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Bearacleave - BOVEY WOODS ACCESS

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 Airtime! 23 Feb 2017
Evening folks,

There have been a few recent issues brought up at Bearacleave plantation in Bovey Woods, Dartmoor and these are likely to threaten future access unless addressed promptly.

Bouldering here has seen a surge in popularity in the last year and the increased numbers of people using the woods has led to some complaints from local landowners and the NT are now looking into it.

Please please please:

Parking is a massive issue here due to the narrow lanes, minimal spaces and busy farm use. Please consider car sharing - there is a large layby on the Moretonhampstead road as you drive out of Bovey from the fire station. Please park here and take 1 car up to the woods. The Dartmoor guide has clear details of the parking arrangements here so please follow them. Alternatively use the Stonelands parking approach for Bearacleave (described in the guide as the approach for the BBB) as there are more spaces there. If there aren't any spaces (on the weekend it's busy with walkers) then head up to the moor instead.

There has been an issue with litter and finger tape etc under quite a few problems recently. Most litter probably isn't climbers' doing but WE WILL be blamed for it as an easy scapegoat. If you see any litter please pick it up and leave the area as tidy as possible.

There have been complaints raised regarding cleaning of boulders and chalk. Non-climbers find this unsightly and it's up to us to keep it to a minimum. Please don't de-veg any boulders in the vicinity of the main walkers' paths and clean off excess chalk especially tick marks. The woods are a very special area and conservationists take a dim view of cleaning boulders which in their mind should be left 'unspoilt'.

There has been complaints of lanterns in the woods. As the access situation here is sensitive please do not use lanterns at night here. They draw attention to what is going on in the woods and here that is the last thing we need.

There has been a challenge recently when some people were stopped by a farmer as they walked across his field. Please stay within the boundary of the woods and do not trespass on private property or farmland. The Dartmoor guide details the permitted routes through the woods so please stick to these and don't cross any fences etc.

The access situation here is sensitive and tenuous at best. Please be extremely discreet and try to leave no trace of activity. Future access depends on this. Bouldering development has been going on here for over a decade without a problem but access is now in jeopardy. Please help us keep from losing this very special area.

Thank you all.

James.
 bouldery bits 23 Feb 2017
In reply to Airtime!:

Thanks for this.
In reply to Airtime!:

Likewise, thanks for the notification James.

It is of the utmost importance that parking and access etiquette is maintained.

Have you submitted updated the access details on the database?
 chudders1 23 Feb 2017
In reply to Airtime!:
As a long term "woods" entushiast I would hate for access to be denied. I have climbed there at night and can't believe the lights cause an issue as there are very few properties that would se the lights !!i am disgusted that climbers leave rubbish but have not seen much in the years i have been going but I guess with more traffic now it may become an issue. With regards parking why do walkers take priority over other user groups and would add that some times the car parks are used for very unsavoury activities not related to climbers !! With regards to other user groups i have seen lots if dog poo bags left hanging as well as fouling of paths !!shall we ban dog owners ? I also find it hard to believe the activities of climbers causes problems as most of the boulders are away from the main paths and other user groups .i was sceptical about the inclusion of the woods in the new guide and hoped the extra traffic would not detract from it's magic and mystic and i urge climbers to respect the woods but also don't feel we should be banned as a user group from undertaking our sport .unfortunately it would appear that some of the climbing world need some education in manners and behaviour regarding litter ,access and parking ,don't screw it up people.indoor climbing provides bins,easy access and easy parking but this is not the case in the outdoor world,show some respect .








 Tom Last 23 Feb 2017
In reply to Airtime!:

Disappointing situation James. Cheers for the good work.
1
 tomrainbow 23 Feb 2017
In reply to chudders1:
Thanks for the thread James and for the responses. Darren...I have noticed much more litter in Bearacleave this season but I am convinced that it isn't climbers. The nature of the litter (fizzy drinks, sweet wrappers, plastic bottles, dog poo bags) and its location (near the parking, stuffed into hollows in tree trunks, almost all a long way from boulders) suggests to me that it is very unlikely to be climbers. I have seen no litter at all near boulders. I have been carrying out any litter I find and would urge all climbers to do the same. Whether you like the bouldering or not, the woods are undeniably special and deserve better...but, that said, I have never come across any climbers in them that are disrespectful of the environment they are in.

I believe it is the parking that has triggered this recent action. It appears as though horse riders (or a horse rider!) are/is upset that the gate used to access the Bearacleave section of the wood has been blocked. I have parked in this spot for the last 15 years on and off and there has never been an issue but I guess the increased numbers of cars parked there (both climbers and non climbers) has led to a perceived problem that has given them 'licence' to contact the NT. The same is true of lamp sessions. Please, no matter what you think of the rights or wrongs of these complaints, park away from the gate and take your lamps elsewhere...the inconvenience of walking a little further or climbing somewhere else is nothing in comparison to what might be lost...oh, and if you find yourself lost and staring at a short cut through a field, please turn around and enjoy the adventure of reorientation, it's all part of the experience!

Hopefully we can show the NT that we are part of the solution, not the problem and continue to enjoy these magnificent woods whilst keeping everyone else involved on side.
Post edited at 23:30
In reply to tomrainbow:

That completely reflects how I've found things up here in the Peak Tom.

Last year I was involved in the Outside Crag Clean Up and what was noticeable was that the name itself was ironic: the crags were completely clean (and bearing mind the crag I visited was the UK's busiest - Stanage - that really says something)!

That said, I could have easily re-named it the 'Car Park Clean Up' as that was where the issue really was. Drinks bottles, beer cans, crisp packets, and (more than anything) lots and lots of dog poo bags - I picked up over 30 in the space of half an hour! This is not climbers' waste...

Whilst I'm clearly biased, I do think we do a good job of clearing up after ourselves and that the present situation - much like Tom has suggested - comes down to parking, where we (i.e. climbers) can be overly zealous from time to time; however, awareness is the key and follow the guidelines you and James have listed above and will hopefully guarantee access for years to come.

 toad 24 Feb 2017
In reply to Airtime!:
There is a very definite NT policy not to provide bins at their countryside properties. I guess there are good economic reasons for this, but as a consequence it relies on the "take your litter home" signs carrying some weight. Unfortunately there is a big section of the community for whom the idea of carrying their waste further than absolutely necessary is an absolute anathema, and certainly never in their pristine cars. Consequently the crap piles up in the car parks. I think the NT need to think again about this policy. Even though the behaviour of scrotes is not their fault, they need to take more action to reduce the rubbish on these sites, be it bins, enforcement or something else.

Meanwhile the more civilised visitors will blame the highest profile site users. It's also worth remembering that for decades lights and nocturnal visitors have spelled trouble- poachers, raves, flytipping, doggers, stolen cars etc etc, so I can entirely understand why people are concerned about night time bouldering, unfair as it seems.

 Offwidth 24 Feb 2017
In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

Maybe Stanage was completely clean because climbers remove climbing trash all the time. As a veteran crag cleaner I think climbers are much better than most of the public but they are responsible for some of the litter... tape scraps and cigarette butts in particular.
1
 Sean Kelly 24 Feb 2017
In reply to Offwidth:
> but they are responsible for some of the litter... tape scraps and cigarette butts in particular.
I bet that not that many climbers smoke today. I can't think of any climbers from my clubs that actually take in the weed...?


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