Go Ape

Go Ape Ltd.

Type	Private
Founded	2000
Founder	Rebecca Mayhew Tristram Mayhew
Headquarters	UK
Services	ropes courses
Website	goape.co.uk

Go Ape Ltd. is an outdoor adventure company which runs Tree Top Adventures, Forest Segways, Tree Top Junior Adventures and Zip Trekking Adventures.

History

The company was founded in 2001 by Rebecca and Tristram Mayhew, after they were inspired by a tree-top adventure course in France, and has a contract with the Forestry Commission for courses on multiple sites.^[1] The first course opened in March 2002 in Thetford Forest, on the borders of Norfolk and Suffolk; it was the first self-belay tree top ropes course in Britain. The company's motto is "creating adventures, encouraging others to live life more adventurously."^[2] In 2003, the company won a Best Tourist Attraction award^[2] and has also won a number of other awards.^[3] In 2007, it was shortlisted for the Best Norfolk Attraction award at the Tourism In Norfolk Awards.^[4] In 2008 the company opened five new courses in Kent, Cumbria, Devon, Buckinghamshire and Staffordshire.^[5] On May 8, 2010, Go Ape opened their first course in the United States at Rock Creek Regional Park in Rockville, Maryland.^[6] In March 2015, a "Treetop adventure course" was opened in Wake County.^[7]

The courses are made up of zip wires, rope swings, ladders, walkways, bridges and tunnels made of wood. There are Junior courses at a number of sites around the country designed for 6 - 12 year olds. There are also Segway scooters and mountain bikes for those who prefer to stay on the ground.^[8]

Facilities

A woman on a Go Ape zip-line

There are 28 Tree Top adventure courses in forests in England, Scotland and Wales consisting of rope ladders, zip-lines, rope bridges, trapezes and swings. There are also ten Forest Segway experiences and twelve Tree Top Junior adventures. The course in Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, near Aberfoyle in Stirling, has one of the longest zip-lines in Britain.^[1]

Controversy

There have been public outcries over their proposals. They chose not to build a course in the Bidjigal Reserve,^[9] and met some opposition to their plans to expand in Moel Famau.^[10] There was a public response over their proposal in parks of Rivington.^[11] Essex County declined a proposal after protests.^[12] In the United States, a Go Ape ropes course proposal was declined after a large neighborhood outcry in Lincoln Park.^[13]

Go Ape locations

United Kingdom

Aberfoyle, Stirlingshire Alice Holt Forest, Surrey Bedgebury Forest, Kent[14] Black Park, Buckinghamshire Bracknell, Swinley Forest Buxton, Derbyshire Cannock Chase, Birches Valley, Staffordshire Crathes Castle, Aberdeenshire Crawley, Tilgate Park, Sussex Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire Delamere Forest, Cheshire Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire Glentress Forest, Peebles Grizedale Forest, Cumbria Haldon Forest, Devon Leeds Castle, Kent[15]

Margam Country Park, Port Talbot, Wales Newcastle, Matfen Hall, Northumberland Moors Valley, Dorset Rivington, Lancashire Sherwood Pines, Nottinghamshire Southampton, Itchen Valley Country Park, Hampshire[16] Thetford Forest, East Anglia Trent Park, London Wendover Woods, Buckinghamshire Whinlatter, Cumbria Woburn Safari Park, Bedfordshire Wyre Forest, Worcestershire

United States

A.W. Stanley Park, Hartford, CT Lums Pond State Park, Bear, DE Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis, IN Jefferson Memorial Forest, Louisville, KY Rock Creek Regional Park, Rockville, MD Creve Coeur Park, St. Louis, MO

Blue Jay Point County Park, Raleigh, NC Mill Stream Run Reservation, Cleveland, OH North Park, Pittsburgh, PA North Myrtle Beach Park & SC, North Myrtle, SC Shelby Farms Park, Memphis, TN Freedom Park, Williamsburg, VA [17]

References

1. "Air Activities: Go Ape". Scotland Outdoors. BBC. 2007-09-10. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
2. "Growing Futures: The England Forestry Strategy in Action" (PDF). The Forestry Commission. June 2006. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
3. "Awards we've been lucky enough to win". Go Ape. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
4. Neate, Rupert (2007-10-26). "And our tourism finalists are ...". Eastern Daily Press (Archant Regional Limited). Retrieved 2007-11-20.
5. "4 New Sites". Go Ape. Archived from the original on 2007-08-21. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
6. Go Ape USA (accessed 3 May 2010)
7. "Go Ape's New Course in Wake County". 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
8. "Growing Business Success Stories - Go Ape: Tristram Mayhew". Growingbusiness.co.uk. 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
9. "Go Ape course won't go at Baulkham Hills". Hills Shire Times. Australia. 2012-02-22.
10. "Go Ape wires plan for Moel Famau unzips opposition". BBC News. 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
11. "Angry locals Go Ape at park proposal". The Bolton News. 2010-06-24. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
12. Sarah, Swain (2008-03-04). "New hope in bid to stop Go Ape plan for park". Brentwood & Ongar Liberal Democrats.
13. "BULLETIN: Lincoln Park zipline proposal scrapped, says Parks". West Seattle Blog. 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
14. "Swing Through the Trees and Go Ape!" (Press release). The Forestry Commission. 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
15. "Leeds Castle gets ready to Go Ape". Kent Messenger Group. 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
16. "Go ahead for Go Ape". Eastleigh Borough Council website. Eastleigh Borough Council. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
17. Adventure Forest LLC. "Go Ape Zip Line & Treetop Adventure - Course Locations".

External links

• Go Ape Website
• Go Ape USA Website