[Closed] Swithland Wood

Let's face it, the only place bikes are allowed to be ridden in Swithland is through the main track, not in the forest itself. Like you say, we are tollerated but not allowed. If people keep building stuff we'll get banned full stop so I wish the wouldn't!

I've not been up for a quite a while (is it not a complete bog?) but was amazed that someone thought they'd get away with building it and I'm surprised it's lasted this long. I do agree, we're not supposed to be there so why flaunt the fact that people are mtbing there?

Swithland and Charnwood in general will never be a total bog - you need to go east of Leicester onto the clay-based soils for that!

I think the key (stupid as it seems) is just to be as covert as possible.

Don't really hoon around on Saturday and Sunday daytimes.

Don't ride in the park itself 9am - 6pm on any day.

As an initial position, be polite to everyone and give way to everyone.

If you do get harrangued by a busy-body, try to ignore them, if not possible, be polite and wait until they've gone out of sight.

If you get caught by the 'Fun Police' aka 'Trail Gestapo' in their nice, shiny, new landrovers, play the 'grey man'. Apologise a bit, plead ignorance yank their chains a bit, but don't give them any rope. Technically speaking, the byelaw could mean a criminal offence, but I don't think they would be qualified to administer it properly.

I appreciate the Park, I really do, but pretending that it's the masai mara and fleecing families in the car parks to buy shiny new landrovers and quad bikes for some pseudo eco warriors is a bit far-fetched!

Also claiming the place is some kind of SSSI - whilst maintaning an artificial deer population is a bit bloody rich. The regime of cutting back the bracken for example has led (in my opinion) to the only really exceptional (in Leicestershire terms) animal population disappearing - namely adders. I think the Park and Launde Abbey were the only two populations (at least 25 years ago - I cannot recall any sightings or signs since the mid 80s in the Park).

It should be treated as what it is - a public park, an open space near a big city that should be used and enjoyed by all. Not a self-justifying imitation of some priceless habitat!

Rant over - if cornered, I'll stick to name, rank and number - childish, but that's the level.

Nice to hear of some fellow Loughborough-ish riders!
We are not blessed with the best riding available, tis true - it IS Leicestershire after all 😉

Putting up woodwork or anything 'bikey' is a blatant 2 fingers to the powers-that-be though.
I know that area well and even though adding some 'extra interest' seems a good idea, it's just giving ammunition to the red socks to getting bikes banned altogether from the woods. It's not great but being booted out of the woods full stop would be much worse than it is now. We are tolerated at best. Some of the local non-biking fraternity put up with the slightly naughty off-piste jaunts without saying much, but that 'I'd wish you'd piss off somewhere else' look in their eyes is plain for all to see. Keep it low key for the rest of us.

Just out of interest, where are you Swithy locals from?

I'm in Anstey so about as close as it gets! Some guys I know give it the "i'll ride where and when the hell I like approach" I'd like to punch them in the face because idiots with attitudes like that make us all look like gits.

I occasionally go 'off piste' but only late at night and during the week. I'd never think about going across Bradgate on a Sunday morning.

I'm seeing more and more cars heading to Swithland with big bikes strapped to boot racks, baffles me as the riding isn't that great and if they're going to the trouble of driving there why not go to Cannock or somewhere else?

I have ridden swithland for years and years (its equally as rubbish now as it always has been haha)
I have spoken to the walkers the rangers and even the horsey types and never have I been told to leave or had any ill feeeling towards me (going to bag that massive carp in the pool one day it's taunted me for years)

Bradgate is the same, the whole park has been left to the people of Leicester to use, being a person from Leicester I am using it 😉

Oh and I have the massive misfortune of currently residing in Birstall

I'm in Woodhouse Eaves.

I agree with all the sentiments above.

I tend to ride anything naughty on weekday evenings - so bad encounters are fairly minimal.

My underlying sadness is that whenever I get the chance, I get in the car and go to ride somewhere 'proper' - Peaks, Yorkshire, Long Mynd etc.

I know we can't compete with these areas locally, but the non-progressive attitudes in Leicestershire play their part too.

I've often thought they should stick a turnstile at the top gate of Bradgate to allow riders through one at a time at a cost of £1 or £2. Then have a single, marked route over the top and down, no choices. The route could be easily moved an remarked if wear became an issue. In this way, they could get a bit more money, allow people to get their exercise and still keep bikes off of 99.9% of the place.

Of course, I won't campaign for this because I'm afraid of even raising the profile of riding in the area. Pathetic, really, but when you're dealing with small-minded people who know nothing other than the word 'no' and want to control what fun people are allowed to have, then that's what you get.

Remember the omerta of the Charnwood rider - keep silent!

living in Leicester... the soul reason I got myself a play bike! Town riding and western park make up for the severe deficit in natural trails.

There's a very non-progressive view to anyone not walking in the Charnwood parks. My wife got some really nasty cowardly comments from people for riding her horse along the track in bradgate park once. She dared to use it to make a circular ride around the park instead of having to use the marked horse routes ( where cyclists are not allowed!?), which are dangerous for horses due to the damage on them caused by the rangers in their land rovers. Whole place is a joke, all those ridiculous bye laws.

Still I only ride bradgate or beacon in the quiet times and keep a low profile. In and out fast and stealthy.

Some of the woodland could have some great singletrack and be quite good for the local area if some people in charge dropped their blinkered views and had a bit more progressive stance.

I bet half the tracks in swithland and martinshaw wouldn't still be there if it wasn't for the passage of local riders.

Non-progressive is the word. Short-sighted would be another.

Another example to show how it is not black and white:

I was riding down a very naughty bit of path and came across an old boy and his missus walking up. I stopped for them and he said "you know you shouldn't be riding here don't you?"

I said "I know, but I'm always pretty careful - I only ride within the limits of what I can see, and always give way to walkers and horses etc".

We then had a pleasant chat during which he semi-apologised (unnecessarily) for taking me to task. It turns out they had nearly been KO'd by a group of 4-5 mountain bike 'riders' who, instead of apologising, simply shouted "get out of the ****ing way". On a footpath to compound the problem.

It seems it is not all one-way traffic.

I just get annoyed when the default answer is "no". I want to ask what the perceived problems are, how they might be addressed, is there any middle ground etc? But a lot of people just say "no" because they are stubborn, inherently obstructive and miserable. There's no point in even trying to engage people like this - I console myself with the fact that I can enjoy my hobby without feeling the need to try to deny other people theirs. How can anyone who really enjoys the countryside spend the precious time they are there trying to stop other people enjoying it too - the mind boggles?

Anyhow, none of this is going to remotely stop me riding our local area. I'm not going to vandalise or remove 'no cycling' signs like some people. I'm not going to be aggressive with people and be lowered to their level. I'm just going to get on with it. Secretly of course! 😉

Quorn-ite here. Noticed the swithy woodwork had gone a couple of weeks ago, but probably for the best, draws to much attention to an already cheeky play area.

hugglescote here,

i'm in total agreement with the comments above, overt building is only going to cause resistance in the local community. i do think that a forum/dialogue with landowners/lcc could be a good idea.

i work for lcc and know a few of the rangers, we share an office, (who know i ride in the area). i have raised the 'issue' of cheeky riding and whether there would be any la support for organised trails.

funding, or lack of, seems to be a main barrier along with the issue of ssi areas being damaged.

it has been suggested that out of hours riding, where only bracken is being disturbed wouldn't be challanged.

if we expect landowners to be reasonable regarding access, we need to be reasonable once we;re on the land.

whatever, i will remain cheeky.

Lboro-ite here,

I thought it was a bit cheeky the woodwork. Jumped out of the second bombhole without knowing it was there straight into it, not what i expected, ammusing all the same. A side note, I'm not though convinced that swithland even needs that sort of thing, with some imagination there are some ammusing rock drops, even some gutsy ones that don't attract attention and are far more severe than the woodwork was.

As above im through beacon hill in a flash either very first thing weekend morning or just before dusk. An frustrating number of walker placed obstructions at the bottom of a number of "cheeky" routes, but i guess that's all par for the course!

haha. i work for lcc too. highways. i am the antichrist.

Toppers how could you 😉

Loads more locals here than I thought.

i have 1 day left. moving on to exciting new ventures.

Good to hear, best of luck with said new ventures.

cheers man. will be living the dream. very excited.

toppers, don't leave - you and aa could be our 'men on the inside'.

You know the sort of thing - pre-arranged meets in darkness, covert travel, wondering if someone's tailing you etc.

Oh, hang on, you can get all of those things while 'cheeky nightriding' anyway.

It's a difficult one - bringing it up formally with landowners could just lead to greater restriction.

It would also mean, horror of horrors, that mountain bike riders would have to [u]organise(!)[/u] The 'ad hoc' nature of most of the riders I know would mean any formal 'club' or 'association' would just not attract the numbers.

I think the situation is unlikely to change for the foreseeable future. I'm quite a straight-laced person, really and I do get a (small) pang of guilt when I push open the gate at Bradgate and clip-in. It's a shame I have to be technically on the wrong side of the law to do something I enjoy and that really doesn't do any harm. It's a lot less harmful than letting your dog crap all over the park for example!

I'm also in Birstall (which isn't that bad a place to live), due to the lack of off roading and the fact I can't be arsed with the you shouldn't be there I stick to the road bike in the week and head somewhere interesting at the weekend.

Fathomer borstal is hell! haha

what bike are you on I will keep an eye out for you. I'm riding in birstal nearly everyday.

I'd just like to add, as an ex Leics lad now living in Leeds. The riding up here is awesome! Nightride at Stainburn last night. Wharncliffe only half an hour from my door (by car). Dales, peaks...... Excellent stuff.

My sister lives in Mountsorrel though so i should have a ride round swithy at some point.

Carry on!!

Pik n Mix - Member
Fathomer borstal is hell! haha

what bike are you on I will keep an eye out for you. I'm riding in birstal nearly everyday.

I commute on a Boardman road bike with a red Gore jacket, Cotic Soul if I'm on the MTB which is not very often in the week unfortunately.

What do you ride?

I'm on either a black and purple attack trail 6.8, a very retro rockhopper 1x9 rigid or a giant TCR 2 road bike.

Mostly on the Marin. Will wave if I see you

this brings back memories ! I grew up in Syston, I used to take the muddy fox to swith....

this brings back memories ! I grew up in Syston, I used to take the muddy fox to swith....

😆 Ah yes, I must admit to following this thread having lived in Mountsorrel for a couple of years (serving my time at Longslade in Birstall - all a very long time ago now). In my case it was lugging an Apollo Kilimanjaro across the fields to Swithland woods from time to time...

i came up to swithland wood the other day for the first time, some fun cheeky bits in the north-west corner (Y)
i'm from thurmaston so it's a forty minute ride but it's the best closest woods for us!

If I'm riding locally I usually go Swithland way, but for a change went up to Thringstone Woods for the first time in a few years last Sunday. There's a car park at the top of Swannymote Lane (think Shepshed to Whitwick), and in the corner is a great little trail that loses height gradually after a while and heads down to Grace Dieu. It's only 2 miles or so, but the surface is sweet and well used with nice rocky its - a sinuous flow that brings a smile every time...worth a few runs and there's a nice pub nearby called 'The Man Within Compass'. Made me think that not all Leicestershire is dull and crap - worth a sniff if you don't know it 🙂

I know it well! There's some quite tricky (if not very long) tracks in that wood (cademan). Some other nice bits around there, but nearly all footpath, so care needed.

I have cobbled together a 23 mile loop that I ride quite often at weekends to avoid bradgate and swithland (evenings only). This is probably 40% road, but it gets you from good bit to good bit quickly.

In my opinion whitwick area is the best riding in the area, but as with all local stuff it just isn't big enough if you want to 'do a ride' rather than playing in the woods.

Rode from Loughborough up the ever-amusing-called Butthole Lane to Shepshed, arsed around up there, via Blackbrook Res to the top of the woods, then few runs...was quite nice. The woods taken at full pelt is actually fun, quality riding...that doesn't last anywhere near long enough though!

Rascal. There's masses of riding in those woods and surrounding if you know where to look. The 'brap ya mum' trail is good fun...

There's a few of us heading up there again in a few weeks...maybe you should give us a guided tour??!! 😉

Old post but interested in people's views on local riding, I live on Cademan st in Whitwick (3 minute ride to the start of the trails in Cademan woods)

I must say I have seen an increase in the amount og bikers riding the woods recently, not that it's a bad thing imo. There are actually 10's of runs in the woods, you could ride all day in there an take different singletrack most of the time. There are some really sweet (hidden very well) downhill bits as well.

Then it's over the road into Thringstone woods to carry it on. The Man in Compass is my local, It's great to pop out of the woods behind the pub and have a couple of sneaky ones before rolling downhill to the back door.

I must say I wish the authorities were more open minded in the county, there is actually a large MTB population that probably feels fairly neglected here. We do have the peaks on the doorstep but it's nice to promote local stuff.

Anyone got any good routes? I'm mainly xc with some harder stuff thrown in.

Wow, so many people from the area on here, had no idea, me and the old ball and chain ride all the trails mentioned above, we tend to link them up with sustrans routes though to get the millage up, happy trails all.

There were motorbikes in Cademan the other week, I hope that's not going to be a regular thing.

I live in Leicester too, however I drive to and from Swadlincote along the A511. I usually stop off at Hicks Lodge on my home a couple of nights a week. In-fact there is a night ride I think on Tuesday eve. It's no way near as good as Cannock, but it's a good work out and gets the lungs working. Anyway I try to get 3 or 4 loops of hicks lodge.
I used to go out to martinshaw woods when I first started riding some 10 years ago, but getting there requires some road riding and the last I did that, I had to take evasive action as some idiot ragging the life out of a Land rover over took me too closely. Consequently I try to stay away from riding on the little country roads now.
Indecently, is there good any riding on Bardon hill? I go by there daily and looks very inviting.

Motorbikes bloody everywhere at the moment. The problem is that they ramp up the tension tenfold compared with mountain bikes. More attention, more grumbling, more likelihood of blanket bans. Gracedieu wood is also largely private land. There may be trouble ahead. Some tool has been riding a moto up to old John in bradgate as well.

Bardon is good. Footpath though, so be 'cool'!

It's pretty much one way up and one way down, due to half the hill being missing, more a part of a ride rather than a ride in itself (no hills around here are anywhere near big enough to be a ride in their own right).

Hicks Lodge night ride is Thursday night. The cafe is open till 9:00 pm as well.

Seriously someone's been up to old John on a motorbike? That's taking the wee to the n'th degree 🙄

i was at gracediu the other night and saw the 'private land' signs and fence that wasnt there last time i was there. Are they owners clamping down?
Motorbikes do seem to be all around atm.
My 'quickest' way off road is the old railway line between coalville and ellistown, theres some nice singletrack parallel to the track, but, some knob(s) drags concrete railway sleepers onto the path to stop the motorbikes.

i was at gracediu the other night and saw the 'private land' signs and fence that wasnt there last time i was there. Are they owners clamping down?
Motorbikes do seem to be all around atm.
My 'quickest' way off road is the old railway line between coalville and ellistown, theres some nice singletrack parallel to the track, but, some knob(s) drags concrete railway sleepers onto the path to stop the motorbikes.

I had a quick chat with one of the blokes who was putting the fence at gracedieu. It was more to do with people parking in that bit they put there a couple of years ago. This is actually a turning for logging (yipes) wagons.

I don't think they are anti-mtb as such, but it's not that big an area, and one 'bad' bit of logging work could render it unrideable.

These days, I'm just not that bothered about whether a trail is 'legit' or not. There's a lot of unfettered destruction of countryside going on at the moment in the pursuit of profit, so if a bridleway next to swithland wood can be closed and churned up to lay some kind of water pipe, I'm not going to get all precious about riding in cheeky places.

I'll decide if a trail is too wet to ride, legit or not. Sorry if this seems militant, but bikes really don't do much damage. Nothing like letting a dog crap all over the place.

if a bridleway next to swithland wood can be closed and churned up to lay some kind of water pipe

It's my route home btw, and come to think of it, it's one of the few remaining bits of bridleway singletrack in the area that I know of.

:Waves: Another Charnwood local here... (ride a Black Ragley Blue Pig)
Just found this thread after seaching for Hicks Lodge.

I ride Leicestershire's biggest inbred Deer Tourist Attaction and Staffy walking centre (Bradgate Park) and Swithland woods mainly, and get up to Beacon too.

I live 5 mins ride fro Martinshaw but something has happened to the water table in there and it's a bloody state and looks unlikely to get better.

Bradgate park...The SSSI is mainly due to the Geology of Bradgate park rather the it's flora or fauna. You'd have to be daft to think bikes would damage anything more than the Landrovers/bracken flattening/hordes of walkers/dogs off the leads etc. As someone else said it's not the Masai Mara. It's an artificial environment as it was all covered in trees a 1000 year ago.

Not seen a Moto in Bradgate park but I reckon you could get one in via kissing gate from the top carpark if you really wanted to.

I did see a lad with a Full On DH bike in there the other night though, had a wee chat with him, lad was stoned off his face.

Not had any ranger run ins for a bit but I have been riding from 7.30pm onwards midweek and I'm out of Bradgate park by 8am-ish on the weekends.
Swithland woods does appear to a forested dog toilet at the mo though - nice.

I have had a bit of earache off the occasional dog walker but to be honest having headphones when I ride on my own in I pretend to not hear them, smile, say hello and carry on. Saves a possible argument. The vast majority of people I meet in the park during the evening are fine but strangely you get the odd self-entitled self-appointed protector of Park very early in the mornings.

Yeah - actually not too much aggro out there at the moment - motos notwithstanding.

I'm currently rocking the evening riding vibe as well - Tues or Wed during the week, Fri or Sat at the weekend. Not in the park before 7-30pm.

Everywhere is running really sweetly at the moment, so the Genesis is getting a right hammering.

Also bought an mtbbatteries lumenator last week, so I am really looking forward to giving that a good test when the nights draw in a bit.

I do wish they'd sort out the dog issue - it's blindingly obvious that when you have a dog off the lead, you can't be diligently cleaning up after it!

dannyh - I think you saw me riding back through braggy last Wednesday night standing up because of a snapped seatpost!

Ah yes - I think so!

No 'delicate' injuries as a result, I hope.

Going to pop down swithy tonight for the 1st time. Any advice on where to go from the car park?

Scandal

Went up Cademan this afternoon...ended up supping a few in the Rag & Mop...how come you ended up at Swithy Woods?

Actually ended up in Cademan and blackbrook but didnt get out until gone 8. Also ended with a frothy one in the mop. Got to get something sorted but im away for a week from friday and busy with work due to that, but certainly up for a pub ride after my return. How did you find it today? The summwr tyre was different in those wet patches and slippy routes 🙂

The ground was more 'moist' than it has been for a while - making 2 wheel drifts fun.
The river was running fully making fording it further up tricky and it had actually burst its banks further down near the railway viaduct. My mate went down the steep, long run straight into the settled water sending up a huge wave - he stunk like sh*t sat in the beer garden later 😯

How did you find Swithy Woods? Not as good as up near you is it...

Didn't end up getting to Swithy as It was a bit late by the time I had a chance to ride. Went up to the top of the viduct with the intention of going down the steep bit but the flooded bit put me off, didn't want to fly down into a submerged log and break my neck before going on holiday 🙂

Was good fun, have you been off the side of the bridge? quite a steep little descent and very rooty.

Hi all. It's my vision to create legitimate mountain biking opportunities in and around the Charnwood forest area. So, I've set up a Charnwood Forest Stakeholder Group to campaign for greater access and explore the possibility to develop dedicated mountain bike trails in the area. If anyone has a similar vision, and would like to get involved, just reply on this thread and I'll send you my email address. Thanks 🙂

Hi all. It's my vision to create legitimate mountain biking opportunities in and around the Charnwood forest area. So, I've set up a Charnwood Forest Stakeholder Group to campaign for greater access and explore the possibility to develop dedicated mountain bike trails in the area. If anyone has a similar vision, and would like to get involved, just reply on this thread and I'll send you my email address. Thanks

Are you absolutely certain this is a good idea? I'm not being negative for the sake of it, honest. The riding in the area (cheeky and kosher) is pretty limited as it is - are we in danger of pushing ourselves onto the radar of the very people who created all the byelaws that exist on any nice hundred square metres in the area?

I don't have much experience of this kind of thing (so you can rightly pick me up on that) - are there examples where greater access has been officially asked for and the result has been greater restriction? I'm just asking the question before something irrevocable is done.

This is not a troll - life has taught me that sometimes the best policy is just to keep quiet and carry on.

+1 DannyH, will just risk ending up with off the radar coming onto the radar and bikes getting banned anywhere but Hicks Lodge

I live in Woodhouse eaves and ride around here a bit. Given the filthy looks I get from people when riding kosher trails (let alone the cheeky stuff) I do not hold out a lot of hope. Raising the profile risks creating a target and, knowing the local Gestapo, would only embolden the anti-cycling bunch.
I'm with dannyh, keeping a low profile, although crap, is probably the only realistic choice. I would, however, love to be proven wrong...

dannyh, iain1775, fin25

I understand your concern. Currently the only the only thing I’ve done that risks putting biking ‘on the radar’ is to apply an mtb group onto the Charnwood forest stakeholder list. This means I get occasional email updates from the council about Charnwood forest and am invited to a yearly meeting. It would be great if anyone wanted to join this group. As an individual, I’m not going to do more than that- and risk annoying a lot of people by bringing riding into the spotlight and getting it banned. What I am trying to do is build a network of people who all want the same thing- more legitimate opportunities for biking in the Charnwood forest. I do believe that if there’s a whole lot of us asking for more access as a group, we’ll have a louder voice and may actually achieve something.

I've currently got in contact with the Leicester Freeriders- apparently they spoke to the council about building trails on Beacon Hill, to which the council was “quite receptive”. I've also tried to contact the Leicestershire Quarry Vision project- they have an interest in working with quarry operators around the edges of Charnwood Forest to develop long term restoration proposals which would include provision for climbing, scrambling and mountain biking.

There are examples where previously unofficial riding has strengthened the argument when someone has tried to legitimise riding in that area- check out this quote from Ride Sheffield, in their proposal for new mtb trails in Lady Canning’s plantation:

“Lady Canning’s Plantation has been used by mountain bikers for many years; usage which has been largely tolerated and that has had negligible impact on the woodland. However we would like to legitimise mountain biking in the plantation as well as making an excellent resource for the city.” If you guys have been biking responsibly in the area for a while, respecting other users, not dropping litter etc, it may add credibility to our case if we apply for official trails and access.

Finally, there are currently vacancies on the Leicestershire Local Access Forum- an independent official body set up to represent the interests of everyone concerned with public rights of way and access to the countryside. If you part of this, you might have a chance to give bikes more bridleways and access to the countryside. This is the website if your interested: http://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/laf

I'd be interested to know if Lady Canning's Plantation was previously covered by a byelaw prohibiting cycling - as most of the 'decent' riding in our area is.

I can't see the Charnwood UKIP hotspot being swayed by previous illegal use into granting legal access(?!)

I'm sorry, but it is that age-old question of whether to stay shtum or stick your head up.

I have always seen wise words for people to heed when thinkning about applying for a footpath to be upgraded to a bridleway, for example. A really nice bit of riding on a footpath can be decimated when the horse riders are allowed on to it and start pushing for wider, flatter trails.

Sorry to be negative, but I'm going to declare myself out for now - but honestly I do wish you luck. I feel you might be in for a dispiriting experience, though..........

+1 for keeping it as it is, great intentions on your behalf though fro45.

Well, I changed my mind since my last post, and emailed the Bradgate park trust to see if they'd ever be open to allowing mountain bikers into the park in the future in a controlled, legitimate way. I got a nice email back from Peter Tyldesley, saying:

"When I first took over at Bradgate, I felt the place had great potential as a mountain biking venue based on my experience at the Brecon Beacons National Park where we did a lot of work on developing MTB routes.

Unfortunately, my subsequent experience of the mountain biking community has been entirely negative. The unauthorised use of the Park and Swithland Wood by cyclists causes significant environmental damage and conflict with other users and my staff who intervene to stop this unauthorised activity receive abuse.

I am therefore now of the view that it would not be possible to constrain any authorised use to designated areas or times and the last thing I want to do is to put Bradgate on the mountain biking map and attract more unauthorised, uncontrollable and abusive bikers."

He also said that he was "someone who was favourably disposed to mountain biking and mountain bikers until some rogue members of the community ruined it for the rest. In fact, if we ever did have MTB trails here, I would probably get my bike out and ride them myself.

We do have concessionary horse riding trails on the Park. I personally have no interest in horses and am not a massive fan of many in the horsey community, but they do behave themselves."

So for those of you who do ride in Bradgate Park and Swithland woods...please don't! It's not 'cheeky' or 'off-piste', it's illegal, and it causes a lot of damage, not only ecologically but by establishing a reputation for mountain bikers as out of control rule breakers. There are many of use in the county who would like challenging places to ride their bikes closer than Cannock Chase, but we cannot do that legally because your activities contributes to keeping us banned!

This email shows that, despite what some of you think, the Bradgate Park Trust are sympathetic to work with us if we're willing to play by their rules. The last part of the email is also evidence against danny h's worry that any official trails we get will be ruined by horses.

Instead of scurrying round the park when we hope no-one's looking, treated as a nuisance and given dirty looks by other users, I suggest heading over to Cannock Chase for decent riding, and working with the park authorities for mountain biking in the park in a way that's beneficial for all.

Sorry Fro but I will always ride braggy (especially as it was left for the people of Leicester of which I am one) I'm as polite as can be towards the rangers and other park users (not that there are any about when I ride) as for the erosion well that's just laughable given the amount of footfall that place sees.
I appreciate your sentiment but I'm not about to drive to your suggested alternative just to ride my bike as that completely defeats the object.

Awesome, I get the be the first person to say "get lost". I can also provide abuse if you like.

Edit... Beaten to it 🙁

Your post appears to reveal your original intention. I'm tried of being told I shouldn't ride my bike by you and everyone else. I've never seen more anti bike by-laws and no cycling signs as we have round here. If these folks get their way the only thing we'll be allowed to do is watch telly and eat ourselves to death

Oh, and there was never any intention to open braddy as a mountain bike venue. The "it's your own fault we hate you and if you'd done as ordered you could have had the moon on a stick" bullshit boils my piss

Awesome, I get the be the first person to say "get lost". I can also provide abuse if you like.

Hehe Ner ner ne ner ner 😛

I'm riding braggy at 4am tomorrow if anyone's interested. I might even pull a deliberate skid.

I personally don't see the issue in swithland seen as its got a few bridleways in it, I've never had anyone say anything to me (ranger or otherwise) whilst riding in there, other than "that looks uncomfortable!" on the cross bike.

I understand the desire for us to not ride in bradgate as its a bloody nice place but they would stop most of the illegal riding by putting a run or two in, in my opinion anyway.

Seems to boil down to dont be a giant willy.

So judging by that email response from the manager of the park they should also ban all dog owners because an unpleasant minority like to leave dog shit all over the gaff.

And obviously every walker who enters the park is pleasant and never rude to others.

Seems like a cop out to me.

however i am very interested in the quarry aspect of the original post and would be very interested in getting behind any organised group on that front.

Oh and jim, that bike of yours causes the equivalent of 156 hikers worth of erosion.

Got Peters email address? I'd be interested in sending him an email as a responsible bike rider interested in riding Bradgate legally.

The damage comment is ridiculous, the damage caused to the ground in there is caused by the rangers in their land rovers.

My wife rarely rides her horse in there anymore as the ruts they have left could cause serious injury to a horse in canter. And she has received some very obnoxious comments from the small minded old giffers who think they police the place.

As for horse riiders behaving themselves, there's plenty who go in out of the allotted times (ridiculous idea!) and ignore the marked horse tracks.

I ride bikes in there, but only out of hours just to reduce the grief.

Swithy woods is fair game anytime. Just be polite, smile and be courteous.

Personally I think bikers and horse riders should join forces. The idea that horse riders want flat groomed wide tracks is dreamt up by some ignorant council access numpties. Riding narrow twisty trails on a horse is fun for them as well.

There's actually a fair bit of fun trails around here if you really start searching considering the location.

Also there's no way I'm getting in the car to go riding when it fancy a blast out at 9pm on an evening.

The ranger that took us up to old john to scatter my grandads ashes was sliding his land rover all over the place, I did mention that the amount it cost us to do it should allow me to ride my bike there. His response was " go for it as you will anyway"

mrbelowski - Member
Oh, and there was never any intention to open braddy as a mountain bike venue. The "it's your own fault we hate you and if you'd done as ordered you could have had the moon on a stick" bullshit boils my piss

This x1000...

And comparing Bradgate park with the Breacon Beacons is frankly ridiculous. One is a large National Park with existing rights of way away from large cities and the other is a relatively small country park almost bereft of ROWs on the edge of a large city.

I actually think that if the Bradgate Park Trust could it would ban horses and the like.

Worth noting, that Bradgate Park has an income of approx 1million pounds a year. They also have 20 employees, many of which are part time. Which means some people are doing very nicely thank you from the Park.

Also worth noting, that when confronted riding in the park by an off duty ranger, I asked for ID, I was then called an @rsehole. So it cuts both ways.

Hello all.

I am Peter Tyldesley, Land Agent & Surveyor at Bradgate Park.

Interesting comment from BillOddie: "I actually think that if the Bradgate Park Trust could it would ban horses and the like."

How about we turn that on its head and say: "If the Bradgate Park Trust could, it would allow mountain biking but the behaviour of bikers and the reaction of other users of the Park towards them makes that difficult."

How can the mountain biking community turn things around?

Let me quickly clear up a few things:

1. Yes, the Park was given to be managed in Trust for the benefit of the people of Leicestershire (and visitors to the county). This does not give any one group of those beneficiaries the right to use the Park in a way that inconveniences others.
2. The Brecon Beacons are only relevant because, when I worked for the National Park Authority, we did a lot of positive work on MTB routes and cycle tourism. I just offer this information to show that I am not knee-jerk anti MTB.
3. I have been here a little under 2 years. Anything that happened before then is ancient history so far as I am concerned.
4. Yes, our previous practice of driving around the Park in Land Rovers has caused damage to some of the tracks on the Park. We now use ATVs almost exclusively instead of Land Rovers. You can already see how many of the tracks are greening up as a result.
5.Please be advised that cycling in Bradgate Park off the tarmac or in Swithland Wood off the bridleways and horse tracks is not permitted. There are Byelaws in place that enable us to take legal action against people who transgress. More significantly, the Park and the Wood are Sites of Special Scientific Interest. It is an offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act to damage an interest feature of a SSSI. The maximum fine is £20,000 and it would be Natural England who prosecute offenders, not us.If the community will not voluntarily comply then a high-profile prosecution may be needed.

Now we have cleared that up,how can we work more positively together?

'Ride here and you'll be fined £20,000'. 'We'd like to see a high profile prosecution'.

Perhaps you should to consider how such a confrontational approach contributes to "working positively together". Perhaps also you'd like to take your threats and shove them up your arse

Okay, so that went well 😆

In all seriousness Peter maybe you could suggest something a bit more tangible in terms of how we can work together, as far as we can tell there is no scope or opportunity for supported riding.

I don't imagine the riders of the local area can ever see a way in which biking will be accepted by the up to now 'regressive' authorities of the local area, whether that be in the guise of the backwards looking council or the park authorities.

I think most of the local riders who don't go out of their way to be abusive when on the trails (the majority) feel alienated by this backwards attitude to the sport.

I can see why these riders would rather keep their heads down rather than bring a spotlight to the issue when they are targeted with such things as a £20k fine for the heinous crime of riding a bike in the countryside.

mrbelowski- that is not what I said. Please don't misquote me.

scandal42 - I can't speak for anyone other than the Bradgate Park Trust but we would need to be convinced that, if some kind of authorised trails were introduced, we would not be over-run by riders who felt they could go anywhere they pleased. If we were to allow any form of cycling that led to damage then the Trust could be liable for that large fine for permitting damage to take place.

You're quite correct, you didn't say those things and the quote marks in my post are misleading.

The threatening nature of point 5 in your post is, however, quite clear. Such threats entirely undermine any attempts at working closely together - how do you expect to have a productive dialogue with people if you do this? As Scandal42 quite rightly points out, we're just riding our bikes in the countryside and (believe it or not) we're a very courteous and decent group of people.

Hi Peter,

Thanks very much for being brave enough to stick your head out and engage in some sort of dialogue with us.

When you say it is managed for all the people of Leicestershire you should be aware that there is a lot of great riding in the park and very little good riding out of it in the local area! As it stands, it feels like there is no provision for mountain bikers in the park at all.

With the lack of people except on the main road, it feels silly that we are not allowed to ride. This also make riding there very appealing, regardless of potential penalties. It is also apparent that applying penalties is near enough impossible to a determined cyclist.

I for one would welcome an opening of communication and some way of riding in the park. Especially since mountain bikers produce very little erosion, are generally accepted by the walkers we do bump into and tend to be away from most of the crowds that would take offence.

Now we have cleared that up,how can we work more positively together?

How about entering to a dialogue with local mountain bikers? Find out what their needs and wants are? There have been numerous success stories around the UK (and the World) where Landmanagers, once they have entered into a discourse and come up with a action plan, find mountain bikers to be a very agreeable, passionate and hard working bunch. See Chase Trails at Cannock, TimberMTB at Thetford for 2 quick examples. Maybe visit there and see the work that has been done.

I can't speak for anyone other than the Bradgate Park Trust but we would need to be convinced that, if some kind of authorised trails were introduced, we would not be over-run by riders who felt they could go anywhere they pleased. If we were to allow any form of cycling that led to damage then the Trust could be liable for that large fine for permitting damage to take place.

The simple answer to this is that by providing legal trails you cannot prevent people riding other illegal trails. BUT if you make the legal trails interesting and sustainable any riding on illegal trails would be minimised.

My gut tells me that if you provided a way marked route between the 3 car parks around the perimeter of Park using the existing narrow singletrack trails, the vast majority of Mountain Bikers would be happy.

Lastly keep in mind that Mountain Bikers as a rule of thumb have high disposable income and like to spend money on parking , tea, coffee, beer and cake! Get the trails to go past the Cafe in the middle of the park and I'm sure the trails would increase Turnover.