Equal Access and Solving a Conflict

One of the biggest challenges within the countryside is managing the resource so that all the different users can enjoy equal access to this precious landscape. Here in Chopwell Wood, there was a problem with mountain bikers. Not because the Mountain bikes themselves were a problem, but because of the lack of provision, they were creating their own routes. This resulted in a conflict between other users of the wood.

The Forestry Commission in their wisdom decided that the best way forward was to create places where mountain bikes could be used safely. This would prevent accidents and rather than developing a culture of stopping people using the woods, it was recognised that by saying this is a route that you can use walkers and horse riders were isolated from that extra traffic.

Further, this has started to have a beneficial effect upon the wildlife, as instead of the bikes traversing ecologically sensitive areas, they now have routes they can use that help protect the woods. Further, because walkers are not allowed down the dedicated bike tracks, a ribbon of undisturbed habitat has been created.

The effect upon Chopwell Wood is a positive one and the quality of the facilities is now being recognised nationally. However, what has been created at Chopwell is just a very small part of the facilities for mountain bikers, as at Hamsterley Forest and Kielder Forest there is more, much more.

It shows that by taking bold and positive measures, something positive can be created that benefits all.

Tubs Task Day Two, or here comes the rain again

Yesterday was supposed to be the second day of our task to restore the coal tubs that sit on display in Chopwell Wood, but like a cricket match, rain stopped play. While we do have access to a couple of Gazebos courtesy of the NEFA (North East Free Ride Association) lads, any rain would have ruined all the good efforts put into restoring the Tubs so far. This would only have lead to us needing to carry out further maintenance sooner too.

Calling off a task is never an easy decision to make, but if the work cannot be done properly then it becomes pointless trying. Although for me safety will always be the other major consideration as volunteers are far to valuable to risk injuring, we just don’t have enough to spare!

While this work is not conservation in the natural history sense, the local history and especially the industrial history is important to many local people. Thus the work is important as it preserves the work that the friends of Chopwell Wood have already done. Further, it provides some amenity for the people who visit the forest.

Personally though I think the woods are beautiful in themselves and worth visiting for that reason alone. But we live in a time when people need to have allsorts of reasons to visit a place and everything has to be explained to them. I my opinion it stops people from thinking and wondering. This mouse loves to try and discover things for himself; it’s the child in me, that sense of wonder and discovery.

There is though a great sense of discovery with the additional elements that have been placed in the woods. There are a number of sculptures in the wood and it can be a delight to just stumble upon them as I did when first exploring the woods. I now know my way around well enough that I can head for them and to us, the people who know the topography of the woods reasonably well, they can provide useful reference points when discussing layout or encounters in the forest.

Well as the work has been postponed, it looks as though another task will have to be arranged to complete the work. I just hope that we still have the enthusiasm of the people involved this time on the next attempt to complete the work.