The Birchwood crew has a solid core of about 9 people, which expands/contracts from time to time depending on who’s in town. There’s no hierarchy, as it doesn’t belong to anybody in particular, but as you’d probably expect whoever puts in the most time doing the most digging probably has the most input on how things grow & evolve.

I asked @birchwoodSam, What did it take to get things started?:

[Sam] A group of us had a spot in the village that was fun but limited. We always wanted our own place to be creative and build something we could all enjoy. I must have walked most of Sussex looking for spots! We found a few cool places where the lie of the land would have been great, but just got shut down time and again because we were just digging on people’s land without permission. When I moved I found a great spot which had potential. After a few months the land manager spoke to us and put us in contact with the owner.

He was really behind what we were doing but said we couldn’t do it there, so he found us the spot we now call Birchwood. He’s really on side and I can’t thank him enough for giving us a legitimate place to build and ride trails.

[SKT] How has the project evolved over time?

[Sam] The evolution has been natural and progressive. We’ve been at Birchwood for six years now. The main line has taken that entire time to get to where it is as we’ve constantly tweaked it to make it better/bigger. Then we’ve added side projects as we’ve gone along. For me, it’s more about creativity, flow and working with the landscape to create something unique, challenging and fun to ride. Some of the others prefer to just go bigger, but I think we’ve generally reached a compromise. I’m now working on a smaller line though, as some of the original crew have felt alienated with the jumps getting so big. Plus I’m a wimp and I crash a lot!!

[SKT] One of the things that really inspires me when I visit this place is how well they’ve worked with the land. Sam was telling me that the density of birch trees has been a bit of a challenge for them, he mentioned that the land owner is cool with them taking a few out, but they really try to keep it to a minimum, which for me is what gives this place such a rad vibe. It’s not like a baron clearing in the middle of a forest it’s totally integrated into the shape and flow of the land & quite concealed from the outside world.

Birch trees also tend to topple over quite frequently in bad weather so the lads have made great use of this by building a hut, wood store, armchairs, benches & fences all from fallen (& excavated) trees. They even use the roof of the hut to collect water into a barrel to keep the jumps well watered and maintained throughout the summer. It’s definitely a well thought out and considered spot.

[SKT] How happy are you with what you guys have created?

[Sam] I love the place. Seriously, I could spend my life up there. I wish I had more time to be up there, but work and commitments get in the way! It’s never finished though; just maintaining the jumps is constant, plus the desire to improve what we have and build new lines. It’s just a great place of our own to hang out with good friends, talk nonsense, and get away from everyday life. Whether it’s putting our heads together to think up a new line or modifications to a current one, labouring to shift barrows of dirt, sailing through the line (or casing!) or just eating BBQ food round the fire, it’s just a free environment that feels removed from everything else. That may sound corny or cliché, but it’s true!