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news
British Camp at Malvern Hills (David Evans on Flickr, licensed via CC BY 2.0)Councillor calls for signage to deter cyclists at historic landmark after being abused for pointing out no cycling zone to mountain bikers, amidst reports of anti-social behaviour and "existential threat" to site from damage caused by riding
Following reports of anti-social behaviour and abusive language towards visitors, including a councillor who felt that he was threatened after pointing out to three men they couldn't ride their bikes on British Camp in Malvern, calls to install clear signage to deter cyclists have been made, amidst concerns about damage caused by cyclists riding atop the historic site.
British Camp in the Malvern Hills, Herefordshire is an Iron Age Norman hill fort located at the top of Herefordshire Beacon and thought to have been first constructed in the second century BC. The areas surrounding the hill fort, which is designated as a scheduled monument, has beautiful cycling trails and is a popular flocking site for many mountain bikers, besides being host to the annual Malverns Classic Mountain Bike Festival.
However, after the reports of abusive and anti-social behaviour, cyclists have been told by the police that such actions will not be tolerated, and that all cyclists should familiarise themselves with the maps of the hills to learn where they can and cannot ride. West Mercia Police also said that they will be stepping up its patrols in the area as a result of the recent events.
One of the visitors allegedly abused by cyclists was Malvern Hills district councillor Paul Bennett. Last week, the Lib-Dem councillor told the Malvern Gazette that he was simply trying to tell three mountain bikers something he thought they might not have known, as there is no signage telling people they can't ride their bikes on British Camp.
He said: "The men were very hostile, I felt threatened as they were swearing, being very abusive and kept saying 'Don't you have anything better to do?'
"I was polite but they were in no mood to talk and it was unwarranted hostility. I think if I had asked them if they wanted an ice cream I would have had the same reaction from them."
Following this incident, Bennet has raised a call for 'No Cycling' signs to be installed at the British Camp and help deter cyclists and prevent any further damage to it, reports Worcester News.
Although there is one bridleway that skirts the lower slopes of British Camp above the reservoir, cycling elsewhere on the monument is not permitted (Andrew Gustar on Flickr, licensed via CC BY-ND 2.0)
Malvern Safer Neighbourhoods Team (SNT) said it has also received reports of antisocial mountain bikers at British Camp. A spokesperson for Malvern SNT said: "This area of the Malvern Hills is one that we patrol on a regular basis and will not tolerate abusive and offensive language from other users of the Hills.
"We patrol on bikes most commonly, to allow us to cover a larger portion of the hills on a single patrol, but cover some areas on foot. Especially as some areas are not permitted for bikes.
"It is appreciated that cyclists occasionally accidentally stray from the approved areas for bikes, but we would encourage cyclists to familiarise themselves with the maps of the hills that are available for free from the Malvern Hills Trust.
"If asked to not cycle in an area, to appreciate that the Malvern Hills Trust staff are just doing their job and are enforcing the restrictions to keep the hills maintained and safe for everyone to enjoy."
Cllr Bennett added: "British camp won't exist eventually as every time people go with bikes there is further damage. We all need to make sure it isn't damaged, as we're custodians of the future. It's important we preserve it when we can, as it's a focal point for tourism for the entire area."
In 2021, we reported that a barbed wire was strung across the Malvern Hills cycling trails, with the Trust saying that it was “gravely concerned” over the discovery of the trap for cyclists.
While tales of councillors celebrating thousands of pounds raked in by fining anti-social cyclists (such as the 82-year-old Barrie Enderby who famously told the council to "stick it up their a*se") riding in Grimsby and more recently, "rogue cowboy council wardens" lying in wait to jump cyclists in Colchester and issue them fines are well-known and widely reported on this website, in July, young cyclists were accused by conservationists of causing “serious” damage to a nature reserve by digging up parts of the earth to create mountain bike jumps.
According to the Wildlife Trust, a section of wildflower meadow at Cross Hill Quarry, a former quarry site and green space located just outside Clitheroe, has been dug up in recent weeks to create a number of small jumps, an act the Trust claims is “unlawful”.
“The quarry floor at Cross Hill Quarry is one of the most important areas on the site for wildflowers. In fact, just next to the damaged area an orchid was in flower, and countless other important species associated with these limestone grasslands may have been lost,” Kim Coverdale, East Lancashire’s Reserves Officer for the Trust, said in response to the ramps’ creation.
The news came just days after a group of children in Wales were threatened by residents after they cleared a woodland of litter to create a cycle track, which the local housing association claimed was anti-social behaviour that was causing “severe damage” to the area.
Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after completing his masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Cymru, and also likes to write about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.
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I think, on balance, I'm withdrawing my support for the baddies in this anti-cycling story!
Someone else's view of the altercation is here...
As one of the 3 cyclists involved in the altercation with the Councillor mentioned in the article, I think it is worth me stating my view of the facts, before we all get carried away. For reference, the original opinion piece appeared in the Malvern Gazette, a few days after the incident, can be found here: https://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/24533373.paul-bennett-threatened-m...
There are several untruths in the article. Here are responses to some of them:
- Councillor Bennett initially accosted us, not the other way round
- contrary to his statement, we were not riding our bikes when he began the diatribe. We rode them to the Malvern Hills (myself on a road bike) then walked them up to the Hill Fort, before sitting some distance from the bikes, admiring the view and chatting. That's when he started shouting at us, from above and behind us.
- we asked him to leave us alone, but he continued to be abusive, threatening to call the police.
- in the end, after the abuse continues, some of us did crack and start shouting back. That was probably unwise.
I've written a letter ot the Malvern Gazette, to try and give our version of the events. I've also uploaded a photo of us and our bikes just before Bennett accosted us. A short video can be found here, taken just after he started his abuse: https://shorturl.at/rKABH
I've made a formal complaint to the Malvern Hills District Council concerning the behaviour of their councillor.
Bennett has a history of being antagonistic to cyclists
Those of us who live and work in the area all love and appreciate The Malvern Hills. It is in everyone's interests that users are civil, act responsibly and display a degee of tolerance to others. Bennett's inflammatory actions and self-serving, inaccurate portrayal of events run counter to all that. They have also been exploited by a variety of anti-cycling groups as an excuse for further progressing their agendas.
I don't believe it.....roadcc posting a secondhand story without checking all the angles and facts...it's unheard of.
Well, they are not the worst offenders, and they did caveat things by using words like "reports" and it's pretty eay to post back comments. Malvern Gazette and the Worcester Evening News are far worse.
Thanks for your support.
Thank you for the information, I see there is far more to the story than the original report suggested. I'm sure Councillor Bennett is aware of the story being on here, perhaps he would like to come on and offer his explanation for his behaviour?
I'm guessing:
BlOoDy CyClIsTs! They're not even content with being all over the roads! Now they're riding on the footpaths! Riding on the bridlepaths! Riding all over our ancient monuments, holding up drivers, nearly hitting pedestrians at excessive speeds, posing a deadly threat to all those with disabilities and visual impairments enjoying the steep gradients and unguarded trip hazards!
(Is this right? Perhaps he was honestly mistaken - perhaps there had recently been some thuggish criminal cyclists cycling there before, or he was having some difficulties in his personal life...)
That is so disrespectful. It is part of our history please stop riding your bike on historic ground. Don't abuse people who want to preserve and protect historic ground. If you want to abuse anyone abuse stupid car drivers. But that's jus me.
Also I wish people would stop abusing Edinburgh's historic cobbled streets by driving on them! It certainly doesn't help preserve them. Or parking outside the Georgian architecture...
"...offensive language..."
Translation: something I do not want to hear.
We don't know the language used in this case, but if people don't want to hear themselves described as "f**king c*nts" for apparently politely pointing out that someone is doing something that is not allowed, that's quite reasonable, isn't it? I was called a "f**king paedo" yesterday for asking someone in the Greenwich foot tunnel to dismount and walk (as I was doing) because the tunnel was full of families with kids, that was something I didn't want to hear and I think it's not particularly precious of me to object to it.
Do you think you have a human right not to hear things that you don't want to?
No I don't, which is why I didn't say I do. Everyone has a right to free speech, even if it involves things some people don't want to hear. However, equally, everyone has a right to go about their daily business without suffering abuse, be it verbal or physical, and dismissing obscene verbal abuse as simply "something I don't want to hear" is ridiculous. It's illegal, by the way, under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.
You are conflating that with 'offensive language'.
Wait - I think I've got the answer!
Since the boots are facing backwards does that undo the damage caused by hikers walking forwards?
You just cycle in the tracks of people going the opposite direction and no-one will know you went that way.
Can I be the only one who's now hoping to see a Danny MacAskill video with him showing off his trials skill at Stonehenge?
(Don't panic - it's Jupiter Artland!)
Danny Mac really shouldn't have been riding there. Teletubbies are an endagered species, so their natural habitat should be a Site of Scientific Special Interest.
Are you sure? I thought they were an invasive alien species.
Probably the most interesting thing that's ever happened at Artland.
The accessibility information is excellent and readily available for those prepared to look.
https://www.malvernhills.org.uk/visiting/cycling/
https://www.visitthemalverns.org/things-to-do/cycling/
Continuous tyre tracks encourage more erosive water run-off than discrete footprints. Skidding of tyres or feet (e.g., scree running) is particularly damaging.
British Camp in the Malvern Hills, Herefordshire is an Iron Age Norman hill fort located at the top of Herefordshire Beacon and thought to have been first constructed in the second century BC.
I think that makes it Iron Age not Norman. As if "Iron Age Norman" were a thing.
He was a well-renowned architect in his time.
Was he a kind of tarmac-Adam?
Iron age with (pre)Norman additions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Camp
I think this generalisation of "cyclists" is the crux of the article, as if everyone who rides a bike is some sort of plague on society which must be expunged at all costs?
"I spoke to some mountain bikers who were very rude and aggressive..." ergo all cyclists are the same and must be banned!
I'm not defending them at all but who knows, maybe they were lost and/or just wanted to have a look around the site? Some evidence of the damage they caused may have supported the councillor's account
I've also seen the damage of over tourism/lack of maintenance on walks in the Lakes District, so there are wider issues with access per se?
I must admit I've had a few run ins with Mtb-ers on my gravel bike, riding in a group across the full width of the path and not letting me pass easily, which is just general courtesy and no doubt reflects their behaviour in general but I don't think all mtb riders are "spawn of satan."
This just add fuel to the anti-cycling brigade.
I'm usually very (overly?) sensitive to that kind of thing but I don't feel that's the case here at all. The councillor reports how he encountered three men on mountain bikes riding in an area where cycling is (quite sensibly) banned and asked them not to ride there and got abused for it (something that unfortunately in today's society one finds easy to believe, a substantial number of people react immediately with aggression when it is pointed out they are in the wrong, particularly drivers, of course). He didn't claim there are hordes of bikers ruining the site or that this happens all the time, he's just asking for clearer signage to make it more obvious that cyclists need to stay off the monument. Seems fair enough to me and in no way denigrating cyclists as a group. As for suggesting that the councillor should supply "some evidence of the damage they caused", why should he? It's an ancient monument, it's clearly quite a delicate environment, and it's common sense not to allow cycling across it, especially when there are so many excellent places to cycle in the immediate vicinity. In that context, demanding to see evidence to justify the ban seems much too defensive to me.
Erm.... Don't think I demanded evidence of damage, only it would have supported his account. 99% of people, probably evenore Councillor's have a "smart phone" so a couple of photos would have been easy to take of the "damage" and the article's title includes "amidst reports of anti-social behaviour and "existential threat" to site from damage caused by riding"
I've submitted several close passes to Police and curiously, they want "evidence" to progress, which I have been happy to supply to "prove" my allegation.
I've been told to "shut the f#@k up!" when wasI told I couldn't ride on a national cycle route bridleway... unfortunately I'm not a Councillor and my experience doesn't attain the "click bait" standard?
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