Hayling Billy trail usability

The Hayling Billy trail is a great facility shared by walkers, cyclists and horse riders. At various times of the year it supports many kinds of cycling, and many kinds of cyclist. There is a regular band of commuters using the trail as a pleasant traffic-free start and end to their day; and some off-island commuters use the trail as an alternative way to Portsmouth (via the ferry) rather than ride around the mainland and down Portsea Island. The trail is popular with weekend leisure cyclists. Young children learn to ride their bikes along the trail. It’s a nice route if you go shopping in Havant by bike. Cyclists ride the trail on mountain bikes, hybrid bikes, touring bikes or their shopping bikes; out and out racing bikes can be difficult because they work best on smoother surfaces, but ridden slowly and carefully a racing bike can use the trail … most of the time. But some of the time the trail is difficult for all bikes.

The geology of Hayling Island comprises a thin fringe of shingly Bracklesham Beds along the South coast, a band of London clay in the central part of the island and chalk in the North. It’s the clay that causes the problem for trail users because it doesn’t drain well; muddy puddles spanning the trail can Hayling Billy Trail After Rainpersist for months at a time.

Commuting cyclists find their journeys much slower, and muddy shoes are guaranteed. If they have no mudguards cyclists need a shower and complete change of clothes at work (and they need to factor in the extra time needed for this).

Shopping cyclists vanish because nobody wants to go around the shops in a filthy condition.

Hayling Billy Trail After More RainLeisure cyclists too diminish. Those who enjoy splashing around in muddy puddles have their fun, but groups out for a family cycle ride, or riding to the pub for a meal will avoid the trail.

Overall it’s a great shame that such a fun and convenient facility is unusable for many cyclists whenever there has been some rain. Cyclists use the roads instead, which are less fun and unsuitable for small children. Muddy Cyclist

And if you plan to use a bike with no mudguards on the Billy Trail after wet weather, don’t plan on going into a cafe or a pub, you may be unwelcome in the shops, or even at work!

The bottom line is the Billy Trail is good, but less good than it could be if there was a better surface, especially on the Southern section over the belt of clay. An all weather surface would make a great facility usable all year round and in all weathers. The section of the Trail between Langstone and the Spring Centre in Havant shows how it could be done for the benefit of all Trail users.

One Reply to “Hayling Billy trail usability”

  1. Hi,
    I happened upon this website whilst reminiscing about a friend who has recently passed away.
    I was one of a small group of cyclists – we called ourselves the Havant and Hayling Safe Cycling Campaign – who persuaded Hampshire County and Havant Councils to convert a then muddy disused railway track into a shared-use facility for walkers, cyclists, and horse-riders.
    A delve into the archives of the Haying Islander and the Portsmouth News will uncover some acrimonious debates between the proposers of the route versus supporters of a re-instated railway. The latter came on the scene aft we aired our proposal and I well remember attending a meeting at the old Hayling Billy Pub where I pointed out that the latter was unlikely to succeed because a gas main had been laid under the old trackbed.
    As part of our campaign I even took a very game lady councillor on the back of my tandem to show her the contrast between cycling along the old (unmade) track and the main road. She was sold on the idea, and a short while later the then Chief Executive of Havant County Council summoned two of our group to congratulate us on our submission.
    For a year or so after the path was laid, a number of us cyclists would spend time repairing the wire fence that segregated the horses from the cycle-walkway… sabotage? who knows, but somebody was making regular forays with wire cutters. Once they became aware of our efforts the county Council presented us with a post driver and a roll of wire.
    The surface at that time consisted of chippings covered with a good layer of ground limestone, and I commuted along it daily.
    I moved from Haying in 1990, and now live in Dorset – but used to return to visit friends for some years afterwards. The ashes of one of our small group were scattered on the shoreline, and we planted a tree in his memory on the area behind the old Hayling Halt.
    It’s sad to see the photos of the deterioration of the surface, but I guess that’s just one consequence of local government spending cuts.

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