• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Routes
    • The Cotswolds
    • Wednesday Club
    • Wales
    • Lake District
    • South West
    • Midlands
  • Bikes
    • Coaching / Training
    • Mountain Biking
    • Racing
    • Trail Centres
    • Maintenance
    • Reviews
    • Kit
    • Guides
  • Food & Drink
    • Trail Food
    • Recipe Index
    • Eating Out
      • Bars
      • Restaurants
    • Drinks
  • Life
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • PR Enquiries
MTB Foodie
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Routes & Trails
    • The Cotswolds
    • Wednesday Club
    • Wales
    • Lake District
    • South West
    • Midlands
  • Maintenance & How-To
  • Coaching & Training
  • Grazing & Blazing Bites
  • ×

    Home > Bikes > Mountain Biking > Routes > Wednesday Club

    Birdlip from Sheepscombe

    Jan 20, 2019 by Ian Carruthers | This post may contain affiliate links.

    Birdlip from another direction

    Doing a Birlip ride from Sheepscombe seems a little strange at first, why start at the bottom of the hill and have to ride up to the trails? Well the answer to that is two fold, firstly there is a great pub in Sheepscombe, the Butchers Arms. Secondly the descent back down into Sheepscombe is defiantly worth doing, a nice rocky number.

    This shares a lot of trails with Cranham and you have the option to add trails as you feel like. We ride this as part of Wednesday night rides and vary which trails we do depending on the time of year, weather, mechanicals and what takes our fancy.

    The climb on the forest road out of Sheepscombe can be muddy at time, although recently this has improved. The final climb is much the same although it does tend to be muddy most of the time.
    The trails at Birdlip are a mixture of steep, jumps, and flowing single track, so enough for everyone to enjoy. Having spent as much time as you like at the Birdlip trails, it's time to return to Sheepscombe. The route back goes through Cranham, there is an option at this point to use the Teachers descent (see Cranham).

    It's then mostly uphill for a while before the final descent, there are only two real climbs on the ride. The final descent starts in Saltridge woods goes into open fields and then into a final rocky fling that brings you out by the pub for a well earned pint.

    Birdlip route

    Distance18km
    Time2-3hrs
    Climbing600m
    Starting locationSheepscombe
    Pubs, cafesThe Butchers Arms, Sheepscombe
    ParkingOn street
    RouteView route on Strava
    View route on Garmin
    Download GPX
    PhotosView Photos on Flickr
    VideosView Videos on YouTube
    « Quantock Hills Loop
    Cherhill a tale of two White horses »

    About MTB Foodie

    MTB Foodie is a UK mountain biking blog covering routes, maintenance, travel and food. Ian can be found chasing awesome trails and thrills around the South West and beyond.

    Reader Interactions

    Did you try this out? Comment here! Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Primary Sidebar

    I’m Ian aka MTB Foodie… have bike, will ride! Found chasing awesome trails and thrills around the South West. Addicted to mud, gravel and hills, with a healthy balance of travel and food.

    Hit me up with any questions, enquiries or new trails to ride at: blog [AT] mtbfoodie.com

    Find a Route

    • The Cotswolds
    • Lake District
    • South West
    • Wales

    Latest Posts

    • Pensford Somerset Mountain Bike Ride
    • Nibley Downhill and Enduro
    • Best Cotswold Winter Rides
    • What's in my backpack

    I’m Ian aka MTB Foodie… have bike, will ride! Found chasing awesome trails and thrills around the South West. Addicted to mud, gravel and hills, with a healthy balance of travel and food.

    Hit me up with any questions, enquiries or new trails to ride at: blog [AT] mtbfoodie.com

    Find a Route

    • The Cotswolds
    • Lake District
    • South West
    • Wales

    Latest Posts

    • Hillesley, a Cotswold Classic
    • Shockwiz Suspension Tuning Device
    • Lights for Mountain Biking
    • Tintern MTB Route, Wales never fails

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About MTB Foodie
    • Privacy Policy

    Routes

    • Cotswolds
    • Lake District
    • South West
    • Wales

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Work with me

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2021 MTB Foodie. All rights reserved.