Laying New Ground

Work has finally started on Byway 745 to stop it becoming more eroded and to allow access to it for a wider cross section of users. The County Council have subcontracted the work to a company who specialise in conservation groundwork. The three workers are setting about installing what is known as a French drain into the eroded groove that runs almost the whole length of the track. Ironically, this is a plastic pipe wrapped in permeable membrane that allows water to seep into it all the way down the hill. It will run into the mud-hole at the bottom which has been a favourite place for 4 x 4 drivers to play in the past.

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Once the drainage is in place and packed with pea shingle, hardcore of crushed concrete, brick and tarmac is laid on top to be followed by a layer of limestone. This stone is more durable than chalk and binds together to make a firm surface which should weather down to not look too out of place.

The company is not happy about laying plastic pipe but are not sure what else will work. That is one of many ironies apparent in this project which is, in part, about ensuring that all who are entitled use the Byway Open to All Traffic (B.O.A.T.) can do so. It is imposing changes on the landscape by using hefty fossil fuelled vehicles in an attempt to protect that landscape from the ravages of erosion caused to a great extent by similar vehicles. The human generated deposits making up the new ground will find themselves in the Quaternary geological layer, the layer above the bedrock, along with alluvial deposits, landslip and landfill. Although it is hoped that the upgrade to the surface will make the track boring and therefore unattractive to off-road vehicle users, the process of erosion will begin again and fragments of plastic, along the chemicals from the crushed concrete and tar will be washed down the hill, into the lane and then the stream beyond which feeds the River Rother, entering the sea at Littlehampton.

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All photographs by Liz Clifford.