Micheldever Wood / Black Wood near Winchester – worth exploring?

Dobo, I have emailed you some GPX.

Anyone up for 'Part 2'?
Might be a bit heavy & greasy at the mo, but can't see it drying out any time soon 🙁

Been done there a couple of times now and really enjoyed it. Can just about string a nice loop together, just gets a bit sketchy around the derelict house.
Nice little section of path from West Stratton that joins a bridleway that goes under the motorway into Micheldever Woods, just a shame there's not more there and Itchen Woods

rianOfWinchester – Member
Dobo, I have emailed you some GPX.

Anyone up for 'Part 2'?
Might be a bit heavy & greasy at the mo, but can't see it drying out any time soon

Cheeky request! Any chance of a copy? My parents live that way so I'm sometimes looking for a new diversion….

Thanks

drofluf – they're in the post!

All, these are the routes I posted on page 2. You should be able to export gpx from there.

Target decision date for the holiday chalets planning app is one week away. fingers crossed…

Thanks – and they've arrived!

The planning application for the chalets is going all the way.

The case officer had recommended approving the application but referred it to the planning committee due to the number of objections.

The planning committee has now deferred it for consideration by the special planning committee, 11th October…

Yikes. It would be absolutely terrible IMO if that wood was ruined by those chalets.

Thanks for the update. By the time the trees are felled to make way for the chalets, there will be no “countryside experience”. Those country lanes are just not made for construction traffic. It’s a ridiculous idea. 🙁

Has anyone ridden there recently?

Last chance to file an objection…

The future of Black Wood is hanging in the balance.
If you wish to be able to enjoy the cycling here in the future, please put your objection in writing ASAP, and send it to the Case Officer, Nick Parker, at the Planning Department, Winchester City Council, City Offices, Colebrook Street, Winchester SO23 9LJ.

It could just be enough to swing it.

Done, spent about 45mins writing one at work today(!).

It’s quite rare for me to care this much to write letters, and its not just about riding bikes either. Places like Black Wood are so nice and so rare it would be criminal IMO if the develoment went ahead. If anyone else is thinking of doing the same, my objections (in short) were:

1. Irreversible damage to area of natural beaty and important wildlife habitat (Woodland very rare commodity in the UK, mostly agricultural or urban landscape)

2. Loss of access to the general public – areas of natural beaty should be enjoyed by all, not sold for profit.

3. Little ameneties in surrounding area, the ~240 residents will almost certainly end up needing to make car journeys, adding stress to the local road system and being further detrimental to the wildlife etc.

Good work, Poppa. What else is work for ? 🙂

I went for a little walk up at Black Wood on Saturday. I noticed one of the parts of the cycle track, off the gravel track from the main gate, had had a raised log placed across the entrance to the track.

If it’s an attempt to stop cyclists then it’s quite futile as the log can easily be moved, walked over or around. I just wonder why? Maybe the Forestry Commission are trying to eliminate use of the woods by those that object to their plans – though they have not erected no cycling signs, and not surprisingly as their development plan involves cycle hire and family cycling.

Alternatively, maybe they were monitoring use of the tracks to see how long before someone removed the log. One of the planning reports did acknowledge ‘occasional cycling’.

I wonder how many other obstructions have been erected? I have not cycled there since the trip a couple of months ago, due to the weather and being far too busy.

I also noticed the blocked-off track starting to suffer from vegetation growth, still easily passable, but if the motorcycle event cannot take place (due to chalets) then that bit of track will be slowly lost.

I wonder if they are just trying to stop the motorbikes. Heard one there yesterday and somebody has spent a lot of time places logs to form a circuit.
Prejudiced opinion I know without actually seeing anybody but I assume they are from the showmans (pikey) camp. Nice place for a holiday village, sandwiched between the A33/M3 and A303 with enclosed showmans camp and the odd rave, oh and all the flytipping. Woodmancott/ Micheldever I thought would have been a better proposition, already a caravan club site over there already

Where’s the showmans camp?

When I was walking around the woods, I noticed how bleak and sterile it was. I didn’t hear or see any wildlife; just endless beech trees. (I even got lost, it was so featureless) Great location for a holiday.

I enter the circuit from a small car park opposite the Woodmancot turning on the A33. The camp would be on the left hand side from here, accessed from the A33. I do recall seeing it years ago but according to a dog walker I got talking to it’s just degenerated into a pikey camp (possibly around by the plant hire site).

PLANNING APPLICATION REFUSED 🙂 🙂 🙂

daily echo[/url]

Good news there Brian, although pretty close! Ridiculous idea anyway!

How are the trails there at the moment?

I haven’t been up there cycling since the summer, but I expect the trails will be pretty good at the moment.

this made the news on south today or something the other day, forgot to post, quote from the echo though…

“Among the reasons for refusal were concerns about the impact on the habitat of the endangered dormouse.”

is there more info on why refused, it would be good to know for future methods of objection for other locations, but clearly mentioning endangered species is the way to go..

That’s a tricky one, dobo. There are reams of arguements you can read on the council planning website (link poster earlier in thread) and next Thursday the council’s weekly list should show a summary, eventually a full decision report will pop out. But at the end of the day, this was won by the weight of local objection. Dispite the woodland being a SINC and the presence of endangered species, the planning officers actually recommended that the application be allowed. It was only that the decision went to committee, due to the number of objections and a request by the local community, that the planning officers were overruled by elected politicians. So, I’d say no, endangered species count for nothing. You need masses of objectors – or some councillors keen on being re-elected!
a bit more info

Hurrah! I only found this out from the news on telly. Brilliant news! I was up there about a week or two ago – it was nice and dry, but all the fallen leaves are making some of the trails a struggle to see(!) and maintain speed on. Saw a hare though, which was nice.

Black Wood Planning Ruling

Thanks for the update Brian and that really is good news.

Not wishing to sound negative but would they be able to appeal/resurrect planning application in the future?

I’m pretty close and keep meaning to get over and check out Micheldever Wood.. am I right in thinking it’s probably not even worth thinking about at the moment with all the rain we’ve had?

IMO don’t bother. The tree cover and type of soil means it doesn’t dry out quickly…

In summer it’s great though! I’d wait for *at least* a dry seven days before considering it.

poppa – Member
IMO don’t bother. The tree cover and type of soil means it doesn’t dry out quickly…

In summer it’s great though! I’d wait for *at least* a dry seven days before considering it.

Cheers, I figured as much.. the Harroway is bad enough in these conditions and that’s pretty open so I guessed it wouldn’t be great!

c-g, I don’t think there’s anything to stop the forestry submitting a new planning application for anything they like, but one would hope by now, after several rejected applications and a lot of wasted money, that they realise it isn’t worth pursuing.

The riding in Black Wood – and elsewhere – may just be OK, if there is a good cover of fresh leaves. I was walking thru some woods yesterday, on a thick carpet of sweet chestnut leaves over a base of liquid mud, and my shoes didn’t get muddy! It was a bit slippery though. I might take my bike in for a play. Not expecting much traction, but at least it shouldn’t be too sticky.

Found this thread googling the black woods and cycling. The route through black woods is cut twice a year by the enduro motorbikers (no, i know it hurts but we owe them one)

enduro news events look at april 25

I have spent a lot of time mapping out the route, which takes in 14 pits, but dont think it has made it onto the post. it is pretty accurate, and shows the full 12 mile loop (best done clockwise from the car park on the A33), but a shorter, better biking loop of 8 miles. i go there regularly, and although it is pretty miserable at the moment, if the ground hardens up a bit again should be great. i’m not brilliant on the mtb, but ok, and happy to sho people around the route if like to meet up. Also there are 3-4 decent sized pits in micheldever, which we have cleared out, one of which is incredible. Again happy to meet up for a spin – was out there this mornig: saw 25-30 deer in a herd: amazing.

I dont think i am going to be able to get the map on – anyone know how please

I definitely cont get the route on, but happy to email

ianrodd@aol.com

Hi,

I am interested in the map, as have been unable to get the bing map links (on page 2) to work.

Have emailed you.

Cheers

sorry about the late reply – will email. will also send stuff about micheldever – cracking route a mate and i have workede out

I am a local that had not considered Black Wood until seeing this thread in the summer (via a friend) – I thought it was too small. But I rode there a lot in the summer and eventually worked out the route (or most of it – and one I liked – anyway!). About 90 mins riding when reasonably fit, and incredibly good riding for this area.

I went there yesterday and the path is really hard to follow now – we need to ride there more and keep it clear!!

Now that I’ve figured out how to post links here properly, the bing maps again 🙂
Black Wood 2010
Black Wook 2009

Looks like the motorbikes are pencilled in for March 20th 2011.

I was thinking of heading over to black wood this coming weekend. Does anyone have an update on the mud?

Rode Black Wood for the first time on Boxing Day.

Even with a gps route (GPX courtesy of Roddi – thanks), I found it incredibly hard to find the trail. But then again it was under full snow coverage.

Was amazed how incredibly hard going it was. The beech leaves were really sapping.

But fun all the same and the effort required soon warmed me up in the sub zero conditions.

Rode the loop with Jehosophat (Hi James) from up there on 3rd Jan. Agree with what he and FieldMarshall are saying re the track/path being difficult to follow.
Surface still not too bad, but I reckon it will be very wet now.
Rode down the edge of Micheldever wood on Monday evening and it was very slidy.
Roddi – interested to know where abouts in Micheldever Wood you are talking about. We walk in there quite frequently and ride occasionally, but never seen any significant pits – unless you mean the old burrial mound in the north west?

Rode Black Wood yesterday. The ground was very firm, mostly frozen, but it looks like it would be OK when thawed too, with the covering of leaves. It looks to be fairly dry. I lost the track on many occasions: it has completely disappeared in places under the leaves. Even with the GPS, at times I could not be sure exactly where it was. At least with the leaves down, it let the sun stream in. I thought I knew my way around there by now, but obviously not. Even when I was on the track, there were sections I completely did not recognise. It was slow going too, with the leaves, constant GPS stops, and never knowing exactly where to go. I clocked two and a half hours cycling, but car-car was three hours fourty 🙁 On the plus side, at least my bike did not need cleaning!

Hi – havent visited the site recently so missed the posts. Micheldever is a bit of a mess at the moment – lots of tree cutting and deep tyre tracks. the best pit is still ridable, but access is poor secondary to the above. the route was as per http://connect.garmin.com/activity/60170467

the best pit is 9:18 mins in, but you have to walk the bike round to the far side, drop in and out and then walk back to the path. there is another pit just north of that one i cleared out last weekend. the pit to the lest of the track 14mins into the route is small but good fun. the one at 17:17 is currently not worth trying as access so bad with tree cutting

agree with allk comments about black wood, but if you find the pits (there are 16) some of them are awesome – was out there 2 weekends ago.

have fun

Ian

Oh shame as presumably with a few dry days, it could be fun there! Hadn’t realised there were so many pits though. 😯

Asking a silly question but have any new tracks been cut for the MX’ers?

Breaking news re black woods:

1) I spoke with 2 guys out there today who will be spending the next couple of weeks prepping the single track for the motor cycle endure on 20th
http://forums.mxtrax.co.uk/showthread.php?t=295314

– no leaves on the line: oh happy day. The surface is really nice underfoot, and I think minus the leaves should be brilliant.

2) The forestry guys are reapplying for the planning permission for the chalet for the 3rd time – 60 this time not 98, but still will be a major change to the woods. I haven’t been to the site to have a look at the plans, but we shall have to see. The parish council will object again, but 3rd time lucky?

Dont know what the new route will look like, but the route that dom and I did a while ago which is the more interesxting 8 miles of the 12 mile full circuit

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54825148

have fun while it lasts

For the 1st time this year, I was out in Black Wood this morning. I noticed the 60 chalet planning notice as I went in. Fingers crossed it gets refused.

The southern section of the trail was okay and it was easy to find and follow. Most of the other sections are still covered in leaves and I would often loose the trail. The leaves just seem to sap your energy so quickly.

Once the enduro motorbikes have been through there later this month, that will make the trails easier to find again. We just need to get more people to ride there more often (myself included), so that the trails stay visable!

Black Wood is 5 miles from my front door, so I should make more effort to go there, rather than always going to Swinley or Caesers Camp!