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Lake District Green lane issue

mike54

Member
Joined
May 4, 2011
Messages
135
If a mod reads this it would be great if it could be made a sticky

In the Lakes there is a lane called "Stile End". It runs from Sadgill in the Longsleddle valley over the fell to the hamlet on the other side (depending on which way you drive it of course). Many of you will know it.

At the Sadgill end there is a farm with a gate and a choke point which takes some careful manoevring to get through due to the angle. You need to be competent on brake and clutch and careful not to touch the farm or the wall. It's easier going up than down, but the guy who lives at the farm is trying to get the park authority to put a one way TRO on it (down).

If you come across this guy (he's around 70 ish, grey hair, grey beard), please be polite to him, but also do not pay attention to what he says in terms of you driving it. Do not go in a big group, he will make a huge issue of out it. Sticking to the code of conduct (four vehicles max is better) Do not engage with this guy - he will write down your numberplates and try to provoke you. He is doing this deliberately to get a reaction so he can report it to the park authority and the police. Just stay calm and ignore him. He will also "check" your vehicles for road tax disc, tyre tread depth, numberplate size etc etc and if he finds an issue he will report you to the police. When driving this lane its a good idea to have all your documents with you because the police are now monitoring traffic using it.

We had an issue with him a couple of days ago which ended up with my contacting Cumbria Police, and my writing down what happened and having several conversations with them on the telephone. As a result of that, the guy was warned (by the police) not to interfere with people using the lane, and also not to obstruct it. I doubt this will stop him though, so please be aware of it. I'm not going to go into what happened, suffice to say the fact I felt it appropriate to get the Police involved should tell you all you need to know.

Just take care around the gate / choke point area, and have someone gently walk you through it. if you even touch the building or the wall he will cry "criminal damage" (we didn't by the way). Also do not climb on the wall or move rocks UNLESS there are rocks in your path (which there is a possibility that he has placed there so when you move them he will say "criminal damage").

If you drive this lane or have mates who plan to, please let them know about this. It's important that we do not engage with him or otherwise react to him. If you use other forums which involve green lanes please mention it there or link to this and tell as many people as you can.

If you do have a problem with him, please report it right away to PSCO Tom Howarth at Kendal Police. Above all, stay calm and polite no matter what he does. If he breaks the law, report it right away.

If you don't have lockers you will most likely end up winching up this if you go from sadgill upwards (ie west). If there is one of you with front and rear lockers who can go up first that's obviously fine, but if in your group no one has lockers except CDL, it is unlikely you will get up (especially when its wet). There is articulation in the rock shelf and it's tight so please be aware.
 
thanks for the heads up Mike. :thumbup:

im going on a trip up that way in May, so ive alerted the guy planning the trip to this thread. :)

if its the lane im thinking of, its ridiculously tight getting through that little gate between the wall and a farm building.
it was tricky in my little 70, must be very tight in an 80. :?
 
Thanks for that.

It is tight in an 80, though JW gets his 100 through it.
 
the lane im thinking of is the one towards the end of Daves blog. he had some trouble getting up and lost drive completely, and then lost all his brakes. :thumbdown:

i missed that trip because the landrover i was in only made it 3miles and the front diff exploded. good old landrover reliability. :roll:

http://www.bits4vits.co.uk/store/the-la ... g_133.html
 
It is, yes. The difficult bit is the bit you were winched up :lol:

Another heads up for you - Breast High road now has an emergency TRO on it so you need to miss that out.

this pic from the blog

DSC02288.jpg


The track is now about 5 feet lower than in that image due to water erosion. I am told by the ranger responsible that they are going to fix in the new year

btw, when we did stile end the other day, the 3 80's got up no problem, the pajero needed winching.
 
thanks Mike. :)

ive let the guy organising the trip have all the info youve posted. ;)

maybe Breast high road might be repaired in time for are trip. :pray:
 
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If your trip is in May there is chance of that. I talk to the rangers every few weeks so if you remind me nearer the time via a PM I'll contact the ranger responsible.
 
Remember the part myself mike. It is very tight and the farmer and his wife were out taking numberplates.


karl
 
Yeah Karl - that was fun - but we all got through in the end ok. IIRC Jon had a very friendly chat to the farmer - think we all did? TBH - there were bits of broken LR indicator lying there so he's probably had enough issues with numpties. Doesn't give him the right to break the law of course ...
 
going through going down hill is a bit tricky in a lwb, especially a wide lwb, I'd be very sure you know what you're doing going downhill. More than likely it will end up with a one way, wheel base restricted TRO that excludes 80's/100's even through they do fit :evil:
 
update from May

the Breasthigh lane is being repaired, here i photo i took on 4th May when passing Western end
the ranger told me a couple weeks ago "I am afraid it will not be open early in May. Work commences during the first week of May and is expected to take 3-4 weeks to complete"

IMG_3764.JPG


didnt see anyone at Sadgill farm
the rocky section was quite tricky, had to use rear locker and even then it was challenge. with a heavy landcruiser full of camping gear and rooftent i didnt want to welly it really, but had to a bit

i am sure its more washed out that last year when Jon, Gary, Gav, Karl drove it (but wall also repaired since then)
i tried a line close to wall first, failed a few times, then went more to left
there are no trees at top to winch off either
IMG_3782.JPG
 
I went up it last week, had to use front locker and some gas. You can actually winch about a foot forward off that boulder on the left (looks small in the pic but is actually pretty big) if you are VERY gentle but an 80 should get up it.

The "right" line is on the left, even though it looks like it's right. If you go right the front kicks up and if you have too much gas you hit the wall (hence the repair in the image due to loads of people doing that)

We drove up the A6 and saw two diggers near the top corner of breast high road, so come June 18th it should open again.

I would say that SWB vehicles should not attempt that lane going up, it's pretty much impossible to get up it without a long wheel base. I've seen everything from defenders to pajeros etc have a go, and they all need winching up.
 
mike54 said:
I went up it last week, had to use front locker and some gas. You can actually winch about a foot forward off that boulder on the left (looks small in the pic but is actually pretty big) if you are VERY gentle but an 80 should get up it.

The "right" line is on the left, even though it looks like it's right. If you go right the front kicks up and if you have too much gas you hit the wall (hence the repair in the image due to loads of people doing that)

We drove up the A6 and saw two diggers near the top corner of breast high road, so come June 18th it should open again.

I would say that SWB vehicles should not attempt that lane going up, it's pretty much impossible to get up it without a long wheel base. I've seen everything from defenders to pajeros etc have a go, and they all need winching up.

im going to have to have a go now youve said that! :lol: :twisted:

having a weekend in the lakes next month laning! :dance:
 
Mike did you use front and rear lockers?

yes the right side did look easier, but it wasn't i didnt get near wall until i started to reverse, too great care and was 30cm from it at closest

makes me feel better that paj's and defenders have failed on it.
momentum seems to be needed, but then risk of damage in a loaded vehicle.
i will remember that rock next time

I think you should be OK Ben with big wheels and front/rear lockers

i had to use rear locker for the rock step just after the gate at bottom too, failed with just CDL, it was wet slab and greasy

has this section got harder in the last year then?
Gary did it OK with ATRAC last year
 
Try it by all means, but my advice is not to unless you have front and rear lockers on a SWB. It's actually a better lane from the other direction to be honest.

Andy, just used the front because my rear locker is knackered and Karl hasn't found me a used one yet :lol:

I had to give it some gas to get up, and it was a bit bouncy. Next day in Yorkshire I went up the first lane and the steering went a little odd :cool: :lol:

Turns out that one of the studs from the swivel housing base had fallen out, and the other had sheared, so oil all over, day over. I suspect I sheared the stud on stile end actually, and the other just vibrated out the next day.

That rock stp by the gate is definitely harder as well, the base is all washed out. Also the bit we're talking about above is mauch harder this year. Last year my 80 just walked up it with no drama.

Can't say strongly enough to anyone though that the line is left, not right. Go right at your own risk
 
proof line on right is no use


[youtube:3h875rnk]L3ix_qNCeas[/youtube:3h875rnk]
 
If I remember right I did that section with no lockers apart from centre.im sure one of the other lads who I was with will confirm this. I'm still trying mike. I could sell you a complete 80 with a working locker.... Petrol though :think:
 
Following the post above.. I was also in the low rider at the time.
 
I didn't think it could have washed out any more mike thought it was bed rock. I may have the wrong lane :think:
 
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