Steve, John, Ted, Chris, Clare and Colin met 12th June 2022 at Factory Farm to work out how best to improve the bridleway from Factory lane (D) to the Detton – Prescott Bridleway (C).
Colin and Clare have already done some clearance work but the lower section does get very wet and can be impassable by the gate just before the river crossing.
Work required –
Clear out ditch above the first gate (on right side going up the path).
Lift out the metal gate and clear the build up of soil (hopefully there will be some hard standing under this)
Replace gate (might move it over to left slightly away from ditch) and adjust to make it easier to use.
Put down stone (grade 75mm down) under the gate area
Install large diameter pipe (ideally 12″ concrete pipe) under gateway into field on right to take water from ditch down to the river. Estimate approx 4-5 m length.
Material dug out can be spread on bank (to right of path going up) above river.
If time/finance allows also look at clearing out ditch on right of path above second gate across the bridleway leading to owners horses field.
Look at existing bridleway gate above this second crossing to see if this can be made easier to use.
Colin and Clare will take responsibility for how to stop water flowing into their field (eg open concrete channel with grid) and supply materials for this.
Priority will be bottom section but if time allows will improve ditch on right further up the route.
Materials – Stone approx 32 tonnes. 5 off 12″concrete pipe (usually comes in 1m sections) Note we do have some 9″ plastic pipe in store if required.
Stone can be unloaded at Johns and then moved by dumper (bridge will take weight of dumper but not larger lorry). Should be able to get dumper down to path.
Machinery – Digger and dumper (Steve/John)
We will need a clearance work party prior to starting any digger work.
ACTION: Chris to chase Council for contribution of stone and pipes.
ACTION: Chris/John to review budget and see if we can fund this work.
John (Chairman), Chris, Jo, Sally, Philippa, Pete, Louise, Clare, Ted, Clare, Gill, Paula, Sandra, John, Clare, Matilda, Alison
Apologies:
Yvonne, Steve, Amelia, Julia
Previous AGM Minutes (see website):
These were approved by all attendees
Chairman’s Report:
Due to the pandemic and restrictions there were limited opportunities for any improvement projects. Small groups did manage to undertake some work including grass cutting and clearance work. A site meetings was held at Crammer Gutter to look at options to improve the route across the top of the field to meet the requirements of Natural England.
During 2021 the group committed over 44 hrs of volunteer work.
Thanks to all who helped and in particular John and Ted.
Accounts:
Balance as of 31st May 2022 is £576.22 During last 12 mths we had an income of £150 council P3 grant.
Officers:
Trustees – Chris proposed that all attending to be elected as Trustees (see Present for list of names, Seconded by Sally.
Chairman – John Sutton, Secretary/Treasurer – Chris Bargman
Proposed Ted, seconded John
The AGM was formally closed and the meeting then went on to discuss activities for 2022
Meeting 31st May 2022
Communications within Group
A Whatsapp group has been setup for the group. This can be used for members to share information on routes, work party dates, joint rides etc. Contact Clare Ratcliff to join the group.
We also have the website where meetings and work parties are communicated and a Facebook group which can be used to share information https://www.facebook.com/CleeViewBridleways/
BHS Bridleways Grant
Sally researched this grant from the BHS last year and started an application for Crammer Gutter but did not have all the details on costs to complete it. She has checked and it still appears to be available. We should consider this if we have any suitable projects. Thanks to Sally for doing this.
Kinlet Estate Bridleways and Access
Clare is in contact with the new owners and will continue with gentle persuasion to try to get some of the routes joined up. This could provide some excellent off-road rides for us to use.
Factory Lane (D) – Colin and Claire have done clearance work but needs improvements to drainage around the gate. Note: Factory Lane is slippy for hoses and is best used going uphill or dismount and use a stone mounting block at the bottom on right hand of lane. Thanks to Colin and Clare for clearing on their land and also for the motorised grass cutter which we had had repaired and are using.
ACTION: Sunday June 12th there will be a site meeting to work out how best to improve the drainage and come up with a plan and costs. Meet at Factory Farm (bottom of lane).
ACTION: Chris to contact council byways about support (possibly stone). In past they have said they would do work on this.
Nunnery Lane (K) – Work has previously been done but flooding has caused damage. It is usable but could be improved at gate and down to brook on common.
Opposite Nunnery (T)- Awkward to use because of gates and livestock.
ACTION: Anyone using this route to make a note of any problems .
Crammer Gutter (G) and (F) – Top is useable when dry but the gate at top end is difficult use. We have a draft specification for how the work on the Crammer Gutter field must be done from the Wildlife Trust. Natural England do not anything done that may dry the field.
The route to the common is usable (particularly as this area has been recently cleared). The main issue is after the gate and brook up onto the common. This needs some drainage improvement, possibly a ditch along the higher side of the path leading down to the brook and some stone. Might need a site visit to see best option (it will be difficult to get a digger to this area).
ACTION: Anyone using this route to look at what is needed to improve gate at Ed’s end. Does it need a new post/gate?
ACTION: Chris to contact SWT and inform them we are planning to work on this route and if there are able to help.
Hinton (A) – some trees have been blown over blocking the route. Not sure if these have been cleared.
ACTION: Anyone using this route to check and report back on what needs doing.
Keepers Cottage (R) – Needs a clearance work party. Will leave any major clearance until later (after main bird nesting).
Doctors Cottage (O) – Not useable as it is near impossible to get across the brook. This would be a major project.
ACTION: Chris to contact Byways to inform them that this route is impassable at the brook.
Cleeton Court (N) – Overgrown and concerns with Bridge
ACTION: Sally/Paula to check and report back.
Corner of Walters Lane – Gates difficult to use and does get very wet. Would be useful if it was easy to use to avoid the road at the crossroads.
ACTION: Add this to list for council Byways to look at.
Stottesdon (P) – Need to check on usability
ACTION: Anyone going this way to check and report back.
Use of bridleway routes in our area
ACTION: Please use Facebook, WhatsApp or email Chris to notify us all of any issues you may find with the bridleways in our area.
We are proposing to hold an open meeting combined with a short AGM for 2022. Suggested dates are Monday 23rd, Tuesday 24th, Monday 30th or Tuesday 31st May. There are also a number of routes that require some work and we need to organise some work parties.
Please let me know if you have any preferences for the date for our meeting and also if there is anything you would like added to the agenda.
John and Ted have been busy with the grass cutter and have cleared the bridleway (route R) near Keeper Cottage so you don’t have to ride right next to the barbed wire fence. Many thanks.
We are having a work party on Sunday 8th August at 10 am to clear the Hinton bridleway (route A). Need loppers, strimmer, chainsaw. Meet Hinton end. Please come along if you can.
We had a very wet site visit to look at work required on route F,G.
The bottom section going to Withies Bank is not too bad. The work done some years ago by the council is doing a good job but the drains do need some clearing out. As the land owner is not happy for us to do any work we need to approach the council to arrange for this to be done, possibly by Roddy Yapp who did the original work for the council.
The route across SWT nature reserve is not good particularly towards the top gate where there are some very deep boggy sections which would be dangerous to use.
We reviewed the proposal from SWT (done in 2107) and this still appears to be relevant and should improve the route considerably. Prior to our site visit Chris had contacted SWT plus council and NE. Council are happy so long as work does not cause issues to the other path on the field, SWT commented that this is a proposal and will need sign off from NE which they will need to obtain as the land owners.
We agreed to contact SWT, NE and Council and provide them with a report on our site visit and that we need these improvements done ASAP. We also agreed that we would start to pull together outline costs for the work to put into a grant application to the BHS. We will need an estimate for fencing costs. We agreed to contact local fencing contractors (e.g Kevin Phillips, Ant Harman) for an outline cost per metre.
During the visit some tweaks were also made to the gates (thanks to Ted who brought some tools).
Thanks to everyone who attended and got very wet. Clothes are still drying out.
John (Chairman), Chris, Jo, Sally, Philippa, Pete, Louise, Clare, Ted, Becky, Clare, Dan, Gemma
Apologies:
Yvonne, Steve, Gill, John, Sandra, Scilla
Previous AGM Minutes (see website):
These were approved by all attendees
Chairman’s Report:
Due to the pandemic and restrictions during 2020 and the first half of 2021 there were limited opportunities for any improvement projects. Small groups did manage to undertake some work including drainage and clearance work on route C (Detton – Prescott) and route A (Hinton) using stone we already had in store.
Thanks to all who helped and in particular John, Steve and Ted.
During 2020 the group committed over 28 hrs of volunteer work (not including meetings and informal work undertaken by individuals) plus 1hr digger work and 4hrs dumper work .
Accounts:
Balance as of 22nd June 2021 is £426.22. During last 12 mths we had an income of £150 council P3 grant.
Officers:
Trustees – Chris proposed that all attending to be elected as Trustees (see Present for list of names, Seconded by Sally.
Chairman – John Sutton, Secretary/Treasurer – Chris Bargman
Proposed Lou, Seconded Ted.
The AGM was formally closed and the meeting then went on to discuss activities for 2021.
Meeting 22nd June 2021
Communications within Group
It was proposed to set up a Whatsapp group for the group. This could be used for members to share information on routes, work party dates, joint rides etc. All agreed this was a good idea.
ACTION: Clare to set up a group and invite those attending to the group.
BHS Bridleways Grant
Sally provided information she has researched on a grant available from the BHS including examples of grants from other bridleway groups. Grants of up to £5k are turned around within 4 weeks, over this takes longer.
All agreed that we should consider applying for this grant and put together a suitable project ASAP.
ACTION – Gemma to try to get further information on availability of funds from her contact within the BHS and send this to Chris.
ACTION Chris to froward his contact details to Gemma
ACTION: All to consider their top 2 improvement projects for review
Kinlet Estate Bridleways and Access
Clare has contacted the new owners (Green Knight Estates) on behalf of the group to try to get a dialogue started on improvements and some better joining up of routes on the estate. This could provide some excellent off-road rides for us to use.
ACTION: All to look for any opportunities to encourage this initiative via any contacts they may have.
Possible Larger Projects for 2021 and Grant Application
Factory Lane (D) – Needs improvements to drainage and clearance work.
ACTION: John, Ted to arrange a meeting to look at route and work out what is needed and notify the date via Whatsapp. Possible Grant.
Nunnery Lane K – Work has previously been done but flooding has caused further damage. It is usable but could be improved.
Crammer Gutter (G) and (F) – We have a draft specification for how the work on the Crammer Gutter field must be done from the Wildlife Trust.
All agreed to hold a work party to look at the route in detail and come up with a plan and possible grant application to improve this route.
ACTION: Chris to contact SWT and inform them we are planning to work on this route and if there is anything else we need to do.
ACTION: John to contact Caroline (Natural England) to discuss work on wildlife trust field.
ACTION: Clare to contact Ed to let him know about the work party.
Crammer Gutter Work Party Friday 25th June 6:30pm
Can park at Pips and start from bottom of route and work up. Target is to work out what needs to do and approximate costs for work at the bottom end and top end (across SWT field).
Work Parties For Other Routes
Hinton (A) and Keepers Cottage (R)
ACTION: John and Ted to use our mower and notify date for clearance parties using Whatsapp
Doctors Cottage (O) – Overgrown and difficult to find/use.
Cleeton Court (N) – Overgrown and concerns with Bridge
ACTION: Sally to email Chris with photos of bridge to forward to Council
ACTION: Gemma/Dan to suggest date for work party and notify via Whatsapp.
Wheathill and Other Local P3 Groups
In past have had difficulties on responsibility for bridleways on border with Wheathill area. We suspect this group may no longer be active. A quick check showed that we are the only P3 Bridleways group in the local area (emphasising the importance of what we are doing). Could look at some of the routes going this way in future as they can provide some nice quiet riding.
