The Lee – and Closure of Rocky Lane

The Lee is a little oasis of peace, 3.5 miles up on the ridge that runs parallel to the A413 London Road. Turn left into Rocky Lane about a mile out of Wendover, then follow the narrow windy roads for about two miles through lovely countryside.

Well, that used to be the case, until HS2 closed Rocky Lane in February (until 18 August) and created a six-mile detour. You can still get to The Lee though, and it is still worth the visit. You now follow the A413 under the newly installed Small Dean viaduct, past the Rocky Lane turn, all the way to the double roundabouts outside Great Missenden. Turn left at the second roundabout. A short way up Frith Hill, take the first left (stay in low gear) towards South Heath, past the workings for HS2’s North Portal, and follow the road back to The Lee.

An easier route, without the steep gradient, is to carry on as Frith Hill becomes Chesham Road, until the roof of the HS2 Chesham Intervention Shaft building site comes into view, then turn left along Kings Lane. The Intervention Shaft construction works have been marked by tall cranes, but as these are moved away it’ll be harder to spot according to HS2.

Either route takes you to South Heath, where there’s a crossroads. Take the road north along Potter Row. This route runs parallel to the HS2 works for about a mile, then at Hunts Green, veers right along a road that takes you almost directly into The Lee.

Don’t take the Kings Road that turns off about 150 yards to the left, as it has become almost impassable by the effects of drivers hopefully following detours suggested by their satnavs. If you do decide to brave it, there is an excellent view towards Little Hampden and Dunsmore, over the Wendover Dean Viaduct. In a couple of years’ time, the construction works will have been removed and you will not even notice the HS2 line. Well, according to its designers.

However you get to The Lee, you will find it virtually unchanged by what is going on less than a mile to the west. There’s the village green, the quaint pair of churches and the carving of a naval officer peering over the hedge –you might have seen him on the way in. Thankfully, the Cock and Rabbit pub is still open and waiting to reward the traveller with food and drink.

I met with Oliver, the owner of the pub, as well as Colin Veysey who produces a five-times-a-year publication called ‘The Source.’ It’s like Wendover News but serves villages around Prestwood and Great Missenden. We discussed how the closure of Rocky Lane would affect The Lee, the only village covered by both publications.

Oliver says that The Cock and Rabbit is well supported by the locals and, until now, had enjoyed visits from the surrounding area. In previous summer months, as much as 40% of his custom came from the direction of Wendover. He anticipates that will fall this year, unless people realise that the pub is still open and active. “We’ll survive” he said, “but the closure of Rocky Lane will make it difficult for the population of The Lee. There are not many employers in the village and those that are here, tend to employ local people. But there are still quite a lot of people who travel out from the Lee to work elsewhere. That’s not forgetting delivery drivers and other vehicles that need to get here.”

I also spoke to Colin Sully, chair of the parish council at The Lee. He seemed resigned to the situation, having spent the last few years complaining to HS2 to little effect. He accepted that HS2 needs to close the road to complete the Rocky Lane underbridge, but thinks a lot more could have been done to improve access. We were speaking at a time when Leather Lane had also been closed by HS2. “When Leather Lane reopens, it will give us another route, but it is a long way from Wendover and will involve driving across the HS2 works controlled by traffic lights, with all the associated problems. Plus, it’s not really a shortcut from the Great Missenden side either – just an alternative route.”

He pointed out that HS2’s suggested detour up Frith Hill is an additional six miles. “HS2 documents say that Rocky Lane is recorded as carrying only 1,300 vehicle journeys a day. If you multiply 1,300 by six miles and the number of days the detour will be in place, it comes to just over 1.4 million miles’ extra driving. That’s a lot of fuel and a lot of CO2 going into the atmosphere, and an extra 20 minutes or so on each journey.”

The other route that takes you to The Lee from Wendover means driving out to Aston Hill and going up the road well past the entrance and exit for Wendover Woods. This is still a long detour and requires that you know the location of an old, mainly single-track lane. That takes you through to Swan Bottom, not far from The Lee. The lane was constructed for horse-drawn carriages and to allow small agricultural vehicles to get between fields. For cars and anything bigger, it’s now a scary rat-run.

Another ‘short-cut’ we recommend you avoid is up Hale Lane. Once an interesting hill climb for adventurous drivers, it has become a hazardous and unpleasant route for people who are often obliged to reverse on a steep gradient, with limited views in either direction. I spoke to a resident who relies on that route to get in and out of Wendover and she points out that although it gives you access to Aston Hill, you still need to go down the horse-cart lane to get to the Lee. She also made the point that like many other roads around Wendover, increased traffic is damaging the passing places on narrow roads, often making big ruts disguised by muddy water and broken vegetation.

So here is a challenge to EKFB, HS2’s contractor: You have some very clever engineers who managed to get the Small Dean Viaduct over a main road and railway in four days, ahead of time. Wendover News challenges you to finish the work in Rocky Lane in three months, instead of six…!

Richard Byford