List of Byways

Womble

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I've been doing some investigating about byways in Suffolk. Having had a chat on the phone, the Definitive Map Officer for Suffolk sent me a spreadsheet with all of the Suffolk byways with temporary or permanent TROs.

I've just been playing around on the OS Get-a-Map website and it's really useful as you can paste in a grid reference and it gives you a map with the grid reference at the centre.

So, now I can generate maps which contain places that I CAN'T go on the bike, and I'd like to turn the problem around. Unfortunately, there isn't yet an electronic list of byways for Suffolk that's available from the County Council.

I'd be interested if anyone has such a list. Alternatively, if people want to post grid references for the start and end of byways, I'd be happy to collate bigger list.
 
Alternatively, if people want to post grid references for the start and end of byways, I'd be happy to collate bigger list.

"Pick up the pieces and take them to Tobermoreeeeeee
Undergound overground, Wombling free etc etc" :D:D:D

Great Idea Tobermory. A couple of weeks ago the police and Forestry Comission had a roadshow at Wildtracks, Red Lodge, mainly to highlight the new powers they have to sieze bikes etc etc. Im glad i went cos i bumped some old friends who had joined the police, and met the Pcso`s who cover mine and the surrounding villages. Anyhooo, after listening to all the man from Forestry had to say, and agreeing that no, we dont want kids on minomotos riding round the forest, and no we dont want people riding round areas of special scientific interest cos we might hurt a lesser spotted wotsit i said"turning it round, where can the fully insured-careful riding-law abiding-country loving person take their bike ?"
"dunno mate" was his reply.
I came away with a definate impression of "get orf moi land" so a list of byways is a cracking idea:bounce1
 
It starts off fairly simply, or at least in Suffolk it's simple anyway - grab an Ordnance Survey Explorer map and the byways are the lines made up of green +'s. You just have to be careful of any TROs which can prevent you gaining access, which is why I contacted the Council's Definitive Map team for their list.

The geek in me has just started automating the process of taking a list of grid references, pulling the maps down from the Ordnance Survey website and turning it into a set of printouts. As I understand it, their T's&C's stop me giving away the printouts, but there doesn't seem to be any reason why we couldn't write an application that automates the process instead. It's worked really well for the list of places where we can't go, but it would be vastly more helpful if we could come up with a list of places where we can go.

I guess I'm going to have to learn a bit more javascript now :rolleyes:

Anyway, I'm hoping to meet up with the local TRF guys tomorrow night and I'll have a chat with them as well - I'll post if there's any progress.
 
TRF Guys

Hope you have more luck than I did a year ago!

Is it the Bury St Edmunds group cos I went to three of their meetings and I never saw more than 2 people turn up and they were very reluctant to show routes etc, infact I concluded they dont know of anymore than I have done with Polar Bear, Noddy etc.

Good luck anyway and keep us posted
Ray
 
this may not have anything to do with your thread but,I went out today and found some very good by-roads,in the area of Metfield,Cratfield & Cookley,and some where I came across a ford,(no not a car),just about all the roads were single track,very, very twisty,the sort that come right back on yourself,and going up and down,bit like a mini pass,only traffic I met was one tractor,and 2 cars, in just over 18 miles or so.(total route 55 mile,mostly single track)
These roads are well worth a go, so if ever you boys get over that way give them a go.
So, what is the difference between byways and byroads???just that along one of these roads there was a footpath sign going into a field,and the pathway was as wide as a single track road,it just made me think if it at one time it was a road???.anyway, good luck with your map search.
 
Thanks for the info - I'll take a look.

Byways are also known as BOATS (Byways Open to All Traffic) and are marked on OS maps as a row of green '+' signs. The entrance to a byway is marked by a green sign that looks like a footpath sign, with the cunning difference that it says 'Byway'. I must have driven past hundreds in the past and not spotted the difference since I wasn't looking.

If it's anything like the one I found at Cagman's Lane yesterday, you then see that the one half of the byway that doesn't have a TRO on it, has a sodding great 'No Vehicles, except by permit' sign instead :blast

If the roads that you found were metalled, they were probably byroads, but fun nonetheless. I'm not sure on the definition of a byroad, though, so I could be completely wrong on that one.
 
TRF

Hi Tobermory,
(We met at the Hogroast)
I used to belong to the TRF in Northampton in my Green laning days. Often the members are very cagey about giving out info until they have got to know you. Once you are a known member most will share their knowledge with you.
Not all BOATs and RUPPs used to be shown on OS maps so they sometimes knew of routes that were not easy to find.
(The Peak District used to be a good example of this)
Although most of these tended to be RUPPs which our lovely :mcgun government decided to downgrade to footpaths and Bridleways recently !
A lot of Countys also close a lot of the lanes during Winter to Motor Vehicles via TRO's (Northampton & Bedfordshire for sure).

Good luck in your search.

Cheers, Piggers
 


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