In February we were able to meet with Ian Roberts from Ropeworks and finalise the designs for the course - we are lucky that we have benefitted from the knowledge he has gained from some recent projects he has done and from his involvement with the European Ropes Course Association and the development of the new European Norm. This has enabled us to adapt our original ideas and plan a course that meets all the current and expected legislation whilst at the same time incorporating the best features and elements into our course.
We also began preparing High Ash Wood for the build. It had always been our intention to work around the existing trees as much as possible since we want clients to experience being among the trees and this was reflected in our planning application and woodland management plan. We have only coppiced or felled sycamore trees and we will be reusing all the wood that we have cut within our operating area. Sycamore is being used as path edging, fence posts and rails. We have also built natural "walls" of the smaller cuttings and we are thrilled to find that small mammals and insects are already using this material as their homes.
We had several weekends working hard with the help of many friends cutting, carrying, raking and generally getting scratched to death by brambles. We would like to thank Mickey, Bob, Simon, Nina, Jim, June, Richard and of course Hollie and Joel for all their help!
We have now given Ian the full go ahead and work starts on the 27th April 2009 - we have given him a list of priorities so that we don't interfere with a few key events, such as the Bunker Bash 2009 (military vehicle show) and the Whitweek Holiday. We should be open fully in June and will be having an official opening sometime early in the summer. Watch this space for more details...