laird387 Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 (edited) Hi, Chatting to my old colleague, Barry Robinson, he passed on the sad news that another piece of ground used in trials for over fifty years - even I rode there, so that's real history! - has been lost. The Park Gate Farm trials venue passed into trials history two months ago after several hundred trees were planted by the landowner. The West Witton farm has hosted British Sidecar, British Ladies and British Youth championship over the years plus the birthplace of the Gerald Simpson Memorial Trial back in 1975. Steve Iveson - nickname Yan Tan, and his family have farmed Park Gate for over forty years. His father Frank took the tenancy in 1943. Steve was a sidecar exponent, among other pastimes, so it was inevitable that trials would be on the menu at Parkgate. The Gerald Simpson trial originally ran as a two day trial and sting in the tale on the second day was Park Gate Farm. The trial was either won or lost on the steep rock outcrops looking across the valley to Bolton Castle. One memorable event was a Saturday afternoon clubbie, laid out for clubmen only. There was panic of major proportions when Martin Lampkin, Malcolm Rathmell, Rob Edwards, John Reynolds, Rob and Norman Shepherd and Richie Sunter drove up the long farm drive. This was the cream of British trialling arriving en-masse ! The Clerk of the Course was convinced the sections were too easy. Martin Lampkin went on to win, on a single mark. Hard to believe, but those acres of grassland are not suitable for livestock to graze on. Apparently sheep have dietary problems. Hence the planting of trees - too close together for sporting use if they are to be of any value as a crop in years to come. A sign of the times - farming has to take every opportunity to gain value from their acreage - or go under. Here is Yan Tan with one of his dogs and the new tree crop. Edited April 21, 2014 by laird387 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadof2 Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 The planting of trees and fencing off to keep out sheep to provide "natural habitat" around small streams and gullies is a policy being pressed strongly by Natural England and has already taken some trials land and is certain to take more. Where this takes place on private ground there is little that can be done to stop it, but if it is proposed for common or open fell there are other groups (not normally friends of off road motorsports) who will oppose it and trials riders need to campaign alongside them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldilocks Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 How much does he get for planting the trees I wonder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalley250 Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Bizarre as it looks an unnatural to me as if its been like that for some years. I live near open land Deer Snakes Rbbits n old Oak trees all to be destroyed for a new estate of 1600 dewellings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon v8 Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Its not the trees that will stop trials,its the DEFRA conditions attached to the grants that the landowners agree to that will... Once the land is taken into "Stewardship" or whatever the latest term is you can forget any kind of motorsport - that is at the top of the list of banned uses. I'm all for planting more trees,(Heat my cottage with a woodburner) and tree roots make for interesting sections - another way to take marks off riders when marking out. To me Defra schemes are the biggest threat to anyone wanting to do anything outside of their narrow band of "acceptable" uses. My club,Bath Classic has lost one venue to this already,just two fields away from where I sit typing this. Other local farmer friends of mine would gladly have us on their land,but cannot due to the large sums of money they would lose. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadof2 Posted April 22, 2014 Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/farming/funding/es/default.aspx See above link. Problem is if a farmer breaches the terms of stewardship on just a small section of his land in the scheme he loses all the money, not just for the acreage used for some "excluded purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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