Winterfold trails

ricky_h-2

I am aware that the land has changed ownership and that the new owner does not appear to be terribly favourably disposed towards mountain biking. In fact given the efforts of blocking trails with tree trunks/debris and the like, it is pretty clear he is actively hostile to mountain bikers which is a pity. Is anyone aware of any efforts to engage with the new owner or is it a case of he's just not interested and get knotted ?

cooldad

Trashed trails are mainly in Jim McAllister's land (he bought a whole lot more)

He's always done a bit of trashing, and generally the trails just got opened up again sooner or later, but this year they did a lot of logging and messed up some decent ones. Plus there was some illegal digging near his house which obviously was a bit of a dumb thing to do. Jumps in his back garden basically.
He got a bit cross and trashed some more trails, so some idiots laid logs across his driveway as revenge.
Which was a stupid thing to do, as all it did was p1ss him off more.
Discussions have been had, but now his attitude is basically mess with me and I'll mess with you bigger, in his words, he can afford it.

The rest of the new owners seem to have been fine.

ricky_h-2

Thanks for the background Cooldad, it did really strike me that the efforts to destroy the trails were significant which is a great pity. Clearly there has been a deterioration in relations and I hadn't realised that it was as bad as you state, so it doesn't really surprise me. A pity really that the land couldn't have been sold with pre-existing trails protected. Ultimately it appears it has moved from long term co-existence to a really unhelpful state of affairs

cooldad

This is a map of the areas managed by Friends of the Hurtwood - colours show different owners. Bright green is McAllister, plus the chunk to the left that is his original stuff and was never managed by them.

Handa Bray, lord of Shere Manor still owns all the blue stuff - the family originally opened up the land to the public, but had to sell off to pay capital gains tax. A real pity as they she and her predecessors were amazingly generous with their land.

ricky_h-2

Thanks again Cooldad. I knew about the Bray tax bill and sale but I hadn't kept up to speed with McAllister. For a man who likes to proclaim his green credentials and his work for the community, it doesn't appear to include biking.

cooldad

Because he's a d1ck. Doesn't excuse people messing on his land though. For years it was just a regular rumbling and low level friction, but it's escalated. Hopefully will calm down a bit, providing other d1cks don't randomly dig and p1ss him off more.

ricky_h-2

It would have been helpful if the traditions of the Brays before him had somehow been protected prior to the sale but I guess big Jim wouldn't have paid up if he was legally restricted. Perhaps if he didn't take such a truculent approach with some of the locals, they might support his redevelopment plans at Dunsfold. But he can afford it as he says.

cooldad

The only agreement was on official footpaths and bridle ways. The trails were always unofficial and just ignored/accepted most of the time.

And sadly his development plans at Dunsfold have been approved.