We are a small group of dedicated people whose goal is to return Still Woods to its former status as a top class mountain bike area for Bristol and the South West.

Danny, or Hamish as he's more commonly known, is the current president of Bristol University Bike Club.

Rob is a past president of the Uni Bike Club and was a member of the Still riders' committee in 2004-5.

Dan K was a Still regular prior to the demolition.

Jamie is editor of Wideopen Mag and a former committee member of Foel DH.

Antony is chairman of Bristol Trails Group and edits the Stolen Bristol Bikes blog.

Mart is a long time user of the site and is currently manager of Mud Dock.

If you want to get involved too, just get in touch with us. We need support and we'd also welcome advice from anyone who's been in a similar situation. In the long term, if we can agree terms of use with the site's owners, we are going to need people to help redevelop and look after the site, as well as deal with the extra issues raised by going official. This ain't no closed shop, just drop us an email and we'll try and involve you in some way.

If you wish to get involved or would like to offer any help then please get touch.

At present you can contact us directly using this email address:
bristoltrailsgroup@gmail.com

What's next for Still Woods?

At present things are a bit uncertain. The existing trails are in ruins, and it's been made clear that any unofficial attempts at rebuilding will be dealt with in the same way.

However, the landowners (Bristol University) have said that they would be willing to work with riders and keep the site open if use can be formalised in some way, and they have a central point of contact to turn to if any issues arise.

There are indications that they would like to limit use of the site for riding, with just three main tracks. Beyond this, we're still not certain what they are prepared to agree to, but we'll let you know when you hear more.

UPDATE: Steve Douglass, the "St" in"Still", has got in touch to say that he remembers starting riding over there in 1997/98, and the first DH tracks were built soon afterwards by riders taking inspiration from the KIS BSX races. We've updated our presentation to include this info. Box from Bad Ass Bikes says he remembers riding over there even earlier, around 1992! The oldest photos we've seen of the tracks are from 2002, but there must be some older ones out there - apparently MBUK did an article which featured the place back in 2000.

If you have any photos or info that can help us show the history of the site, please get in touch.

2004 - 2005 In response to concerns over safety, litter and uncontrolled building at the site, members of the University Mountain Bike Club and local riders begin liaising with George Griffith, the University Estates Manager, and Long Ashton Parish Council. A Code of Conduct is agreed for users of the site, there are organised build days and litter picks, and the University club receives a sports development grant from Deloitte which enables tools to be purchased and some of the track to be surfaced.


2006 - 2009 The trail network continues to expand, but the lines of communication between the riders and the University are broken, due to key individuals finishing their education and moving away from the City and personnel changes at the University. Problems with litter and user conflict increase. On 30 October 2009 it is reported that notices have been placed at the site saying that mountain biking will cease. Four days later, all the existing trails are demolished.