Just suggested to my Bro that his 11 year old lad might like to take up trials in order to give him a direction other than to end up with the detrius of society strutting about demanding "respec" off everyone. I'm sure he'll be well up for it and I'm nore than happy to take him out and teach him what little I know, but here's the rub (the usual one), as far as I know, there's nowhere to ride in the Southend and Essex area. I have my usual club in Berko but that's a bit of a stretch from Southend. Maybe Poles Wood could be a goer but it's a bit dull by all accounts.

Has anyone ever successfully (or almost successfully) convinced a council to rent some land for trials or is it just a case of all motorcycles are evil m'kay and must be discouraged? The way I see it is that if you offer a yoof something he can be good at that requires some discipline and commitment, he MIGHT just decide that it's worth hanging on to and not just peeing up a wall.

Dunno, any thoughts?

I'm not an expert on the subject and there are others that post on here that could maybe clarify the two points I'm going to make.

Firstly, I believe that the land used by Grampian MCC (which is a predominantly mx club but it

We ride at BUMPY in West Yorkshire .... www.bumpy.org.uk

I don't know everything about it but if you're serious then the model they use is certainly worth looking into.

It's a charity organisation and I think the council own the land.

Their main objective is to provide riding mainly for kids (but doesn't exclude adults) -

- school trips for those not doing well at school - wanting to learn about mechanicing, riding, etc.

- community organisations trying to give the kids a direction in life

- somewhere safe and legal to ride for those fortunate enough to have a bike but nowhere other than the streets to ride it on.

They are funded as a charity with some revenue from public riders (such as me) and some revenue by running on-road training for adults wanting to pass their test.

Hope this helps.