A two for the price of one video!
A single continuous route, with the same name, Hoar’s Lane but half Unclassified County Road (UCR), Preston UCR2 and half Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT), Hitchin Byway 28.
A pleasant lane of no particular difficulty due to an unsealed, metalled surface, albeit mostly covered in soil and vegetation but with a clear single track path throughout.
The first UCR section was subject to a claim in 2019 to downgrade it to Restricted Byway (i.e. no vehicles allowed), Hertfordshire County Council made the odd decison to make it a Byway Open to All Traffic, something that’s virtually impossible since the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2016. Unless a lane meets some extremely narrow exemptions, a vehicular right of way can no longer be created. In this case they argued it was because prior to the act the predominant use was by motor vehicles, something virtually impossible to prove and also unlikely. Both the TRF and GLASS argued it should remain as a County Road and retain vehicular rights. In the end this is exactly what happened, saving the tax payers of Hertfordshire a lot of money and retaining vehicular rights. Although curiously both sections are marked on OS Maps as Byways Open to all Traffic but a search of the Hertfordshire Gazeteer of Highways show it to clearly be a county highway.
Grade: AMBER
Ridden: 12th October 2023
Bike: KTM 390 Adventure
Tyres: Front, Kenda Big Block, Rear, Mitas E09
Please note this video is for information purposes only. The conditions are as shown on the date of filming but please be aware that weather and other factors may alter this over time. The legal status of this green road was checked at the time of filming as was legal for use by motorcycles at that time but cannot be guaranteed for other types of motor vehicle (where this differs, I will always try to include information in the description). Legal status may change and whilst I make every effort to keep the descriptions updated and will re-film the route if necessary, please check the status for yourself on the relevant definitive map or list of streets, if intending to ride it. Motorcycle trail riding is potentially dangerous, please ensure you have the necessary skills and wear appropriate protective clothing. Please ensure your bike is in a safe and legal condition (this is a public road like any other) including tax, insurance and MOT if required and that you have the appropriate licence for the bike you are riding.
hello and welcome my name is Tony Ferrari and this is the byway Nomad [Music] project today we’re riding hor Lane near hin in Harford here this is divided into two parts the first being an unclassified County Road the second being a byway open to all traffic interestingly this is shown on Ordinance survey Maps as a byway throughout its entire length there was an application um about 3 years ago to convert the unclassified County Road or UCR section into a restricted byway at the time this was rejected and the County Council proposed turning it into a byway but of course this is not actually possible under current legislation and certainly the vehicular group such as the Trail Riders fellowship and the Green Lane Association argued most strongly that it should remain as it is it’s a County Road it’s always been a County Road and that was quite well proven and there’s no need to change anything to do so would just be unnecessary cost to the public and as far as I’m aware it’s still an unclassified County Road it’s shown as such on the halfer online mapping both for rights of way and for highways and yeah as far as and where it remains as it always was as you can see in the video it’s a metal surface unsealed but covered by a fair layer of soil and vegetation um like many lanes in Harford here it was resurfaced with crushed concrete a few years ago and this is the sort of result after a few years of weathering in the first section as you can see is hemmed in by Hedges on both sides but as you start to descend the slight slope it soon opens up on the right hand side to Open Fields and remains this way for most of the rest of the length of the lane the grassy surface over the top of the crushed concrete does sort of give you just a single line to use um if you’re looking for grip but it’s quite easy to ride um this was after a very heavy night of rain and you can see it drains exceptionally well as you head down towards the trees you’ll come to a Crossroads this is temple close to the right and Chalk Hill to the left you can see these on my video which is H 101 102 and 103 we’re now onto the byway section which is Hitchin byway 28 as you can see very little change we’re back again amongst Hedges and we start to climb out of the small Valley that we were in there it gets quite overgrown as you can see this obviously being in October towards the end of the season so it will clear through the winter and again it’s a good surface underneath remains ridable in all conditions hence this one’s graded as green even for large Adventure bikes you shouldn’t have any trouble here the first UCR section is 810 m in length and this the second byway section is only slightly longer at 910 M so that’s 1,720 m in total or if you prefer your lanes in old money that’s just over a mile in length as you enter some trees the lane momentarily opens up and becomes a lot clearer but as you’ll see this doesn’t last very long and soon the surface becomes grass over and the vegetation encroaches from either side on this occasion I’m riding from south to North and as usual I’m riding my KTM 390 Adventure tires are a Kender big block on the front and a mitas E9 on the back which as you can see are giving me ample grip even in these wet [Music] conditions yes you did just see a deer run across the track actually it was two of [Music] them just a note of caution as you come towards the end of the lane it does slow down quite steeply and the surface can be quite loose and it comes directly onto a main dual carriageway Road this is the a505 between Hitchin and [Music] luten