Donkey Derby & Fete – Sat 30 May

Hayling Lions Club are holding a Donkey Derby & Fete on Saturday 30 May at Legion Field (just off Legion Road), Hayling Island, from 13.00 to 17.00. Cycle Hayling together with Portsmouth CTC will have a stall with 2 Turbo Challenge bikes to see who can ride the furthest in 1 minute. This has been very well attended with over 100 riders competing at last year’s event and is one of the ways we promote our group and club and generally encourage cycling. Come along and join the fun, and even better help to set up and manage the stall. If you can help out please contact me via my usual e-mail address. Robert Sebley

Hayling Ferry company goes into administration

We understand the company that runs the Hayling Ferry has gone into administration. According to the company’s Twitter account, service is closed.

There’s still some hope the service will return if:

  • Another company buys the company or some of its assets
  • One of the councils takes it on
  • An entirely new service is created in place of the old one

That would seem to require renegotiation of either the controversial pontoon fees, a subsidy from Portsmouth City Council (which withdrew its subsidy last year) or both. That leaves little scope for a return in the short term.

That’s sad news for Hayling Islanders. It’s particularly bad for cyclists and cycle-tourism because it disrupts National Cycle Network route 2 which relies on the Ferry. The obvious alternate route (across Farlington Marshes and down Eastern Road) by-passes Hayling Island altogether.

We’ll post an update if we learn more.

Seafront path upgraded

The seafront accessibility path did not start well. Some sections had fared better than others, but even the best quickly broke up leaving large, loose pebbles across the path. It was only suitable for bikes with big tyres which – ironically – had no problem with the original terrain.

We’ve had discussions about the state of the path with Havant and we’re pleased to report it’s had a significant upgrade.

The large pebbles have gone and they’ve been replaced by a much smoother surface. That’s not only safer and more comfortable for bikes but also more suitable for pushchairs, wheelchairs and mobility scooters.

The new surface is the same as that used on the Billy Trail just south of the bridge. We have reservations about durability. It will be interesting to see how the surface fares over winter.

The area around the COPP memorial has also been upgraded and it looks like Havant has found a way to use some of the pebbles removed from the surface of the path…

Cycle Hayling Stall at the 3 Churches Fete

Cycle Hayling, in conjunction with Portsmouth CTC, will have a stall at the 3 Churches Fete to be held from 12.00 to 16.15 on Wednesday 13th August in Hayling Park. Come along and have a go at our Turbo Challenge (how far can you pedal from a standing start in 1 minute?) – We have 2 bikes (one adult size and one childs size) so anyone can have a go! Call in to find out all about Cycle Hayling and Portsmouth CTC or just to have a chat about any aspect of cycling. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Concrete Recycling Plant Application .

The planning application for a Recycle Centre and depot storage facility at the Howard Car Spares site in Mill Rythe Lane has been resubmitted by Brenchley. The reference number is App/14/00204 on both the HCC and HBC websites.
The consulation closing date was 18 March, but this has now been extended to 23 April, so there is still time to make your comments.

30 mph speed limit proposed

Hampshire County Council is proposing a speed limit reduction from 40 to 30mph on the main A3023, between New Cut and Mill Rythe roundabout.

Continue reading “30 mph speed limit proposed”


Seafront path extension work has started

Accessibility path extension
Accessibility path extension

Work has started on extending the new accessibility path – a requirement of the ‘Blue Flag’ qualification.

We predicted that there would be more work than shown on the new Havant cycle map and that it could start soon, but we didn’t realise quite how soon.

The new path will be available to pedestrians, wheelchair users, mobility scooter users and, of course, cyclists. When it’s finished, you will be able to cycle off road all the way from Sandy Point to Beachlands. Continue reading “Seafront path extension work has started”


More cycle path improvements coming soon

The updated Hayling Cycle map published by Havant at http://www.havant.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Back_FINAL.pdf reveals a number of developments planned to complete by Spring 2014:

  • Completion of the links between the Langstone section of the Billy Trail and the Hayling section making it possible to use off-road cycle paths to travel between West Town and Havant – with just a few road crossings.
  • Signposting of a cycle route to the west of Beachlands taking people onto Ferry Road to the East of the Golf Club.

We understand that there might be other developments taking place at the same time and that some work could be completed well before next Spring.

You can find the full list of Havant’s published cycle maps here.

Fun at the three churches fete

We had good weather and a great turn-out at the three churches fete.

Luke Coates at the three churches fete
Luke Coates – one of our turbo challengers being timed by Joy Forrow

The Cycle Hayling stand got loads of visitors and contestants for our ‘turbo challenge’. This year we had two bikes running simultaneously: one for adults and one for youngsters.

The early pace was set by the girls who dominated the leader board for the first hour, or so. The boys rose to the challenge and in the end the honours were split pretty evenly. The top girl managed to cycle 510 metres in a minute, the top boy managed 550 metres. That’s an average speed of 19 miles per hour and 21 miles per hour respectively! Truly impressive on a turbo trainer using a less-than-ideal bike.

Continue reading “Fun at the three churches fete”


New money for Hayling’s leisure trails

We initially heard from Andy Leneghan that the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) had allocated £60K to improve access to leisure trails.

We’ve done some digging and Havant has confirmed that:

“£60,000 capital funding has been allocated to Havant Borough Council (HBC) by PUSH to improve access and connectivity to green infrastructure on Hayling Island through enhancements to the Billy Trail and the Seafront footpath/cycleway. HBC and Hampshire County Council will contribute S106 funding to match the PUSH grant which is to be spent on resurfacing work and provision of signage for both trails, including restoration of the old Billy Line signal arm. The work will be carried out during autumn/winter 2013/14 so it will be completed for Spring 2014.”

We’ll publish more details as we learn them.