It is now a year since the repaired
Byway known as Cradle Lane was reopened to allow motorcycles to use
it, so I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to write this
small article about its use from a motorcycle rider’s perspective.
When I first heard that Cradle Lane
was to be reopened I walked it to see what work had been done and
noticed that it was only the north end that had been resurfaced down
to the ford. After attending the open village meeting, and as an
interested party, I walked the byway again but this time with a
camera and tape measure and plotted and photographed the existing wet
and horse hoof printed areas in the Southern part.
I returned about a month later when
it was open to motorcycles and, having ridden it, was surprised not
to see any tyre tracks, just the usual horse prints and no difference
in the lane surface compared to my earlier photographs.
Since then I have ridden it four
times and have not seen any evidence of other motorcycle tracks
suggesting minimum usage. On my last outing I made a closer
inspection and was pleased to see that, in spite of this year’s
exceptional seasonal wetness, the southern end of the lane was still
in excellent condition.
It was also nice to see that the
undergrowth has now softened the hard edge and the ditches of the
resurfaced Northern end, making it far most pleasant to use.
Hopefully, this softening will be allowed to continue but not to the
detriment of the Byway’s surface.
As motorcyclists we enjoy using this
Byway, although on one occasion the depth of the ford caught us out
and we only just managed to retrieve the leading bike before it was
totally immersed. A hasty retreat was in order and we have noted this
and informed our TRF group not to use Cradle Lane during periods of
heavy rain.
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