Hills can be enjoyed by everyone – custodians (From Ledbury Reporter)
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Hills can be enjoyed by everyone – custodians
11:50am Tuesday 17th April 2012 in Ledbury By Neil Watts
THE Malvern Hills can be enjoyed by all if used sensibly and responsibly, that is the message from their custodians and the county council.
With the presence of mountain bikes on the hills recently a subject of great debate on the letters pages of your Malvern Gazette, both the Malvern Hills Conservators and Worcestershire County Council have outlined how those taking to the great outdoors can co-exist.
Kevin Oliver, the county council’s countryside access manager, said the authority has responsibility for the management of recorded public rights of way but some specific responsibilities were shared with the Conservators.
He said: “In the vast majority of circumstances, different users can happily share and enjoy public bridleways, provided they behave sensibly and considerately.
“Simple steps can be taken such as walkers looking and listening out for cyclists and cyclists slowing down and sounding their bell as they approach walkers.”
Ian Rowat, director of the Conservators, said: “The message we give out in our code of conduct is that cyclists should give way to other users and the British Camp is an ancient monument with no bridleways and the lower path from Blackhill to the Wyche on the Herefordshire side is cycle and horserider free.”
He added: “All bridleways are marked on an Ordnance Survey map and I suggest those with an interest in this topic look closely at the map. We have often been asked to mark the bridleways, I once calculated that there would be 82 signposts on the hills and 88 on the commons.”
For more information on public rights of way, go online to worcestershire.gov.uk/countryside and follow the ‘Interactive Maps’ link.
Comments(12)
mudmad
says...
5:59pm Tue 17 Apr 12
pudniw_gib
says...
6:11pm Tue 17 Apr 12
As for access; though there are bridleways on the Hills there is free access for horse riders on the Hills as of right, so should the Conservators attempt to curtail cycling they may run into trouble as every path on the Hills could be considered a bridleway.
BadgerMash
says...
11:47pm Tue 17 Apr 12
We need radical change on this issue from all parties involved. - not just woolly statements from the local authorities. Us residents have to accept that there will continue to be cyclists on the Hills in some appropriate places. The local authorities need to accept that they will have to enforce existing regulations as well as some, probably expensive, revisions as a result of the increasing seriousness of the situation. Mountain bikers need to accept that the free for all of the last few years is over and they need to limit their activities to certain areas, and stay away from paths that they should not be using.
email@tonyblack.co.uk
says...
2:23pm Wed 18 Apr 12
This is absolutely incorrect. A bridleway is a legally defined right of way and any thoroughfare that has been delineated as a bridleway will be clearly marked as such on an Ordnance Survey map.
The only confusion about what is and isn't a bridleway on the hills is caused by cyclists ignorance of path status and the conservators obstinate refusal to mark paths and enforce bylaws on the hills.
pudniw_gib
says...
8:29pm Wed 18 Apr 12
I am not going to stop riding on the Hills where I like.... I have never had a bad moment with walkers and stay off muddy bits. If the Conservators want to chase me off they can try and catch me if they like :-)
BadgerMash
says...
10:17pm Wed 18 Apr 12
mudmad
says...
5:51pm Thu 19 Apr 12
pudniw_gib
says...
6:00pm Thu 19 Apr 12
email@tonyblack.co.uk
says...
9:09pm Thu 19 Apr 12
BadgerMash
says...
10:06pm Thu 19 Apr 12
BadgerMash
says...
4:51pm Sun 22 Apr 12
Just on my way out for a walk on the "Cycle Free" path from the Wyche to Black Hill. I wonder how many speed-freaks I'll have to leap out of the way of today.
BadgerMash says...
1:36pm Tue 17 Apr 12
After dark, cyclists on the Hills adopt a very aggressive strategy, using blinding high-powered headlamps and travelling a very high speeds downhill. Presumably we shall have to wait for a death or two before this matter is properly addressed?
The "bridleway" designations for paths on the Hills applied to donkeys carrying Victorian invalids at walking pace - not to high-speed aluminium racing machines peddled by armoured and helmeted athletes. Also many of the paths designated as bridleways are far too narrow to allow safe passage of both wheeled traffic and walkers.
I have had no injuries or inconvenience and felt under no threat as a result of sharing the Hills with horse riders, flyers of hang-gliders or model aircraft and in the winter even the occasional skier. All of these people seem to know what parts of the Hills are suitable for their activities and which are not.
I sincerely hope that very soon we shall be able to share appropriate areas of the Hills with cyclists in the same safe and unthreatening way that we do with so many other users and that this change will come about as a result of preemptive action by the cyclists, the Conservators and the County - not as a reaction to what is , at present , an inevitable, but avoidable tragedy.