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Slope soaring sites near a camping site - help pleasee


Herri
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Derbyshire: Mam Tor has a campsite at the top of Winnats Pass, (Castleton) maybe 10 mins walk from the slopes. Map.

Its basic, but clean. Up Winnats to where it joins the main road, bear left & its the first gate on your left, with a long driveway.

Castleton has lots for the family too, good pubs, nice shopping, guided tours through Treak Cliff, Blue-John, Speedwell & Peak Caverns, Peveril Castle, visitor centre, lovely walks...

Cheers
Phil

 

Edited By Phil Green on 22/11/2014 18:06:58

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Posted by Herri on 22/11/2014 18:32:39:

Phil:

I know Castleton but didnt know there was slope soaring. where is the slope soaring?

Flight 1:

I was hoping for a little more than the county 😟

yup your right........ here is one right on a fantastic site**LINK**

many more sites look here **LINK** and here **LINK** for lots of info on slope sites

Edited By flight1 on 22/11/2014 18:58:42

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Posted by Herri on 22/11/2014 18:32:39:

Phil:

I know Castleton but didnt know there was slope soaring. where is the slope soaring?

Mam Tor is known as "The Shivering Mountain" but you have to liaise with the jellyfish (paragliders)

There is also our club site nearby at Callow but you need to be accompanied by a club member, especially since things are not going well with the new tenant. Best to contact the club (SSA) nearer the time.

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Well if he is coming from Holland he could stop in Folkestone and fly off the cliffs at The Warren where he would need a Southerly wind I think . Alternatively he could travel along the M 20 and turn on to the A 249 where there are camping sites as listed on the Internet. He could fly at Castle Hill if the wind is South Westerly or he could carry on to the Isle of Sheppey at Minster and fly off the cliffs if there is a northerly wind. Have a look at the Goodwind Slope soaring and Slope Hunter Websites where other sites are mentioned.

I visited Holland a few times with the Croydon Korfball club and the lack of slope soaring sites could not have been more evident. The Dutch are masters at Korfball.

Edited By Mike Etheridge 1 on 22/11/2014 21:25:54

Edited By Mike Etheridge 1 on 22/11/2014 21:26:43

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Hi Herri,

1. I'm quite dissapointed that some people are recommending a single slope site. The UK gets extremely variable weather (if you don't like it, wait a minute or two), but it can equally also lock into a single direction for a complete holiday, so to get the best from his stay your friend will need to position himself near a number of slopes with differing aspects.

2. You don't say what type or types of slope soarers your friend has or his skill level. This is important! If he only for example has a lightweight all moulded plane a number of otherwise excellent slopes might become unflyable due to landing restraints. One of my favourite sites needs a precision "crash" into scrub as there is NO off slope open area, yet another could land a full size glider, if that is the farmer has his inquisitive cattle elsewhere!!

3. You don't say if there are other important reasons for the choice of site (looking after accompanying partner, etc!), near historical places to visit, near evening entertainment, etc, etc. How long he's here, how mobile he is, are also all factors.

If he bases in the SE, then there are many many campsites with Internet booking, and the Slopehunter Website (www.slopehunter.co.uk) offers a large number of sites, but he must bear in mind that most are very specific on wind direction, and he will need to be very flexible on movement to make the best of his time here.

Finally, when I have travelled around the UK, I have contacted the local slope soaring club/association, and they have usually been extremely helpful and have offered use of their experience and non-public facilities they have built up over time with local land owners. For example, when I was heading for the Midlands for a while, I joined the Leek and Moorland club, a group well worth supporting and who offered very cheap and very good access to a number of private slope sites scattered across two counties. We usually went to one, then went to a nearby historical site or town to explore.

Good Luck to your friend, and I hope he enjoys the UK!

 

 

 

Edited By Dave Bran on 23/11/2014 05:55:49

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  • 5 years later...

callow bank is now a thing of the past

It was a great site for nearlly 40 years but now the current farmer does not want anyone there

he has stuck large fence posts in all over the bank ,,,dozens and dozens of them

about 5 foot high every few meters

treat it as gone

 

Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 05/01/2020 19:33:30

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That's awful! Someone must have really upset the owner of the land to provoke such behaviour. You can only assume that either a sloper or hang glider pilot got into shouting match with said farmer and he decided to make the site impossible to launch from or land on. From your description he must have been mightily p'd off - trust me, fence posts aren't cheap and they're hard work to bang into the ground too unless you have a tractor mounted "fencing post banger-inner".

Final thought: alternatively the land owner might be concerned with his vicarious liability if someone's glider, flown there previously with and now without his permission, brained a passing member of the GBP (Great British Public!). Though my money is on the first scenario.

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Leave your coat on the peg i2' - concise and to the point - I agree 100%.

I'm getting bored with all this harrumphing from a small but vocal minority of the parishioners who seem to have found a new "Ishoo" to feed their paranoia. (I'll bet they're fun at Club or worse still at Parish Council Meetings!).

Let's all just put a brave face on it, register, pay the money and get back to building and flying ( and repairing ) our toys. Oh, and a quick ThankYou to the BMFA while we're on the subject.

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Posted by Robert whitaker on 05/01/2020 19:07:23:
callow bank is now a thing of the past
It was a great site for nearly 40 years but now the current farmer does not want anyone there
he has stuck large fence posts in all over the bank ,,,dozens and dozens of them
about 5 foot high every few meters
treat it as gone

Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 05/01/2020 19:33:30

This is tosh. Yes there is an ongoing dispute with the tennant (the late landowners family is happy for us to fly there) but we continue to fly there regularly, in fact the situation has opened up Callow to non-members and we have a google groups board to arrange meeting up there.  Members were flying there only last Saturday, when they were visited by a few friendly but inquisitive cows!  The BMFA support our use and have offered legal assistance should this be necessary.

Posted by Robert whitaker on 05/01/2020 19:07:23:

"callow bank is now a thing of the past" No its not at all.

"It was a great site for nearlly 40 years" ... Nonsense, its documented that people have flown there since before WW1. I joined the SSA around age 11 and have flown there for 54 years, many members for much longer. It remains a great site.

"he has stuck large fence posts in all over the bank ,,,dozens and dozens of them". which we easily avoid

treat it as gone   -  No.  I notice this is your one and only post. Are you the tennant?

 

Back to camping, I can thoroughly recommend the Town Farm campsite at the foot of Ivinghoe Beacon, its a superb site, clean and very well equipped. You could walk to the Beacon in 10 minutes!

Heres the site seen from the West slope of Ivinghoe Beacon. The site is nearer than it looks!

img_20190915_160158.jpg

 

This gives a better perspective, looking across 'Tango' the campervan to the Beacon just 900 metres away.
In fact the campsite is exactly the same distance from the slope as the NT car park!

img_20190913_201226_327.jpg

 

 

 

Edited By Phil Green on 11/01/2020 16:44:19

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Marfit Head farm is a great site for the Hole of Horcum, I've stayed there many times though to fly HoH you do need to be a NYMRSC member or arrange a 'day pass' with Jon Edison at **LINK**

The campsite is within walking distance but the HoH has a huge car park anyway... Marfit Head is a CC site but they welcome non members too. Its a working dairy farm but the facilities are immaculate. Theres the 'Fox & Rabbit' who do great meals just a couple of miles down the A169 and Dalby Forest trail park if you take your mountain bike. Dalby do a nice full English too.

Cheers
Phil

 

Edited By Phil Green on 09/01/2020 15:35:04

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For Clwyd, we stayed at either Abbey Farm or Abbey Grange campsite, cant remember which of the two, it was a while back. Both are just south of the Clwyd slopes, on the A542 in the Llangollen direction.

I was told the club dont use Moel Ffamau any more, which is a shame

**LINK**

 

 

Edited By Phil Green on 11/01/2020 17:01:41

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