Redlands Trails

Hosepipe restrictions lifted

After rummaging through Sutton and East Surrey Water Company's delightfully last-century web site this morning, we were a bit confused about the hosepipe ban, which is still in effect despite the lifting of the drought order.

It turns out that from 8am tomorrow morning, the hosepipe restrictions will be lifted. apparently, they only applied to motorcars anyway, so all this time spent cleaning bikes with a brush and bucket when it was raining and cold, we could have just used a hose and been done ina  few minutes. Arrrgh!

Anyway, good news: if you live 'round the Dorking area and inside SEWC's remit, you can get busy with the hosepipe from 8am on Thursday.

Trail building, 14th January

  Trail building, 14th January 
  Originally uploaded by bent udder.

Jon, in the grey and black Race Face jacket, is standing on the new line here.

Lots of lovely sunshine yesterday. You can see how we moved the trail bed about two or three feet down the hilside, improving flow. The line now falls down the hill, making a wider (and therefore faster) corner.

 

 
 

Trail building, 14th January 
  Originally uploaded by bent udder.

  Trail building, 14th January 
  Originally uploaded by bent udder.

Testing the new line

Testing the new line
Originally uploaded by bent udder.

We tweaked the line on the new section of Summer Lightning yesterday. It now flows a lot better, and there are a couple of little rollers in there to spice things up, too.

It'll take a while for the trail to bed in properly, but with all the expected rain, we reckon everything will be a bit more solid (if slightly shrunken - trail feautres always shrink) in a few weeks.

More grazing animals in the Surrey Hills

Grazing animals are to be re-introduced in 25 sites across Surrey, some of which are popular haunts for mountain bikers. The Old Surrey Downs Project has £1.4 million in funding and will introduce sheep and cattle to White Down, Box Hill and other sites.

The project will run over the next five years and aims to restore the ancient grasslands of the North Downs using the funding, which comes from the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Nature. Objectives of the project include grassland habitat restoration and to secure the future of these areas.

Most of the sites are SSSI status, sites selected include Sheepleas near Epsom, Hackhust and White Down, Box Hill, Reigate and Colley Hills. Most are sites managed or belonging to the Surrey Wildlife Trust, others belong to Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, National Trust and Guildford Borough Council.

Building this weekend - 14th January

If you didn't get last night's Trail Mail, then we will be building again at the far end of Summer Lightning this Sunday, 14th January.

If you didn't get the Trail Mail, then email TrailsATredlandstrails.org and I'll add you to the list!

Here's the details below - remember to put our work day phone number into your mobile so you can find us. The number is: 07783 360358

There will be another trail building day on Summer Lightning this coming Sunday, 14th January. We'll be working on extending the existing trail on towards Westcott, and all volunteers are welcome.

The new section of Summer Lightning is almost ready - but we need one last push to finish it off before it's ready to be ridden. Come along and give us a hand and it'll be ready all the quicker.

If you're travelling up to the hills and want to find us, get to Coldharbour - see it here: http://snipurl.com/13yv4 and ride or walk along Wolvens Lane. We're working at the very end of Summer Lightning - so carry on along the trail right up to the end bit which finishes on a climb at a crossroads.

If you can't find us on the day, call the following number - it'll be switched on for trail days only, so if you want to find out more in the mean time, just reply to this email and we'll try and answer your questions.