their president was on bbc breakfast this morning regarding sell of woodland by the government, nice to see him riding around the woodland in the interview on a bike looked a little uncomfortable but that was more to do with the set up of the bike but very refreshing to just see a rambler on a bike and not banging on about its THEIR path could this be a first step in reaching out to other communities as they cannot do it on their own

If fatbikes become more popular then bikes will be having less impact than a footprint. It may help bikes to become more acceptable to Ramblers – in fact they may even start riding them 🙂

Ahhh…you beat me to it!
Yes I thought this was quite amazing, him riding a bike, nearly choked on my tea!
As you say, maybe there might be bridges starting to be built across the communities of forestry users.
Very interesting, the president riding a bike.

Also, continuing the thread, them giving out that 75% are opposed to the sell off of the Forestry Comission, and a lot of celebs and important people joining in the debate.
Maybe they’ll think again……
Q

I thought Julia Bradbury was their president – still referred to as such 7 days ago and apparently appearing in that role on telly next Sunday.

There’s an article on News 24 in a moment. Shows mountain bikers….

lots of pictures of bikes, BUT, and this is crucial, the talk is about maintaining walkers access their is no mention of bikes or horses.

We should all stand together, brown sold our gold, if cameron sells ‘our’ land then its abstaining for me at the next election.

I always thought it was Julia Bradbury from Countryfile….
but the BBC news article repeats the thing with Paddy Tipping as President of RA.
It’s still rolling, and I first saw it around 9am, and in fact the story is expanding a bit. Agreed it only refers to walkers, but adds ‘and others’ Perhaps we’re ‘others’!!
There is constant bike pic’s on it, so maybe it’s the news simplifying the article a tad, and Tipping is definitely on a bike.

Whatever the nitty gritty about the presentation of the news article, at least it’s being covered, and constantly pointing to most people are against it.
Fingers crossed…..
Q

Let’s all join the Ramblers Association.

Nowt beats subversion 🙂

Biggest news on the Ramblers website right now is their ‘fight for footpaths’ campaign with a nice little form you can fill in.

One of the form requirements asks you to fill in where you ‘walked’ – Maybe we should say we cycled and make their brains explode…

as the government haven’t published the white paper yet no one knows what will be protected, but gut feeling is it will be walkers and no thought to other user groups. There is always the detail that the law can be changed later when it is found to be inconvenient.

It amazes me how few rights the English have to their own country, your basically banned from it all except a few little bits, the joys of Enclosure acts and feudalism are alive and well.

who is sticking up for mountain bikers? Is it the ctc?

A friend in our village has helped with conservation projects and her partner runs one of the nature reserves locally. She told my wife that her main concern was the conservation aspect. After a sell off the habitat husbandy would get forgotten as it’s not money making, simply creating costs for those running the woodlands as a makey making venture. She thinks it’ll just die a death……

speckledbob: That has always beem the no.1 question!
As we’ve always been a disparate group, individualistic, shunning anything ‘organised’ or conventional, the downside to this is when you need a collective voice, we haven’t got one. The only ones we’ve had over the years seemed to concentrate on racing and nothing else. I used to be a member of the BMBF but in the end they railroaded all the funds to race organisation leaving the local access officers hung out to dry, meeting their expenses out of their own pocket. The CTC is possibly the only thing close, but i for one have never felt the need to join.
In my opinion, this is why our access laws have stayed the way they are, and why Right to Roam etc. only ever helped walkers.
hey ho can’t change that one now.
Q

So let me get this straight,you guys can’t walk or cycle where you want? Sheesh…imagine that.Can’t get my head round that,doesn’t sound like a place I would like to live 😈

“So let me get this straight,you guys can’t walk or cycle where you want? “

Well yes we can – albeit discretely. And being prepared to accept the occaisional @rsy ramblers and landowners who practically can do very little to stop us.

if cameron sells ‘our’ land then its abstaining for me at the next election.

You really should organise more political protests that one sounds a real winner to me.

On the plus side we don’t die at 50 from a life of deep fat fried midges 8)

On the plus side we don’t die at 50 from a life of deep fat fried midges

No,you get shot by an irate landowner at 49!

The winter has almost made me forget about them,so much so I have booked up to camp in Mull in May,to get the Munro there,wonder how that is going to go? I have seen midges carry off cows on the west coast.

Some friends of mine is going canoeing in that sort of area in a couple of weeks time to beat the little gits. They’ve a taking Canadian canoe filled with a teepee, firebox with a chimney made from tractor exhausts, 1cwt of coal, and a barrel of beer. Do it every year. Sure beats the bivvy bag and flask of whiskey that most cyclists have to content themselves with 🙂

a pox on their houses.

I don’t know why but I keep reading the thread title as NAMBLA (The North American Man-boy Love association).

Thats is wishful thinking on your part Hora 😛

as the government haven’t published the white paper yet no one knows what will be protected, but gut feeling is it will be walkers and no thought to other user groups. There is always the detail that the law can be changed later when it is found to be inconvenient.

The White Paper due to be published is the Public Bodies Bill which would allow the Government/future Governments to modify constitutional issues without the need to go outside the House of Commons. So, if they decided to sell off the Forestry Commission they can give all the assurances with regard to protecting access that they like at the present time BUT any future Government could change that without further reference.

Good to see the Forest of Dean on yesterday’s BBC national news with MTBers on show. The RA will be glad of our support to protest against any proposed sell off, strength in numbers and all that. You might think that with all the assurances given to protect rights of access on foot they wouldn’t need our support but the reality is that many parcels of FC land that have been sold off over the last 20 years or so are now fenced off with big signs saying “access on Public Rights of Way only” 🙁

NAMBLA (The North American Man-boy Love association).

Only you would know that and recognise it…you and binners have your own page yet?