Someone was looking for a hovel

[Tim Lamb]

OK if you own the land.

>

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Which is possibly a RUPP - certainly the farmer uses that for tractor access to the big field at the end of it.

The stretch from the end of Crank Lane to the cottages looks as it might be footpath only - although there might be evidence of an older vehicular track there if one looked closely at the ground. Iwt that even the footpath is virtually non-existent and may have dropped its RoW status by now.

[Theo Markettos]

Which you don't. Looking at old-maps.co.uk, it seems there was never any vehicular access from the A1 (even in the 1850s) - there was Crank Lane which just serves a field, and then a footpath. Looks like the occupant in

1881 worked for the local hunt kennels, which are still in the next field. So an estate cottage, which probably accounts for the lack of access.

Looks like planning permission was granted in 1974 to connect electricity, and an application for a first floor extension was withdrawn. But it was apparently never wired. So it's probably been abandoned since at least then.

So it's derelict, inaccessible, with no services, probably with a background noise of howling dogs, and next to a motorway. I'm failing to see redeeming features here...

Theo

[Theo Markettos]

The Ramblers' Association were complaining about it being blocked by the A1:

1913 map: both a footpath (F.P) to the south of the cottages and a track marked B.R across the field to the east meeting the NE corner of the plot, and a

3ft 9in R.H to the north to the cottages, and something marked F.W next to the buildings. Anyone know what these mean? There's also a sand pit in the field to the east, which is vaguely visible on the satellite view, and vague evidence of the B.R track across the field.

In 1957 they're still there:

1967: next 1:2500 map is 1973, and the track and the sandpit are gone: about the time the place was abandoned.

Theo

[geoff]

It will be

[Dave Liquorice]

Oh good I'm not going mad. B-)

Same bit but my map has the edge of the "Here be Dragons" area around there. B-)

Roughly the same length as the Leeming to Barton section. Get those upgraded and it will be M class from just south of Gateshead down to Blyth, Notts.

[djc]

Boundaries: F.W Face of Wall R.H Root of Hedge

B.R Bridle Road

Ref Harley JB. Ordnance Survey Maps: a descriptive Manual, Southampton 1975

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Row Height, Ride Height?

I think there was a distinction drawn between a FP (footpath) and a FW (footway), the latter perhaps not having any legal status. I could be talking bollocks, so take that with a pinch of salt.

[geoff]

Did you get the email?

[Hugo Nebula]

RH = Root of Hedge. FW = Foot of Wall. They're ways of marking a boundary, in this case, a parish boundary.

[Theo Markettos]

What's the 3ft 9in attached to RH? Width of the hedge? It's been helpfully metricised to 1.143m on the newer maps - whatever it is, I doubt it's accurate to the nearest mm!

Theo

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

I am obliged. Bollocks withdrawn.

[Hugo Nebula]

The boundary is offset (horizontally) from the line of the roots of the hedge. It's almost always 4' from RH, but in this case someone must have replanted their hedge 3" off the edge of their land.

The boundary is 3'9" from the root of the hedge, so that's converted to the nearest metric equivalent measure. Whether it's ever important that it be measured to a particular level of accuracy depends, I suppose, on the nature of the boundary. A civil parish- very little; an international border- probably. For example, the boundary between one Council and another is located 4' (1.219m) from the back of the hedge at the rear of my garden. This measurement is important in determining who is responsible for a footpath between gardens.