Eversley Forest, Fleet Pond, Minley, Blackbushe Airport, Hawley Lake

This ride plugs another gap in the map around Aldershot, Farnborough and Fleet, making use of Military Training Areas (MTAs), Country Parks and Common Land. In previous rides, I have explored North (Minley and Hawley Lake MTAs), South (Caesar's Camp and Long Valley MTAs) and East (Blackwater Valley Trail). This ride plugs the gap on the Western side. Here's a map of my route.

I parked in the Velmead Woods car park near the Foresters pub. The map shows my outward route in blue, and return route in red, about 22 miles in all. Once again, I have loaded thumbnail photos on the map which will give an idea of the tracks and sights along the way.

At first, it seemed from signs that the path I wanted to take was closed by works to bury a new oil pipeline to Heathrow, but actually the path was open. Having navigated the rather messy A323 roundabout I traversed the woods adjoining the newly developed Hartland Village and Country Park, to arrive at Fleet Pond. From here, I tried to head directly East adjacent to the railway, but found this blocked by works to improve the path. Whilst this improvement is welcome, there was no information about the diversion route, which I eventually worked out (see map). At first I feared the bridge over the railway was barred, but I found a path out beside the contractor's fencing.

I then entered the Bramshot MTA South of the M3, which I crossed on a handy bridge, and cycled onward through Minley Wood MTA to exit at the Minley Road/A327 roundabout. Rather than immediately heading East, I decided to revisit Blackbushe Airport to explore the old runways a bit more. I then headed across Yateley Common, and, as in my previous ride, found the bridleways a bit squelchy.

I crossed the busy A30 to enter the MTA again, and made another circuit of Hawley Lake, before stopping at the nearby Crown and Cushion pub for a lunch snack (and drink - it was a hot day!). Rather than return via the bridge I used on the way out, I found a handy cycle path navigating the junction 4a of the M3, to enter the now traffic-free lane beside Bramshot Farm Country Park.

As an alternative to returning to the bridge over the railway, I did a short stretch on the busy A3013/A327 to enter the Fleet Pond woods from the East near Southwood. As a final variation, to avoid the pipelaying, I took the track down to the Basingstoke Canal, did a short stretch West on the towpath, then crossed the canal to return to my car through the Forest of Eversley.

Once again, this was a very enjoyable ride on mainly very good tracks. The several Country Parks on the way or nearby are a sign of the times (Hartland, Bramshot Farm, Yateley Common). They are SANGs - Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG). Whenever a large development near the Thames Basin Heaths is given planning permission (for example, Hartland Village, or Sun Park), the developers are required to make a financial contribution towards creating or improving a SANG where people can take exercise and commune with nature, taking pressure off the existing heathlands. Cynics might think it is a pact with the devil, but pragmatically, it does seems to have created a valuable natural resource. The danger is that it becomes a bounty to allow more and more development. You decide which it is.