Bridleways and Eastern Moors

On Saturday (tomorrow) the Eastern Moors Partnership is meeting people on site who are inetersted in the bridleway erosion on land very close to Blacka at Wimble Holme Hill and on Moss Road.

I've submitted the following suggestions on behalf of Friends of Blacka Moor:

Moss Road and Wimble Holme Hill Bridleway.

Friends of Blacka Moor proposals.

1 The landscape implications are our starting point. What will the area look like when changes have been made – from different viewpoints and in all seasons.

2 Moss Road’s erosion is a serious eyesore because its shows up as a dominant feature in a landscape that has been kept artificially open. There is little to distract the eye because there is no relief from the bareness of the view and the lack of diverse levels of vegetation which is all low.

3 Following from 2 the best solution to put right the way that the eyesore draws attention to itself is to arrange for a more naturalised vegetation to develop around the most seriously eroded sections of the road . This would mean some planting of native trees and taller shrubs such as gorse at strategic places along the route of the byway itself while carefully landscaping a diverted bridleway to the side. If done sensitively this would look like a naturalising landscape. And be an improvement on and softening of the bleak vegetation there at present allowing for more diverse wildlife to use the moor.

4 The advantage of 3 is that this can be done slowly over a period of time starting with the worst eroded sections. Especially that near Bole Hill.


5 ACCESS SHOULD NOT BE IMPAIRED BY THIS WORK

Wimble Holme Hill Bridleway

1 There are two routes coming down from Wimble Holme Hill. Both are clearly visible from much of Blacka.

2 The easterly one should be an ideal walking route up to the top of Bole Hill but has now become so badly eroded that in certain conditions and at many times of the year it is unpleasant to use and some walkers refuse to walk on it.

3 We believe that these two routes are unsuitable as bridleways and should for that reason be no longer bridleways or public rights of way. Declassified but used by walkers who should be free to develop their own route as a desire line.

4 The exact route of the present bridleway should be overplanted with native shrubs and trees which should be sensitively planned to naturalise with those trees which have colonised at the bottom of the slope. This should also allow for maintaining open sections to promote views with most of the plantings being done at the top and bottom of the route(s).

5 HOW WOULD THIS IMPACT ON ACCESS ?

The choice of this route as a bridleway was unwise in the first place. That now has to be dealt with responsibly and with imagination, thinking many years ahead. There are many bridleways in the vicinity and those most valued provide a round route. One possible future development could be provided by linking to the track near Stony Ridge – running parallel with the top boundary of Blacka Moor: a slight diversion just before the track reaches Stony Ridge would keep all users off the fast road. This could be done with a minimum of disturbance to the valued and largely unmanaged section of Totley Moor – an area good for wildlife because little disturbed. The details of this, if it is considered, would need to be consulted on.