Steve, John, Chris and Pete installed a new wicket gate at the top of Hill Houses to replace a narrow gate which was difficult to open and had a dangerous latch sticking out. It is now usable but we do need to build up the ground under the gate over the large stone.
Category: General Chat
Work party open up new route
A group of us met on a cold winters day to open up a bridleway that is on maps but had disappeared and was no longer used. The council have put a lovely new gate in off the road but there was no clear route. Well armed with brush cutters, loppers, chain saw we cleared the route K from the road down to where it joins an existing track (see below map). This is now usable and hopefully will not get too wet. We will come back and put way marker posts up in due course.
We also started work on the new permissive route (P2) which joins route K to route J and avoids the road. This route is not yet usable as there is a very wet patch where we plan to put in a drainage pipe. We hope to do this as soon as ground has hopefully dried up a little more.
Watch this space for updates and info on work parties.
Shropshire Council outdoor recreation survey 2013
To help improve Shropshire Councils services they undertake an annual outdoor recreation satisfaction survey and they would like to hear from us. In these days of stringent financial measures your responses will help them identify key areas for maintenance and development.
The survey should only take about 15 minutes and is in three parts:
Part 1 is about Rights of Way (footpaths and bridleways maintained by Shropshire Council)
Part 2 is about Parks, play areas and countryside sites managed by Shropshire Council
Part 3 asks for details about yourself.
You can fill in either or both parts 1 and 2, but please complete part 3.
Below is a link to their short questionnaire.
The closing date for responses is 31st March 2013.
Facebook Page
We now have a Facebook page. Many thanks to Tanya for putting this together.
This has already proved a great way to get more people to know about the Clee View Bridleways Group and to promote our Quiz/Curry Night fund raising event on 9th Nov. We have had new people from both within the area and nearby get in-touch All are welcome to come and help us by attending events, helping at work parties, providing sponsorship/donations or attending our meetings. We look to meeting with our new supports soon.
Website Updates
I have made some updates/improvements to the website.
The list of route letters now only appears when you select the Map page.
I have added a list which will always show the latest 5 new post items.
Support Your Local Bridleways page is now Public so that people can now sign on as members.
silvington/cleeton
Well done peter for dealing with the gate onto Silvington, works well and thank you. Feel like doing the same on the gate at the end of the old road (before it goes into fields)on new Cleeton BW. This needs the same as catch is very low so difficult. Well done working party at Prescott looks brilliant.
Promotion of Our Activities
A poster has been created to try to encourage more help/involvement from local riders with the theme “Your Bridleways Need You”. Click here for poster
We are also hoping to have an article in the Cleobury Clarion. The editor has been in-touch to see when we are next having a work party so he can take some pictures and put together an article.
Letter To Rights Of way Office
I sent this to Phil Betts today (phil.betts@shropshire.gov.uk), perhaps someone else might like to reiterate the message
Hi Phil,
I am writing to you as I am a horse rider in the Cleobury Mortimer/ Clee Hill area.
I have been riding regularly in the area for 30 years.
Firstly I wanted to thank you for covering the wood planks on Titford Bridge. It is now much better and safe in all weathers.
However the situation on the length of The Jack Mytton Way that I rode this week is not so good.
I am referring to the bottom end of Cramer Gutter in Oreton, between points 10 and 11 on your map of the Jack Mytton Way Route 8.
I know that you are aware that this area can be boggy ( I notice that you mention it in the leaflet). However in the last few weeks it has become treacherous and I honestly believe that it is very possible that someone could have a bad accident at the gate because it is so boggy.
It is as bad as I have ever known it to be now, despite the dry conditions everywhere else.
I know the Jack Mytton Way is a flagship path for Shropshire, but it is badly let down at this point, and if I was a visitor riding the path it would make me think twice about riding any other part of the route.
A local resident is of the opinion it is only a question of clearing the drainage channels that run next to the path, as the area always used to be much drier when the drains were running.
Perhaps you are in a position to do something, particularly as it is a long standing problem that could be easily fixed?
I look forward to hearing from you
Regards
Clare Ratcliff
And this is the reply I got on the same day!
Dear Ms Ratcliff
Thank you for raising this issue with Phil. As Access Maintenance Team
Leader it is more appropriate for me to respond to your concerns which is
why Phil has passed this to me. We share your concerns and specified what
work was needed here this winter with a local contractor who knows how the
drainage of this area works and how it can be fixed. Our advice is that it
is more complicated than clearing a few drains and some more extensive
works are needed. Ideally we would have started this work in this recent
dry period, but unfortunately our funding for this type of project was
removed due to the recent spending cuts. This is not to say that this will
not happen this year, but we are undergoing a team restructure of staff and
budgets, and until this is done I have no defined funds to carry out this
work. I am hoping that this situation will become more clear during June
and I will then know what funds we have available for this and similar
types of work.
In essence, we know what needs doing here and we know that it must be done
in the driest period of the year. We now just need the funds to continue.
I trust this information is of help and fingers crossed that we get some
funds to carry out the necessary work.
Regards
Richard Knight
Subscribe to website
I have added a new feature to notify people by email whenever the website is updated with new information.
General Chat Posts
This area is for any general comments or information that members want to post onto the website and that is not linked to a route that is already listed under the Bridleways heading.