Gisburn forest – Latest trail developments

Sorry stumpyjon
A bit late, but I said I would post pics to keep interest and prompt people who were thinking about coming to a dig.
We had a good mid week turn out today, representing STW mag and Great Rock Skills Training was Ed-O, MBR mag had two guys doing a trail building promotion article and photo shoot (to their credit they did lots of wheelbarrowing aswell). Also regulars and a guy all the way from London. Also a group who were out riding the trails, who came around again and helped out.
More digging tomorrow 10am start and Sunday 10am start, for anyone willing to come and join in. Anyone who has thought about coming and joining in, we are just a bunch of amateurs and enthusiasts, you will be heartily welcomed to join us.

Some Photos, I'll drip feed some more photos to keep this thread current

That looks good.

Looks like a result considering the weather being suffered all around!
Hope I'll be able to lend a hand in the unlikely event there's a dig day on when I'm visiting relatives in Ramsbottom…

looking good 🙂

It's a bit squidgey underfoot but we've got off really lightly compared to the poor sods a few miles further north.

A big thank you to the guys who interrupted their ride yesterday to shift a good few wheel barrows of stone.

I asked Martin yesterday about trail repairs after the recent rain. He apparently kept a bit of money back from the original funding for improvements but was waiting for some bad weather to highlight which bits are really suffering. Hopefully some of the bits like the climb to the crag and Hully Gully will be improved over the next couple of months.

Right off for another damp day digging.

Looks easy, when are you putting in the difficult bit? 😯

I'm thinking going up to Gisburn today. It'll be my first time.
Considering the recent weather battering is it worth going up there today.
I live in W Yorks, so it isn't miles away.

ive been twice to that forest, one was ages ago when it was all big family paths not even arrows were placed lol, but ive been recently and its really good, lots of berms jumps singletrack, northshore etc, keep building!!

I'm looking forward to trying it out when I'm home for Christmas. Having ridden there since I was about 4 with my dad, I look forward to seeing the changes.

You won't recognise it if you haven't been up there in the last 9 months or so!

I really enjoyed helping out yesterday and I'll definitely be going to get stuck in again. (not that those photos show much work going on!) 😉

Hopefully some of the bits like the climb to the crag and Hully Gully will be improved over the next couple of months.

Rode up there a week ago,& what doesn't help is all the numpties who,when riding up towards Whelpstone Crag,steer either side of the large rocks that are placed in the centre of the track,& in doing so churn the ground up into a muddy mess.

FFS! ride OVER the ****' rocks!!!

yes gaz were getting that a lot, we put time and effort into making things interesting not just a smooth gravel path and people just ride around it , perhaps they should stick to the blue grade trail

FFS! ride OVER the ****' rocks!!!

Amen ,those big rocks on the singletrack are some of my favourite bits, that log section looks just a bit fun, whereabouts is that on the ride? Any ideas on when the new section will be rideable?

anyway good work!

Here's some 'working' photos

looks like you had a good turn out , hope you left some work for Sunday

Looks easy, when are you putting in the difficult bit?

Interresting you said that, Nigel from UU has his eyes on some even more difficult and higher log rides a bit further down.

all the numpties who,when riding up towards Whelpstone Crag,steer either side of the large rocks that are placed in the centre of the track

That's been clocked, a bit of money from the original funding was kept back for that sort of thing, Martin has been waiting for some bad weather to highlight the weak bits, think the weather has been bad enough now. Hopefully he'll get some contractors in to fix that. He's also working on what to do to the big berms in Hully Gully so they are less slippy but don't get sanitised. Might need a big volunteer day to barrow materials in. Like Terry said we're learning on our bits too, going to sort some corners so you can short cut them, others will have sharpened stakes to encourage you to ride the correct route.

Terry, we had a good turn out again today as well, wasn't expecting it so that was good. Loads left to do, I've sent you an email bringing you up to speed.

Terry
I spent the day making pretty paterns

those log's look like they took some time

wow eve that looks a lot of work well done

Looking good Paul.

Great to see some photos from the day. I got well into peeling the bark from that tree with the medieval weapon.

It was the first time I've done any proper trail building and I'd recommend it to anyone. It's really interesting to see how the trails are made from idea, to design to construction. I can't wait to bore everyone to death when we eventually ride that section and I can tell them about toppling a dry stone wall, barrowing gravel and doing the spade work.

Give trail building a go for a day. It makes you feel righteous to be doing something positive rather than just gassing on about bikes on the internet.

Amen brother 😉

The raised approach to this wonky bridge was taking shape and looking good aswell.

Got another 30 metres or so of trail laid today, including an uphill dog-leg which goes over a few patches of roots, swings tightly round a big tree, and ends up with a nice clear sight-line to the start of the log-ride.

By the time it was fully stoned and gravelled, it was too dull and dingy for my camera to work properly – hopefully somebody else got some decent shots of the "After", in the meantime this is the "Work In Progress"…

…that log section looks just a bit fun, whereabouts is that on the ride? Any ideas on when the new section will be rideable?

It's in the woods to the left of the fire-road, just past where the upper loop rejoins the lower loop on the way back.

As for when it'll be open, there's still a lot of work to be done, including some boardwalk leading into it and an as-yet-to-be-decided means of getting back to the road (plus any additional fun features that spring to mind on the way 😀 ). I think somebody mentioned February today, but obviously it ultimately depends on how many dig-days we manage to fit in, and how many people get involved (hint, hint… 😉 ).

Once again, the Trail Boggarts have been up to mischief deep in the woods. 😈

Today they've topped off a goodly length of half-done trail, and laid another 20-plus metres of brand-new trail (to go with the 60 or so laid on Thursday and Friday). This includes a rooty corner leading to another shonky bridge…

Then follows a sinuous climb between the trees before starting the run-in to the log-ride which can just be seen in the background of the previous shot…

Unfortunately they weren't actually able to complete the bridge today due to their inability to manufacture planks (no comments, thank you… 😛 ) – this task will require the intervention of the all-powerful Master of the Forest and his mysterious Men In Green.

For anybody who is interested, the next dig-day is scheduled for Sunday December 13th 10:00-15:00, when it is hoped to commence work on more wood-based delights. 😀

These are the last of my photos from last thursday:

Bump 😆

Exellent Gisburn Vimeo film, Enjoy 😉

Nice.

But what is that yellow thing in the sky?

Nice vid GavGas, didn't think conditions could be so dry down there…

Eve Libertine – Member
The raised approach to this wonky bridge was taking shape and looking good aswell.

While one team worked on constructing a wooden tower to support a ramp onto the log-ride, the rest of us spent this weekend's session finishing off the aforementioned/pictured wonky bridge…

We also got another 30 or so metres of trail laid. A few extra hands really does make a difference, so if anybody else fancies spending a few hours messing about in the woods with a bunch of like-minded people off an internet forum, you'd be more than welcome. 8)

[quoteso if anybody else fancies spending a few hours messing about in the woods with a bunch of like-minded people off an internet forum, you'd be more than welcome. [/quote]

How do we get involved, would love to help

Gisburn is my "local;" (45 mins away)

How do we get involved, would love to help

Official dig-days are the second Sunday of every month, but we also try to arrange occasional ad-hoc days between us. To get on the official mailing list, you just need to email…

martin.charlesworth@lancashire.gov.uk

To find out about ad-hoc dig-days, email stumpyjon up there ^^^ (his addy is in his profile) and he'll add you to his list of victims willing volunteers. 🙂

Good effort.

I hear you're going to be the glamour in an MBR feature on volunteer trail building any day now as well.

did you guys see the article in mbr about the ggod folks willing to give up their time to do trail building ,they did talk about gisburn at length.

I'm in the mag, I'm the one with the barrow in the 2 page picture.

I'll be signing autographs if anyone wants to send their copy of the mag to me!

Midweek dig days sound like a laugh. I'd be willing to give up my midweek to help out in the new year. Who do I email to be notifed of those?

Appartently the Rollercoaster/hully gully will be closed in January for repairs and resurfacing.

Mikey, any mid week digs are organised by Stumpyjon ^^^^ email is in his profile. I'm usually ok for mid week digs, with a bit of prior notice.

Good effort.

I hear you're going to be the glamour in an MBR feature on volunteer trail building any day now as well.
Hmm, that's one way of putting it Ed, though it's not actually the first word that springs to mind… 😆

hi just got my mbr , nice right up and some good pics, good to see the "flat capped foot soldier" tony-m , scott and jon getting good coverage