I nearly rode straight over the little piece of craftsmanship pictured above, which was floating in an icy rut on a public bridleway, earlier today. It’s a big old chunk of wood with twelve 4″ nails bashed through it, clearly contrived as some sort of homebrew stinger device intended to puncture the tyres of any vehicle driving over it. Fortunately I was bimbling along slowly enough to be able to stop in time, and I fished the item out for a closer look.Lovely work, I’m sure you’ll agree. I carried the offending article out of the quarry, and then rolled down the hill to find a safe place to store it. On getting home I called 101 and the police took sufficient interest that they’re going to collect it and investigate further. Chances are it was intended to target illicit 4x4s or MXers in the quarries, but it’d be a pretty effective showstopper for a mountain bike too. More importantly, of course, it could seriously injure any any horse, dog, kid, or runner unfortunate enough to stomp on it. For anyone who rides in the Holmfirth area, it was found in the old quarries above Hade Edge. I suspect that there may be more lurking out there so watch out for yourself, and please inform the authorities if you find one.

I really don’t understand the mentality of the person or persons who set this trap. Indeed, I’m baffled as to how they figured out which end of the hammer to use, given that they must have the mental acuity of brain-damaged chickens to consider this a good idea. Idiots.