Natural England

Thrill seekers are invited to try out a series of new mountain bike loops designed to showcase some of the North West’s most spectacular scenery on the Pennine Bridleway National Trail.

Natural England, the Government’s environmental champion, has created a series of downloadable leaflets at www.nationaltrail.co.uk/penninebridleway outlining exhilarating day rides within easy reach of Manchester, Sheffield and Huddersfield by public transport. The new cycle routes include:

• The ‘Diggle Jiggle’ near Oldham – an 11 mile ride of two halves starting with a muscle warming run from Diggle taking in Greenfield and the Delph Donkey Trail before a steep climb from Dob Cross to Standege, ending in a white-knuckle off road plunge back to Diggle.
• The ‘Tintwistle: Moor Fun’ near Glossop – a 16 mile up and down route over the moors, taking in Higher Swineshaw Reservoir, Mossley and two nerve jangling off-road finales before heading back into Tintwistle.
• The ‘Hayfield Highs’ near New Mills – a 17 mile “full-on” route with uphills made to test your legs and downhills designed to test your nerves, taking in Chinley, Ollersett Moor, Rowarth and Lantern Pike.

Ginny Hinton, Natural England Pennine Bridleway Advisor, said: “We want mountain bikers young and old to come and try out our new cycle loops and enjoy the beautiful countryside surrounding the Pennine Bridleway. The countryside really is on your doorstep and we want cyclists, horse riders and walkers to come and enjoy the National Trail.”

The leaflets include details of train times from nearby major cities and towns, a map of each route and crucial information on gradients, route surface descriptions, off road downhills and steep uphill sections, which receive fun gradings from “leg warmers” to “lungbusters”. The leaflets also outline details of local cafes, pubs and nearby cycle hire and maintenance shops.

The new routes have already received the seal of approval from a number of mountain bike enthusiasts who helped to test ride them.

Mountain biker rider Nicky Parsons said: “These are great mountain bike routes suitable for intermediate level riders with some short advanced descents in places, I had a super day out with a pub stop halfway".

The Pennine Bridleway National Trail is one of 15 National Trails in England and Wales, and is the first to have been planned from the outset with horse riders and mountain bikers in mind. Following an interesting mix of old pack horse routes and drove roads (often sensitively refurbished and upgraded), linked by newly created stretches of bridleway, the Trail will be around 350 miles when completed.

From south to north, the Trail starts in Derbyshire, skirts around the east of Manchester and up through the South Pennines. When fully complete it will continue to Cumbria and finish at Byrness in Northumberland. It will pass through the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Parks.

Details of a further three mountain bike routes in Yorkshire and Rochdale will go online later this year, and a series of routes for horse riders are also in the pipeline. The website www.nationaltrail.co.uk/penninebridleway also includes useful information on accommodation, services, tips on how to plan your journey, an events diary, news page and picture gallery.

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Notes to editors:

Ginny Hinton from Natural England is available for media interviews. Contact Anne Arnold at COI News & PR North West on 0161 952 4505 to organise an interview.

Photographs of the mountain bikers enjoying the new routes are also available by calling Anne Arnold at COI News & PR.

The creation of the Pennine Bridleway National Trail has been made possible to date mainly through financial support from Natural England (formerly the Countryside Agency) and a Sport England award of £1.8 million. Additional funding has also come from a wide variety of other sources including the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, Landfill Tax, the Local Transport Partnership Fund and through the support and hard work of all the local and park authorities along the route. Landowners are also playing a large part in dedicating the many new sections of bridleway required to create it.

The open sections include Derbyshire to the South Pennines the Mary Towneley Loop and the Settle Loop.

The route is currently under development between the Mary Towneley Loop and Cumbria. Three linking routes from the West Pennines, West and South Yorkshireare also being constructed.

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF NATURAL ENGLAND BY COI NEWS & PR NORTH WEST
CONTACT: ANNE ARNOLD AT anne.arnold@coi.gsi.gov.uk or 0161 952 4505