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HBLRO is participating in the HCC 'Hampshire Paths Partnership' which is aimed at developing co-operation with voluntary organisations to assist in the mammoth task of maintaining access to our historic rights of way. Article about clearance on Hantsweb

HPP Clearance Days

Laning Trips

 

Green Laning

In the South East UK there are some 34,000km of recorded Public Rights of Way : less than 5% of this is available for motorised users. Most of those routes are several centuries old - cattle drove roads, abandoned turnpikes, winter routes for when the road in the valley was impassably muddy (but has since been tarmaced), and so on. These are marked as BOATs (byway open to all traffic) or RUPPs (road used as a public path) on Ordnance Survey maps. If you are intersted in coming along to one of our organised laning days, see the event calender for dates. Alternativly you can contact our Rights of Way officer.

Please note the Club are not organising laning events before March. This decision has been taken as part of our responsible approach to Green Laning. Exercising restraint when ground conditions could lead to surface damage. Keep an eye on the calender for dates.

Stonehenge - A view on the TRO's proposed for the BOATs that cross the World Heritage Site

Dave Tilbury at LARA has put together a paper on the proposed traffic regulation orders planned by Wiltshire County Council for the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. PDF Download.

NGLC Feb 2010

Spring 2010 National Green Lane Day - Sunday 28th February

Hi folks,

Just a quick note to pass on my heartfelt thanks to everyone who turned out yesterday to help clear Rotherwick BOAT 18. The weather forecast beforehand had been particularly grim and it had been raining all night, however this did not deter 16 hardy souls and a dog (Whisky) from getting covered in mud and cut to ribbons. As it turned out the weather was not bad at all and although there was a huge amount of surface water it did not actually rain all day. The lane has been transformed from being very overgrown and impassable on foot in places to one down which even the shiniest of shinies could be driven without a chance of the polish being required afterwards. This really was a very impressive achievement.

Clubs and organisations supporting the clearance were, in alphabetical order, the Green Lane Association (GLASS), the Hants & Berks Land Rover Owners Club (HBLRO), the Series 3 & 90 - 110 Owners Club, the Solent & District Land Rover Club (SADLRC) and the Wessex Hillrunners.

Many thanks again,
Patrick


Patrick Manuel

Motorised Users Representative on the HCAF
Hampshire Area Rep for GLASS
Wessex Hillrunners Rights of Way Officer
January Laning

Xmas Green Laning trip over Salisbury Plain - January 2010

The dawn of a new decade flickered into my consciousness crisp and bright on Saturday, having missed the HBLRO trip out to Salisbury Plain 2 weeks earlier after a mix up on days (entirely my fault) I sprang out of bed, boiled the kettle for a flask of hot sugary tea, scraped the ice off the Disco and was over at Mac's as the sun rose over the horizon. Food and dog packed into the truck and off down the M4 we rumbled. Reading's not much of an exciting place to live, but at least other more interesting places are easily accessible. In less than an hour we were in Andover admiring Steve's (Chairman) roadside front bearing adjustment on his Discovery and munching on bacon sarnies. With Neil's cul de sac full of impressive Solihull hardware a route was agreed and owing to the number of vehicles, Julian and Neil hitched rides to limit the Land Rovers to 8; five Discoveries in varying levels of modification, from ours being fairly basic bar mud tyres and a steering guard through to Joe's being lifted, caged and big tyred; Hugh's modified V8 90 (lovely burble), Pauls shiny 110 TDCi plus Nicks red disco and another two 90's belonging to Rik/Michelle and Roger with his passenger Andy.

We all made our way through Ludgershall and onto a track off the A3026, having finally mated my old TomTom GPS with my Bluetooth PC Notebook containing my Anquet maps I could track our position, which is dead cool watching our progress plotted across the OS 1:50,000 map. Crossing the A338 we skirted Sidbury Hill, an iron age hill fort dating back 2,500 years BC and located on the old Bristol to London road, myth says it was dropped there by the devil on his way to London, Westminster, I presume. Driving was relaxed, cruising in 2nd gear high range dodging potholes in the surface and crunching through broken ice around an inch thick in the puddles.

Views were spectacular across the barren Plain under the cold clear January sun. We crossed the Old Marlborough Road and turned north up Bourne Bottom. Turning south again we stopped for a cup of tea/coffee overlooking Netheravon airfield where Mac was stationed many years ago when he was in the 'forces'. Dropping down across the river Avon we skirted Larkhill and turned north east at Robin Hood's Ball, another Neolithic site of interest, only a few miles from Stonehenge; but predating it, having been constructed around 4,000 years BC. We looped across Larkhill artillery range and down past Westdown Camp before stopping for lunch at the Rose and Crown in Tilshead. After sampling the excellent local brew and a variety of their pub lunches we trekked south west and across Chitterne Down. On this part of the Plain the depressions in the chalk is where the mud is and it was a case of picking the right line to avoid trashing the ecology, whilst avoiding the bottomless gloop which Neil got stuck in last year….. Thankfully the muddy area where we met a moron in a monster truck trashing the environment last year was nice and quiet and offered the right balance between mud plugging fun and non-damaging driving.

Coffee break overlooking Netheravon camp

Next we tracked north, just short of Tilshead then across Westdown Artillery Range. Half way across we stopped for a group photo and just managed to cram in all the Land Rovers on wide angle. Heading north to the edge of the Vale of Pewsey we were provided with an excellent view of one of the many white horses in the area on the far hillside. On the northern edge of the Plain we cruised east with a gorgeous view looking north before we dropped off the Plain via Wilsford Hill via an initially innocuous looking byway which rapidly turned quite rutted and our Discovery bellied out on our diffs (for a change….), we'd been scraping the diffs across the frozen ground for a number of times during the day but had not become hung up, this time on undulating hillocks we became unstuck. As always it was me, not Mac driving and so I got the blame but my theory was correct, low range 3rd gear a decent pace, but gradually we lost momentum until we became stuck. More right boot may have helped but you can't compensate for lack of inches as they say. Hugh dragged me backwards a couple of times and Mac took the tops off with the spade and we squirmed our way through before bumping down over the steep and stepped last 100 metres or so, which was technical but do'able, not as stepped as the adjacent lane running parallel but still plenty of fun.

Upon exiting the lane we paused in the pub car park to clean lights and feed Hugh's greedy V8 a gallon of petrol before turning for home through Upavon and Everleigh Down, over Weather Hill and back round Sidbury Hill. As the sun set in our door mirrors we lost Rik's Land Rovers due to light failure, running for home before sundown and Joe who needed to get home early. At approximately 4.30pm we arrived back at the tank crossing where we started.

A fantastic day, many thanks to Julian for organising and Neil/Ali for the bacon sarnies and navigation skills. What a great day out, weather perfect, super company, a great lunch and a magical place. Just spent Sunday washing Wiltshire from under the chassis…… Happy laning, Sean C

Thanks to Sean for the report and the pictures. Not forgetting Steve Aston with his picture offerings.

If you would like to join HBLRO on one of their green lane outings, contact our Rights of Way Officer for more details. Email..

Pictures from the day out. Photo Index..

Plain Watch. Help cut out off road abuse of Salisbury Plain

The Land Wardens and MOD Police on Salisbury Plain are actively promoting their Plain Watch initiative. In an effort to combat misuse of the plain from unlicensed vehicles and 'off piste' activity, they request that anything seen out there be reported on their 24hr incident line.

Plain Watch 01980 674700 / MOD Police 01980 674808. Keep em peeled....

Sarn Helen

User evidence requested for Sarn Helen

Club members who are interested in recreational driving and who have used their Land Rovers on either of two sections of an old Roman road to the SW of Brecon known as Sarn Helen are being requested by GLASS [a LARA organisation] to record their use of this route during a particular five year period.

Background information: section 67(1) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 [known as the NERC Act] extinguished public rights of way for mechanically propelled vehicles on all ways that were not on the definitive map or were shown as restricted byways. The CROW Act 2000 converted all RUPPs in England and Wales into restricted byways which are not open to MPVs. However, under section 67(2), if the main lawful use was by MPVs during the period of five years ending on 16th November 2006, MPV use is not extinguished.

Anyone with user evidence is requested to fill in the Sarn Helen MPV user evidence.pdf form. Please post to Andrew Hadley, Llanerchindda Farm, Cynghordy, Llandovery, SA20 0NB who is co-ordinating MPV user evidence collection on behalf of GLASS. See HBLRO members on Sarn Helen June 2006..

Perminent Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) looks set for East Meon BOAT 42

HCC has made available the outcome of the Public Inqiry on East Meon BOAT 42 (Halnacker Lane). The insprectors recommednation is that the council proceed with the TRO. The full report can be found on the HCC web site.

NGLCD

Autumn 2008 National Green Lane Day 26/10/08

Just a quick note to say a massive thank you to all the people who turned out today to clear the UCR at Droxford today in far from ideal conditions.

The north end of the lane was transformed beyond all recognition; its width being at least tripled in places. The massive mud lake, that would have been the envy of any festival goer, has been, if not emptied, at least reduced in depth by a significant amount. Several pinch points have been reduced and the whole lane is now pretty much 'shiny friendly', which it was definitely not before!

As far as I can tell from the soggy attendance sheets we had a total of 21 adults, 5 under eighteens and a dog (which got progressively muddier as time passed). There were representatives from at least the Discovery Owners Club (DOC), Green Lane Association (GLASS), Hants and Berks Land Rover Owners Club (HBLRO), Series 3, 90 & 110 Owners Club, Thames Valley 4x4 and the Wessex Hillrunners (I am sure someone will let me know if I have missed a club out!).

Thanks again.

Patrick

Hampshire Countryside Access Forum – Update for Motor Propelled Vehicle Users (July 2008)

Vandalism of Restricted Byway (RB) signposts

Hampshire County Council (HCC) have started to replace the old Rights of Way signs used to indicated Roads Used as Public Paths (RUPPs) with Restricted Byway ones. Unfortunately there have been several instances where the new signs have been vandalised, presumably in protest against the imposition of the NERC Act and the blanket reclassification of RUPPs to RBs. This action has absolutely no impact on the situation and only serves to reinforce the impression that MPV users are a bunch of yobs. Ironically it is probably not the yob element who are doing this as they tend not to care where they drive and don’t understand what an RB is anyway. It costs HCC up to £500 a time to replace the vandalised signs and it is the rate payers of the County who foot the bill. This also takes valuable resource away from undertaking other work on the RoW network in the county. If you are aware of anyone who is doing this please tell them to stop; they are really not helping the cause.

Pathwatch

The Pathwatch scheme was initiated in West Sussex in 2006 and provides a hot line for members of the public to report illegal vehicular activities to the police (Google ‘pathwatch’ to find the relevant Southdowns web page). Hampshire has been monitoring the scheme and following a presentation by West Sussex Police, Hampshire has decided to establish a scheme of their own. A pilot scheme will be run in the Basingstoke area with the intention of rolling this out County wide if it is successful. Vehicular users groups (primarily the Trail Riders Fellowship) withdrew their support from the West Sussex scheme following the introduction of the NERC Act; the reason for this was that post NERC there were virtually no lanes with rights for MPVs left in the County. We should fully support the Hampshire initiative since it will help to reduce the illegal use which has given us all a bad name

TROs

As you are probably aware, HCC are planning to place TROs on a number of lanes to prohibit use by MPVs. Below is copy of the letter sent to the TRF outlining HCC’s intentions:

In response to your enquiry to Andrew Smith, please find below a listing of the routes currently under consideration and the action that we have taken or intend to take in the near future:


No Action in the short term - monitor activity and surface wear

Clanfield 702
Hawkley 745
Hordle 501
Hordle 743 / Sway 9
Langrish 17
Langrish 19
Twyford 16
Chilcomb 3 – will only ever be a Restricted Byway

Temporary TRO extended from 24th June 2008 (new Orders already in place)

Ashmansworth 18 – 12 months to allow for repairs currently under way to bed down
East Meon 42 – Halnaker Lane – 6 months to allow for making of a Permanent TRO
Farringdon 25 – 6 months to allow further time for new surface to bed down and then reopen
Four Marks 25 / Farringdon 26 / Chawton 10 – 6 months to allow for making of a Permanent TRO
Rockbourne 32 (east of the Rockbourne Road)/Whitsbury19a – 6 months to allow for making of a Permanent TRO
Martin 38 / Rockbourne 32 (west of the Rockbourne Road) – 6 months to allow for repairs and then reopen

Apply for Permanent TRO for ALL Vehicles (we will advertise our intention to make Orders in Summer 2008)

Buriton 45 - Currently open to all traffic
East Meon 42 – Halnaker Lane (Depending on outcome of Inquiry to be held 16th September 2008)
Hawkley 24 and 26 – Standfast Lane – Seasonal Only (November to April)
Four Marks 25 / Farringdon 26 / Chawton 10
Rockbourne 32 (east of the Rockbourne Road)/Whitsbury19a

The way ahead will depend partly on the outcome of the LARA challenge to the Yorkshire Dales National Park who has placed TROs on a number of major routes in the park. Dave Tilbury (TRF/LARA), Sean Fosberry (TRF) and I are in discussion with HCC and are seeking a way ahead that is acceptable to all parties. We will be attending the Public Inquiry for East Meon 42. We will keep you posted.

DMMOs to reclassify RBs as BOATs

The stirling work undertaken by Sean Fosberry of the TRF to raise DMMOs for about 200 lanes in Hampshire has ultimately resulted in a Judicial Review instigated by some affected landowners against HCC (see http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2008/431.html for the detail - a gripping read!). The case centred on the definition of what constituted a well formed application. Although the review found against HCC in that the applications were deemed not to be well formed, it appears that HCC still have the discretionary power to accept them if they want to. HCC are yet to decide whether to return the applications to Sean or not – so watch this space.

DMMOs to reclassify RBs as BOATs

BOAT Byway Open to All Traffic
DMMO Definitive Map Modification Order
HCAF Hampshire Countryside Access Forum
HCC Hampshire County Council
HPP Hampshire Paths Partnership
LARA Land Access and Recreation Association
NERC Natural Environment and Rural Communities (Act)
NGLD National Green Lane Day
RB Restricted Byway
RUPP Road Used as a Public Path
TRF Trail Riders Fellowship
TRO Traffic Regulation Order


Re-produced with permission from Patrick Manuel Motorised Users Representative on the HCAF
Hampshire Area Rep for GLASS
Wessex Hillrunners Rights of Way Officer