The matters below were raised with Hampshire County Council representatives at a meeting of the Hampshire Area Footpath Committee meeting on 17 April 2007 and they undertook to review the situation. The next meeting on 10 July 2007 was told that materials had been ordered to resolve the position on Footpath Numbers 4 and 5, the next meeting on 9 October 2007 was told that works had commenced in the area so the matter was adjourned to the next meeting. The meeting on 8 January 2008 was appraised of the improvements to Footpath No 5 West End referred to below and the matter adjourned pending further information relating to the County Council's intentions with regard to Footpath Numbers 3 and 4 West End. The meeting on 8 April 2008 agreed that the provisions of Section 56 of the Highways Act 1980 should be used to ensure that Footpath No 4 West End is put back into repair. The Executive Committee of the Eastleigh Group of the Ramblers' Association at its meeting on 4 June 2008 reaffirmed its decision that this action was now appropriate but decided that Hampshire County Council should be offered a contribution of up to £1500 from Group funds to enable this work to be done at an early date.
This path leaves Allington Lane just north of the Eastleigh to Hedge End railway line and runs eastward to Burnetts Lane.
The footpath follows the security fence on the right hand side of the picture below but due to excessive use by cattle in the winter months progress is very difficult through the churned up thick mud. The barriers shown have now been removed.
The next problem is the derelict nature of the stile (below) into the next field although the fence on the right has now been removed so you can bypass the stile.
Once in the next field there is an area to cross that used to have an operational drainage channel but now the land drainage is blocked the water builds up in the area where the channel used to be before the cattle made the area almost impossible to cross in winter. This area was full of water on 8 July 2007.
There is tipping going on in the adjoining woodland, some of that could be usefully used to restore the path to a passable condition.
This path runs from Allington Lane just south of the railway between Eastleigh and Hedge End and ends at Moorgreen Road. After two fields the route crosses a stream via a footbridge and then the user was until October 2008 faced with the following view in a shallow valley. Surface water is running off the adjoining fields and going in the direction and on the routes of the arrows on the picture below across to the stream. Because of use of the area by animals and the fact that the land drainage has not been maintained it was impossible to get across the two channels in the winter except in Wellington boots (and you might have got them stuck in the mud).
As a result of discussions between Liz Giles of Hampshire County Council and the landowners works have been done during October 2008 so there are now some before and after pictures
The first picture below is the area on 16th April 2007 after a prolonged dry spell, the second picture is the area in winter on 8 January 2008.
Close up of the worst section on 16 April 2007 is below
Below is the view back in the opposite direction on 16 April 2008 and below that the same view on 8 January 2008
The following pictures are taken of the same area taken on 30 October 2008 and the route down the middle is a good surface and it has been seeded with grass. A ditch has been formed which has been piped under the path and there is now a good flow taking the water away the nearby stream.
Further along the path there is a hollow in the path which although it was verdantly green is an area that had been churned up by the animals and filled up with water because the derelict drainage channel in the bushes on the right in the picture below no longer took the water away. The first picture is 16 April 2007 and the second the same area on 8 January 2008
The pictures below are of the same area, a ditch on the right has been constructed but there is now a large muddy hollow that needs to be filled with suitable material
Further south at GR 481157 a stile has been replaced with a kissing gate and some gravel material has been spread around it. The stile and its associated waymarks have been dumped in the nearby hedge as a consequence there is no waymark informing the user that there is a right of way going north only one point to the west. See the photo below taken on 7 April 2008.
Whilst this is a commendable improvement the path immediately to the north is still very muddy and waterlogged through a lack of land drainage and a further 20 metres of gravel is required in order to get to harder ground - see the photograph below taken on 7 April 2008 which illustrates the problem.
The photograph below is the same area on 30 October 2008
An equestrian centre has been built over the line of the path in an area that was previously a paddock next to Moorgreen Farm. The precise route of the definitive path is not clear but the owners contend the route which comes along a track from the east as far as the gate (arrowed in the picture below) in the south west corner and thence to the pedestrian gate in the foreground near the north east corner. The route needs waymarking by the highway authority.
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Hampshire County Council have carried out extensive walkway and bridge works in this area in 2007. As a result the path which was previously impassable except in very dry spells in the summer is now useable throughout the year and in full repair and the Eastleigh Group expresses its appreciation to those involved in this work.
Richard Kenchington, Footpath Secretary eastleighrambler@aol.com 30 October 2008