Masts – Felling

Just saw Welsh Gravity Enduro post this on Instagram.

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Heads up, we are just about to lose one of the most valuable Mountain Bike assets in the Afan Valley, South Wales. "The Masts", also known as Foel “Foel Fynyddau” is to be felled before Christmas if we don’t ACT NOW (road widening works have already started.) The trails on this hill are over 20 years old and have been meticulously maintained by the locals for that time. The impact on local businesses in the Afan Forest Park and the tourism in the area will be hit so hard that some will undoubtedly have to close. This hill is also used by so many people, not just mtbers, walkers, runners and horse riders will all be affected. Natural Resources Wales are so out of touch with their own policies, procedures and responsibilities to the people of Wales that they have taken no account of the huge effect this operation will have on them for years to come. The timber from this site will go to a Bio Mass plant and probably fuel it for a week or so but the cost to local businesses, tourism and riders will last for decades to come if you don’t do something to help save the trails NOW! Please please please complain direct to NRW, if you’re from South Wales you know how important these trails are, if you visit Afan from other parts of the UK your part of that tourism impact so please help us: Ring on 0300 065 3000 and make a complaint over the phone or fill in the complaints form: https://cdn.naturalresources.wales/media/689338/natural-resources-wales-customer-complaint-form-june-2019.docx?mode=pad&rnd=132060272100000000 Then email it here: complaintsandcommendations@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk There is also an e-petition here: https://www.change.org/p/natural-resources-wales-stop-tree-felling-on-the-masts Address required! Lets make a stand for this iconic South Wales riding site and all the other great unofficial trails too. #saveourtrails @natreswales

A post shared by Charlie Williams (@welshgravityenduro) on Sep 25, 2019 at 12:55pm PDT

Heads up, we are just about to lose one of the most valuable Mountain Bike assets in the Afan Valley, South Wales.
“The Masts”, also know as Foel is to be felled before Christmas if we don’t ACT NOW (road widening works have already started.) The trails on this hill are over 20 years old and have been meticulously maintained by the locals for that time. The impact on local businesses in the Afan Forest Park and the tourism in the area will be hit so hard that some will undoubtedly have to close.

This hill is also used by so many people, not just mtbers, walkers, runners and horse riders will all be affected.

Natural Resources Wales are so out of touch with their own policies, procedures and responsibilities to the people of Wales that they have taken no account of the huge effect this operation will have on them for years to come.
The timber from this site will go to a Bio Mass plant and probably fuel it for a week or so but the cost to local businesses, tourism and riders will last for decades to come if you don’t do something to help save the trails NOW!

Please please please complain direct to NRW, if your from South Wales you know how important these trails are, if you visit Afan from other parts of the UK your part of that tourism impact so please help us:
Ring on 0300 065 3000 and make a complaint over the phone or fill in the complaints form:

https://cdn.naturalresources.wales/media/689338/natural-resources-wales-customer-complaint-form-june-2019.docx?mode=pad&rnd=132060272100000000

Then email it here:

complaintsandcommendations@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

There is also an e-petition here:

https://www.change.org/p/natural-resources-wales-stop-tree-felling-on-the-masts

Lets make a stand for this iconic South Wales riding site and all the other great unofficial trails too. #saveourtrails

There’s felling in commercial forestry all of the time (lots going on near me). That doesn’t have to detract from the trails- unless they’re built at tree-top height of course.

There’s felling in commercial forestry all of the time (lots going on near me). That doesn’t have to detract from the trails- unless they’re built at tree-top height of course.

I guess depends on the extent of the felling. This sounds like it’s more than just a bit of thinning. The machinery churns up trails and the lack of trees changes the character of trails dramatically.

It’s a commercial forest. The trees grow to maturity and then they are removed. These are unofficial trails.

Local riding groups could be working with the fellers to help minimise disturbance and to restore the trails where possible.

Shame, I was planning on finally checking them out once the new bike build is finished. May have to wait til it recovers then.

Wot scotroutes says – this is a commercial tree farm

The problem is basically about benefits and who sees them. A good riding area quite often will bring in more financial benefit than harvesting the trees will, but the owner of the land doesn’t usually see any of it.

Bikes and felling can coexist pretty well but it’s obviously less likely with clearfells and with unofficial trails.

I’m with scotroutes an TJ on this. Happens all the time in Scotland.

If it’s left unharvested, it’s worth bearing in mind that commercially grown trees probably have a finite life and will start dying/falling over. The neat forest you have is because it’s been carefully gardened by the foresters throughout its life.

If the impact on the local community is so bad, then why not offer to buy the trees/forest?

I totally agree that it’s a commercial forest, my reason for posting is I’m sure Charlie from Welsh Gravity Enduro has seen felling/thinning before and how quite often trails can recover pretty quickly. I assumed the plans were pretty severe.

I can’t seem to find any info on NRW about the plan for the area. With the FC if you dig around you can usually find ~30 year plans for forests managed by them.

If the felling coverage is too high then it’s basically 30 years to recover properly, potentially with areas closed off for years as they are restocked.

I’m sure I’ve read about this happening elsewhere before 🤔

Mark the stumps and roots with ground marking paint and very often it’s just a case of hauling off brash with much of the trail left behind. You’ll inevitably lose some stuff. It’s a pain, but rarely the end of the world.

The insta post does sound overly dramatic. Not sure how businesses would close down because some unofficial trails go out of action. Tourism, well again these are unofficial. The tourists aren’t going here, they’re going to official places. The majority at least.

Obviously there’s an impact on Enduro business that uses it and guide companies, but if their business depends just on one location and it’s unofficial stuff which could go at any time, then risky business to be in.

I think it hurts more as The Masts are pretty iconic trails.

Felling is inevitable. Those are not natural forests or natural trees.

What’s important is that NRW and the contractors appreciate the value of the trails and take care (and spend the time and money) to preserve them.

I’d not heard of these trails tho. I might have to go over and take a look whilst I can.

What’s important is that NRW and the contractors appreciate the value of the trails and take care (and spend the time and money) to preserve them.

NRW around Swansea and Gower really don’t like bikes. There are several places around here with big signs saying that bikes aren’t allowed, including Baglan Forest, one of the hills that connects to Masts. (The sign actually warns walkers to look out for bikers, and then that the forest is out of bounds for bikers. No reason for it really – once you are on to the trails you rarely see a walker.)

Commercial forest that kindly lets mtbers ride and build trails on the land. We should be thanking them not trying to disrupt their business.

I agree it will be a great shame to lose these trails but also agree that it is a commercial forest after all so v much up to NRW when the trees get felled. Seems a shame that there couldn’t be some safeguards put in place to preserve some of the trails without unduly affecting the felling operations.

As for anyone who wants to ride them in the meantime, they are some of the best trails I have ridden in the UK. Anyone who hasn’t been there should give it a go in the short time before they’re gone (assuming the felling work goes ahead). Be prepared for a long hard slog to the top and some v steep trails back to the bottom.

Interesting to hear the term “commercial forest”. Sure, but it’s still NRW managed land, NRW being a public body, making these forests kind of er, public property? Of course it needs managing for the long term sustainability, and health of the forests. Felling and thinning is a part of that. I’m pretty sure NRW will work with local riders to keep the trails going and do the work sympathetically. But what hits hard about this is that all the other stuff in this sport, all the expensive bikes, the two-and-a-half-grand pairs of carbon wheels, the new waterproofs we all look at at this time of year, the tyres, the grips, the lovely shoes, these websites we all follow, the fitness, the joy we get from riding, the whole MTB lifestyle. It all means precisely F*** all without trails.

It’s a crop, it will be harvested.

The felling date information will I’m fairly sure have been visible in publicly available data called the sub-compartment database for many years on FC, gov.uk and NRW websites

http://lle.gov.wales/catalogue/item/NRWWoodlandSubCompartmentData/?lang=en

I’m a forestry civil engineer. Scanning the above posts Epicyclo makes the most salient point. Trees reach an age or height were they start blowing over. Unfortunately in a commercial forest, all trees are of the same age, so this happens in quite quick order, unlike in a natural forest where only a proportion of trees are reaching critical or terminal height at any time.

The trails will be damaged because 40 years ago someone planted a load of conifers, and little can be done about it.

Interesting insight Waderider, never thought of it from this point of view.

Would anyone dream of going to a farmer and asking them to put their combine harvester away, as you like the way a wheat field looks?
This is no different, it’s a tree farm.

Is there a local trail building / MTB-ers association that could talk to the landowner about the possibility of minimising destruction of trails? Or just to arrange new trail building once the felling is complete?

It’s really sad, doubly so because ‘Masts’ are unofficial so I guess won’t be rebuilt by the NRW maintenance crew, but I’ve got to file it under ‘that’s life’.

I don’t know if the felling is because it’s due, or because of the larch disease, but they’ve been tearing the arse out of South Wales forests for more than a decade now, this is nothing new.

You might argue they’re hacks who rip out the ‘wrong’ trees and leave a massive mess behind, because they are. You might argue they’re going after easy targets, namely the forests that have good road access for getting the stuff out which they do.

The NRW seems to be able to get trails reopened 1-3 months after they’ve left, sometimes it’s just a case of sweeping them, sometimes they have to rebuild sections, often with new features, there’s no reason why masts can’t reopen, I guess it will need some volunteers though.

Trails ain’t the same with no trees.

Would anyone dream of going to a farmer and asking them to put their combine harvester away, as you like the way a wheat field looks?
This is no different, it’s a tree farm.

No, but it isn’t just a tree farm. It’s an area used to walkers, runners , horse riders and cyclists for recreation, just like many other forests around the UK.

Business at any cost just doesn’t seem right.

Trails ain’t the same with no trees.

Yep, and in South Wales we better get used to it.

Majority of large wooded areas / forests are NRW run, maybe it’s ‘normal’ but they’ve harvested all the official riding places in the last few years and quite a few of the places there’s a lot of ‘tolerated’ riding.

The smaller woods with native tress are generally Woodland Trust or privately owned, you might find cheeky trails, but they’d be removed it found.

NRW don’t seem to be in the business of growing millions of Larch tress anymore. A few places harvested 10+ years ago (Penhydd area of Afan and a few tiny spots at Cwmcarn for example) have been replanted, but for the most part they plan to let them re-grow ‘naturally’ with native trees, but their MO at Cwmcarn, Afan, Forest Fawr seems to be to harvest the native hard wood trees at the same time as the Larch. Pre-cut they employ people to mark various tress, I guess to preserve them, but the generally leave nothing standing.

In fairness the official trails they’ve rebuilt in the last couple of years have been good, more features built in to make use of the space etc, but it’s not the same.

kiksy – neither is a wheat field Just a wheat farm – its also someones view, its also where people walk and cycle.

Sorry dude barking up the wrong tree here. This is trails allowed on a commercial farm.

The countryside is not a playground – its where people workand earn money

In the time I have been going to glentress large parts have been harvested and that is sanctioned and legally built trails

Isn’t this just the Life Cycle of the trail?

Trails get destroyed, new trails appear. I actually like this, it gives us new stuff to ride, new stuff to build, it’s change, but it can (and generally is) a good thing?

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Isn’t this just the Life Cycle of the trail?

Trails get destroyed, new trails appear. I actually like this, it gives us new stuff to ride, new stuff to build, it’s change, but it can (and generally is) a good thing?

Yes, this is how I look at it nowadays. Often better views, rather than just a load of trees and I actually often prefer more “open” riding. Less trees for me to hit when it all goes wrong, too.

The countryside definitely IS my playground, I’m playing in it right now! Anyone who thinks public forests, managed by a public sector organisation, are no different to a farmers field of wheat? Well, good luck with that, you’re entitled to your opinion. But don’t go sniffing round other people’s playgrounds once the hard works been done!

The countryside is not a playground – its where people workand earn money

I guess that’s not how I see things or how I think things should be. Maybe I’m silly but the world should be a playground first, and a way to make money second.

It would be more tolerable if the rest of the UK had Scottish style access rights I suppose.

Really kiksy – if it was not a working environment there would be very few paths – most of the countryside would be covered in dense scrub and bracken

Its someones workplace first.

I think the major concern is that NRW used to fell 5% of their estate per year, now its 15% In all the years of riding ive never seen the rate of felling we are seeing now. If larch disease is causing an increased rate (which i feel is just a money maker for them) why chop other bits just to burn. NRW are a corrupt organisation, just google them

Can’t say I’m hugely surprised about this, but I find the reaction to be a bit over the top imo.

Sure masts is great and probably iconic in some ways, but half of the good spots in wales have been felled over the last few years and they’re all still going strong. Risca, Loamworld, Ponty, Rheola and more have all been hit but are currently better than ever.

Besides, Masts was always a bit wiggly on 800mm bars, NRW are just getting with the times and understanding the needs of modern bikes…

if it was not a working environment there would be very few paths

I’ve not been to this particular trail but in general these Valleys trails are created usually from nothing by MTBers. It’s a good way to avoid trail conflict actually because they end up being trails no walker would want to use, but they’re great MTB trails.

(which i feel is just a money maker for them)

Phytophthora Ramorum will infect and kill over 150 species of plant. They are legally required to fell larch infected by it.

The reason for felling being given, is to remove Dothostroma infected pine. The Masts will never recover I fear, the hill is very exposed to weather and wind (it’s the first thing that weather fronts hit as they roll off the sea into the Afan Valley) and it will be very bleak without the trees. It’s a huge hit to the local riding scene and detrimental to the local economy. The Masts was bringing an ever increasing number of riders to the area.

I suppose it’s easy to just brush it off as a crop of commercial woodland, but the Masts has given a lot to mountain biking in the UK over the last two decades if you know your history of trails, these were the original steep tech stuff, that were being ridden 20 years ago (before the official trails in the valley) and have helped produce World class enduro and downhill riders. It’s shit. Sign the petition, it won’t do anything but maybe it will raise an eyebrow.

The Masts will never recover I fear, the hill is very exposed to weather and wind (it’s the first thing that weather fronts hit as they roll off the sea into the Afan Valley)

And yet it’s covered in trees. If they grew once then they can grow again.

Partially covered. From experience NRW idea of replanting is hardly thorough or thought out. They will leave the hill desemated, and I think that is one of the major issues people have with deforestation in this area. They come in and scar the landscape with minimum aftercare or clean up operation.