Swinley Forest News
Renew your Swinley Forest Cycle Permit
by Jon Lucas, 28 Mar 06.
At the end of this month your permits to cycle in Swinley Forest will expire, and we would like to invite you to apply for a new one. The cost of a permit is the same as last year at £15. As in previous years children who are under 16 do not require a permit as they are deemed to be their parents/guardians responsibility whilst in the Forest.
Remember that buying a permit gives you the Public Liability Insurance that the landowner requires you to have to ride on the land. It also goes towards the cost of the forest rangers who provide such an important service, and who will offer assistance to you and your bike in any way they can should you get into difficulties.
Your permit fee also helps to provide materials and equipment for trail maintenance and improvements to the singletrack.
How to get a Permit?
Enclosed is an application form for you to buy your permit and this can be done in several ways by:
- Sending the completed form to: The Permit Secretary, Swinley Forest Cycling, 100 Harvard Road, Owlsmoor, Sandhurst, Berks GU47 0UR
- Going to the Look Out Discovery Centre and buying one at the Bike Hire Centre which is open every day over Easter and at weekends.
- Going to any of these shops:
IBike, 212 Dukes Ride, Crowthorne
Pedal On, 60 Bishopswood Road, Tadley, Hants
Mountain Trax, Wyevale Garden Centre, Heathlands Rd, Wokingham
Mountain High, Reading Rd, Pangbourne
Wellington Trek, Station Parade, Sunningdale
You can also download permit application forms from the website or collect from The Look Out Discovery Centre reception.
Motorcycles
We continue to monitor illegal motor cycling in Swinley Forest and once again we would urge you to report any incidents to the police for their action. We are continuing to press all the parties involved for action to stamp this out and would ask that you contact your local MP if you live in the Bracknell area to voice your concerns by writing to: Andrew MacKay M.P., House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA, or by e-mailing; mackaya@parliament.uk.
We do need as many permit holders as possible to report any incidents, as only by making a continual nuisance of ourselves will action be taken. It would be very useful if you could make a note of the registration of any vehicle which you see depositing motorbikes and riders around the area and, of course, the registrations of any motorbikes themselves.
Forest operations
Forest operations for this season are just about complete and work on reinstatement of the forest roads will start in April. If you are unhappy about any of the forest roads or consider that there is a safety issue please e-mail us and we will pass on your concerns to Crown Estate. The final section of widening between Caesar's Camp and the Sandhurst Ranges is in progress to create a wildlife corridor and work will soon be complete. Following the thinning work last year, between Crowthorne Wood and Windsor Ride, which has affected the Crowthorne Highway leisure trail, reinstatement and improvement to this singletrack will start soon.
Trail maintenance
You will have noticed recently that we have continued to resurface and improve a number of sections of singletrack of which the first phase is now complete. This work has been carried out by members of both Gorrick MBC and BOB MBC. A number of permit holders have indicated their willingness to help, and as much as we would like to have open days when anybody can help out, due to Health & Safety issues, the numbers of volunteers involved has to be controlled. But if you are keen to get involved please contact BOB MBC in the first instance.
ONCE AGAIN WE MUST POINT OUT THAT IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO CARRY OUT ANY DIGGING OR CREATE YOUR OWN TRACKS WITHIN THE FOREST, AS THIS WILL CERTAINLY JEOPARDISE ANY IMPROVEMENTS TO THE TRACK NETWORK IN THE FUTURE AND CAN HAVE SERIOUS SAFETY IMPLICATIONS. THE RANGERS ARE OBLIGED TO REMOVE UNAUTHORISED CONSTRUCTIONS OR TRACKS WHICH IS A WASTE OF EVERYONE'S TIME AND EFFORT.
WHEN RIDING PLEASE AVOID SHORT CUTTING THE SINGLE TRACK, AS THERE ARE PLENTY OF FIRE ROADS IF YOU WANT TO RIDE IN A STRAIGHT LINE!
Cycling events
Just one cycling event will take place in the forest this year on Sunday 30 April 2006 when Gorrick will be holding the annual Sagem 100 Enduro. Please take a look at the website if you are interested in taking part or want to find out more.
The Forest is also a popular venue for sponsored rides and walks, so watch out for these as well as various orienteering and running events, although none of these will take place within the Expert Mountain Bike Area.
Contacting us
We will be upgrading the Swinley Forest Cycling section of the website this month and will have regular Swinley news features and information. We would also like to keep you up to date with any issue so please provide an e-mail address, either by filling in the section of the application form or by registering online on the Mailing List.
Please enjoy your cycling in the Forest and if you need to contact us about any issue then please do so as below:
Email: permits@gorrick.com
Or write to: The Permit Secretary, Swinley Forest Cycling, 100 Harvard Road, Owlsmoor, Sandhurst, Berks GU47 0UR
01 Dec 24
26 Jan 25
