The Army has decided to order cyclists to stop riding on Hankley Common, except on registered bridleways.
This was decided as a result of a confrontation between Warden Sandy Craig and 15 elderly cyclists.
Reports from the cyclists and a walker who witnessed the incident differ radically from Sandy’s.
For more information on cycling rules on Hankley Common go to ELSTEAD NEWS Hankley Common cycling ban.

Those pesky elderly cyclists eh!

(reading the linked report seems to imply the warden is a bit of an @rse though).

I shall continue to use Hankley like wot I have been doing for years.

Well no one needed that, so if the report is correct then annoying if fellow cyclists were at fault. I wonder how much was the number and the arguing, if that is what happened?

I guess most people will be largely unaffected as they ride the BWs anyway. Of the obvious areas, the most obvious “loss” is the middle section, the SW corner to the W of Kettlebury Hill and S of Gold Hill and the middle paths at the N end (if I am reading the map correctly). Most of the (other more) interesting stuff is/was cheeky anyway (hey ATP?). Most of the time, I am crossing Hankely to go elsewhere so not a massive loss. But shame that the “pressure” on not doing the hidden fun bits has just gone up a few notches.

The other night I was doing a quick XC ride and was crossing “on BWs” from Stockbridge, around Yagden Hill and towards the army base on my way to Thursley. It was pretty late and was nearing the base when I rode past about 20 soldiers lying just in the trees. I am not sure who was more surprised, but we just past a simple acknowledgement and then ignored each other. I’ve ridden that twice in the last week and met soldiers both times but nothing was said.

The Army are never any problem on the ground and I apologise for having said that they are the authors of the ban. The administrators of Hanley Common are DIO Ops South at Longmoor and the wardens are employees of Landmarc Services Ltd, who have a contract to maintain the whole of the Defence Training Estates. The 15 cyclists were on an Age-UK organised ride from Thursley to Hindhead via Hankley Common and were using tracks that they believed to be permitted, based on information supplied following discussions between Jeremy Hunt MP and the MoD in 2012. The Landmarc warden concerned has a reputation for over-zealous and somewhat abrasive enforcement of the rules, which have never been clearly defined. This is only one of the problems on Hankley Common, as the MoD still intends to close the central car park and the road leading to it. This is the subject of discussion between the MoD and local Councils, as the lobby group PATH have discovered that the road to the car park is actually an ancient public carriage road from Farnham to Thursley via Tilford and across Hankley Common.

I run, walk, and ride on Hankley and have never seen any wardens. But from what you said, perhaps they were on the obvious tracks that enter S of the Golf Course. It is interesting that they are generally not marked as RoW on OS maps. Similalry, at the base of Yagden Hill, only one of the tracks towards the base is marked as a BW. I will have to change my standard route!