Southampton Bike Park - Work recommences and should complete before Christmas

about time. what was the pipe issue? I didn't see any notices about it at the park? I might have stopped moaning about how rubbish the council was if I'd known there was a genuine problem?!

any news on tracks that are suitable for young riders? my kids used to love riding the pump track.

What's winter like down there in the deep south? Will the track be rideable between now and spring?

What’s winter like down there in the deep south? Will the track be rideable between now and spring?

This used to be the bad thing about SBP, it fell to pieces in winter. I am hoping that the work that has gone on will have addressed that and will provide year round riding thanks to more drainage and a different surface.

SBP In the Winter - As Johnjn2000 says, it used to be terrible but the work that is now happening should mean that at least three of the trails are resurfaced and fully weather proof. This will be the Table Top line, the Jungle line and the new Big Kids line. The others are being left unsurfaced so we can continue to modify and improve them rather than being forced to stop all development of the park.

The work they have done so far seems really good and is being done by a proper trail builder (

so should ride well and I have high hope for it.

Trails for Young Children - All the trails at SBP are rideable by young kids, I rode them all when I was in a wheel chair a few years back, but I know what you mean about the loss of the pump track removing the only separated mostly flat bit of track. The decision to remove it was taken to free up spoace on the understanding that the Council are building a separate area specifically for families and younger children which will include a pump track (Point 5 on here : https://www.southampton.gov.uk/media/a5pijwrb/scc-osc-summary-doc-2.pdf) so this option will still exist.

Pipe Issue : There is much mystery and secrecy but as far as I can tell from my discussion with the local councillors, gas providers and Forte Trailscapes there was a gas pipe discovered under the end of the tabletop line. This gas pipe was a biggie that supplied a large part of west Southampton so should have been a certain depth under the ground and should not be built over without careful consultation and observation from the Gas guys. At this point we run out of facts but from what I can surmise there was a bit of a bun fight over who was responsible for what because the pipe should have originally been deeper, the council should have informed the gas people the SBP was being built, the gas people should have noticed the building work in during their quarterly inspections but failed to do so for 10 years, the bike park is just dirt with cycles so doesn't count as a construction and lots of other things meant no-one was happy to sign the new work off but this has now been resolved.

@Worldclassaccident, thanks for the update, looking forward to showing off how bad my jump skills are through the winter months 🙂 (They are bad all year round not just winter)

Perhaps we should organise a STW Southampton Bike Park group session.

We could meet up with very niche but unsuitable bikes. Look at the bike park, discuss how good we used to be and then go for a coffee at The Sporting View.

Perhaps we should organise a STW Southampton Bike Park group session.

We could meet up with very niche but unsuitable bikes. Look at the bike park, discuss how good we used to be and then go for a coffee at The Sporting View.

We should do this. We would also nod sagely while discussing how we still have the skills to clear the tabletop.................but there is the mortgage to think about now isn't there.....

I'll come down but I actually have a decent DJ bike which I never use! I'll be blowing the dust off that and bringing it with me.

Plus I don't own any gravel or fat bikes or recumbent tandems or whatever.

Perhaps we should organise a STW Southampton Bike Park group session.

We could meet up with very niche but unsuitable bikes. Look at the bike park, discuss how good we used to be and then go for a coffee at The Sporting View.

Heck yes... i'll bring the crazy lad 🙂

Looking forward to this re-opening as in theory I could go during lunchbreak / after work.... Which is totally not an absolutely terrible idea ha.

Thanks for the update, I look forward to it re-opening.

The BBQ should still be built into the seating area so we can all bring our amazing camping coffee stoves and artisan coffee grinds before discussing the benefits of the various wood options to cook our specialist sausages