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Bolton Abbey security guard told cyclist he was there to stop people riding bikes through estateBolton Priory at Bolton Abbey - licensed CC BY -SA 2.0 by Ian Greig on geograph.org_.uk)

Bolton Abbey security guard told cyclist he was there to stop people riding bikes through estate

Another rider said: “This chap here would be more suitable at a nightclub on a Friday night”
by Simon_MacMichael
Fri, May 07, 2021 15:09
9

A road.cc reader says he that a security guard  he spoke to at Bolton Abbey last week confirmed to him that he was stopping cyclists from riding through the grounds – despite the estate that runs the North Yorkshire stately home denying this week that it was using such staff to turn away cyclists.

As we reported last Saturday, Cycling UK had expressed concerns over cyclists visiting the estate in Wharfedale apparently being prevented by security staff from crossing a wooden bridge leading to a café.

> Duke of Devonshire employs security guards to keep cyclists off estate

The estate responded during the week by denying that security staff were turning cyclists away – but after reading our articles, road.cc reader Steve got in touch yesterday to tell us that he had cycled past a security guard at Bolton Abbey last Sunday. 

> Bolton Abbey denies using security guards to turn away cyclists

Stave said: “I asked him if he was stopping cyclists.

“He confirmed, ‘Yes, into the grounds of the house’,” Steve continued, adding that the security guard “believed cyclists could use the through road opposite,” and had told him that the BBC had been to the estate that morning.

The estate has said that the closure of the bridge to cyclists is a temporary measure while coronavirus restrictions remain in place.

It has also said that it did not use security guards, but confirmed that at busier times a member of staff might be placed on the bridge to remind visitors of the rules.

But another cyclist quoted in a BBC News report yesterday insisted that the closure of the bridge to cyclists was putting riders in danger.

Tom Whewell, from Leeds, said: “Any cyclist here is turned away and has to take a big diversion and get on the A59 and battle 38-tonne lorries," he said.

“He also expressed concerns about estate staff being posted on the bridge to turn cyclists away.

“It is like we're being criminalised. This chap here would be more suitable at a nightclub on a Friday night.”

While the estate claims that it has welcomed cyclists for many years and that current restrictions are temporary, Cycling UK had written to Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise to ask it to investigate public access to the site which is a condition of tax relief it and Chatsworth House – like Bolton Abbey, owned by the Duke of Devonshire.

Bolton Abbey
cycling uk
Simon MacMichael

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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9 comments

Avatar
marvelousm | 3 years ago
2 likes

They need to be reported to the Inland Revenue, hurting them in the pocket will soon focus their minds.   I will not be going any time soon - I used to be a regular visitor,

Avatar
Zebulebu | 3 years ago
10 likes

I had this 'it's because of covid' bollocks last year when the only coffee shops open just after lockdown were Costa and Starbucks. Had a stand up row with one muppet, after he told me I couldn't take my bike in 'because of covid'. When questioned further as to why, he said it was because of 'social distancing'. After I pointed out that, in fact, having the bike with me in the queue made it more likely that people would socially distance (you know, on account of not being able to physically stand in the space that the bike was occupying), he then fell back on the general 'health and safety' trope. I pointed out that they'd never had cause to cite this to me in the past, and that nothing I'd attached to my bicycle since would change the general safety rating of it.

Thankfully, in the end, he saw sense and agreed it was a ridiculous rule, and I was able to purchase my shit coffee and diabetes-in-a-bag pastry.

Avatar
Jenova20 replied to Zebulebu | 3 years ago
1 like

Zebulebu wrote:

I had this 'it's because of covid' bollocks last year when the only coffee shops open just after lockdown were Costa and Starbucks. Had a stand up row with one muppet, after he told me I couldn't take my bike in 'because of covid'. When questioned further as to why, he said it was because of 'social distancing'. After I pointed out that, in fact, having the bike with me in the queue made it more likely that people would socially distance (you know, on account of not being able to physically stand in the space that the bike was occupying), he then fell back on the general 'health and safety' trope. I pointed out that they'd never had cause to cite this to me in the past, and that nothing I'd attached to my bicycle since would change the general safety rating of it. Thankfully, in the end, he saw sense and agreed it was a ridiculous rule, and I was able to purchase my shit coffee and diabetes-in-a-bag pastry.

I hope now you have more choice you'll take your business to an actual coffee shop which needs your business. These big multi-national chains need knocking down a peg or two.

Avatar
banzicyclist2 | 3 years ago
1 like

Bolton Abbey is in Wharfdale

Avatar
Jetmans Dad | 3 years ago
3 likes

In this case, he COVID excuse is surely just that. 

If they are not stopping pedestrians from crossing the bridge, how is it more risky for the pedestrian to be wheeling a bicycle?

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism replied to Jetmans Dad | 3 years ago
3 likes

If this is the bridge, then it is wide enough for two,way single file and social distancing, even if a cyclist is pushing their bike in between. 
 

//s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/14/63/146351_8077be27.jpg)

Avatar
Jenova20 replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
0 likes

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

If this is the bridge, then it is wide enough for two,way single file and social distancing, even if a cyclist is pushing their bike in between. 
 

//s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/14/63/146351_8077be27.jpg)

Is that the bouncer/security guard in question in your photo? She does look intimidating. /S

Avatar
panda | 3 years ago
10 likes

Stopping cyclists isn't going to prevent a single case of Covid-19.  There's some other agenda here.  And putting a heavy on the gate is just ridiculous.  When I was living just north of Leeds, the Forge, Cavendish and Storiths cafes all did very well out of cyclists at the weekend - I find it odd that the owners / stakeholders of the Cavendish would want to alienate them?

Bit of pedantry whilst I'm here  .... Wharfedale, not Wensleydale. 

Avatar
FSR2007 | 3 years ago
8 likes

"The estate has said that the closure of the bridge to cyclists is a temporary measure while coronavirus restrictions remain in place." Yeah nah that's such an obvious lie, what a joke

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