Narrow Lanes (1 Viewer)

[andyman]

Where are theses narrow lanes that you cant get a coach bulit or A class down. Just read a post that said get a PVC so you can get down the same narrow lanes as a parcel delivery van.
Assumming the said van is delivering to a house, the house was built, someone moved in with a furniture van, they get thier bins emptied.
In 10 years of motorhoming inhave gone wherever i wanted, yes at times its been a bit tight but awalys got there and back.
Is it more i would not want to drive a large vehicle down these lanes or are there some where a motorhome would just not fit. Or are folks worried they may scratch a window on the odd tree, or couldnt reverse a 100 yards.
If so how did they make the road.
Went to a beach in Devon a few yeasrs ago and have been told you cant get a motorhome down there.

 

[Stretto Boy]

Most lanes are O.K. if you are careful but some can certainly be challenging. As to the dustcart/ removal van point, don’t forget that many country lanes don’t have any houses on them and in a some cases they have to use smaller vehicles for these purposes. I am one of the many who has scratched windows as a “Badge of Honour” but, if not too deep, they do polish out fairly easily.

 

[chaser]

There's a lane here you wouldn't get down , dustbins are emptied by a small pickup, many have tried , many I have had to pull out with tractor.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[tacr2man]

Reckon I could get down where your tractor goes

 

[rb62]

Ah yes lanes in Devon,due to being over ruled we ended up doing the
Doone valley in our A class,luckily we didn't meet anything but got some interesting looks from the locals!

 

[vwalan]

well i can admit there are loads down here in cornwall.
i used to use vw t2 or t25,s they get just about anywhere . but not if you have a lift up roof or a hightop.
touota hiace are good as well.
i do find my mitsubushi canter truck without the trailer is also good . its not much wider than the vw ,s but can loose traction without the trailer weight on the fifth wheel.
cant win them all.
but having driven sewage ,dustbin , skips and full artic trucks around cornwall you do get to find where you can or cant .
i miss the small camper a bit but do like the mini artic ,
a few of my favourite out of the way places are not available but i can take my m,bike to them .
spain and portugal have some narrow places as well. but i dare say many will never see them you do have to get way out off the main roads to find them.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[CWH]

They do exist.
And even where some might take a lorry or a van, I think you need to take into account

• Driving history - eg driven big vehicles before? How often out in the moho? How often driven ANYTHING on narrow lanes? How prepared is the driver to inconvenience other drivers? How much help/ criticism is given by the passenger?
• Life-savings-purchase v company vehicle

IMV it's just not fair to judge how others feel about narrow lanes, I've seen plenty of small cars come to a sticky end.

 

[WillH]

Our local cottages have to keep their bins at the road end.

 

[mustaphapint]

You wouldn't get down our lane, at least not without damage to the sides and windows. Fortunately for us we live at the end.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Enword]

Dont call them Lanes its our every day roads What's called a lane down here is just stone aggregate no tarmac

 

[jockaneezer]

The thing is other drivers make allowances when they see a bus or bin wagon coming towards them but your camper van/motorhome doesn't register with them and you're forced into the hedge.
There's a couple of sites we visit in the lakes at Hawkshead and Coniston that we enjoy but I hate the last few miles drive to them. Last time we were at Hawkshead, I by chance was right behind the Stagecoach service bus, easiest drive I've had on that road ever !

 

[Puddleduck]

What you call a lane we call an A class road .......

More seriously though there are a lot of single track roads round here without passing places, wide enough for the bin lorry but not for anything to get past it. Locals know the day and timing of the bin wagon and don't go out until it is out of the way.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[mustaphapint]

Nearly every trip we make in ours we end up at some point having to pull in and scrape a hedge, bush or tree to avoid oncoming traffic. I don't know how people who drive new vans can bear it. Ours is nearly 20 years old so a few battle scars are to be expected. Despite it's narrow single track roads the highlands and islands of western Scotland are one of the nicest places to drive a large vehicle due to lack of trees and roadside furniture, good forward visibility, frequent passing places and courtesy (and tolerance) of local drivers. The worst place to me is Devon and Cornwall.

 

[PhilG]

We drove across Dartmoor on what was supposed to be an A road, behind a coach. it was stupid narrow and if we had met anything big coming the other way , we would have been stuffed.

Also its not just width, its height for overhanging trees, and overhang, which with a PVC is minimal, the length is in the middle, so it doesnt give you an issue.

We were directed off the A2 on the way to Dover last week and the SatNav wanted to send us up stuff that had grass growing up the middle pretty much, thats no place to be taking anything bigger than a standard van.

 

[cornish boy]

Not all Cornish roads with centre reservations are dual carriageways!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[vwalan]

Not all Cornish roads with centre reservations are dual carriageways!

View attachment 193215

lots roads like that around here . some even tighter.
i do take visitors around the country lanes if they have a m,bike .
many do find it hard to believe even cars use them till we meet one .
real cornish roads have flowers growing in the middle at times of year.
living in cornwall means visiting narrow roads in spain etc just normal.
love it squirrels , fox,s . badgers , red deer all jump out in front of you plus loads of different birds .. real nature at its best.

 

[gus-lopez]

This year whilst in the UK I went from the Wellington monument across the few miles to where we used to live in Devon. Both side of the van dragging down the hedges in most places. If someone comes the other way you have to hope a house farm /house entrance appears as you can't reverse when both mirrors are in hedges.

 

[RidersofRohan]

I think I made the comment about the PVC and narrow lanes in another thread. It was in the context of how you might use a motorhome/van.
Is it not less stressful driving something down a narrow lane that will probably fit rather than something that might not.
As for buses and bin wagons, well they are going where they have been before and the driver knows the road (usually). I wasn't attacking motorhomes in fact said if you are more likely to enjoy the Spanish sun from one spot then a fixed bed and garage are what you need. I also said everything is a compromise.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[motorhomer]

We downsized from quite large coachbuilts to a PVC 3 years ago and I do find it far more relaxing to drive especially on the smaller lanes. Its not so much that you can't go there in a larger van, (although sometimes you can't), more that its just more pleasant when you do. Also the attitude of other road users changes - if you are in a large motorhome on a tiny road many other road users think you should not really be there, and drive accordingly!. However in a PVC this just does not happen.

From a car drivers standpoint, a few weeks ago I met a very large A class, towing a car, on tiny roads around a reservoir in mid wales. I was driving my car at the time, and was less than pleased to have to reverse quite some distance because the motorhome just could not, even though there was a suitable passing place not far behind it. Others may disagree but I felt that the large motorhome should not have been there!

 

[CWH]

From a car drivers standpoint, a few weeks ago I met a very large A class, towing a car, on tiny roads around a reservoir in mid wales. I was driving my car at the time, and was less than pleased to have to reverse quite some distance because the motorhome just could not, even though there was a suitable passing place not far behind it. Others may disagree but I felt that the large motorhome should not have been there!

I tend to agree. In your example, what's the point in having a toad if you don't use it for these sort of excursions?
I know some would say that wherever your vehicle can go, you're entitled to, but I take a different view. I used to belong to an MX5 Owners' Club and I'd get very embarrassed when rally runs went down the single-track Cornish lanes - not only holding up other cars (our long convoy ensuring it was the other driver who had to reverse forever) but also commercial vehicles, tractors etc. With ownership comes responsibility.

 

[iandsm]

Where are theses narrow lanes that you cant get a coach bulit or A class down. Just read a post that said get a PVC so you can get down the same narrow lanes as a parcel delivery van.
Assumming the said van is delivering to a house, the house was built, someone moved in with a furniture van, they get thier bins emptied.
In 10 years of motorhoming inhave gone wherever i wanted, yes at times its been a bit tight but awalys got there and back.
Is it more i would not want to drive a large vehicle down these lanes or are there some where a motorhome would just not fit. Or are folks worried they may scratch a window on the odd tree, or couldnt reverse a 100 yards.
If so how did they make the road.
Went to a beach in Devon a few yeasrs ago and have been told you cant get a motorhome down there.

Apparently you haven't found any yet, try rural areas in Wales, Scotland, France, Germany. There're many that might cost you a new window or two and perhaps some paintwork repairs and to test your reversing skills . Then there is of course the person coming the other way towards you around a blind bend who never imagines anything else is on the road. Seek and ye shall find, and if you do and think you will try it anyway even if you don't know whether it gets narrower of more difficult and you may well have to open your wallet.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[CWH]

What you call a lane we call an A class road .......

... and still have change from a farthing

 

[rangi]

Google if you will

MURTONS TCE in Lanner it's off the A393 bet you you will have trouble getting your M/H down there

 

[Mark and Mindy]

I think I made the comment about the PVC and narrow lanes in another thread. It was in the context of how you might use a motorhome/van.
Is it not less stressful driving something down a narrow lane that will probably fit rather than something that might not.
As for buses and bin wagons, well they are going where they have been before and the driver knows the road (usually). I wasn't attacking motorhomes in fact said if you are more likely to enjoy the Spanish sun from one spot then a fixed bed and garage are what you need. I also said everything is a compromise.

That was as a reply to my question regarding dogs in motorhomes, by preference we want a pvc, we've just sold our Mustang and are well used to meeting oncoming vehicles who seemed to think that we might like to reverse for them in spite of them being closer to a passing place/farm entrance etc than us.
We'd much rather drive cross country, small lanes and all, than be stuck on the faster roads where the countryside passes in a blur because everyone else is in such a hurry; and for us a PVC is the right one with a bit more manoeuvrability.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[My Dog Likes Fishing]

Why would I want to take my big fat wide and tall motorhome to Lanner? Nothing there pard!

 

[vwalan]

Why would I want to take my big fat wide and tall motorhome to Lanner? Nothing there pard!

short cut so you dont need to go close to redruth .
there is a good m,bike shop there .
plus the pub used to be good .
the vw club used it at one time .
cornwall has some really nice places that most will never see .
plus its interesting with its history and gwennap pit is not far away.
lots history to be learned .
mind far better to come to roche and the surrounding area .
roche rock, the start of the river fal, plus the clay museum not far away and still workings to see. plus fantastic scenery.

 

[JohnH]

I used to drive motor homes, delivering them between sites, picking 5hem up from customers or delivering them to customers. These would be anything from a micro camper to A class motor homes.
Even driving down country roads etc never bothered me. If anything happened it would be sorted by service.
Then I would take mine away and drive gingerly down country Cornish lanes because any damage and it was my problem. So lorry and bus drivers mus5 have a similar lassez faire attitude to driving as I had. Not my vehicle so not my problem.
Before anyone starts worrying about their delivered van I never did have a bump on the road with either customers or my van.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[My Dog Likes Fishing]

short cut so you dont need to go close to redruth .
there is a good m,bike shop there .
plus the pub used to be good .
the vw club used it at one time .
cornwall has some really nice places that most will never see .
plus its interesting with its history and gwennap pit is not far away.
lots history to be learned .
mind far better to come to roche and the surrounding area .
roche rock, the start of the river fal, plus the clay museum not far away and still workings to see. plus fantastic scenery.

I know the area well I lived in Mount Ambrose for 20 years. Used to go to the Lanner Disko every Saturday night. Many a Saturday night snogging the first love of my life in the park.
Lanner though has no decent pasty shop so not recommended for a lunch stop. Think the motorbike shop used to be a Kawasaki dealership called Parnells but probably like Diskos is well gone.

 

[vwalan]

I know the area well I lived in Mount Ambrose for 20 years. Used to go to the Lanner Disko every Saturday night. Many a Saturday night snogging the first love of my life in the park.
Lanner though has no decent pasty shop so not recommended for a lunch stop. Think the motorbike shop used to be a Kawasaki dealership called Parnells but probably like Diskos is well gone.

its still there . yes was parrnells . dont know who owns it now but its called cornwall kawasaki center.
mind it was better years ago. ,plus there used to be a m,home place there .
things do change but i drove through only last sunday , did a down the coast to falmouth then ,across lanner redruth, portreath ,porthtowan and up the coast to almost padstow then home . makes a nice drive out .
mind better on the m,bike then i can visit the real small places going down the south coast.

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

Google if you will

MURTONS TCE in Lanner it's off the A393 bet you you will have trouble getting your M/H down there

I bet my Garmin would send me down it.

I had a nice, and at times nervy drive across part of Dartmoor a few years ago. If anyone plans on driving a coach build/A class through Ponsworthy...let me know

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}