BOAT: Green Lane

• Overall Rating: 3
• Location: High Cross, Hampshire.
• OS Explorer Map 133, 'Haslemere & Petersfield'.
• Starting OS Grid Reference: SU724276
• Starting GPS Co-ordinates: N51 00' 44" W000 96' 80"
• Finishing OS Grid Reference: SU714281
• Finishing GPS Co-ordinates: N51 04' 80" W000 98' 30"
• To see: not much.
• ALWAYS follow the Greenlane Code!

No prizes for guessing how this 'green lane' got it's name! Starting at its eastern end, this dead straight lane wavers not from its westward intent over its entire (short) length. It's rare to find a straighter byway!

Although well maintained, it is not without its perils however. When we drove this byway in December 2013 we had been living through the wettest winter since records began in the late 1700's, and therefore greenlaning was a really bad idea in almost every instance either with the ground far too soft to support us without damage, or floodwater and fallen trees barring the way. However, your intrepid explorers simply had to go and survey the scene, so we selected a number of byways to drive on that day that we knew had a very solid, decent surface. This was one of them, and its flint and compressed stone surface, lying under perhaps a millimeter or two of mud, did not let us down and neither did we cause any new ruts.

That said, at the nadir of the green lane's descent, there was (as shown in the photo) quite simply the biggest and deepest amount of standing water I've seen. It was basically a temporary lake! This part always holds its water and there is always just a little puddle or something for a good while after rain, but still... we didn't buy the snorkel and wading kit for nothing, so after depth- and surface-checking with a large stick we forged a path through (see video) and climbed up to the end of the lane at Ragmore Farm, at the junction between Ragmore Lane and King's Lane. Relatively unassuming in the dry, this track came into its own during our visit and so scored higher than it otherwise would have.

To Hampshire County Council this is Byway 43.

Statistics
Total distance: 1.33 km (0.8 mi)
Total time: 13:45
Moving time: 06:35
Average speed: 5.80 km/h (3.6 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 12.12 km/h (7.5 mi/h)
Max speed: 22.92 km/h (14.2 mi/h)
Average pace: 10:21 min/km (16:40 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 4:57 min/km (7:58 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 2:37 min/km (4:13 min/mi)
Max elevation: 287 m (942 ft)
Min elevation: 255 m (836 ft)
Elevation gain: 7 m (22 ft)
Max grade: 3 %
Min grade: -9 %
Recorded: 30/12 15:41

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