Whitenap Lane is made up of two separate parts, an obvious lane and a straight piece at right angles. From Luzborough Lane (A27) and Whitenap Lane runs northward, passing Mountbatten School and a row of thatched cottages. The rest of the lane contains 20th century houses, with two exceptions. These are both by the bend in the lane. One is Foxhills, of which only the driveway can be seen from the road, and then, round the corner is the former Whitenap Farm.

It seems likely that the creation of Botley Road in the 18th century is the cause of this corner. Botley Road was created as a turnpike road in 1765, and took over the role of the old Whitenap Lane. There used to be a cottage that stood on part of what is now Botley Road recreation ground, and the old Whitenap Lane probably cut across to the farm from this cottage. The line of trees suggests that there may also have been a track that led north of the farm into Beggars Path Wood.

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The Trustees of the Turnpike Road could not have traffic dodging the tolls by such routes and stopped them off. However they had to make provision for access to the farm, hence the cut through from Botley Road. The part of the lane running south from the farm to Luzborough Lane was not a threat to their income and therefore remained.

Whitenap Lane became immensely busy once the Mountbatten School was opened, and it was so narrow that it had to be restricted to one-way traffic. Since the houses are named but not numbered, this can make finding a particular house difficult, especially in the dark.

Relief was brought to the lane when parking for buses was re-arranged at the school. Now they have a dedicated entrance from the A27 and proper parking space, whereas before they all had to make their way along the narrow Whitenap Lane where some of them had to park.

When the idea of making access from the A27 was first proposed by a parent group looking at safer ways for children to get to school, it was dismissed out-of-hand as ridiculously expensive. Mercifully, the idea was not forgotten and has since been implemented, which is much better for everyone.

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