BOAT: Copyhold Lane

Location: Buriton, Hampshire, UK
  • Overall Rating: 3
  • Location: Weston, Hampshire.
  • OS Explorer Map 120, 'Chichester'.
  • Starting OS Grid Reference: SU729212
  • Starting GPS Co-ordinates: N50 98' 60" W000 96' 20"
  • Finishing OS Grid Reference: SU731214
  • Finishing GPS Co-ordinates: N50 98' 80" W000 96' 00"
  • To see: not much.
  • ALWAYS follow the Greenlane Code!
Down in the hollow way.
UPDATE 22/04/2015: Perhaps we were too hasty! According to the observations of a Mr. Smith (see, below) this byway has been re-opened. 

UPDATE 10/05/2014: As of 28/04/2014 this byway is subject to a TRO for 21 days from that date, and after that, according to Hampshire County Council, an application will be made for a six-month extension. It look like this green lane has been lost to us. More info: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/pnadetail?noticeUID=2892 The following review is now out of date, therefore.

A very short byway, this one, but it's always the small ones that have the worst bite! Starting from the driveway serving a pretty cottage called Copyhold Barn, the tarmac ends abeam their garage and, after a brief stretch of gravel, the green lane passes through what looks like their flower beds and plunges down a dip and through a slightly overgrown hedge into a deep hollow way.

Down here, at the time we drove the lane, the wild garlic (Allium ursinum) has gone crazy and the smell is almost too much. Delightful. However, down here is also where the byway presents its biggest challenge. From the look of it there used to be some sort of bridge or revetment shoring up the green lane surface as a stream passed under it, but due to the force of floodwater this has since been swept away and there is now what can best be described as a bomb crater in its place. Ground clearance is certainly an issue: in our 110', although we didn't ground out (by millimetres) the rear NAS step did scrape all the way down and we bent our electric pickup next to the towbar. If one was driving this byway southbound, due to the topography of the bomb crater, it may well be impossible to get through without a suspension lift. Take extreme care, even though the stream is dry in summer. After the bomb crater its more or less plain sailing, with a bit of a climb back up to Weston Lane where the byway ends. Do not drive this green lane unless you are confident in your abilities and those of your vehicle.

To Hampshire County Council this is Byway 46.

Statistics:
Total distance: 1.29 km (0.8 mi)
Total time: 07:49
Moving time: 05:51
Average speed: 9.92 km/h (6.2 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 13.27 km/h (8.2 mi/h)
Max speed: 37.80 km/h (23.5 mi/h)
Average pace: 6.05 min/km (9.7 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 4.52 min/km (7.3 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1.59 min/km (2.6 min/mile)
Max elevation: 162 m (531 ft)
Min elevation: 134 m (439 ft)
Elevation gain: 37 m (122 ft)
Max grade: 8 %
Min grade: -4 %
Recorded: 06/06/2013 17:22

The bomb crater. Far worse than it looks on here!

View Copyhold Lane in a larger map

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This lane is no subject to a TRO until the end of May at the earliest.

Dempo said...

Thanks for the update: it looks as though in future this lane will be subject to a long, and probably permanent, TRO.

Sam said...

Extended to 28th October 2014. The TRO suggests there are works planned to repair the lane.

http://www3.hants.gov.uk/pnadetail?noticeUID=2894

Dempo said...

TRO's have a horrible habit of sloooooowly becoming permanent. Admittedly, this does not happen in every case, but time will tell whether or not this byway will re-open.

Graham Smith said...

James, I believe this BOAT is now open again.

Dempo said...

Thank you very much Graham, much appreciated. I have updated this entry with your findings.

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