Why did 'The Flappit' close down?

[The Other PaulG]

On a return visit to my native Yorkshire last weekend I drove past the Flappit.

For those unfamiliar, this is a piece of moorland miles from anywhere (nearest town would be Denholme) where, when I were a lad, you could freely ride across a few acres of moorland.

It was nothing more than a lay-by and sometimes a snack van at the weekend, but the tracks were great and there was no-one around to be troubled by the noise.

I rode there quite a lot before I was old enough to ride on the road, and I strongly believe that by gaining experience riding on loose surfaces, I was significantly safer the day my 16th birthday came and I set off onto the road.

So I view the place as somewhere that made a really important contribution to the safety of young riders like myself and my mates - the kind of place I'd love to find now, so my own lads could learn safely.

Last weekend I saw that where the lay-by was, now there are just concrete bollards preventing vehicles from accessing the moorland - it was deserted.

What a shame, does anyone know why that happened?

Paul G

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Council land..................health and safety chiefs couldn't take the risk on their land

Simple as

 

[stolzy]

Council land..................health and safety chiefs couldn't take the risk on their land

Simple as

Which is one (valid) way of looking at it.
The other is that it was a victim of the no-win, no-fee culture that causes anyone who has an accident of any kind to treat it as a lottery win.
This very much includes the dicks on here who regularly advise accident victims to spurious whiplash claims.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Which is one (valid) way of looking at it.
The other is that it was a victim of the no-win, no-fee culture that causes anyone who has an accident of any kind to treat it as a lottery win.
This very much includes the dicks on here who regularly advise accident victims to spurious whiplash claims.

Sad but true, nobody would have even thought about it, in the 1970's or 80's, you'd have put it down to your own stupidity

Nowadays, so much stuff is closed off, because the perceived risk, is too great

 

[iftikartaxis]

Flappits

Also two people were killed riding high powered motor cross bikes

 

[sven]

Also two people were killed riding high powered motor cross bikes

I think there have been two fatalities in the past 25 years, someone who fell into the then working quarry in about 1986 (I used to go up on my motorcross bike at that time) and then ATV accident which led to the closure in 2009, even though the Gilson family who owned the lease offered to open it as an official offroad centre.

Noise was an issue for local residients as it carried across the valley. I lived in Oakworth in the mid-00's and you could hear the bikes at the Flappit quite clearly on a weekend, despite being about two miles away as the crow flies. I would imagine those in Denholme and Ciullingworth who didn't have an interest in bikes would have got fed up with it.

There are still some people using it illegally (I saw someone last Friday evening) and the police have been trying to clamp down recently http://www.keighleynews.co.uk/archi...seized_and_riders_warned_in_police_crackdown/

 

[Sunny Jim]

Plenty of images

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=f...niv&sa=X&ei=vMw3VIHFLJHmauiLgZgD&ved=0CDkQ7Ak

Unfortunately the minority fecked it for the rest - cowboys riding on/off the very busy A629 - the 4 x 4's didn't seem to help either.

If you can be bothered to Google Earth it you'll see how large an area it was - off roading delight!

 

[jez]

The really daft thing is that now all the users are using green lanes across the district (both legal or otherwise) so any accidents that happen are often way off the beaten track thus requiring more resources for rescue. At least the emergancy services could access Flappits easily if needed. I'd be interested to see the figures for off road rescue before and after closure.

 

[The Other PaulG]

Thanks guys, that fills a few gaps.

What a sad loss.

 

[SIM]

Where I was tought to ride, great place

 

[The Other PaulG]

This is bringing back some great memories.

Before we were 16, my mates and I would ride our bicycles there and spend a full day just watching.

Some kids of our age were lucky and had TY80s (weren't they wonderful kids' bikes?) - whilst the older guys had TL125s, Bultaco Sherpas and Ossas.

Occasionally we'd see a Montesa 348 (?) with its wonderfully exotic looking swoopy bodywork.

Great stuff.

 

[Rocket Ron]

I used to watch Douggie Lampkin Practice there before he become World Trials Champion

 

[The Other PaulG]

Seriously?

What a treat.

P

 

[sven]

My ex's brother went to school with Dougie and he used to come around to their house on a regular basis. Great rider, but always seemed rather dull

Wayne Braybrook used to live up the road from me and we used to ride trials bikes around the fields. Wayne was lucky in that his dad was able to buy him good bikes and support his early career. Another mate was a better rider but couldn't afford anything better than a Sealey Honda TL200 which he still has 30 years later.

 

[samz]

seeley

Great bikes them seeley's. Wish I still had my trials irons