Matlock lockdown! Bando banned! Oh. 😢

Racing Quads, Self-builds & FPV
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I paid a visit this evening, and here’s what I found.

From the countryside end, they’ve closed the gates. It’s chained up with a combination padlock.

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To the right, there looks to be an easy hop over a wall.

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But the wall is covered with said anti-climb paint (yes, I put my hand in it :man_facepalming:) , and it’s a good 7-8ft drop on the other side.

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To the left, through the field, are low, dry-stone walls, which look a bit more manageable.

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But it’s still a reasonable drop on the other side, and thick with brambles.

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(This looks more daunting in real life, trust me.)

Approaching from the Sainsbury’s end, there is easy access on foot, despite the gates and fencing (which now stands wide open).

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But after a 10 minute walk, you’ll find they’ve fenced off the other side of the site, pretty securely, with fence panels covered in the same anti-climb paint.

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However, about 20 feet to the left, the green railings just stop and there is relatively easy access to the site, although you would have to make your way through several yards of fairly thick undergrowth to do so.

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In conclusion, they’ve clearly made a concerted effort to keep people out, and we can no longer enjoy the easy, open access we once had.

If you were determined, it wouldn’t take much to get in; a tarp and some collapsible ladders at one end, or a bit of a hike and a few scratches as you push through the brush at the other. But whether you believe the site is surveilled as closely as advertised or not, I can’t imagine the reception would be as casual as it has been previously, were you to be discovered.

It’s a shame, but I don’t think I’ll be chancing it.

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The fools :rofl:

Have you got a picture of the padlock by any chance Jez?

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I don’t. And I don’t doubt that it would be trivial to bypass. There’s also the fact that the local fishing club have had access to Cawdor Pond via the site and have previously shared the combination to the single lock that was the former barrier to vehicular entry. I don’t know if that will still be the case.

But whereas previously it was clearly accepted that people regularly walked through the site, they very definitely don’t expect that to be happening any more.

Edit: Here it is, not that you can make much out from that.

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1 Like
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There may still be a route in via the river. The second time I went and found the weed smokers society camped out behind, they exited via a hole that leads to the river on the back fence line.

I wonder if someone got injured doing something overly sketchy. The hide and seek kids were going places I wouldn’t have gone, like high up in areas with not so solid looking floors. Also there was a very large wasp nest in the garage round the back.

The sign on the gate saying about a fire is the most telling. When I was there about a month back, someone had set fire to the front, near where we all sit. Wonder if some twat went back and did it again.

Anyways, it looks like to fly here it would be a longer distance sortie with no possibility of crashing. I’m kind of annoyed as I still haven’t power looped something there, that was a goal of sorts. :frowning: I suppose some of the other FPV guys that go there might bust that gate off eventually. From what I understand it’s been secured and unsecured many times over the years.

I’m still tempted to fly it, but nothing big, nothing noisy that draws attention and possibly security or the police to the site. Whoops, and anything small would be fine, but you would need to enter from a different point and be real stealthy, so no tables and chairs, just get in, fly a couple of packs, get out.

Someone put this up a few days back and it looks like the gate wasn’t locked then, so this must have happened in the last couple of days.

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They’ve likely done it because of the vandalism. Although its derelict there been a lot of arson so
I guess its done for safety reasons as there have been some folk bedding down there. Could also be because of the travellers now permantly based in the main carpark.