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news
Bolton Abbey (picture credit Cycling UK)Bolton Abbey denies using security guards to turn away cyclists
The Bolton Abbey estate in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire has denied employing security guards to turn cyclists away from a bridge leading to a popular café there, saying instead that members of staff will at times outline to visitors restrictions brought in during the coronavirus pandemic – but have no powers to enforce them.
As we reported on Saturday, Cycling UK has highlighted how some cyclists visiting the historic estate, owned by the Duke of Devonshire, were prevented from crossing a wooden bridge leading to the Cavendish Pavilion Café.
> Duke of Devonshire employs security guards to keep cyclists off estate
Duncan Dollimore, campaigns manager at the national cycling charity, said: “Cyclists should be able to enjoy the special qualities of our National Parks, instead they are being faced by security guards more appropriately employed outside of nightclubs.”
Cycling UK also said that had written to Her Majesty’s Customs & Excise to ask it to investigate the failure of the Devonshire Estate – which also owns Chatsworth House – to deliver reasonable public access for cyclists and horse riders, predating the closure of the bridge at Bolton Abbey.
A spokesman for the Bolton Abbey estate, quoted in the Yorkshire Post, outlined that the decision to close the wooden bridge was a temporary measure due to coronavirus restrictions, and also claimed that some signs were being removed without authorisation.
“Bolton Abbey has welcomed cyclists onto the estate for many years and many thousands have enjoyed its miles of tracks and pathways,” he said.
“During the pandemic, to enable safe social distancing and protect the health and wellbeing of our visitors and colleagues, use of the Cavendish Bridge at Bolton Abbey is currently restricted to pedestrians only.
“This measure was introduced in April 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic,” the spokesman claimed.
“This restriction is explained on signs at the approach to the bridge. We are aware that there have been instances of these signs being removed, and when this happens, we ensure they are replaced as quickly as possible.
“On busy days a member of the Bolton Abbey team is located on the bridge to remind visitors of the rule.”
Highlighting that an alternative route to the café was available to cyclists, he said: “Access for cyclists to the estate, including the Cavendish Pavilion and toilets, is via Riverside Drive.
“Once social distancing rules relating to Covid-19 are no longer in force, the restrictions on cyclists using the bridge will be lifted.
“The route in question is registered as a permissive path on the OS map, not a public right of way,” he added.
According to the spokesman, the estate is open to discussions with cycling organisations to talk about any concerns they may have.
“We have enjoyed a positive relationship with cyclists on the estate for many years and would welcome a constructive dialogue with cycling groups with regard to any concerns they might have,” he said.
One road.cc reader who contacted us after our story at the weekend, however, said that he had been told to leave the estate while cycling there by a warden several years ago.
“I too was accosted by an initially aggressive warden when mountain biking on tracks near the reservoirs on the estate,” he said. “This was about three years ago and I had got lost and ended up on the track unwittingly.
“I was told to leave, which I did whilst passing numerous walkers.”
He added: “I emailed Bolton Abbey later to ask why cyclists were not permitted access but received no response.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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25 comments
The bridge has signs on it since April last year.
The only logical reason why its there is becuase you cannot enter the grounds without pre-purchasing a ticket, this system was introduce last year to manage crowds.
So basicly a pesky cyclist who would gain entry via this entrance would not have a ticket, therefore the Duke would be missing out on his £££.
Its simply a money grabbing excercise imposed under the guise of covid restrictions.
After all, nobody else has done that, have they...?
Covid has been used as an excuse to push through/accelerate a lot of changes (business and society). When was the last time you used cash, for an example? (banks wanted cashless but most actual people didn't; but tell them that if they touch cash then they'll catch Covid - a thoroughly debunked notion, IIRC - and suddenly everyone is reaching for their cards...).
The evidence we have now shows there is only a very small chance of catching COVID from sharing items, including cash. However, at the point that these restrictions were introduced the major issue was we didn't know one way or the other.
This is the "problem" with experiencing science happening in real time ... things change as evidence is gathered. The real problem is that when advice changes as a reponse to developing understanding, too many people don't understand that is how science works and just write off the giver of the advice as having been "wrong" and not trusting what they say from here on.
Our local cafe, which was cash only prior to the pandemic, now take 95% of their income through card payments and love it. It has reduced their workload and overheads significantly.
the biggest savings come from 100% card payments, no cashing up, no trips to the bank, no risk of cash being stolen.
BBC News Report https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000vvhk/look-north-yorkshire-lunc...
This has to be a slant against cyclists as they bring 'money' into that area and obviously they must have a lot of it already!
Seems to me that this comes from the same school of 'pandemic health and safety' as that story last week about someone having to wrap their Brompton in plastic sheeting...
Introduced in April, significantly into the vaccine rollout but not applied during either of the peaks in infection when it would have been more beneficial.
April 2020. Last year. Allegedly...
(edit) It is 2021 now, isn't it?
Not sure.
https://xkcd.com/2459/
The social distancing excuse is nonsensical.
Totally! If cyclists were to dismount and push their bike then they would be pedestrians. Is that going to satisfy them? I think not somehow. They are making it up as they go along.
Beat me to it. If I push my bike, I'm a pedestrian, end of.
This has been tested in court before (Crank v Brooks [1980] RTR 441) :
anyone pushing a bicycle is a "foot-passenger"
http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/digest/pushing.html
But it also says "no access to vehicles".
I wonder if they'll ban Pushchairs too?
As it's clearly a four wheeled transportational vehicle 😄
A pushchair or a pram is a vehicle. Maybe they should say no motor vehilcles - Oh no that wouldn't work. How about no chain driven vehicles, that would eliminate 99% of bikes.
As there is still access for cyclists to Cav Pav from one side of the bridge clearly cyclists don't present a specific Covid-19 threat so why ban them from using the bridge? Is it restrict the number of people using the bridge to avoid overcrowding? If so why arbitrarily pick on cyclists? Why not pick on some other minority group based say on gender or race or age? This whole thing is a farce but it is also serious and it needs to be fought. Full marks to Cycling UK. It is for this reason that I joined CUK because they campaign against this sort abuse.
This has just been on the local news. All of the cyclists shown on this section of the permissive foot path were riding and not walking.
That must be true, by definition.
Eh? Explain?
If they'd been walking, they wouldn't have been cyclists any more - they would have become pedestrians pushing a bike.
Is that the definition of cyclist? Some one who IS riding a bike? Not sure. If I asked you if Julian Alaphilippe was a cyclist. What would you answer be? Would it be 'yes', Or 'he was this afternoon but he has now finished his ride so now it he is not a cyclist'. I guess no cyclists read this website either, as that would be quite dangerous;)
That's slightly different - it's referring to his profession, rather than his mode of transport.
If I'm walking to the shops, am I 'a cyclist' because at some other times I ride a bike? If someone sometimes drives a car, are they 'a motorist' whether they're driving it or not.
Anyhow, I'm sure Sriracha can pick up the finer points here - I was just explaining what they were getting at.
[But edited to add] If the answer to the above is 'yes', then (unless there was no-one walking at all) you can't possibly know that all the cyclists were riding, because you wouldn't have been able to tell whether any of the people walking had ever ridden a bike.
If you are walking then you are a pedestrian. If you are cycling then you are a cyclist.
I'm pretty sure that there's legal precedent for that, too. A person who was walking with their bike next to them was a "foot passenger" and not a "cyclist".