Ramblers – what have they ever done for us??
OK, so I’m trying to sound a bit contentious here, which in light of the kind words of appreciation from Les recently on our post about the Mountain Bike Code of Conduct sounds a bit harsh.
It’s just an attempt to draw attention to a news article in the Surrey News about the work the Surrey branch of the Ramblers have done (and will be doing) to restore and maintain some 2000 miles of local footpaths and bridleways. This is work we all benefit from, not just while we are mountain biking on bridleways but also by keeping the countryside in an open and accessible condition for us all to enjoy.
During 2011 the volunteers at the Ramblers have contributed to upgrading and re-launching the Surrey section of the Greensand Way which stretches across Haslemere and Kent. I’m not sure if it is open to mountain bikers but greensand in general is the material that makes up much of the fast draining network of trails across our favourite Surrey Hills, including Leith and Holmbury.
I applaud the work of the Ramblers (and of course, mountain bike specific organisations) which put in so much effort to open up and maintain our local countryside. It’s a busy area and the more we all try to get along the more enjoyable it will be for everyone.
About the author
Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.
Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.
An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.
If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.
There are 5 comments on ‘Ramblers – what have they ever done for us??’
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Dave says:
Everything I can find on “Greensand Way” points to it being footpath only.
However, it’s good to see anything positive about rights of way being maintained or re-opened.
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Posted on January 4, 2012 at 5:37 pm
John R says:
. . . and there’s the aqueducts!
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Posted on January 4, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Matt says:
Hi Dave, I’ve had a look at the Greensand Way on the Surrey CC website and we actually ride quite a lot of it!! It’s not exclusively footpath from what I can see.
If you look at Map 5 and Map 6 in the link above you can see it takes in Wolvens, the ascent to Leith Tower and if I’m reading the rather low res maps correctly it takes in The Mother to Holmbury and the main route to Holmbury summit, parts of Pitch etc.
And who’d have thought Wolvens means ‘foul or muddy’!?
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Posted on January 5, 2012 at 4:50 pm
Dave says:
Hi Matt,
Hadn’t actually looked at it in details as the SCC site “implied” it to be footpath. Comparing the route with what I have on Tracklogs (OS) some of it would be ride-able but there would be a lot of tricky links as well.
So I sit corrected.
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Posted on January 5, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Matt says:
Not so much corrected as clarified Dave!!
It’s definitely not billed as anything other than a walking route, which I guess technically is true as you can’t ride the whole thing. But as I say, bits of it (quite important bits) are actually open to us and we legally ride them most weeks.
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Posted on January 5, 2012 at 11:58 pm