All winter digging then SHUT DOWN. The fight starts now.

I really hoped this situation would never arise but after 10 years of being an official bike park, the Forestry Commission have shut us down. The rules of our agreement were due to be renewed, but we had no warning that there would be big changes. The Forestry Commission called a meeting and told us they no longer 'had the appetite to support sites like ours'. This somehow meant we were closed with immediate effect. In half the time it normally takes them to reply to an email, a fence was put up the entire way around the site. We could easily climb over the fence and ride but this would be the quickest way to get the entire site bulldozed.

To re-open we need to lease the site as a club and arrange our own public liability cover- which will take months and cost a fortune. It's been nearly 2 months already since the fence was put up and the communication from the FC has been non-existent. Thankfully we're been talking with other good souls to figure out the best way forward.

This is by no means the end of the channel because we've been proactive and found a new project to get our teeth into. While we bombard the FC with emails and calls, we might as well build something else... and the excitement levels are already beginning to recover slightly!

For those who are thinking of climbing the fence at the trails- we would of course be lying if I said we hadn't thought the same - but for now we've decided to play the game, follow the rules and see if we can actually save them. The FC office is just up the road so we would appreciate everyone avoiding them for the forseeable future. You're more than welcome to ride at the new spot once that is up and running.

Take it easy

Just Keep Digging Crew.