To the south of Newton Poppleford there is a UCR off Dotton Lane that crosses the river. On the Eastern side of the river going into Ashtree Farm there is a padlocked gate across the UCR, is it worth reporting this to the authorities?
No, because the correct route of GRMUID 5289, 192-146 Mill Lane does not use the gate with the padlock on it.
From the west, you should ride straight down to the river from Dotton Farm, passing a locked field gate on your left, straight across the River Otter just upstream of the footbridge, up the eastern bank next to the short section of fence by the footbridge, through the gate next to the electric pole, up the overgrown embankment, over the old bridge, down the other hole ridden embankment the other side, to join the lane past Ash Tree Farm.
Unfortunately, for many years the river has been too deep to cross on the correct route, and the eastern bank has become a 6 foot sheer cliff, so riders have been either going upstream to cross the farmers ford, or straight through the gate and field, and then back down the private track to the gates, on both sides, which are now regularly padlocked.
I'm hoping when the authorities get around to repairing the undermined support for the footbridge, they'll re-instate a ramp or slipway of some sort to allow the correct route to be re-used again. Not a cheap repair.
East bank route out of the river and exposed footbridge support
That undermined eastern bridge support used to be much further from the river (pic from 2011)
and the footbridge today, July 2023
-- Edited by Tribey on Wednesday 19th of July 2023 06:35:21 PM
