[Closed] The vandalism has started on Tilberthwaite (lakes content) 🙁

Driver would not let me take pics of him breaking up the bedrock with a jack hammer

He also can't stop you 😉 It's perfectly legal to take pics.

Going to be plenty of fast but dull riding up there soon

Is that the one that goes over to little langdale?

yes fella!

Bloody hell.  That bit of the track hasn't changed in years, so why alter it?

🙁

The only silver lining is that Kankku will probably be equally pissed off.

Are they doing more work on the other side, Rich?

There is a notice on the other side they are doing the lot 🙁

That’s proper shit. My kids did their first proper ‘tech’ riding practise there.

Is it as smooth as the other track that runs sort of parallel to it now?

Is it the fix the fells people?

Is it the fix the fells people?

Doubt it. It'll be the highways authority as it's a byway. The capacity of local authorities to f up historic bedrock tracks is limitless.

I daresay there are some nice paths around there we can use as an alternative.

I daresay there are some nice paths around there we can use as an alternative.

Very much my attitude nowadays. Over the next 10-15 years I reckon nearly all the lovely rocky natural Bridleway will be sanitised or buried under development or sold off to some rich fat bastard.

If you know something good, **** em, ride it now.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/13/ban-4x4-off-roading-in-the-lake-district-campaigners-say

If they're ****ing up the bridleways, then take to the footpaths.

Only way this stuff is going to stop is with confrontation.  Mass trespass of Kinder Scout fixed access laws for walkers.  Same is going to have to happen with bikes.

It amazes me that the national trust can be ok with use of a breaker on bedrock, how in hell is that preserving the natural we environment? Yeah we can get grumpy about filling up with crushed rock, but at least you know that'll get washed out at some point. Once the rock is pecked out then that's it.

According to the Cumbria CC Definitive Map it's an unsurfaced public highway. I'm surprised they have the budget for things like this when most councils don't have the funds to fix potholes in A & B roads.

The National Park have an article about it. An extract:

The road was originally a well-built stone road that served agricultural and quarrying activities and, as such, forms part of the historic heritage of the area. However, in recent years the condition of this route has worsened significantly and it has been agreed that remedial action is now needed to preserve the road.

Cumbria County Council and The National Trust are funding the required repair works and the Lake District National Park Authority is providing time and staff resources to manage the contract. Once these repairs are completed and we understand more about the usage of the route it will enable us all to decide what the most appropriate long-term management of this route should be.

Also they link to the site notice.

Breaking up the bedrock is not repair or restoration. 'Understanding more about the usage of the route' should be done before they start breaking bedrock.

honeybadgerx +1. I've written to the National Trust.

If they’re **** up the bridleways, then take to the footpaths.

Only way this stuff is going to stop is with confrontation.  Mass trespass of Kinder Scout fixed access laws for walkers.  Same is going to have to happen with bikes.

+1

https://twitter.com/lakedistrictnpa Echoed the comments to them on Twitter too, probably a good way to strike up a conversation on multiple fornts

Please don't go for the natural argument. The Lake District we see has been created by man and woman over thousands of years. The path is an access for the tenant farmer that was struggling to açess the land they rent.

Will miss it though.

The path is an access for the tenant farmer that was struggling to açess the land they rent.

Totally agree with this - it's just that the first set of works they did earlier this year levelled the two short bouldery/loose sections on the HT side which were being ripped up by 4x4s, and likewise sorted out a couple of the big off-camber ruts on the other side. Understandable.

The stuff they're ripping up now has been like it as long as I can remember, so I'm struggling to see the access argument unless the NT is having trouble attracting a new tenant for the farm (the current tenant is leaving soon, I believe).

Please don’t go for the natural argument.

The have provided the simple argument that they are doing this then working out what the track is for, if you don't know then any work could be a massive waste of time effort and money.

I’d hazard they know exactly why they are doing it. That track has been the bone of contention between. 4x4’s, scramblers and the farmers / landowners for a while.

it was getting impassable for the farmers and more and more torn up by the off-roading. So they’ve resurfaced to take the interest out of it and solve the problem.

I’m a bit sad about this it was a great bit of track, but it wasn’t an effective farm track anymore and the amount of traffic was a bit out of hand. I’m just sad I’d never cleared it all before it got done.

I’d hazard they know exactly why they are doing it. That track has been the bone of contention between. 4×4’s, scramblers and the farmers / landowners for a while.

Then that should be their stated position. Its not what the statement says. If your hiding why you are doing something with public money that is bad.

Only way this stuff is going to stop is with confrontation.  Mass trespass of Kinder Scout fixed access laws for walkers.  Same is going to have to happen with bikes.

I get the sentiment, but in reality a more realistic approach is probably the one that bikers in the Peak District have taken via representative, campaigning groups like Peak District MTB and Ride Sheffield. It's not perfect, but it has at least stalled the 'restoration' of the Rushup Edge trough.

Where things also get interesting are where county council 'road' repairs interface with National Park authorities. In the Peak, at least, the PDNPA was livid that DCC had undertaken destructive work on a historic track without any consultation and with 'repairs' totally out of keeping with the surroundings.

Sometimes trying to work with bodies like National Park Authorities who share some of your concerns can be better than 'confrontation', particularly where it's not entirely clear who you need to confront.

If you just want a situation where bikes can use footpaths, I'm not sure how that's going to stop repairs of tracks and bridleways?

I’m surprised by Singletrack’s continued silence on the subject.

I’m also somewhat conflicted that a lot of this is Mend Our Mountains and Fix The Fells and I’d supported M.o.M. as a result of their interest at Cutgate.  I think what needs to happen is a far more nuanced rethink and binding national strategy that accounts for all stakeholders and user groups fairly and completely disregards whether there’s a pot of money that needs to be spent immediately, local Highways departments claiming ownership under legislation and doing what they want on the cheap etc.

We have some beautiful places in this country.  The way things are headed, we’re sleepwalking into destroying them all.  A new way of doing things is needed.

We have some beautiful places in this country.  The way things are headed, we’re sleepwalking into destroying them all.  A new way of doing things is needed.

Quite. The problem with green lanes or BOATS or whatever they are these days - basically anything classified as a 'road' which in the real world is an off-road track - is that council road authorities not only have a duty to maintain them, but can do that without any consultation, even within a national park.

The lunacy of the Rushup Edge work is that it is a 'road' which has been closed to motorised traffic, so arguably not a 'road' by any sane definition, at all.

The problem with mountain bikers and solutions based on consultations with stakeholders is that mostly mountain bikers lack representative groups. Walkers have The Ramblers and, along with climbers, the BMC, both founded on a legacy of real world local clubs which pre-date the internet. MTBers don't, but if you look at the Peak as an example, the web can provide an effective way of organising.

Is there a Lakes-based MTB advocacy group? If not, as an outsider and someone who appreciates what Peak MTB and Ride Sheffield has done, I'd suggest that something similar might be a really good thing.

Edit: but as above, until there's a system whereby trail repairs are subject to a consultative process, stuff like this is going to keep happening.