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MCN is to reclaim North Wales from the region’s anti-motorcycle police force by staging a mass ride to Snowdonia National Park.
With your help we plan to defy the force’s treatment of motorcyclists – described as an “enforce and displace” policy by police elsewhere – by descending on the scenic region in our thousands.
North Wales Police discourages innocent motorcyclists from entering the region by indiscriminately stopping as many riders as possible. Led by Deputy Chief Constable Clive Wolfendale, who has proposed banning motorcycles from national parks, the force admits officers stop around 400 riders every summer weekend including 350 who have committed no offence.
MCN’s aim is to remind the force whose roads they are by exercising our right to enjoy them within the law.
Reclaim North Wales – how you can get involved
MCN will meet readers at two points at midday on September 13. Go to whichever is easiest for you to get to:
The first is the Dragon’s Rest Cafe, at the Caerwys Junction of the A55 in the north of the region. The second is the Ponderosa Café on the A542 Horseshoe Pass, Llangollen, LL20 8DR.
We’ll then meet you again at 4pm in the car park of Swallow Falls Hotel, Holyhead Road, Betws-y-Coed, Conwy, LL24 0DW. The site, in Snowdonia National Park, has a restaurant and tavern and is near stunning waterfalls.
The route you take from one meeting point to the other is up to you. Our plan isn’t to lead you there but simply to encourage you to enjoy the region’s roads within the law by turning up.
Our Reclaim North Wales campaign has the backing of the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) and Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), both of which has agreed to join us. We even have the backing of serving and former police officers.North Wales Police denies it wants to drive riders away but a motorcycle officer in the road policing unit of another force said: “From the outside it certainly looks that way. Four hundred is an enormous number of riders to stop in a weekend. We stop about 1,000 a year.”
A North Wales Police spokesman refused to answer when asked if the force’s strategy could discourage riders from entering the region.
We’d like to invite you to exercise your right to enjoy the region’s stunning roads within the law on September 13.
Good link Radar. North Wales police are very heavy-handed in their techniques to stop bikers from enjoying the country. 400 stops in a weekend? If that’s true, that’s downright criminal!
Video stream taken on the Horseshoe Pass :
https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8253623.stmNorth Wales Police has defended its policy of stopping motorcyclists – saying it has helped save lives.
It comes as hundreds of motorcycle campaigners protested, claiming the sheer numbers of riders being stopped put off bikers visiting the area.
The British Motorcyclists’ Federation (BMF) said police were “using a sledgehammer to crack a peanut”.
But the force said the Operation Focus checks had “undoubtedly” brought the number of road deaths down since 2008.
Motorcyclists were riding in north east and north west Wales on Sunday in a Reclaim North Wales protest, organised by the magazine Motorcycle News, to highlight the issue.
They estimated 3,000 bikers took part, although police could not confirm numbers.
The BMF have called the stop check policy “clumsy” and likened it to stopping football fans just because they like football.
Jeff Stone, from the BMF, said: “Ordinary, everyday motorcyclists just going for rides on the beautiful roads of north Wales find themselves harassed by police.
“We fully accept there are problems, like in any sector of society, of some people – the nuttier end if you like – who are going too fast, in the wrong places and causing accidents. But that’s not the majority.
“It’s using a sledgehammer to crack a peanut. They wouldn’t dare do it if they said they would be stopping every blue Mondeo on the road.”
Mr Stone said he wanted more policing but for it to be targeted on those breaking the law on the roads.
Chief Inspector Gary Ashton from North Wales Police, who is responsible for road policing, said the “peanut” being talked about was road deaths.
“People are losing their lives,” he told BBC Radio Wales.
“In 2007, 12 motorcyclists died on the roads of north Wales, in 2008 eight more than that died, so that’s 20 in two years.
“But this year we’ve seen a reduction and while it’s unfortunate for any loss of life it’s only two compared to the large figures we’ve seen before.”
He said there were some intent on coming to use the roads as a racetrack and the policy was aimed at offering advice on risks and information.
In 2006, North Wales’ then chief constable Richard Brunstrom compared two motorcyclists filmed from a helicopter riding at nearly 100mph to an “episode of the Wacky Races cartoon”.
Last year, all four Welsh police forces pledged to use helicopters, unmarked cars and camera bikes to cut motorcycle-related deaths.
A total of 43 bikers or their pillion passengers were killed in Wales during 2007, the highest total since 1984.
Courtesy of BBC News Wales
What MCN had to say on the event :-
Thousands of MCN readers descended on North Wales on Sunday, transforming much of the region into one enormous bike festival in one of MCN’s biggest ever campaigns.
Over 10,000 riders are thought to have joined our effort to reclaim the area’s stunning roads from heavy-handed police who every weekend stop 350 motorcyclists who have committed no offence.
Around 5,000 of you went to the Ponderosa Café on the stunning Horseshoe Pass in Llangollen. At least another 3,000 of you went to the Dragon’s Rest Café near Caerwys, another of our key meeting places.
Finally around 10,000 of you converged at the final meeting point in Betws-y-Coed in Snowdonia National Park , filling the village with bikes.
One MCN reader described the scene as “like the TT, Bol d’ Or and BMF Show rolled into one.”
The day would have been a nightmare for North Wales deputy chief constable Clive Wolfendale, who used his blog to propose banning motorcycles from national parks
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