Countryside Code

Submitted by davem on 8 July, 2010 - 20:10.

Some absolute muppet left the gate open at Caburn late yesterday, while there were cars there, and let the cows out. Unsurprisingly, the farmer is not best pleased.

Does the sign say 'Lock this gate, especially if there are cars present'? I do believe it does. Please come back to me if I'm wrong, and it says something like 'Please keep this gate open so that the livestock can escape'.

Was it you? Are you some Albanian refugee who can't read English, hates the Southern Club, and wants to lose us our only SW site? you must be. OK, so that's Caburn lost to us. What, I hear? Firle too? Yes, apparently, two weeks ago, the same happened at Firle. Idiotic.

If nothing else, it's basic Countryside Code - close that gate!

Again!

Submitted by Jenni Fleming on 23 July, 2010 - 14:42.

The gate was left unlocked AGAIN today! Have now locked it and considering leaving aggressive notes on people's windscreens (well, may as well do something while it isn't flyable)...

Human BSE

Submitted by Lucho on 9 July, 2010 - 10:27.

After a pleasant days flying at Caburn yesterday, the man of the cottages spoke to me (unnecessarily amicably) and described the event as; ‘At about 8pm some characters sat in deckchairs beside their cars and watched the cows walk out of the gate whilst enjoying the sunset’.

How f’ing dizzy does a person need to be before they omit the process of breath!?

What did they think? That these country pets were going for a constitutional stroll before letting themselves back in through the over-sized cat flap at nappy time?

I enjoyed my flying at Caburn yesterday.
I have enjoyed my flying at Caburn in the past.
I wish to continue enjoying my flying at Caburn in the future!

How much more idiot-proof can you make the process of ‘closing the gate’ before deciding to exclude the idiots?

In my opinion our flying at Caburn should be protected for club members and this by default should exclude the parking privileges to non-members.

No hangers-on. No thrill-seekers. No para-groupies. And no tourons!

In the case that the guilty were club members then it should be considered if the individual responsibilities and privileges of members extends beyond ‘nuffing ta do wit me, I pays me money.’

p.s.(I am certain the farmer would have some compassionate contacts at the abattoir who could assist in this cull.)

To show that we care...

Submitted by tefal on 8 July, 2010 - 23:33.

Any chance we could organise a gang to help him out with something around the farm, I mean in order to REALLY show we are sorry!

For example a gang of us could fix one of his fences, dig a ditch or creosote a barn etc. What ever he thinks might useful? I'm prepared to give up an afternoon? I'm sure others would?

Or maybe rather than a Summer BBQ we could gift him some live stock? (No I'm not joking!!).

This sort of stuff is so seriouse, people have no idea...

Dave (W) or Chris (b) what do you think?

Tefal

help the farmer

Submitted by Rob Houston on 7 April, 2011 - 20:11.

Im with you Tefal, I have a van full of tools (im a builder) and can do most things. I would happily lend a hand. These people should be kicked out of the club. It would be horrible if we lost this site for any reason, let alone one of our own members loosing it for us. Buying him a cow sounds like a top idea too. Im sure the club can afford it.

Could this really be our members?

Submitted by Robbie on 9 July, 2010 - 12:32.

While I could imagine, some of our more thoughtless members leaving the gate open, I can't believe they would sit there and watch on as cattle escape. I can't help but think this is a bunch who've snuck in as our own members we entering/leaving. This I could find easy to believe as I've arrived on a few occasions when the gate has been open, as members were going in and out in addition to many more where the gate hasn't been locked period!

Maybe it's time for spot checks to confirm how many cars actually belong to members as I bet we're getting a few unwelcome visitors, maybe not even flyers at all!

With regards to offering our services by way of an apology, count me in, I think it's the least we can do!

Robbie
Sex on television can't hurt you unless you fall off.

Good Idea

Submitted by Beanie on 9 July, 2010 - 00:11.

Or use club funds to install some sort of automatic device that guarantees it lock every time. As you say Dave/Tefal this is kind of thing could easily lose us the rights to fly and we cant afford to leave it to the common sense of people who cant even be bothered to lock a gate behind them

Cowrazy !

Submitted by Dean Turner on 9 July, 2010 - 23:34.

I agree with both Beanie and Tefal, something should be done to prevent this from happening again, unfortunately you cant really install a cattle grid because of the calves but electric gate does sound like a good idea. And yes helping the farmer out with something would be a good gesture and I would definitely be willing to help out.
For any numpty out there that leaves gates open let me explain the seriousness of this situation ! I am a herdsman and run a 200 cow herd, despite me being a club member if this was our field you would have LOST it by now!!!! the farmer is being beyond reasonable by not banning the club from Caburn ! Why is it such a big deal ? If the animals get onto the main road someone will be killed and you will be held responsible, 10 cows on someones garden can do thousands of pounds worth of damage, it stresses the animals and puts their lives in danger, its a waste of everyones time and it shows absolutely NO RESPECT !!
The club could buy him a cow, they cost from about £600 up, a calf costs between £100-£200 but as they are suckler cows he would need a dame and also depends on time of year.

Dean

I also keep seeing the gate

Submitted by Carlo Borsattino on 7 April, 2011 - 21:04.

I also keep seeing the gate at Caburn being left open, despite the new lock which makes it very quick and easy to open and close. I am not sure who is doing this, but I have some ideas of some of them. Whenever I mention it to anyone at the time, they generally tend to act like I'm being unreasonable and 'uncool'.

I'm not sure whether this relevant but I have noticed that every time I see the gate left open, there are some foreign sounding/looking pilots around, who don't seem to be SHGC club members either (they act like they don't know even the most basic clubs rules). However, it's hard to tell, and of course there are foreign sounding/looking pilots who behave just fine, and non foreign sounding/looking pilots who act like inconsiderate idiots. Plus, thinking about it, there are almost always at least some foreign sounding/looking pilots on our hills these days! The point is purely that perhaps foreign pilots who aren't members don't know the rules and/or read English very well, which is hard to do something about.

I am fairly sure that some of the people who were left the gate open today were not 'newbies' or foreign pilots; they are well-known 'local' pilots, whom have been flying at our sites for a number of years, who looked like they were just leaving the gate open "for a short time" after they had driven in, whilst they were getting their kit ready to walk up.

It seems like it would be a very good idea (perhaps necessary, by the looks of things) if we could get/setup some kind of mechanism that automatically closed the gate on it's own - i.e. so that it was not possible for the gate to be left open. I don't think this should be 'electric' for practical reasons. The only problem with having a gate which closed automatically that I can think of would be when someone arrives on their own; they can't keep the gate open whilst they drive in. It's OK when there is more than one person, as one of them can keep the gate open.

And of course, the farmer/landowner should be consulted once we have come up with a good suggestion before we do anything.

In the meantime I can only suggest that every single person who goes to Caburn should mention/explain to every single person they see that they gate must be left closed at all times, and ask them to pass this message on to all of their friends.

Gate

Submitted by Jenni Fleming on 8 July, 2010 - 21:16.

Three cars in the car park when I left. Unfortunately, I'm not sure who any of them were...

Ask

Submitted by Lucho on 9 July, 2010 - 10:31.

Jenni, with all due respect, if at all uncertain - ask. And ensure they both have a right and know the protocol.

All the best.

Asking

Submitted by Jenni Fleming on 9 July, 2010 - 21:06.

Hi Lucho

No worries - I did actually speak to the occupants of one car about closing the gate - just didn't ask their names. And I didn't get close enough to the others. I definitely agree with you though - while it *should* be common sense, it doesn't hurt to remind people...