Woodlands - Sunday 3rd May

[brett_mil]

Anyone going?

we are planning on it, will be camping just around the corner from there. Not been before but looking forward to it!

http://www.woodlands4x4.ic24.net/

[nero279]

Afternoon squire, welcome to the forum.

Was about to list the usual suspects who head over to woodlands regular, then remembered i'd read this over on the kentoffroad club forum

Posted on another site by Kevin


Woodlands 4x4 pay & play will be closed in May and June

Please note that the Woodlands 4x4 site near Brands Hatch in Kent, will not be running it's usual playdays on the 1st Sunday of the month in May and June. Please double check in July that the site is open as usual before coming.

Please pass this message on to anyone you know who usually goes there, and feel free to post this on other 4x4 forums.

Many thanks.

On behalf of Woodlands 4x4

(source: http://kentoffroadclub.proboards.com...ay&thread=9294 )

so it'd be worth your while to give Kevin Moss a call and check if it's on before you make a trip. His number's on the woodlands site somewhere.

Otherwise there's a few of us go from time to time. Plenty of pics from a couple of years ago in my photobucket account - http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u175/nero279/

[brett_mil]

Don't say that! been looking forward to this for quite some time! I will call Kevin tomorrow to confirm. If it is closed, is anyone planning on doing anything in Kent on Sunday? Maybe some green lanes?

edit: thanks for the welcome btw!

[biosurf]

Yep I would probably be up for something on Sun

[nero279]

can't do this weekend, probably won't be out til june/july actually, weekends are pretty well booked at the mo. And i still haven't had a chance to get the 4wd working, only had the truck since January

[brett_mil]

Yep, confirmed as closed. I emailed Kevin and he responded with the same text as what you found Nero. Oh well!

Biosurf, shall we try to get some more interest?

I am reading Ordinance maps for Kent to try find some lanes, but without having done them before, I don't know how hectic they are. BTW, the total of my offroad experience is a 3 week holiday in Mozambique which was pretty hectic, but that's it for me so far! I guess you have to start somewhere huh?

Nero, so you had 2nd gen before right? What do you have now?

[nero279]

i'm on my 3rd second gen now, two 2.4s and now a 3 litre. Everyone starts somewhere with laning and offroading, I had no idea what i was doing when i started, just decided i wanted a big car, got a 4x4 and decided i wanted to give it a go, went to a couple of pay and play sites, went laning a few times then started organising runs for people on here. Still learning more and still making mistakes everytime i go out.

What sort of area are the lanes you're thinking about doing in? I know a lot of the lanes around Kent (especially East Kent) pretty well now, so happy to offer guidance/advice where i can.

The byways at Bredhurst woods, and also a section of the pilgrim's way (north of Lenham), have got experimental traffic restriction orders on at the moment whereby you have to apply for a permit to use them from Kent County Council. And also the long byway at the back of kings woods from Boughton Aluph to Chilham has a permanent closure on it. Only mention those 3 as they look some of the most attractive on a map, mainly because they're pretty long.

A couple of useful pages if you're planning trips in kent - http://www.kent.gov.uk/publications/...y-closures.htm
http://extranet7.kent.gov.uk/explorekentgis/map.aspx

UDTrev is our local sussex lanes guru, though his current transport is a touchy subject and restricts his green laning ability somewhat

[brett_mil]

Thanks Nero,

Will be looking at Kent, sort of near Sevenoaks area, only because that's where we will be for the weekend although don't mind traveling a bit.

So apart from knowing where to look on local gov sites, how would one know about closures? Do they post a notice on the byway itself?

[brett_mil]

Have a look at this!

http://www.trailwise.org.uk

click on 'browse maps'

center the map on th area you are interested in

click search & search again!

very useful!

[nero279]

Have a look at this!

http://www.trailwise.org.uk

click on 'browse maps'

center the map on th area you are interested in

click search & search again!

very useful!

that's quite smart, a lot easier to use than wayfinder or explorekent, and from a brief look much more upto date too.

Theoretically any temporary closures would be signed at the start and finish of the closure, but they're not always, there's a minority who will remove the signs, as (certainly in this area) they're often just laminated a4 sheets stapled or tied to trees or gateposts.

KCC are notoriously crap at helping you find out about closures, there used to be a rights of way office at High Halden, who were quite helpful if you could get hold of them, but i believe it's now closed. (Their number was - 01233 820797, but i don't know if it's still in use at all or not?)

So, other than trying to contact them, on whatever number you can get hold of, checking the lists on the KCC website, observing any signs that are there and so on there really isn't much more you can do, so you're in a kind of compromised position if someone does challenge you out on a lane, best advice i can give is to do what you reasonably can to find out via the methods above, maybe ask on a local offroad club site before a trip.

And be prepared to explain you have done everything you can to make sure the lane is open to motor vehicles, and that you believe this to be the case. But also be prepared to appease an irate land owner by leaving via the most appropriate route if you are challenged when out and about.

[Jonny77]

Sunday is no good for me, but i might be able to steal a few hours on Saturday. I dont mind leading a route, but it would only be a short run, say 3 hours back to the start point.

[biosurf]

Sunday is no good for me, but i might be able to steal a few hours on Saturday. I dont mind leading a route, but it would only be a short run, say 3 hours back to the start point.

Shhh... i cant do Sunday...

[nero279]

Will be looking at Kent, sort of near Sevenoaks area, only because that's where we will be for the weekend although don't mind traveling a bit.

from sevenoaks there's a small collection of lanes around the crowborough area, none of which i've done.

And a few north of the m20 around the pilgrim's way which runs from wrotham right through to charing, i've done most of the one's east of hollingbourne, and barring a couple that are very tight and scratchy, but not difficult at all as such they're pretty tame and undamaging, but popular with ramblers. Some sections of the pilgrim's way are legal to drive, some aren't, so it's a case of checking the maps. and as mentioned somewhere there's a section around lenham with an experimental TRO on it, it's basically gated and locked and you'd need to apply to KCC for a permit to use it and then you'd get the combination for the lock on the gate too, i doubt it would be through by the weekend though.

Head out with Jon if he's about for a couple of hours, he knows the lanes that end of the county better than me so I'm sure he'd get something good together for a little jaunt in the country.

[brett_mil]

Jonny,

What time could you do on Saturday? I have to get to the airport to drop off some familio on Sat evening. We will be camping in Sevenoaks so will be right there.

[Jonny77]

Jonny,

What time could you do on Saturday? I have to get to the airport to drop off some familio on Sat evening. We will be camping in Sevenoaks so will be right there.

9:30 ish? Are you staying at Oldbury woods?