[SamT]

Rocked up early doors on Sunday morning - 8.15 to find the barriers shut/locked and two cars parked infront of them.

Is this usual?? I know the plantation one got shut, but didn't know about surprise view.  Never seen it before.  I can only assume someone would be along at 8.30 or something to open them.  Not sure how anyone would get past the two parked cars though.   

Seems a bit of a clusterfuck.  Though I get why they're shutting them overnight now.. #vanlife

had to drive round to the (free) ringlinglow road side and walk in from there.  No massive biggie and its a pleasant walk up through the woods, but how long before the parking there is a complete mess.  Its already getting a bit rutted/potholed. 
Law of un-intended consequences innit.

PS.. @Tony.. I've already googled  .

[Dingdong]

Open 9-12 every day according to this
https://en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/carpark/surprise_view/s32/sheffield/?arriving=202406051230&leaving=202406051430

[galpinos]

The barriers have been their for donkeys' but I've never seen them shut. As you say, I imagine this is the impact of #vanlife. This might be an issue for morning sessions if they are still locked at 8:15. Nothing on the  PDNP website about opening hrs, though overnight parking in all PDNP car parks is prohibited.

Poor form parking in front of them though.

[Johnny Brown]

From conversations with Bill when he was Stanage warden, I think this has happened before although I think it used to be dusk 'til dawn like the Plantation. Not sure if he did both but he used to get up very early. 8:15 is pretty poor.

It's a bit ironic given they installed a stargazing interpretation board a few years back.

[cheque]

It’s been closed overnight at weekends for a few years I believe, to stop raves rather than van camping. May 22 I had a similar experience to Sam.

There was talk about it at the last Peak BMC meeting because it’s not explicitly advertised that it’s shut overnight and they’re apparently not very consistent in what time it’s opened up. So you can turn up before it’s open without any idea of if or when someone will appear to open it.

The guy who raised it had arrived to find a clusterfuck of vehicles parked in the entrance waiting for the barrier to be opened.

[SamT]

9am .. that's shit. I'm sure there are multitudes of user groups who'd like to be there before those times. Especially in summer.. birders.. photographers.. ramblers..not to mention condition fickle boulderers.

Bit daft parking in front of them.. but on the other hand.. if enough folk do that to cause a regular issue, they might rethink their opening hours.

[Kim]

I have actually just been jotting something down about this to send on to Andy Reeve for the next area meeting, after speaking to Danny at Eastern Moors Partnership to get the lowdown. The car park is basically closed at weekends overnight due to raves/antisocial behaviour and as the access point for most fires/bbq incidents EMP have to deal with.

It's a PDNPA car park but post-Bill I don't think they have the resources/staff/will/desire to actually manage opening and closing it, so Eastern Moors/Longshaw NT have stepped in to fill the gap. Also it's their land that is accessed via the car park. There are a limited number of weekend staff on duty and they are usually out until late fri/sat eve dealing with aforementioned asb, so they only guarantee to open the car park for 9am, though it can be earlier. I think they are going to put a sign on the gate to make this clearer (so early people at least know and can go elsewhere or come back at 9).

There may be an option for a BMC volunteer to have a key to open it earlier but that would need PDNPA agreement and obviously someone to do it reliably. I guess that will be up for discussion at the next area meeting.

[SamT]

Interesting, really genuinely never noticed it locked, but I'm not much of an early bird, and guess I've not driven back late at night on a Fri/Sat.  (plenty of times mid week).

Raves.. its so funny.. 

Don't get me wrong, been to my share 'back in the day' but back then, there was a relatively genuine reason for it all in that clubs were shit in the whole and all the criminal justice bill etc etc.

But FFS, these days, just get yourself to a club.  They have toilets and stuff.  I was at burbage sometime in the last year or so and a Ladycannings effort was still thumping away at 11am.  As we left the crag and headed back into town, there was gaggles of bedraggled, muddy youths traipsing back down ringinglow looking like they'd spent the night in a bush.
 
Maybe I'm getting old, but really can't see the appeal of dancing in muddy patch of dark forest somewhere where it might rain any second.

[spidermonkey09]

You are getting old Sam! The appeal is surely that all the old boring sensible folk think it's mental (me included)

[SamT]

all the old boring sensible folk think it's mental (me included)

 

[cheque]

I can pinpoint the exact time when my opinion of raves changed from “get on one matey” to “not in my back yard”- the evening in 2017 that I spent bagging up and carrying out what felt like a billion little laughing gas canisters from the Hell’s Bells and Keyhole areas of Millstone

My other half’s is the 20 minutes we spent in the Surprise View car park one Sunday lunchtime repeatedly explaining to a saucer-eyed lad that we couldn’t drop him off in Manchester on our way back to Nottingham. He was seemingly unaware that he was busy with at least one hand down the front of his tracky bottoms the whole time 

[SamT]

 

[lagerstarfish]

There was a rave at Lady Cannings last Saturday night - started fairly early - maybe the gate was shut due to that? (concerns about the event relocating?)
Although most vehicles were parked near Ringinglow/Lady Cs