campaign to do the same. https://action.cyclinguk.org/page/68755/action/1?ea.tracking.id=FB

Ramblers and horse riders are doing the same thing.

Spooky - its more that the land is owned privately and is full of small trails, berms, jumps etc build just for fun. The land owner has had problems with idiots riding into trees and trying to sue for damages, plus complaints from walkers so is clamping down.

Its popularity enhanced by social media have made the problem worse.

Also, there are 'official' trails there.

There will not ever be some kind of announcement by the landowner that you can now ride the unofficial trails again.
Imagine what that opens up for them.

Hopefully, people will be sensible (lolz) and eventually it'll just become quietly tolerated again like before.

Unlikely to happen in the current situation though as everywhere is under immense pressure from visitors.

Kayak has it right.
If you ride it, ride as sensibly as possible (given current hospital capacity that should be obvious), be polite, obey the country code. And perhaps not engage on social media that you’ve been riding it - just a thought.

Cool thanks for the info guys. I see the red route is fully open or at least some of the diversions are removed if not fully open. So I'll carry riding over that side for now and let things settle over the other side of the woods.

The red route is only missing only one small section

The blue is a bit to bogey at the moment

Glad to see back wood isn't on trail forks anymore.

Did both Red and Blue at the weekend. The Red is running well. One of my favourite sections still not open, no idea what it’s called, but narrow downhill leading to the switchback climb.
The blue is a bit naff due to the boggyness of that side. Had to get off and push on two occasions.
I won’t venture back to the off-piste area until after lockdown. Only because I’m a bit of a naff rider and can see myself going over the bars at the end of rollercoaster!!

I don’t know the trails and have never been…however, if there are other established tracks to the existing bridleway, especially if they connect to other bridleways and roads, it sounds like the local riders would have no problem proving constant use/evidence and getting them added to the definitive map and ensuring access in the future.

This is quite likely to completely piss off the landowner. At least it has done so locally (Cambridgeshire).

So far he has been pretty reasonable, although a number of "permissive footpath only" signs have recently gone up.

I was thinking at the weekend on the Red trail that now the trees have gone and it’s been opened up (visually), I was avoiding more walkers than I have ever encountered over on the non official side.
There is one fairly fast section (small chute after the ridge into the pumpy area), anyway, I had to take avoiding action due to kids being on the trail running right to the bottom of the chute.....Luckily I’d guessed what was going to happen so was able to turn left rather than follow the trail.
The guys maintaining the trail though, hats off. With what they have to work with they’ve done a great job.

Woburn trails are, and will always be carefully approached subject with the land-owners and GST. With the increasing popularity, keeping trails official has become an ever increasing issue. Even now, new cheeky trails have been recently dug off the red and blue and it chips away at the trust and gives us trail builder more work.

The guys maintaining the trail though, hats off. With what they have to work with they’ve done a great job.

Mike, Woburn Trails's tireless whip, has recently been recognised by IMBA as a Trail Advocate of 2020 so it's nice knowing the collective efforts are recognised, thank you, next time I can get out and dig I'll pass the sentiments on. Especially when we only have thick sludge or dry sand to play with most of the time.

@woodster I think the trail that’s not back open yet is Peacocks Pass (but I’m crap with the names). Either way, back before it became part of the official loop it was perhaps a little more technical but just petered out onto the bridleway at the bottom. It’s a better all round segment now it has the switchback climbs back up before you cross to Empire. Mike, as mentioned above, is a riding mate, and we have him to thank for that - loves a bloody climb that man 😉

On the Woburn topic, the bike park is closed now due to covid.

The backside by the church was never official, but a few of the trails are as well maintained as the official loops.