RG18

Hermitage, Cold Ash, Yattendon and junction 13

Small villages scattered across the downs either side of the A34, with a service area at the junction. This is outer-edge ground for us.

Chieveley sits where the M4 and A34 cross, and the calls from it are almost always high-speed damage — a tyre that has already been ruined by the mile someone drove after feeling it go. Away from the junction it changes completely: Cold Ash, Curridge, Frilsham and Yattendon are lanes with steep banks, overhanging trees and no lighting or pavement. Farm traffic drags flint and mud onto the tarmac. Hampstead Norreys sits down in a fold with a narrow approach from every direction. Pull-in space is the real constraint here, not distance.

No verge and no pavement is normal here. If there is genuinely nowhere to stand, we treat it as a recovery from the start.