I had the Sayers Croft Family Volunteers out yesterday on the top of Pitch Hill. We were carrying on with a task we started earlier in the year, clearing some of the tree re-growth, that if left, will eventually obscure the view. Unfortunately our lowest turnout, only 3! But a great effort and still managed to get a fair bit done.

I’m inviting anyone who’d like to come along and help out to our next planned morning on 19th December on Holmbury Hill. There’s a small patch of  heather in the Disabled Access Track that needs to be weeded and cleared, and hopefully if enough people come we can also start to tackle some of the weeds in the top pond.

You don’t have to be a Friend of the Hurtwood, anyone is welcome even if you can only stop for an hour or so. Please bring secateurs, loppers and gloves. We will supply hot drinks, and possibly a mince pie or two!

Meet at No. 1 car park 10 am.

The new final section of BKB has been completed, and is now open. Please respect the new fragile surface!

Felling work has now started on Holmbury Hill, the attached map shows the current working area. Signs have been erected to show the area as well. Please, for your own safety,  keep at least 100 metres from any machinery.

Please also note, due to the recent bad weather, the planned closure of No.9 car park, will not be happening for the moment.

The main groundwork has now been finished, but work to the surface, to make it durable, will be ongoing throughout November. If the weather is favourable, we aim to have it open by the beginning of December.

If you’re a biker and you wish to enjoy this new trail, PLEASE do not be tempted to ride it until the surface is finished. It’s taken a lot of time and money to get to this stage and it would be a shame to ruin everyones hard work, just for the sake of a few more weeks wait. Thanks

If you’d like to help out with volunteering on the trail please contact us here mtb@hurtwoodcontrol.co.uk

It’s now been decided to keep the trail open as much as possible over this weekend (31st Oct – 1st Nov). Just take note that when you get to any red and white tape you will need to slow down, as work may be  happening there.

Yesterday, Ian from CTC and Mei from Extreme Tracks, arrived on site to start work on the final section of BKB. The finished trail will be longer and avoid conflict with the bridleway. The new ending will be where the existing bridleway exits onto the Ewhurst road, which also happens to be the safest point, giving the best lines of site for on coming traffic. The current ending will be put beyond use as soon as the new trail is finished. I’ll keep you posted as we go.

The Autumn newsletter is now out. If you’re a Hurtwood Friend you should have recieved a copy either via email or through the post.

Some thieving ****** has stolen our trailer over the weekend of  3rd,4th October. This is a major pain, especially as a week later a load of flytip was dumped in a car park, and has taken two of us, two hours to clear up, as opposed to 20 mins on my own!

The Trailer

I’ve just realised it’s been nearly two months since I posted anything on here. When I initially thought of the Blog, it was really so I could post some of the more interesting things that have been going on, but, frankly, nothing very interesting has. This doesn’t mean that not much has been happening, far from it. These months are probably some of the busiest, as I’m out cutting grass and strimming all the rides and paths. The Birch re-growth on the Hill fort has been sprayed and most of the Japanese Knotweed. We’ve been having fly-tip on average once a week, mostly tree surgeons, which though takes time to clear up, at least we can burn it. The sunny weather in June brought out a few illicit campers, which I’m afraid we can’t accommodate. The nearest official camping ground is the Holmbury St Mary Youth Hostel  YHA Holmbury

I’ve been out with four different school parties from South/East London which has been great fun, and never fails to be an eye opener! And to add a little twist, I’ve also taken out a group of teachers interested in using The Hurtwood as a case study for a new qualification.

As I ‘m sure you’re all bored of the fly-tip pictures, here’s something a little different.