In this issue:

BHS head visits PHP

TRO now in place on the Roych

New bridleway near Ringinglow

National Trust open routes for horses

NewsletterIssue 9May 2014

Diary dates:

JulyBHS elections (see page 4)

17 AugustPleasure ride from Alport

Vehicles now banned on Chapel Gate The Peak Park Traffic Regulation Order banning 4x4s and motor bikes from Chapel Gate came into effect on 22 May. This means an end to motor vehicles damaging the track and the restoration of peace and quiet above the Edale Valley. It also means an end to horse riders having to contend with danger from offroad vehicles on this route. Many thanks to all the riders who took part in the public consultation and supported the TRO.

new bridleway along Froggatt EdgeBHS Access Officer Ben Benest is reporting great progress on the Eastern Moors: the new concessionary bridleway along the top of Curbar Edge and Froggatt Edge is now open to horse-riders.

It provides a 2.25 mile long ‘there and back’ route from Curbar Gap where a new bridle gate has been installed near the car park. This is a lovely ride with spectacular views over Derbyshire from the gritstone edges.

There is more to come. In August a completely new section of bridle path will be created which will link the Froggatt Edge route to the A625 public road near the Grouse pub, giving access to existing bridleways at White Edge and Totley Moor. Eventually, this route will also link to new concession bridleways planned for the Longshaw estate.

Most of the bridleway work planned by the Eastern Moors Partnership has now been completed with new gates and surface repairs done on Totley Moor, Big Moor and near the reservoir on Ramsley Moor. Getting the routes open has been the priority and the next stage will see installation of more way-marking posts and mounting blocks at the gates.

The last link in the chain of concessionary bridleways on the Eastern Moors will be a short section across the southeast corner of Big Moor which enables riders to by-pass a dangerous crossroads on the Baslow Road. Once this section is completed (maybe next autumn) there will be no padlocked bridle gates left and the days of permit riding with keys will be over.

Ben Benest says: “please do get out there and enjoy a hack along Froggatt Edge: it’s mainly suitable for a gentle walk but there are some sections where you can trot or canter. Parking for individual horseboxes or trailers is possible on the highway in Curbar village, just a short ride away, but riding clubs will have to make special arrangements to find parking for a group of boxes/trailers”.

Eastern Moors:

National park ranger, Pete Bush, asks all riders in Bakewell who use the Bridleway between Holme Lane and the Monsal Trail to be observant.

An unknown individual keeps removing all the nuts from the gates.

Apart from wasting a lot of time and money it is also dangerous. The gate is likely to fall apart when someone tries to open it!

So, keep your eyes open and let Pete know if you see anything or notice that a gate has again been attacked by the ‘nutter’.

Call Pete on: 07585 903681

Look out for the......

NUTTER!

Bridleway

Descending Trail

Ascending Trail

Access Point1

The work on the new bridleway through Lady Cannings Plantation near Ringinglow is now complete and bridle gates and mounting blocks have been installed at the entrances.If you are boxing in to ride in the woods we would not advise using the parking spaces directly opposite the track as the access has some pretty horrendous humps which could be difficult to negotiate. Provided you can cope with a short stretch on the road we would advise parking in the car park on Fulwood lane at the top of Porter Clough (next to the Alpaca Farm) and riding back to Sheephill Road.

A longer ride would be to park at the other end of the Houndkirk BOAT, ride to Lady Cannings Bridleway and return via the bridleway link to Houndkirk.

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=428500&y=383500&z=120&sv=ringinglow&st=3&tl=Map+of+Ringinglow,+Sheffield+[City/Town/Village]&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf

Further work is scheduled to complete the mountain bike route and to put in a loop for disabled riders from the Riding for the Disabled centre at Smelting’s Farm.

The ride through the woods is delightful and thanks go to Sheffield City Council for creating a safe environment for horse riders.

Lady Cannings Bridleway

Friends of the Peak District new offroading policy Friends of the Peak District has hardened its policy on offroading. Previously it took the position that 4x4s and motor bikes should be excluded only from green lanes which are particularly badly affected by offroading. It is now calling for offroading to be banned everywhere in the National Park.

Long CausewayThe Peak Park has not yet been able to implement the decision it made in September last year to put a permanent Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) on Long Causeway. This is because the Causeway currently has on it a temporary TRO from Derbyshire County Council (banning only 4x4s, not motor bikes) pending the completion of repairs. The difficulty has been that highway law says there can be only one TRO on a route at any one time. DCC has now announced that it will get on with the repairs this summer and revoke the DCC Order in time for PDNPA to get its own TRO in place by September. If PDNPA does not implement its Order by September 2014, the law says that it will have to start the TRO process all over again. There is nothing so true in the realm of rights of way than the old saying that ‘the law is an ass’. The DCC repairs will no longer include repairs to the revetment designed to make it safe for heavy vehicles.

RoychThe Roych is now permanently closed to motor vehicles. The Peak Park Traffic Regulation Order banning all types of motor vehicle was originally agreed in July 2013 but held up by DCC repairs. The Order was confirmed by PDNPA in January and is now finally in place. PHP is grateful to PDNPA Members for their determination in the face of vigorous and sometimes abusive opposition to the TRO from the offroading lobby.

The Roych

New legislation on offroading now on the agendaThe campaign to change the law on offroading has been gathering pace and is having an impact. PHP and other organisations nationwide concerned about green lanes being trashed by 4x4s and motor bikes have been pressing for clauses to be added to the Deregulation Bill which would classify all unsealed unclassified county roads (UUCRs) as restricted byways. UUCRs are in effect green lanes but they are not on the Definitive Map as footpaths, bridleways, BOATs or restricted byways. On the OS map they are usually shown as Other Routes with Public Access (ORPAs). There are over 3,000 miles of green lanes like this in England and the unsurfaced routes in the Peak District being used by 4x4s and motor bikes are of this type.

The effort to amend the Deregulation Bill is paying dividends. The campaign made sure that the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny committee which examined the Bill at the end of last year received more evidence on the problem of motor vehicle use of green lanes than on any other aspect of the Bill. The Committee took notice, recognised that there is a serious problem and in its published report called on the government to take action and find a solution.

Next up was a debate in March in the House of Commons Committee which examined the Bill. The debate showed that there is broad recognition in Parliament of the need for action on green lanes.

The Government’s response so far has been to commit to ‘full public consultation’. Its current plan is to consult by setting up a stakeholder working group made up of offroading and anti-offroading interests in the hope that such a group will be able find a consensus solution to motor vehicle use of green lanes - an outcome which is about as likely as pigs suddenly becoming able to fly.

We are opposing the proposed consultation method as such a group is doomed to failure, will just waste precious time and it falls far short of the ‘full public consultation’ promised in the Government Response to the Report of the Joint Committee on the Draft Deregulation Bill published in January. The campaign will therefore be pressing on with its attempts to amend the Bill as it goes through Parliament.

One thing is for sure: new legislation on offroading is back on the political agenda.

BBC Inside Out covers offroading The BBC East Midlands Inside Out regional news magazine covered offroading in the Peak District in a broadcast on 3 March. The programme featured a number of the lanes in the Derbyshire Dales. The footage was forwarded by PHP to key supporters in Parliament in time for the debate on offroading which took place in House of Commons Deregulation Bill Committee on 25 March (see above).

William Reddaway – Long RiderPHP organised an event in Bakewell in May when William Reddaway came to talk about his 2500 mile journey round England. William and his horse, Strider, took 7 months to complete the trip, and William became a full member of the Long Riders Guild as a result. William and Strider visited 30 historic cathedrals, with Strider being invited into some of them. William entertained the audience with stories from the adventure, but also stressed the amount of work and planning which is needed to undertake such an expedition. It was an inspiring talk. The event raised £500 for William’s charities, Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre and the Family Holiday Association. So far William has raised over £60k. Special thanks to Torne Valley (Bakewell) and Carrs Billington (Bakewell) who donated raffle prizes. And many thanks to everyone who came along to hear William.

Horses win war against gamersA long-running attempt by war gamers to get planning permission for their activities in Parkers Wood near Brimington in Chesterfield has been defeated. The war games involved people dressed up as soldiers shooting pellet guns and throwing smoke grenades in woodland adjacent to horse pasture and a livery stables. As well as noise and smoke from explosions, the activity was resulting in plastic pellets shooting across a track used by riders and falling on grazing land.

Chesterfield council refused planning permission but the gamers appealed against the decision and a public hearing was held by a planning inspector. Ben Benest, BHS Access Officer for North Derbyshire, attended the hearing and supported the council’s case with evidence about the potential harm to horses and the real possibility of accidents. Ben argued that none of the usual mitigations that can be done for fireworks on Bonfire Night are practical for war games lasting most of the day every weekend.

Much to the relief of local horse owners and riders, the planning inspector dismissed the appeal.

You can contact Ben Benest on 0790 307 8861 or 4johnbenest@gmail.com

Visit by British Horse Society Access DirectorWhen three members of PHP attended the BHS access national conference last year, we invited Mark Weston BHS Director for Access to visit us in the Peak Park so we could show him some of the problems we face.

It was a glorious spring day when Mark came up from BHS HQ, so he could fully appreciate the beauty of the Peak District and contrast this with the devastation wreaked on some routes by off roading: we took him to Brushfield and to Limer Rake in Staffordshire. He could see for himself that these routes have been made unrideable.

Mark met members of Peak Horsepower, the two horse rider representatives on the Local Access Forum, and Ben Benest the BHS Access and Bridleways Officer for the area. We had a very full discussion of the issues. Mark listened carefully to our concerns, and we very much hope that his visit will help us in our campaign to influence and improve BHS policies and action on Rights of Way.

Prior to his visit we sent Mark a summary of what Peak Horsepower has been doing and what it has achieved in the four years since it was set up. He was suitably impressed.

Mark Weston (left) and Ben Benest with Ben’s dog Bramble

PHP Committee Member standing for BHS BoardWe have persuaded PHP Committee member Diane Tranter to stand for election to the Board of the BHS. The elections are in July. We hope she gets elected as riders need as many people on the BHS Board as possible who really understand the access and safety issues faced by grassroots members who hack out in the countryside.

If you are a BHS member, please consider voting for Di. If you are not a member, please consider joining in time to be able to vote

Sarah Burnley has organised annual long distance rides for fellow Exmoor pony owners for the past six years. She recruits her fellow riders from the Exmoor pony forum and it’s not hard to see why these excursions are proving popular, with previous rides taking place all over the country, across some of the most breath-taking and scenic countryside in the UK. Last year’s ride was a 45 mile circular route around the Peak National Park from Tideswell to Edale then onto High Peak and back to Tideswell. Severe weather conditions meant shortening the route by about 10 miles but Sarah says it was still a challenge for both pony and rider to navigate varying and unfamiliar terrain. The ride took in some of the long-distance Kinder Loop developed by PHP. If you ride an Exmoor and would like to know about this year’s ride, you can contact Sarah at: Sarah.Burnley@capita.co.uk

Exmoor ponies tackle the Peak

PLEASURE RIDE AUGUST 17THWe will be having another joint pleasure ride with EGB in August. We will be meeting at Rheinstor Cottage, Alport, by kind invitation of Charlie and Charlotte Gilbert. There will be two routes of approximately 6 miles and 12 miles along bridleways and quiet lanes. More details to follow but please put the date in your diaries now!

DCC rejects BOAT claim on Black Harry LaneSince the last issue of the newsletter Derbyshire County Council has completed its investigations into a number of BOAT claims. It has decided that Black Harry Lane, Great Longstone, is a bridleway and that Mires Road, which joins Black Harry Lane at Black Harry gate, is part BOAT and part restricted byway. If these decisions are confirmed at public inquiry they will make Mires Road a dead end for motor vehicles and see the end of 4x4s and motor bikes on all but one of the tracks we use for the annual Black Harry ride. The public inquiry into the BOAT claim on Black Harry Lane will be on 21/22 October. There is no date yet for an inquiry into the Mires Road BOAT claim.

Three other BOAT claims over riding routes in the Longstone Edge area (Bramley Lane, Peak Pasture and the route from Longstone Edge down to Rowland) will be decided by DCC later this year. We expect each of them to end up in a public inquiry, probably in 2015.

The National Trust have opened up some concessionary cycle and horse riding routes at Longshaw. The two main drives are open - see map for details.

The routes split when they get to Longshaw Lodge, with horses just using the rear drive and connecting via the route down the side of the rhododendrons. Cyclists only can use a dismount route in front of the Lodge because it’s too narrow, too busy, and has very low yew trees, for horses,

The NT have put in Bridleway gates, or replaced some of the white gates. The routes are also way marked across the Estate. There will be mounting blocks installed at some of the gates in the near future.

A connection towards the Green drive that goes up the Burbage Valley is on hold for this year until the forestry work there is completed.

The National Trust has made this concession to horse riders for which we should all be extremely grateful. The Longshaw Estate is a very popular venue. The drives are not too strenuous a challenge so you may find elderly walkers and families with young children along your ride. Please pass them at walk and don’t be tempted to canter unless you can see your way ahead is completely clear.

Concessions can be withdrawn!

Concessionary Bridleways at Longshaw

© National Trust 2014. National Trust is an independent registered charity, number 205846Parking:If you are arriving in a box or trailer, please park in the car park at Wooden Pole. The main car park is far too busy. Its easy to connect to the routes from Wooden Pole. The paths will be way marked and the maps amended to highlight this as the place to park. Longshaw is extremely popular. On fine weekends, bank holidays etc the car park will not be easy to negotiate, so pick your time to visit.

www.peakhorsepower.co.uk

Contacting PHPpeakhorsepowersecretary@hotmail.co.uk

PHP CommitteeWendy Neilson (Chair)Sue Dunk (Treasurer)Sue Mayer (Secretary)Mark FidlerCharlotte GilbertChristine Harding (DPBW)Julia HeestermanHilary StephensPatricia Stubbs (off-roading)Diane TranterAlly TurnerNicola Tym (HVRC)Louisa Wilson (SPEED)Margaret Slater (MADBAG)

Representatives of all the riding clubs and groups affiliated to PHP receive agendas and minutes and can also attend committee. meetings.

AlwaysA

AlwaysDial 101Please remember to report to the police any dangerous incidents you see involving offroad vehicles. And please report any use of bridleways by motor bikes, quads and 4x4s. Taking a motor vehicle onto a bridleway is illegal. Just dial 101. Always ask for an incident number. Without one your complaint doesn’t make it into the statistics.

Welcome to: MADBAGThe recently formed Matlock and District Bridleways Access Group, which goes under the wonderful acronym MADBAG, is the latest Peak District bridleway group to affiliate to PHP. We think that this means that every bridleway group in the Peak is now affiliated to PHP. This is excellent news as it gives us maximum clout when we are pressing for improved access and safety for riders.

Black Harry rideThe PHP Black Harry ride is becoming an annual event and we plan to run it again this autumn. Meanwhile, this is what one of our members sent to us about taking part in the ride we held last autumn.

‘This was the second time that I rode the Black Harry ride. The previous year we did nearly all the ride in cloud so this year I was hoping to actually be able to appreciate the fantastic views. The weather was kind to us as it was mild and it didn’t rain. I was one of the first to arrive at the venue and found the parking easy. The route was lovely going and the canter up the Taylor Lane track was just amazing. There were some lovely people opening gates; some part of PHP but, interestingly enough, one gate was manned by a friendly group of 4x4 enthusiasts who seemed determined to give a good impression. The beautiful views that you get from the ridge behind Great Longstone were incredible and one of the best features of the ride. We got back safely and in good time, feeling very pleased with ourselves and happy with the whole day. We even collected a rosette and a welcome Quality Street chocolate!’

Monksdale Lane, TideswellDCC has decided that the majority of Monksdale Lane is a bridleway.

It says one short section only is a BOAT. We expect the offroading organisations to challenge the DCC decision, which will lead to yet another public inquiry.

Police and Crime CommissionerThe Peak District Green Lanes Alliance (PDGLA) had a meeting in March with the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire and senior traffic officers. The agenda was the need for more vigorous enforcement action against illegal and dangerous offroading. There will be a follow up meeting with the Police Division which looks after the Derbyshire Dales. Always report any illegal offroading on bridleways, footpaths and restricted byways using the 101 telephone number. Also report any dangerous driving offroad. Always ask for a Police incident number. Unless there is an incident number, there is no record and nothing gets done. Anyone who feels that the Police have failed to deal with complaints in a professional manner should report this to the Commissioner. The Police Commissioner is Alan Charles. You can make complaints via www.derbyshire-pcc.gov.uk/Your-Views/Make-a-Complaint/Complaints.aspx

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