Country park staff primed for hike in visitors after Tour of Britain cycle race return
Two men who work to preserve and improve a country park in Warwickshire are hoping that a piece of international spotlight will attract a new wave of visitors to the site.
The Tour of Britian cycle race comes to Warwickshire next month, when some of the world’s leading riders – including Tour De France winner Geraint Thomas – will pedal from Atherstone in the north of the county to Burton Dassett in the south.
The riders will finish the fourth stage, the longest on the Tour at 120 miles, atop Burton Dassett Hills Country Park where hundreds of spectators will see them complete three laps of the climb.
Burton Dassett boasts 100 acres of rolling hills with superb views across Warwickshire and neighbouring counties and was opened as a country park in 1971.
Bob Graham, a former UN Explosive Safety Trainer & Adviser, has been a caretaker at the park for three years while Phil Sayer has been Warwickshire County Council’s assistant ranger at Burton Dassett for a decade. Both Bob and Phil hope live television coverage of the race will trigger a new wave of visitors both local and from afar.
Bob, who lives in the village of Northend, at the foot of the Park, said: “It’s great that so many people will get to see the beauty of Burton Dassett when the TV cameras arrive for the race and I hope it encourages many more people to visit.
“It’s my job to pick up litter, empty the bins and clean the toilets. Anything to make sure the hills look their best. What better motivation than to have a major event like the Tour of Britain on its way.
“I used to take my kids up the hills on our mountain bikes because it’s always been such a lovely and safe environment. We still get lots of cyclists now. The hills are a challenge for most cyclists, but I try to gee them up by saying ‘you’re nearly there, you can do it!’”
Phil’s main tasks are planting and grass clipping and like Bob, will carry out any form of duty that ensures the environment is looked after for local people and visitors.
“The park attracts many people doing so many things,” he said. “Runners, cyclists, walkers, families enjoying the fresh air, photographers, people flying kites – and everyone has to make their own entertainment.
“That will be a bit different when the Tour comes and we will have a few hundred people who will have ridden here to watch the finale.
“It was a great atmosphere when the tour last came here and it should be the same again. It would be great to think that people will see Burton Dassett on television and will decide to come along and see what it has to offer, whether they are locally based or from further afield.”
The Warwickshire stage takes place on Friday, September 5. It will travel past a succession of beauty spots and landmarks as it meanders through the county, from north to south.
Councillor George Finch, leader of Warwickshire County Council, said Warwickshire has some fabulous outdoor spaces from the very north to the very south of the county, and they – along with a host of other attributes – will be showcased to a global audience.
He said: “The Tour of Britain will be televised live and we are confident that people seeing what the county has to offer will not fail to be impressed.
“Not only are we a great county for cycling, but we have a range of wonderful outdoor spaces and attractions to make us the perfect destination for a visit. All that and we are so well placed in the centre of the UK.
“Burton Dassett Hills Country Park is the perfect spot for the spectacle of the Tour to finish – and I would urge people to pay a visit that day or any other.”
