Black Canon Collective

Category: Building

  • love

    Saturday the 14th February is a day to celebrate the one you love by spoiling them a little.

    The BCC is no different, we love the allotment and so will be spending the whole day dedicating our time to pampering it, making it feel special and then giving it a right good going over the following day (well think of all those brownie points we’ll have earned!).

    You’ve guessed it; its the BCC weekender – as per the usual set up it’s dig day on Saturday followed by a ride day on Sunday.

    There’ll be plenty of tea and biscuits for all those that help out but do remember to bring some lunch.

    Full details to follow shortly, but in the mean time the dig day will run from 10:00 – 16:00.

    See you there!

    (If you’re a non member and would like to help out then please come along, everyone is welcome to dig days!)

  • Help needed…

    Many members ask how they can help work on the allotment outside of dig days. Understandably people are often reluctant to just get stuck in without a little direction. We were obviously thrilled and very keen to embrace this enthusiasm and enable people to join in whenever they can.  So, Ian came up with the idea of making some “pile rocks here”, “rake from here”, “…to here” signs to place around the allotment. After a couple of hours of dodgy jig saw skills (that’s skill with a dodgy jig saw) and some inspired paint brush control we’ve made some “help needed” signs.
    So look out for them around the allotment and when you get a moment or two in between a bit of riding, well, see signs for further info…. 

  • Small steps…

    One of our targets has been to get a permanent XC trail implemented in the area . The benefits of this, if done right, are huge and so it’s been no secret that we’ve been pushing hard (behind the scenes) to make it happen. We’re not there yet, in fact we’re barely at the start of this project but I can now say that we’ve passed a couple of key mile stones: 

     

    1. We now have a verbal agreement (from Longleat) to route a trail through the surrounding woodland, pending a detailed review of our plans.
    2. We are in talks with an expert trail builder who is wiling to be involved in the design and construction of such a trail.

     

    These may seem to be small steps, especially seeing as neither is more than a promise to consider our plans. But I can’t emphasise enough how many pitfalls there are to realising such a project  – so any hint of good news is good news in my book.

    By securing the input of someone who really knows what makes a good trail we can be sure that no matter how big the area, or small the hill we can build something to be proud of.  So a few months back we contacted Russell Burton who agreed to meet up for a walk around the allotment and a chat. Russell, who lives local to the area, seemed excited by what we were attempting and happy to help out. At this stage we had nothing but a pipe dream, no commitment from Longleat just an idea. But now that Longleat have agreed with our plans in principle, now we’re cooking!

    So, since speaking with Longleat we’ve sourced a detailed map of the woodland, marked up the area we intend to use and sent Russell an e-mail outlining a basic brief (click here: Dear Russell… to see the e-mail) to get the ball rolling. Nothing is confirmed nor is any one’s involvement guaranteed but we’re making progress and must attempt to maintain this momentum.

    We’ll be detailing the progress of this, and all our other projects, here on the website so check back to see how we’re getting on.  If you have any questions, suggestions or would like to help then please contact me via phone or e-mail.

  • Chop. Cut. Pile. Repeat.

    Today was ace.

    We had a great turn out of regulars, newbies and even some non members.

    We cut up loads of fallen and recently felled trees making piles and stacks as we went.

    The temperature was zero (or there abouts) but everyone managed to work up a sweat.

    But best of all – the tea stayed hot and the biscuits were tasty.

  • Lift & shift

    This months dig day will be going ahead despite the recent arctic conditions. 

    The ground is said to be frozen up to 10cm depth meaning that digging is likely to be even harder than normal so with that in mind we’ve decided to focus upon other worthy tasks such as raking, collecting wood and rocks, improving the shelter, re-marking the trails, and most importantly of all perhaps – taking time to walk around the allotment and day dream a little.

    We’ll also be shortening the day so that people stand a chance of staying warm; it will start at 10:00 and finish at 13:00. Short and sweet.

    And in case you thought we’d forgotten – there’ll be cups of tea and biscuits a plenty.

    See you there!

  • Every Cloud…

    Friday nights rainfall caused problems for a lot of people.

    The allotment got its fair share resulting in some pretty impressive ruts, mini lakes and silty swamps.

    But if it wasn’t for the water leaving a trail on its way down the hill we’d never have known where to dig drainage, every cloud……

    We worked all day to weather proof 143; we dug drainage, built a water bar, rebuilt ‘flip flop’ from scratch, re-routed the very bottom section and gave everything else a good rake and shape.

    We all stopped for lunch, ate sausages and drank tea. 

    By the end of the day it looked like new, better even, it was just begging to be ridden.

    Chris, Jack and co worked hard to make the most of the soft conditions and dug all day at the jump spot. It’s gonna be ace by spring time.

    Sunday saw some new faces, some old and some who looked like they should have drunk less the night before.

    We rode all day, crashed a bit but made the most of our new old trail.

    I must admit to wanting it to rain, in the same way that you do when you have a new coat, I wanted to test out our newly weather proof trail. 

    It didn’t though, it stayed dry and fast and we kept on going until we couldn’t see where the hell we were going.

    This is what the weekend is for.

    P.S. Kudos to Rob for doing the mini step!

  • Magic

    Last weekend’s dig and ride days were a great success…

    We got loads done thanks to a really good turnout and some ace sausages (thank you Mark)! 

    By mid day on Sat we’d significantly improved the drainage on both BBMS and Spoons then raked and remarked both.

    The afternoon was spent renovating 143; an old favourite with lots of flow, some nice undulating corners and floaty jumps.

    The jump spot was also the subject of some hard graft thanks to Chris, Garry, Jack and the other usual suspects. 

    Over the course of the weekend we met 10 new people, 1 even helped dig all day Sat despite having hoped to ride (thanks Adam!) and has since joined along with two of the others.

    It’s great to see that we’re still growing despite the time of year.

    To see so many people getting stuck in is also fantastic, it’s what we need if we’re going to succeed.

    Sunday was spent riding the trails, unsurprisingly 143 saw the most action leading to a relaxed day of sessioning and the freelap staying in my bag.

    There’s something magical about riding homegrown trails with friends, and what a large group of friends this is becoming….

  • SALE

    That’s right we’re having a blow out 42.8571429 % SALE here at the BCC. From now until March ’09 we’ll be offering Full Membership for just £20!!! Don’t worry if you’ve recently joined up; we’ll be refunding the difference to anyone who joined since October this year. 

    Even more impressive is our offer of Full Membership for £15 if you join during one of our Dig Days. We’re growing fast (just under 40 members) but want to encourage even more people to take part especially during these wetter months. We will of course gladly accept the full amount from those happy to contribute to what we’re doing, but for those of you who have been sitting on the deer fence we hope that this will help.

  • If you go down to the…

     

    … woods today (well tomorrow),

    You’re sure of a big surprise (hopefully not that big especially as we do this every month).

    If you go down to the woods today (again it’s actually tomorrow),

    You’d better go in disguise (although funny some warm clothes would probably be better).

    For every member that ever there was (we hope)

    Will gather there for certain because

    Today’s the day (see comments above) the BCC members work on their allot-ment.

     

    (You can make up your own second verse)

     

    Sausage time for me-mbers;

    The BCC members are having a lovely time today (I can’t emphasise enough that it’s not actually today).

    Help them build some super lush trails,

    And see them work hard on this Saturday.

    See them gaily gad about (unlikely…).

    They love to eat and dig,

    They’ll be wearing lots of layers.

    At four o’clock they’ll pack up and leave

    They’ll go off home to bed (they’ll probably eat dinner and watch some TV first)

    Because they’re tired BCC me-mbers.

  • Leeks, cabbage and brussel sprouts


    In the short time that we’ve been working on our little allotment it’s been very fruitful; 

    We’ve had days of digging, riding and banter

    We’ve jumped, drifted, crashed and tried again

    We’ve sawn, raked, dug then raked some more

    We’ve eaten sausages, cakes, pasties and drunk tea

    We’ve had a blast!

    But Winter is now here, a time to prepare for the spring and summer ahead; when the real harvest can be had

    Our existing trails aren’t yet robust enough to be reaped all year round so we must step back to see how we can improve them

    We must improve drainage, collect wood and make markings

    It’s the time to build shelters,  dig more drainage and gather rocks

    Most importantly; it’s the time to plan ahead

    Over the next two months we will be forming and then committing to a plan for the entire allotment, an exciting prospect, but one of such importance

    We have a growing membership base, pledged support from a renowned trail builder and importantly; we’ve just negotiated a 3 year licence

    We also have a blank canvas on which to work, and heaps of enthusiasm

    Please help us to make the right decisions by telling us what you think we should create, how and where (just leave a comment below)