CAMPAIGN
AGAINST
ROGUE
MOTORCYCLING
This is a
collection of photographs that we took in the fells of South Lakeland, England,
between
April and July 2006 to record and illustrate the shocking damage caused
by rogue motorcycling on bridleways, footpaths and open fell land since
the end of 2005. We have since added photos of further damage.
We also mapped the extensive network of tyre tracks that we found. See Network Maps.
Although local to one area of the United Kingdom, the photos
are almost certainly representative of damage caused by motorcycle trail bikes in other parts of the county and country.
The
photos
are numbered and can be viewed either individually, or as a
cycle starting at any chosen point. The order of the photos
has been
chosen to illustrate what could have been seen on a single walk in the
spring of 2006. If such a walk were to be taken in summer some of
the damage would be masked by growing greenery; at the same
time, some
of the damage, particularly in extensive bog areas, is worse than is shown
here, even now, because the photos cannot do justice to the full extent of the
damage.
Although most of these photos are now some years
old, they still vividly illustrate the nature and extent of the havoc that
is wrought by the illegal and antisocial activity.
Each photo bears:
a description;
date taken;
location;
approximate OS Map Reference; and
cross-references to other, like-minded photos.
The
photos can be viewed as a slide show, with each photo being able to
lead:
on
to the next photo in the cycle;
back
to the previous photo in the cycle;
to a
location on one of the Network
Maps;
back to this Photo Gallery to select a different
starting point; or
to the Welcome
page with Main Menu.
We have also taken photographs of illegal motorcycling on the open fells. The
more detailed of these have enabled the Cumbria police to take action. None of those photos is
shown here, although the positions of photographed activity is marked on the Network Maps with an M suffix.
(For the sake
of brevity, Tottlebank Height is here named Tottleknott.)
001 Burney.
South side. Main path up from road.
002 Burney.
South side. Scars at base.
003 (Photo withdrawn)
004 Burney.
South side. Part way up. Looking towards Kirkby Moor.
005 Burney.
North side, near top. Steep race from below.
006 Burney.
North side, near top. Steep race from above.
007 Burney.
North side. Close-up of steep race.
008 Burney.
North side. Close-up of steep race
009 Burney.
North side. Further down.
010 Burney.
North side. Further down. Widely damaged bog.
011 Burney.
North side. Same as 010, closer.
012 Burney.
North side. Detail of 010.
013 Burney.
North side. Boggy plateau between Great Burney and Little Burney.
Looking northwards.
014 Burney.
North side. Nearing Crooked Birch. Water-filled ruts.
015 Burney.
North side. Closer to Crooked Birch. Water-filled ruts.
016 Burney.
North side. 10”-deep rut.
017 Burney.
North side. Close to the base. Ruts carved across gully.
018 Burney.
North side. Path along the base. Water-filled ruts
019 Burney.
North side. Path along the base. Stream diverted along deep ruts in
footpath.
020
Burney. North side. Path along the base. Water-filled ruts.
021 Burney.
North side. Path along the base. Water-filled ruts.
022 Burney.
North side. Path along the base made impassable.
023 Burney.
Main scarred route up north-west side.
024 Burney.
Same as 024, higher up.
025 Blawith
Knott. South side. Scarred track up from Giant’s Grabe [sic; as named on OS maps].
025a 025 revisited 8 months later.
026 Blawith
Knott. South side. Motorbike tracks swinging off to side before revving
up steep hill again.
026a 026 revisited 8 months later.
027 Blawith
Knott. South side. Looking back down at 026 towards the Duddon.
027a 027 revisited 8 months later.
028 Blawith
Knott. South side. Top of steep race.
028a 028 revisited 8 months later.
029 Saddle
between Blawith Knott and
Tottleknott. Water-filled rutted path at foot of Blawith Knott.
Looking
north-east.
030 Saddle
between Blawith Knott and Tottleknott. Approaching rise before small
tarn.
031 Saddle
between Blawith Knott and Tottleknott. Scarred rise before small tarn.
032 Tottleknott.
Path, now scarred track up west side.
033 Detail
of muddied rut from 032.
034 Tottleknott.
West side. Close-up of 032.
035 Tottleknott.
North-west side. Traversing path, looking north-east. Severely damaged
by
motorbikes
during the snow thaw of March 2006.
036 Tottleknott.
North-west side. Same traversing path, looking south-west.
037 Tottleknott.
North-west side. New tyre tracks.
038 Tottleknott.
North side. Circular wheelies near the top.
039 Between
Cockenskell-to-Woodland bridleway and Wool Knott. Rutted gully and dip.
040 Between
Cockenskell-to-Woodland bridleway and Wool Knott. Deep ruts across
gully stream.
041 Same patch as 040.
From other side of stream, looking south.
041a 041 revisited 9 months later.
042 Close-up of rut,
at least 16” deep, in 040 & 041.
043 Wool Knott, south
side. Continuation of 039-042. Just below big scar of 044 & 045.
044 Wool
Knott, south side. Big scar. Looking upwards.
045 Wool Knott, south
side. Big scar. Looking back downwards.
046 Wool
Knott, west “pass” to Beacon Tarn. Extensive
bog damage.
046a 046 revisited 9 months later.
047 Wool
Knott, west “pass” to Beacon Tarn. Same, 6 weeks
later.
048 Wool
Knott, west “pass” to Beacon Tarn. Same patch,
looking back from the other side.
049 Wool
Knott, west “pass” to Beacon Tarn. Link between
worst patches of bog damage.
050 Wool
Knott, west “pass” to Beacon Tarn. Upper patch of
serious damage to bog land.
051 Wool
Knott, west “pass” to Beacon Tarn. Close-up detail
of 050.
051a 051 revisited 9 months later.
052 Beacon
Tarn, north end. Cumbria Way seriously degraded, looking south
053 Beacon
Tarn, north end. Same patch, looking north.
054 Beacon
Tarn, north end. Cumbria Way, higher up the pass., Even worse, looking
south.
055 Beacon.
South-east side. Sheepfold near the top.
056 Beacon.
South-east side. Sheepfold near the top. Looking down at 055.
057 Beacon/Beacon
Tarn. Near the top of the pass that takes the Cumbria Way north from
Beacon Tarn
to Torver. Looking west across the pass.
058 Cumbria
Way. Boggy plateau north of Beacon Tarn and above Stable Harvey Moss.
Looking north.
059 Cumbria
Way. Bad damage to boggy plateau in 058. Looking south.
060 Cumbria
Way. Another patch of bad damage to boggy plateau in 058.
061 Between
Beacon (½ Km to right) and Climb Style (1 Km to left). East
of Hodge Wife Gill.
062
Same open fell track as 061. Further west, with bad
water-filled rutting. Looking west.
063 Same patch as 062, closer.
064 Close-up of 063.
064a Patch of new damage, January 2007.
065 Near
Climb Stile ford. Looking south-west (towards Green Moor).
066 Near
Climb Stile ford. Same patch as 065, from other side.
067 Between
Climb Stile ford and High Kep, below Cockenskell-Woodland bridleway.
Steep, scarred
race.
068 Close-up
of 067.
069 Bog
damage between High Kep and Wool Knott. Looking towards Wool Knott.
070
Same patch as 069 looking back from the other side.
071 Bog
damage between High Kep and Wool Knott. Looking back towards High Kep.
072
Deeply rutted bridleway between Woodland and Cockenskell. Looking
eastwards.
073 Bog
damage beside bridleway between Woodland and Cockenskell. Further east
than 072.
073a 073 revisited, 9 months later.
074
Patch of 137 wild orchids with motorbike tracks through the
middle. Luckily only two crushed.
075 Tottleknott,
north side. Deep ruts gouged into the sides of an open fell gully
stream.
075a } Exit from and
075b } approach to the gully stream in 075, 9 months later.
076 Tottleknott,
east side. Deep ruts across spring above Tottlebank.
077 Same
as 076, looking south from the other side.
078 Bog
between Tottleknott and The Low to its east. Looking down eastwards
from Tottleknott.
079
Same patch of bog damage as 078, looking from the other side, westwards
from The Low.
080 Same patch of bog damage as 078, looking eastwards again
from Tottleknott side.
081
Same patch of bog, showing the extent of the destruction of the bog
covering.
082 New area of bog damage near Cockenskell, Christmas Day 2006.
Ask not “Why they don’t do
something about it” – Ask “What you
can do to help to stop it”
Go CAMARMed
Go ARMed with a CAMera
Go armed with CAMARM
