THE HAYLING BILLY TRAIL – MORE THAN JUST A WALK
 

The Hayling Billy railway let its last puff of steam out back in 1963 and for a long time since the track that had helped serve the community of Hayling so well for over a hundred years lay in ruin. The rails were torn up and the sleepers moved elsewhere.

What was left became unusable and the route soon became overgrown with the weeds and bramble in danger of leaving the legacy of “the Billy” as a muddy and impassable footnote of local history.

But the Billy was never forgotten. Some people remembered and still loved the Billy.

It started around 1984 with a team of volunteers wishing to create a national cycleway and by virtue of a lot of dedication, determination and plain hard work their efforts eventually came to fruition.To build on their success and those of others over the years still more needed to be done. Recently, with the help and support of Havant Borough Council and other partners the Heritage Partnership has been formed to continue the goal of making the Hayling Billy Trail as good an experience for as many people as is possible. Whilst not all work is complete miles of the track is now fit for us all to enjoy a stroll along the shores of one of the country’s most beautiful harbours.