Hi Pete, I can add a few things to the history of the area having been involved there from the very early days building trails and hosting events that Chris and Andy would race as juniors. First thing though tweed fabric was named after the Tweed Valley which is named after the river Tweed which runs through it and had done for a few thousand years before textile factories arrived! When you crossed from the village to Traquair that was the river Tweed beneath the bridge. A few years ago it flooded and washed away all the huts in the parking lot there which is why they are up on the side of the hill now...
The first trails cut in the area were approved and signed off on by the forestry and not rogue trails. I have no doubt they began to exist not long after but those first ones were cut explicitly for organised DH racing with forestry approval, we may have not strictly stuck to the remit of what was allowed to be constructed but the courses were checked and signed off on while they turned a blind eye to the chainsaws. At the time Forrestry Commision of Scotland were under pressure to sell their interests to private hands unless they could prove that the land was being used and of value to the public and so were keen to encourage recreation to protect their holdings. The golfie, Traquair and Cardrona consequently had trails built and held some of the earliest DH in Scotland. Glentress was already well used for hiking and xc at this time and later became the main focus of development by the forestry investing their own time and money into the trails. A publicly funded trail network inspired by the success of the UKs first trail center on the Welsh coast at Coed y Brenin!
The prize for actual first DH however goes to an event held in Innerleithen on the glofie side by John and Andrew of The Bicycleworks in around '94, more of a Mammoth mountain fire road descender style event won by Jonathan Mcbain.
June 8, 2020, 4:50 p.m. - bingobus
Hi Pete, I can add a few things to the history of the area having been involved there from the very early days building trails and hosting events that Chris and Andy would race as juniors. First thing though tweed fabric was named after the Tweed Valley which is named after the river Tweed which runs through it and had done for a few thousand years before textile factories arrived! When you crossed from the village to Traquair that was the river Tweed beneath the bridge. A few years ago it flooded and washed away all the huts in the parking lot there which is why they are up on the side of the hill now... The first trails cut in the area were approved and signed off on by the forestry and not rogue trails. I have no doubt they began to exist not long after but those first ones were cut explicitly for organised DH racing with forestry approval, we may have not strictly stuck to the remit of what was allowed to be constructed but the courses were checked and signed off on while they turned a blind eye to the chainsaws. At the time Forrestry Commision of Scotland were under pressure to sell their interests to private hands unless they could prove that the land was being used and of value to the public and so were keen to encourage recreation to protect their holdings. The golfie, Traquair and Cardrona consequently had trails built and held some of the earliest DH in Scotland. Glentress was already well used for hiking and xc at this time and later became the main focus of development by the forestry investing their own time and money into the trails. A publicly funded trail network inspired by the success of the UKs first trail center on the Welsh coast at Coed y Brenin! The prize for actual first DH however goes to an event held in Innerleithen on the glofie side by John and Andrew of The Bicycleworks in around '94, more of a Mammoth mountain fire road descender style event won by Jonathan Mcbain.