Ian Warby of Firecrest MTB has been running Aston Hill for ten years. But with the renewal for the lease on the site coming up for renewal at the same time as a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity, Ian decided that it was time to move on. Having made that decision in good time, he was confident that Aston Hill would find itself in safe hands and be able to continue operations under new management. Things started to look a bit iffy, though:

"The original timescale was for the Forestry Commission to tender the project along with the hire franchise in Wendover Woods and to be in a position for us to hand over management of Aston Hill in September 2006," said Ian in a posting on the Aston Hill website. "It soon became clear that timescales were tight and an October 2006 target hand-over date was agreed. Tenders in, interviews carried out and [...] I was kept in the dark as to the future of Aston Hill. Through October, November, December I was given snippets of news but nothing that I felt confident enough to go on general release.

The official line was that, "the new lease for Aston Hill is being drawn up by the Forestry Commission's land agent. We have to wait for that before we can progress". Believe it or that's been the official line through January, February and now into March. Now, with the clock ticking and 5 April rapidly approaching I'm still waiting and it's still the official line from the Forestry Commission."

That was the bad news as of earlier today. The good news just in, though, is that local shop Buckingham Bikes has taken on Aston Hill and Wendover Woods and will be running it as a riding area "as soon as possible".

Buckingham Bikes's Adam Brady says:

"Don't worry, Aston Hill's not going anywhere! We at Buckingham Bikes have taken the tender for the site, including both Aston Hill and the Wendover Woods area. We will be picking up where Ian left off with Aston, and should be running the site from April/May. Ian has done a fantastic job over the years, and we hope to carry on the tradition of Aston Hill as one of the premier downhill spots in the UK. We are hoping to carry on the running of the site with minimal downtime at handover, and to take Aston Hill to even greater heights! We'll be keeping everyone up to speed as much as we can with any fresh developments as and when they happen."

So there you go. From threatened with closure to possible minor disruption within the space of a few hours. Result!

Until we hear otherwise, keep an eye on www.astonhill.com for more updates. And we'll be heading over there for a not-last-after-all blast anyway...