THE MAGAZINE OF THE DISCOVERY OWNERS CLUB
Number 13 - August/September 2003
Worcestershire Treasure Hunt Discovery Concours d’Elegance Beaulieu 4x4 Show McMillan 4x4 Challenge
Italian Tour with a TD5 Greenlaning for Absolute Beginners Discovery Workshop
www.discoveryownersclub.com Discourse 13 - Page 1
The Small Print
The Small Print
Small Ads for DOC Members
For the purposes of this notice, Discovery Owners Club and Club are interchangeable and assumed to mean the same thing.
Members can place small ads for Discovery stuff in Discourse for free.
Discourse Articles The Club reserves the right to edit or refuse articles received from members.Views expressed by members contributing to this magazine are those of that member and may not necessarily be those of the Club. Every effort is made to verify the contents of member s articles, but the Club can not accept responsibility for the veracity of its content.
Caveat Emptor Every effort is made to ensure advertisements are bona fide. The Club can not accept responsibility for the quality of goods or services advertised. The moral is buyer beware .
Public Liability Insurance
However, if you have a cottage to let or anything else that would bring in some income, then you ll also be able to advertise in the small ads section but will be expected to make a contribution to the production costs of Discourse.
Complimenatry Show Tickets From time to time, the Club receives complimentary tickets to shows the club is attending. The Club s policy is to make these tickets available to those members willing to help on the Club stand during the vent. If you are willing to help at the event on the Club stand and/or allow your vehicle to be displayed, please contact the Club s event organiser (listed in What s On) whose decision on the distribution of those tickets shall be final. Surplus tickets shall either be destryoed or returned to the event organiseres.
Data Protection
The Club has Public Liability Insurance for registered Club events of a non-competitive nature. Cover is provided for full Club members, their spouse or partner and children residing at the same address. Family members as defined in the Club rules travelling in a separate vehicle are also covered. Road traffic accident risks are not covered by the Club s Public Liability Insurance. It is the responsibility of the member to ensure that they have proper and legal Insurance cover for themselves and the vehicle from leaving home until returning home.
The Club recognises its responsibilities under the Data 1998 Protection Act. The Membership Secretary is the Club s Data Controller. The membership database of current and past members shall be for the Club s exclusive use and shall not be made available to any third party. Elected Officers of the Club (Committee members and LSRs) may request member information having shown good reason. If an ordinary member requests contact information of another member, this shall be done through a committee member who shall contact the meber asking permission for their detail to be made known to the requesting member.
Club Events
Committee Meetings
Activities in particular but not excluding off-roading and green-laning are undertaken solely at the participants own risk. Vehicles should be suitably insured and prepared for the undertaken activity. Participation in any Club organised event is on the understanding and acceptance that safety is the responsibility of the participant.
Under the rules of the club, members may attend, but not participate at committee meetings. If you plan to come along, please let the Club Secretary know in advance. The planned date for the next committee meeting is:
Green Lanes All green lanes are highways as defined by the Highways Act 1980. Green laning events require the same level of insurance, road tax, MOT and driver s licence as normal roads.
Association of Rover Clubs The Club is a non-competitive member of the Association of Rover Clubs (ARC), an organisation bringing together all member Land Rover clubs for organising events (both competitive and non-competitive) and providing many essential services to member clubs.
GLASS The Discovery Owners Club is a member of GLASS (Green Lane Association). GLASS is a national rights of way user group representing the interests of motor car users on unsurfaced minor highways or green lanes in England and Wales. GLASS promotes responsible off-roading and the Club endorses this.
Club Web Site www.discoveryownersclub.com is the Club s website address.
Back Issues Two ways for members to obtain Discourse back issues: Printed copies at £2.50 ea together with a self addressed A4 envelope stamped at 41pence, or CD-ROM at £2.00 including postage (this would have all back issues). Cheques should be made payable to Discovery Owners Club and sent with your order to the Membership Secretary.
Advertising in Discourse Advertising space will be available in future issues of Discourse. Advertisements can be whole page, half page and quarter page in either black and white or full colour. Suppliers and dealers wishing to advertise in Discourse should contact Kevin Beel for a Rate Card and details of space available.
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If you have something you want raised at committee, please let a committee member know.
Acknowledgements Front cover photograph It s all downhill from here by Alan Smart. Back cover photograph Where s everyone going? by Lee Jones.
In This Issue Land Rover News Letters of Resignation Model Review Discovery Workshop Italian Tour with a TD5 Beaulieu 4x4 Show Worcestershire Treasure Hunt McMillan 4x4 Challenge Discovery Concourse d’Elegance Class of ‘93 Disaster! Stand and Deliver! Greenlaning for Absolute Beginners G490WAC Down Your Way What’s On - Tim Arnold Calendar and Contacts Regional Meets
4 6 7 8 10 12 13 14 16 18 19 19 22 23 25 26 26 27
Your Committee Your Committee Post Vacant Chairman 9 Lindisfarne Way, East Hunsbury, Northampton, NN4 0WG. Tel: 07768 366 157, Email: metalthrasher@metalthrasher.screaming.net
Gary Tredwell Vice Chairman, Central Southern LSR 21 Wick Close, Peachcroft, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 2NQ. Tel: 01235 520240, Email: caravan.servicing@virgin.net
Kevin Beel Club Secretary, Home Counties Nth. LSR 25 Pembroke Road, Baldock, Herts, SG7 6DB Tel: 01462 893886, Mobile: 07905 836636, Email: k.beel@ntlworld.com
Ros Palmer Treasurer 31 Stanley Street, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, HD6 1SX. Tel: 01484 384883, Email: ros@cameltrophy.org.uk
Post Vacant Membership Secretary, Sth. Staffs LSR 73 Tottenham Crescent, Kingstanding, Birmingham, B44 0ST. Tel: 0121 603 3632, Mobile: 07299031, Email: lee@trucktech.fsnet.co.uk
Tim Arnold Events Co-ordinator, Sussex LSR 9 Sunstar Lane, Polegate, East Sussex, BN26 5HS Tel: 01323 489003, Mobile: 07801 292024, Email: tim@sunstarlane.freeserve.co.uk
Post Vacant History Officer, Editor, Wessex LSR The Bales, Cow Lane, Kimpton, Andover, Hampshire, SP11 8NY. Tel: 01264 772851, Fax: 01264 773Email: alan@the-bales.co.uk
From the Editor’s Keyboard
Sean Pearce Club Shop Officer 5 Dodlee Lane, Longwood, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, HD3 4TZ Tel: 01484 644764, Mobile: 07703 534453 Email: spearce10@aol.com
Jim Law Publicity & Press Officer 1 Vulcan Close, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 4LZ Tel: 01227 264747, Mobile: 07944 836 177, Email: jwlaw90@hotmail.com
Chris Gorvin Camping & Caravanning Officer 16 Kurtus, Dosthill, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B77 1NX Mobile: 07774 963577 Email: chris.gorvin@ic24.net
Dyfed Bowen Member Representitive 116-118 Church Lane, Charnock Richard, Chorley, Lancashire, PR7 5NA Mobile: 07866 495084 Email: diff@ntlworld.com
Kim Hollings North West LSR 15 Knowsley Crescent, Offerton, Stockport, Cheshire, SK1 4JB. Tel: 0161 480 7096, Email: kimberh@ntlworld.com
Paul Walker North Worcs LSR 17 Ditchford Close, Hunt End, Redditch, B97 5XT Tel: 01527 404103, Mobile: 07939 411995, Email: doc.worcsrep@blueyonder.co.uk
George Glover Northants LSR 158 Malcolm Drive, Duston, Northampton, NN5 5NH. Tel: 01604 582252, Mobile: 07721 559456 Email: george@georgespad.freeserve.co.uk
John Patton Yorkshire LSR 43 Mountain Ash, Rooley Moor, Rochdale, OL12 7JD. Mobile: 07748 502200
Sadly, this will be my last edition of Discourse as Editor. As you will see on the page above, there are a number of gaps in the committee as there have been three recent resignations, including mine. Neil Brownlee, Lee Jones and myself are standing down and Nick Brooker who developed the style and layout of the magazine you are now reading, is also standing down. You can read our letters that set out our reasons to the membership on page six. I would like to put on record my thanks for their enormous contribution to the club and they will be sorely missed. We originally set out with Discourse issue 9 to provide you with a high quality magazine for less than £2 delivered. This involved an enormous amount of work behind the scenes to put together the magazine. It typically it takes about 70 hours per edition. All this work gives the printer a print ready copy which is where the cost savings come from. I hope our successors can provide a similar service to you, the membership. We have also brought in paid advertising to help with some of the production costs and the magazine is widely distributed in Land Rover circles. I would like to thank all the contributors and advertisers for their support over the last five editions and I wish the club well for the future. However, in my opinion, for the club to be successful, it has to change, be more professional and get more members involved in its running. If not, there will be no club. On a similar note of apathy, two major shows have taken place since we last went to press, the LRW Show at Eastnor and the LRE Show at Billing. Unfortunately no one could be bothered to write a few words or send me some pictures, so those of you, who like me, couldn t attend, you ll just have to guess how the show went. Stay in touch: alan@the-bales.co.uk
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Land Rover News Factory Tours Restart
Do it (safely) in a Land Rover
Land Rover has announced that factory tours are to restart. Three levels of tour are proposed: gold, silver and bronze. The bronze package will take visitors on a three-hour tour of the factory through the press shop, body assembly and paint and then on to see either Range Rover or Freelander assembled. Two tours a day are planned and there will be a VIP lunch and a chance to see the Home of the Legend premises.
According to the Department of Transport study, Risk of Driver Injury, if you re going to have an accident, have it in a Land Rover! The Defender came out top with a mere 1% risk of fatality or serious injury and a 27% risk of any injury. The Discovery s figures were 1% and 31%. The Classic Range Rover was also in the top ten.
The silver package will include a chance fore an off-road demonstration drive around Solihull s famous jungle track and the gold package adds the chance to add a half-day hands-on off-road driving as well. Provisional prices are: bronze £50, silver £100 and the gold is £170.
The study looks at accident statistics taking into account 180,000 realistic accidents. Worst of all? The old Mini with a 9% risk of fatality/serious injury and a whopping 78% risk of any injury. As I ve always said, if you drive a Land Rover the car in front is a crumple zone!
Rimmer’s Catalogue now on CD G4 Fleet for Sale Want to buy a piece of Land Rover history? The Camel Trophy Land Rovers have become sought after collectors items and there s no reason to think the G4 Challenge ones won t either. Vehicles for sale are the 4.6 litre V8 Discoverys used in the final week in the USA, the 4.4 litre Range Rovers from Australia, the Td5 Defender 110s and the 2.5 litre V6 Freelanders. All are finished in Tangiers Orange.
The Rimmer Bros. Parts and Accessories catalogue is now available on CD. It covers Discovery, Range Rover and Freelander models, the V8 engine as well as Triumph and Rover SD1 models. You will need Adobe Acrobat reader on your PC but it s on the CD if you haven t already installed. it.
Union to Challenge Job Shift All are standard vehicles but have lots of extra equipment like roof racks, winches, underbody protection and snorkels. They ve not had the easiest of lives but are low mileage and have been meticulously maintained by Land Rover s own technicians. I m sure they ll be very sought after, commented Roger Crathorne, manager of Land Rover s technical communications, The Vehicles are well prepared and ideal for anyone interested in taking them on an expedition; or even if they like the image
Ford are planning to switch the Freelander production to Halewood where it would be built alongside the Premier Auto Groups (PAG) other best seller, the Jaguar X series. This would mean the loss of about 1,000 jobs at Solihull. The engineering union, Amicus is panning to oppose the plan and has asked Ford to think again. Meanwhile Land Rover has announced a further £200M investment at Solihull to build the multi-vehicle platform for its other off-roaders. Amicus has some support from a very strange quarter. The Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Rev John Sentamu is asking the Government to intervene to save the West Midland s manufacturing heritage.
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Land Rover News Land Rover Auction Results
Land Rover is ‘the Greatest Car of All Time’
Last time we told you that the Heritage Centre at Gaydon was planning to aution off some of their vehicles. The auction was held 29th June and it produced some interesting results! The guide prices are in brackets.
The Land Rover, originally built in 1948 and known since 1990 as the Land Rover Defender, has been named the greatest car of all time by BBC TV s Top Gear. Top Gear viewers were asked to vote by telephone for nine vehicles short-listed by the show s team of experts, and following nine weeks of closely contested competition, the Land Rover beat its rivals to the accolade with 29 percent of the vote.
1970 Range Rover rolling chassis £2,600 (£500 - 1,000) bought by the Range Rover Register 1982 Range Rover Wood & Pickett, commissioned by Harrods with intention to provide a bespoke vehicle and liveried in their corporate colours £5,500 (£3,000 - 5,000) 1986 Land Rover 100, Swiss Army prototype, petrol, auto £8,000 (£3,000 - 5,000)
Co-presenter on the show, Richard Hammond, who championed the Land Rover cause, said: I knew it was a winner from the outset. The Land Rover has all the elements of an invention worthy of the greatest of all time accolade function, design, durability, engineering supremacy and soul.
1987 Land Rover 90 rolling chassis £2,600 (£3,000 - 5,000)
1993 Land Rover Discovery V8, sectioned cutaway vehicle £5,200 (£1,000 - 2,000) Matthew Taylor, Land Rover s managing director, added: The Land Rover is a motoring icon, noted for its good work around the world. Nearly two million have been sold during its 55 years, two-thirds of which are still in use today. Owners of the vehicles and employees of the company around the world should be very proud of this accolade, bestowed upon us by a very tough group of critics - the viewers of BBC s Top Gear. 198
Land Rover Discovery V8i ES, last of phase one Land Rover Discoverys, 44 miles £16,000 (£15,000 - 20,000)
The current range of Land Rovers - Range Rover, Discovery, Freelander and Defender - can each trace their roots back to the original Land Rover of 1948 - the vehicle that established the company. Over 3.25 million Land Rover vehicles have been sold since then, 1.8 million of which were the original Land Rover shape and its successor, the Defender - making it the most successful product in the company s history.
1999 Land Rover Freelander, sectioned cutaway vehicle £2,900 (£600 1000) bought by Rimmer Bros. 2001 Range Rover P38A 4.6 NAS, last 38A model off line, 120 miles £29,500 (£30,000 - 40,000) Looking at the prices the cutaway vehicles, there s obviously a market for incomplete Land Rovers!
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Letters Neil Brownlee It is with deep regret that I stand down from my appointed post as
Chairman. In the last few months my enjoyment of the club, as a member, and as Chairman has been marred by an element of the club that will only support your decisions if they match their own. As a team player I found it difficult to propose and act on issues when I knew others would simply ignore and disregard them. Attendance at shows was one of my favourite activities, meeting the members, my friends and seeing all the different types of Land Rovers, but recently that too has become something I have been excluded from, thanks to a gang element. I wish the club every success in the future, and hope to see people at shows and events.
Lee Jones Sadly I have made the decision to stand down from a job which I enjoyed doing for what was a fine club. Please don t take my comment to heart as the majority of members still make the DOC a great club for meeting friends. But as sure as eggs are eggs, you always have a small minority that wish to spoil the enjoyment of others with their poor conduct. I will be honest with you all, I resigned earlier this year as I felt I couldn t trust some of the team that were dealing with member s interests, and not there to pursue what they thought the club should be. At the last committee meeting I was given the assurance that the whole committee would work together as a team, sadly it didn t take long for the trust I had given them to be broken. As some of the remaining committee feels the club should follow the old dream of having the booziest, most loutish club in the 4x4 world and not a club that reflects the majority of genuine members, I made the decision to resign. I want no part in ruining the good name the DOC had gained over the past twelve months. I would like to express thanks to Alan Smart and Nick Brooker who between them bought this newsletter into the 21st century, their successors have a hard act to follow. Also thanks to Neil Brownlee who contributed a lot to the DOC behind the scenes.
Nick Brooker It is with regret that I have to withdraw my services as Publisher of your Club magazine. Although not a committee member, during the last year I ve freely contributed many hours of my professional time and effort to raise the profile of the Club by producing a flyer, redesigning and publishing the Club s magazine and developing a simple to operate Club accounting spreadsheet. However, over the past nine months I ve seen so many capable Committee members forced to resign that it now seems to have lost its potential to be run in a professional manner and to properly expand into what I believed would become an international car marque club with full manufacturer s recognition.
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For the club to survive, I believe that it is time for more ordinary Club Members to take an active interest in the Club s management. As a matter of urgency, in order to maintain the membership, those committee members that are regularly failing in their duties and responsibilities should be forced to resign and give way to members who have at least some professional capability and integrity. Over the past few months, the Club has in my opinion been brought into disrepute by the actions of one or more of these committee members. With the Chairman s resignation, I now believe that the club no longer has a competent leadership and there is little point in renewing the membership. However, should twenty or more ordinary members wish to call an Special General Meeting of the Discovery Owner s Club with the purpose of dissolving the current Committee,I would be pleased to be considered for the position of Club Treasurer and once again take on the responsibility of publishing the Club s magazine.
Alan Smart My reasons for resigning are from a sense of frustration and sheer disbelief at the petty, mindless attitude of some committee members and ordinary members. We promote ourselves as a family-oriented club but there are those who seem to want to offend by use of inappropriate language and behaviour at public events. The days of the boozy, blokes only motor clubs are long gone (thank goodness) and the club has to look to a wider audience for membership if it is to prosper. Discovery was promoted as a life-style vehicle and the club has to cater for all those different life-styles, from the caravanner to the serious off-roader. On a similar topic there s the forum. Lately it seems to have become host to open warfare. When I started in motor sport and car clubs over thirty year s ago, if I had a beef I had three options: wait for the next meeting to make my point, telephone an official or get out my trusty Remington typewriter and write a letter. On the forum it s oh too easy to submit a post full of emotion only to upset and offend others to the point they resign from the club or no longer wish to come to events. After all, this is meant to be a hobby, something we do for enjoyment. Then there are those who just want to sit on the side and throw rocks. They don t want to help, just criticise. It s a pity they can t channel their energies into doing something useful for the club. Also there are those who think that their contribution is to turn up to a weekend show, stand around and drink beer. The club has to be run the other 363 days of the year. I was elected to the first full committee in March 2001 and I hoped I could bring together my motor club (Land Rover and non-Land Rover) and my business experience to help fast-track the club through all the growing pains. I was wrong. In recent months I have tried to help to club onto a more business like footing to ensure we stay solvent and legal and provide a better service to you, the membership which should be the committee s main objective. At this has been like pulling teeth and I always felt the majority of the committee just couldn t be bothered.
Model Review
From the Editor’s Toy Box The radio controlled Defender is a big boy s toy! The lights work, the doors open and close, there s horns but I m not so sure about the engine sound effect. It sounds more like a York diesel from a Transit! You can turn off the sound effects. The well made model by Halsall is very realistic with good attention to detail. The battery pack takes an initial twelve hours to charge (but only six hours for subsequent charges) gives about 30-40 minutes running time. It has high and low ranges and real four wheel drive! We managed to get it to climb a 38 degree slope i n low range. The steering lock is about as good as the real thing. There are some really nice touches like the reversing light comes on when you go backwards and as you steer the indicators work. At about £60 it appears to be quite good value compared with other radio controlled model. I suggest all big children start their Christmas lists now!
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Discovery Workshop
From Oily Brakes to Green Brakes Alex Drummond I d been due to change the brake pads anyway as the wear indicator had just started illuminating on braking. Then, I noticed a marked pull to the right on braking which is uncharacteristic for mine as I ve not long overhauled the callipers with new pistons and seals and refreshed the fluid. So, a quick look underneath confirmed my suspicions the hub oil seal on the nearside wheel had started leaking. You can see from the photo what this looks like, and its one of those jobs that really can t be delayed. The oil comes out of the hub, onto the brake disk and onto the pads. By the time you can see it the pads are well soaked in oil that is a somewhat undesirable situation. So, the job: make sure they supply the correct hub seal for your model. There are different ones and the last time I did this job they sent the wrong ones which fitted but had failed by a couple of thousand miles. Co-incidentally, if oil gets on the pads you have to throw them away, there is no cleaning them. With the axle jacked up and on stands remove the wheel. You also need to drain the axle oil because when you remove the half shaft it will pour out which is a fag. For the un-technical among you, the half shaft is the black thing with the five bolts in the centre of the wheel that transmits the power from the diff in the middle of the axle to the wheel hub. With the bolts removed you may find the last guy fixed it with silicone so you have to knock and prise it until the thing becomes loose. The half shaft itself is something like three foot long so if you ve parked too close to the garage wall you will be stuffed at this point. Assuming you ve left enough room, slide the shaft out and expect a bit of oil with it. You can inspect the splines at this point as they can be prone to wear. Assuming all it well, set it aside somewhere clean. Before you can get the hub off you need the brake calliper out of the way. The pipe has an 11mm union, which if you undo allows you to remove the calliper completely which gives you more room. If the union is likely to be seized or you can do it carefully, you can undo the 16mm bolts securing the calliper to the axle and lift it to the side, securing it with wire or string but leaving it
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attached. If you sheer the union or twist the pipe undoing it you are stuffed, if you leave it attached but are heavy handed and kink the pipe you are stuffed; so go steady here. To remove the nuts that secure the hub you need a special box spanner (available for about a tenner from various LR parts places). As you need to torque it up I suggest you either get one with a socket end or do as I did and weld a cross bar and old socket to the back to give you a half inch drive (as per photo). With the nuts removed and the washer and spacer set aside in the correct order and orientation you can then pull off the hub. Pulling the seal out is probably best achieved with a car tyre leaver or very large screwdriver pivoted against a bar which sits over the hole. It s a bit of a fiddle getting something underneath to hook it out but once it starts coming you are sorted. Now the challenge. How to thoroughly degrease the hub and disk assembly without getting degreaser in the outer bearing. I stuff the hole with clean rag and work carefully. The disk has to be squeaky clean as you can t afford any traces of oil remaining. All cleaned and dried, pack the two bearings with grease and tap the new seal into position using a soft ended drift, making sure you don t hit the vulnerable seal lip with protrudes above the seal shoulder. Degrease the disk shroud and brake calliper before you put it back together and with everything nice and clean you can put it all back together again. Applying the correct loading to the bearings is something that has a close tolerance. The permissible end float is between 0.013 and 0.1mm. If you use a dial gauge you will see how fine this tolerance is and conclude that it cannot be done accurately by hand. OK, you might get away with it by hand, or indeed, you might be the guy who never uses a dial gauge and who wonders why he gets through a set of bearings every year. I use the dial gauge, fixing it to the disk and placing the tip of the device against the end of the shaft.
Discovery Workshop Here s a tip, leave the tolerance on the generous side at first, because when you put the lock nut on to full torque it closes up. The idea is that you end up with the specified tolerance. If you use silicone to seal the end of the half shaft onto the hub, be careful not to get it in the bolt holes. If you do it makes the bolts really difficult to get out next time. I also stick a dab of my trusty copper grease on the threads to help them on their way. With the calliper refitted, new shoes in and the whole lot bled through it only remains to fill the axle with oil and the jobs done. Going gently it was a couple of hours work and asides from the special tools needed its not that difficult a job. And the green stuff ? Given that the brakes on the Discovery are to stopping what the headlamps are to illumination (they didn t raid the Sherpa for the brakes as well did they?) I decided to give the EBC Green stuff pads a go. These are a road-sports pad, you get green ones for the front and kevlars on the back. They are a good deal dearer, £70 for the full set against a normal £30 but I have found them well responsive. The brake test at the MOT was interesting as on the first attempt the needles cleared 1200, and on the second attempt the fronts took the machine off the end of the scale! I haven t fully tried them in the wet yet but so far the results are most encouraging.
there are four legs on each of the UJs. Once the WD40 has done its work, dribble in some automatic transmission fluid (that s the stuff you also use in the power steering) into each leg . Lower the vehicle and test drive. There, doesn t that feel better? How s the wallet feel?
Five Minute Job Alan Smart Do you get a clonk from the rear of your Discovery every time you go over a bump? Before you start worrying about expensive suspension jobs, check that the rear door is correctly adjusted. To do this shut the door and grab the handle, then, in the direction of the door opening and closing, push and pull the door with all your might! Don t accidentally push the door release as you could end up in a heap on the ground as the door flies open! If you get that characteristic clonk, clonk , then you ve found the problem.
Next job? changing the lock on the passenger side, you know, the one that has the spring that breaks.
Fifteen Minute Job Alan Smart Steering a bit stiff ? Does your Discovery not always follow the course you want it to? Does your Discovery wander on fast roads? Before you start changing major components have a look at the steering shaft under the bonnet. The universal joints (UJs) have a habit of seizing.
Jack up the front of the vehicle so both front wheels are clear of the ground and then rotate the steering wheel so that the end of spider of the UJ is pointing upwards. Spray liberally with WD40. See how much rusty goo flows out! Rotate the shaft the expose the next part of the spider and repeat. In all
To fix it you ll need a pencil, a small hammer and an 8mm Allen key. With the door open, mark round the large washer with the pencil. This gives you your starting point, as the adjustment is quite fine. If you overdo it you will need to get back to where you started otherwise you ll be there all day. Slacken the striker a quarter turn only and tap it forwards about a millimetre only. Retighten. Shut the door and repeat the pushing and pulling. If the noise is still there, repeat the operation. I explained this to a delighted Discovery owner last year on a campsite. His Discovery had been in and out of the main dealer so many times and they had failed to find the noise. He fixed the problem there and then. Five minutes? It will probably take you longer to find the right size Allen key.
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Member’s Story
Siena by TD5 + Caravan Terry Ryan 50 Litres of Diesel cost £26.71 in France, £31.69 in Italy and £40.95 in Britain. Mobil 1 engine oil is around £4 per litre in France and Main Dealer price here, is over £7 per litre are we being ripped off, or what !! We have just returned from a month s touring in France and Italy with the TD5 and caravan. Overall average fuel consumption was 24.92mpg. Within that, the TD5 can return between 26 and 31 mpg. solo and 20 to 26 mpg towing. In both cases, it depends upon speed, hills and traffic. The trip started from our home in Preston and the first leg was across France to the Alps, with night stops at the Caravan Clubs sites at Elvaston Castle, Nottingham and Brook Farm Dover. The Ferry to Calais was at 06.15 am, to gain advantage of the low rates offered to caravanners at unsocial hours. In mid April it was almost empty. The first night in France was at the home of French friends who live near Amiens and when we left next day, there were hangover effects !! The next night was in the Champagne country and the site was FREE because it is a Municipal site and the Council hadn t finalised the arrangements for handling money. The next night was near Macon in Burgundy at a site run by an English couple and it was their first day of opening for this season. There were only two vans on it. The weather, by the way, was gorgeous. Next night saw us at our destination Morzine in the French Alps on the Wednesday before Easter. We stayed there a week and managed to get two days skiing, before the hot sunshine melted the snow and closed the season. The Alps are turning themselves into all season holiday spots by opening walking trails, adventure trips, guided climbing, rafting, mountain biking (go up in a ski tele-cabine and cycle down the ski runs, if you have the bottle!). We settled for walks and picnics in hot sun and with stunning views. After Easter, the TD5 s bonnet was pointed to Italy. First step is get on the motorway to the Mont Blanc tunnel. This is now open again after the disastrous fire and although still a narrow single tunnel with one lane each way, it is much better lit than before, with light coloured walls, frequent control traffic lights
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and a strict 50 kph speed limit. Lorries with sensitive loads are escorted by vans with yellow flashing lights front and back and all traffic must keep a marked distance (chevrons at 150m intervals) behind the one in front. Nevertheless, we were glad to get the 11km of it behind us. On the Italian side, it was bright weather but cooler well it would be with Mont Blanc right above us. The motorways of Northern Italy are fairly quiet and good progress was made towards the Mediterranean at Genoa. By following a criss-cross route of motorways, it is possible to pass between Milan and Turin without getting too close to either. The last few miles down to Genoa are down a steep, narrow gorge with many tunnels and sharp turns with bikers, Ferraris and Porches trying to find how fast they can do it. Just before Genoa, turn left on to the coastal motorway running along the Med towards Livorno and eventually, Rome. This section needs concentration, because being the main route from the South of France, it carries heavy traffic and winds around and through many tunnels, until the land flattens out after about 50 miles. In spite of this, the hills go right to the coast and end in cliffs, rather like parts of Cornwall. Levanto, on the coast, was the next stop for a few days. It is apleasant little resort and from it, the tourist can buy a rail ticket to go to the Cinque Terre. This is a series of five villages, either perched on a cliff ledge or tucked into a tiny bay. For centuries, the only access was by pack horse. A railway, mostly through tunnels, was put in about 100 years ago and now all are accessible. The railway goes between Levanto and La Spezia and in between, are the five villages where one can get on and off the train as you wish. Keen types, go to one end and walk the cliffs through all five, but it is strenuous and can be very hot! The train only takes five minutes or so, between each village and older types (like us) just walked the path between two of them. Whilst staying at Levanto, a day trip was made to Lucca, a lovely old town and well worth visiting. There is a Park and Ride there and when ready to return to the TD5, we could not see where the Park and Ride bus stopped. Trying my little Italian, I asked a Policeman. He replied in English with a heavy Scottish accent. Gobsmacked, we found he came from Glasgow.
Member’s Story Just down the road from Levanto, is Carrara, source of the magnificent white marble. There is a huge white slash in the mountains, left by centuries of quarrying. Michaelangelo personally went to the quarries to select the blocks of marble used for his sculptures. There must be enough marble, left in those mountains to keep the artists and building industry supplied for centuries yet. A little further is Pisa, but as we have been several times before, we left it out of this trip. Go down the coast a little way from Levanto and pick up the motorway, which turns inland to Florence.
through the streets in medieval style with the flag waving and drums, plus of course the hot sunshine.
Italian motorway service stations are far too small, both in the car park and the cafeteria. Luck was on our side and we found a place to park and bought sandwiches to eat back at the TD5. It was hot, so we stood beside the Discovery. Next to us an Italian and three passengers got into his car and before starting, he stuck his mobile phone to his ear and started jabbering. With the other hand, he started the car, buckled the belt, threw it in reverse and backed out without looking. An incoming car had spotted his reversing lights and placed himself ready to take the slot. The Italian backed into the waiting car and we watched in amusement, as there was lots of shouting and arm waving. The gist of it seemed to be that the Italian was blaming the incoming car for running into him. We heard the incoming driver speaking in English and he was struggling to keep up with the four Italians. During a short lull in the verbal battle, I went across and offered him my name and address as a witness and wrote it down for him. When the Italians saw this they rounded on me and the driver kept saying Non e giusto (that s not fair or something similar) . I have not been photographed so much since I was a baby and there is the rear end of a Discovery TD5 with clearly showing licence plate on a number of their snaps. Afterwards, the incoming driver (British) came over and he and his wife were on holiday in a hired car and he was expecting to pay for the (slight) damage to the car. I haven t heard anything since, so I suppose it is all over.
As older people, touring with a van, especially in Europe, requires real reliability. We experienced the possibilities of disaster, last year in France. We were following another caravan outfit (towed by a Honda CRV) on a busy motorway around Lyon, when one of his caravan tyres exploded. We stopped to help change the wheel and I can tell you, it is not funny to do that with container lorries passing six feet away at 60 mph. As his caravan rocked, we could hear the chassis squeaking as it moved on the jack head. Don t get me started on the lack of quality and user friendliness of caravans it is a long list.
A stopping place was found between Florence and Siena, with a bus stop to Florence outside the gate. A car is hard work in Florence. A few days were spent in Florence and San Gimigniano (remember the film, Tea with Mussolini). We then moved on a few miles to Siena, much smaller than Florence, but quite enchanting. A day trip to Arrezzo was well worth while. A school friend of one of our daughters has married an Italian chef and they recently emigrated to near Siena, to open a restaurant. The village is Mensano and we went to look them up. Imagine a picture-postcard hilltop village in Tuscany over 1,000 years old and little changed. The restaurant is still being worked on and should open mid-June. Big, bold step for a young couple with a baby and little money, but they have guts and commitment and we hope they make a go of it. Siena is noted for the Palio; the twice yearly (July and August), wild horserace around the central piazza and the medieval dress of the parades. St. Catherine is the patron saint of Siena and to celebrate her feast day, there was a big parade on May 4th,
Next day it was heading back home, largely following the same route as coming out. The distance covered in a day with the caravan can vary according to how much is on motorway and if mountains need to be crossed. I find a good day on motorways can be 300 miles (one tankfull on the TD5) and an easy day around half that. Motorway cruising with the van is a comfortable 65mph at around 2,400 rpm.
On 31st July, the TD5 with be three years old and it has now just reached 40,000 miles. It has done five, one month caravan holidays, four of them into Europe. Fuel consumption is good as above. Tyre wear is fantastically low and all four are little more than half worn. One has been replaced due to a puncture in an unrepairable spot. Nothing else has been replaced and it has had schedule main dealer servicing (at 12,000 mile intervals), plus an additional oil and rotary filter change every 6,000. No oil is need on topping up between changes, even when crossing mountains in hot weather. Temperature always remains rock steady normal. It is a GS model and the ACE really keeps it level on bends and improves stability when towing. The climate control is wonderful in hot weather and doesn t seem to have much effect on power and consumption. Is the Series II the best Discovery yet ? I think so. Would I have another ? definitely. Should I sell it now and stay up to date, or keep it because it is so good and risk a possible breakdown on a future holiday as time and mileage mount ? What do you think ? What am I saying ?? Should there be congratulations on doing 40,000 trouble-free miles on a new car ? If so, then Land Rover has a serious credibility problem where users and potential customers have such low expectations of their vehicles. Strange things happen. I had just reached this point in the story, when the phone rang. It was Lakeland Land Rover at Coniston, where I bought the car and have had it serviced. We see your car is nearly three years old and we have a special offer on new Discoverys are you interested ? . They know the car and quoted me a price on the phone. I thought about it for a few days and tested their price against a new Mercedes, Volvo and a nearly new bigger, Mercedes. In each case, the Lakeland price was best. So I did it. On 31st May, I brought home a new, silver TD5 GS 5 seat manual with climate control and ACE and other acronyms.
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Recent Events Lakeland transferred my towbar, electrics and sidesteps from the old one (included in the price) and they fitted body side mouldings and a soft front A bar (extras). They supplied and I fitted, rear lamp guards (more decorative than protective). The cherished number from the last one is now being transferred. It had 4 miles on when I first tried it and now has 250. First impressions are that it is much the same as before, but feels smoother and quieter. Time will tell if it is as reliable. Land Rover are offering a free day off-road tuition to buyers of a new Discovery and I am looking forward to that not in this car of course it is much too precious. We may head for France again with the caravan in September and if anyone is interested, I will report on that.
Beaulieu 4x4 Show Alan Smart Their slogan is Have a Beaulieuful day and we did. The sun shone and it was glorious and hot. Stefan Tapp had negotiated a plum site right next to the arena. Saturday started early with the arrival of George Glover with the trailer loaded with the marquee and shop goodies. The theme of the stand was the juxtaposition of the off-roaders in the supermarket car park and the shinies in an off-road situation. This theme was obviously a bit too subtle as we re sure it went over people s heads! Subtlety, I was once told, is like a naked woman rolling down a hill; sometimes you see it, sometimes you don t! Supermarket goodies were begged, borrowed and I m not going make comment on the source of the trolley! A trolley park was made from the tubing out of the middle of new carpets and signs were begged from Iceland. Many thanks to the local manager who personally delivered them to Stefan s house on Friday night. Unfortunately the show organisers objected to Iceland s name being displayed so we had to blank it out. Janet and I had been saving the packaging from all our shopping so we could make up shopping bags in the backs of the six offroaders. The plastic milk bottles had white emulsion paint in them! The six shinies were stood up on logs with the exception of my pre-production five door which Stefan gave pride of place too. It did attract a lot of attention and I spent a lot of time discussing it with passers-by. Its previous owner also came to see it. As we were short of shinies even my tatty black Discovery got pressed into service. The show ground had been laid out with commercial traders on one side of the arena and clubs on the other. Most of the clubs I spoke to would have preferred the stands to have been mixed as the traders side always seemed busier. This was the first time the show had been run over a weekend as opposed to a single day. The general feeling was that attendance was down on last year but that may have been due to the weather or that we were competing against the Goodwood Festival of Speed just half an hour along the M27. (That s half an hour to join the back of the queue from what I heard!) Not surprisingly we didn t sell any fleeces or jackets as the temperatures soared into the eighties. We did sign up six new members and handed out so many application forms we ran out. Forms for Abingdon also went well. The event arena was a bit of a misnomer as most of the time it was an empty, roped off space. We saw the birds of prey fly twice each day and Hampshire Fire and Rescue did a display and then had a fun session for the children that involved most of the getting wet! We suggested a tug-a-Discovery competition between the clubs but the organisers were not keen. Even after George had negotiated the loan of a G4 Discovery to pull. We have lots of feedback for the organisers!
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Recent Events Many thanks to Tim Arnold (not forgetting Ben and Sam), Darren and Roz Burgess, Neil Rowe, Paul Unwin, James Ferguson, Ian Hollard, Paul Sutton and not forgetting the irrepressible George Glover, for all their help and the loan of their vehicles. Thanks also to Stefan for doing all the organising. We would have had some pictures but somehow I neglected to put a film in the camera .. See you there next year?
Worcestershire Group Treasure Hunt
were interesting and took us through parts of our local countryside we had never been before. Once we had got into the stride of it and I could look further down the clues and map references, some of them could be answered off the map i.e. No. 5 was; after he burnt the cakes, were they thrown down here . There is a village called Alfred s Well, so we didn t need to go slow looking for the answer, it was there on the map, so we picked up speed and headed for the next map reference. It was an ideal day, warm but not too hot, and it was very pleasant driving slowly through the countryside, occasionally hopping out to get a phone number, date or name.
The morning of Saturday 14th June began warm but overcast. We were due at the start point of OS139 954 746 at 9.45, we were late as usual. We knew the co-ordinates were at a lay-by so I found them on the map and off we set. We managed to miss it! Not a good start, but we backtracked and found six Discoverys hiding in a lay-by behind a bank of trees.
Nick and Eve had put in a red herring question; we found out later it was No. 17 How many beehives at the honeybee. This is a pub (which we have promised ourselves we will return to when it s open) called the Honeybee and it is decorated with beehives of every description. In an attempt to answer the question, we counted them once, then re-counted them and came to a different answer. Apparently the original beehives in a field had disappeared when Nick and Eve went round checking their clues prior to the day, so it became the red herring.
Nick had already started the briefing, and as we were the last to arrive, we were the last to start. The general idea was that we would follow a set of map references. Between each map reference there was one or more clues, they might be before or at the map reference. So if we arrived at the map reference and still couldn t answer the clue, then we had missed it somewhere. Nick noted the mileage of each vehicle the winners would be those with the least amount of miles travelled and most clues answered correctly.
Nick and Eve did a checkpoint about half way through, to check we weren t all lost I would imagine! We went through Worms Ash, Alfred s Well, Dodford, Fockbury, Purshull Green; a very odd place where we went up a track in the middle of nowhere, with a farm and industrial units along it, but at the end was a lovely lake with a beautiful cottage on the opposite shore. At Elmley Lovett there was a place called Beech Elm Farm, it had a large pool adjacent to the farm buildings with water lilies, reeds, two hippopotami and three crocodiles in it!
One by one each team departed, there was some consternation when one team turned left out of the lay-by when all the others had turned right! Eventually we were given the instructions and clue sheet to study before starting. I swear when I first looked at them they were in Greek! But having gazed numbly at them for a few minutes, a few words began to translate themselves into English perhaps we would be able to take part after all. There was only one clue between the start point and the next map reference easy peasy or so we thought. We turned right out of the lay-by and then first left, the first clue was; creatures of a sett might live here , so it was obviously connected to badgers. We stopped at every driveway and peered at the houses, we turned back and peered the other way, we turned back and peered more closely, we met Discoverys coming up behind us, Discoverys coming towards us and Discoverys lurking around every corner. At this point we had our first major domestic of the day (these are compulsory in our family on treasure hunts, usually accompanied by lots of shouting, swearing, jumping out of the car and stomping off up the road!) so we stopped, re-read the instructions ah! Now we understood, and immediately found the answer to the first clue.
The next map reference saw us moving onto OS 150 and we went through Doverdale, Lineholt, and Holt fleet, where we saw a Discovery turn left instead of right, they hadn t gone wrong, they had just spotted a pub and fancied a quick pint (or as it turned out not so quick!!) Then onto Martley, Doddenham and Knightwick where the old station had been turned into a private dwelling. After Alfrick we had a lovely long ride up a track signed not suitable for cars but it was most definitely suitable for Land Rovers! Then we went onto Storridge, Cradley, Colwall, Welland and finally to the finish on Castlemorton Common. We arrived at the finish to be greeted by Nick and Eve and only one other Discovery!
Janice and Graham Blackwell
Once I had written the answer we set off for the next map reference. I always think three index fingers would be useful here, one for the map reference of where you are coming from, one for the map reference of where you are going and one to trace along the stretch of road you are actually on. The clues
Only one clue to go, No. 36 Where do Moby Lines Go? We discussed, argued, agreed, and disagreed, oh heck! We just didn t know. We had a little help It wouldn t be here, if we all weren t here That s Help? Eventually after another small domestic we threw in the towel and gave our papers in for marking. After a while two more teams arrived, but the three remaining teams didn t finish, in fact one gave his papers in on 8th July! All in all a brilliant day, especially as we won, receiving two bottles of wine and six bottles of beer. Oh and also the privilege of writing this article! (For those of you dying to know Moby Lines go to Elba the clue was a sticker on Nick and Eve s Landrover).
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Recent Events
McMillan 4x4 Challenge Ros Palmer Friday 7th March 2003 It s 6.30am. The alarm is not due to go off until 8am but we are both wide awake. Excited at the prospect of the weekend ahead, but also a bit apprehensive, not really knowing what to expect. We get up and start to pack everything we might possibly need. I make twenty rounds of sandwiches whilst Andrew goes off to fill up with diesel. The car gets is annual wash and scrub up. Despite being up early, we still manage to be late setting off. No surprise there then to anyone who knows us!! We drive down to Hereford at an average speed of 30 mph and arrive at the Hereford Travel Inn at 4pm. There are already quite a few 4x4 s in the car park that look like they are also on the event. After checking in we head for the bar to see if we can spot any fellow competitors. It s difficult to tell who they are amongst the regular customers but we stand out in our Camel Trophy fleeces so it s not long before someone approaches us. We meet a couple, Malcolm and Linda, from Shropshire in a Nissan Patrol and join them for a drink. Soon Julian and Victoria from the Freelander Club arrive with our maps and we all spend a very pleasant evening together. We have our last decent meal for 2 days and retire to bed early to get a good night s sleep before the big event. Saturday 8th March Someone banging on one of the bedroom doors wakes us abruptly at 4.30am. Not what you need when you re going to be up for 48 hours!! Eventually someone lets them in. Great, lets get back to sleep. 4.45am, knock, knock, knock again!! All goes quiet and we manage to get back off to sleep. We re up at 6.30am and ready for the off at 7.30am. Breakfast isn t served until 8am so we have to make do with hard boiled
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eggs I ve brought with me! We head off down the A4103 to the Toyota main dealer who has kindly donated his car park as a starting point and is also entering the event. On arrival the vehicles are scrutineered and we get our first set of instructions. The organisers give a driver/navigator pep talk and tell us above all to enjoy ourselves. We intend to. The press are there, mainly because Charlie Dimmock, of Ground Force fame is navigating a team! Good on her, I say! Some army guys who are entering in a military Defender are handing out free maps. Having never done anything like this before, I really didn t know what to expect. When I looked at the first set of instructions I wanted to go home! Not one to be defeated, I persevered and with a bit of help from our Freelander friends things started to make sense. Our first task was to navigate right back up to West Yorkshire to the Off Road course at Tong, Bradford, calling at various check points on the way and getting evidence that we had done so, in the form of photographs and answering questions about what we had seen. We couldn t believe it; we had spent six hours the day before driving down from West Yorkshire to Hereford and now we had to drive all the way back. Not only that, we had to be there by 3pm!! At 10am we started to leave at one-minute intervals. As we were No 9 it wasn t long before we were off. The first place we had to drive through was Shakespeare s birthplace (that was the clue) so off we went. The first photograph that had to be taken was of a Road Closed sign which appeared to have been removed from the chequered sign at the said junction. Organised chaos ensued as about eight 4x4 s were abandoned at the junction whilst the drivers took photos of the navigator in front of the sign. It was then time to head up north by the quickest means possible. A1M or M69/A1 was the choice we had to make. There didn t look to be much in it on the map but fortunately we took Victoria s advice and went straight to the A1M. We found out
Recent Events later that the M69 was down to one lane and the people who had gone that way were sat in traffic for ages. The Freelander left us on the motorway. They got bored with sticking to 60/ 65mph and forged ahead. A slight detour for a photo at Loudham and we came back to home territory. The next question was to name the famous landmark on the skyline at the meeting point at the Brickworks just off J27 of the M62. Being locals we could answer that without being there. Getting a bit cocky and having been to Tong many times before we headed off there. Half a mile down the road I suddenly realised we had to pick up further instructions at the Brickworks! About turn! We met up with everyone else and collected our instructions. We have to go round the course and write down numbers attached to trees etc as we come to them. The course was somewhat muddy due to all the rain but still relatively tame. The fun out of the way it was back on the road to head for New York (that s the one near Patley Bridge not across the Atlantic!). On the way out of New York we came across a fellow DOC member, Mick Caswell (Mick No1) and his navigator Chris, also Mick s son James and his driver (Mick No2) and two other teams, all debating the next photo check point which was a holiday park sign. I had an idea where it might be so a convoy was born! Off we went towards Ripon. Sure enough just past Studley Royal was a holiday park. Here we go again. Polaroids at the ready boys! A mad dash back on to the A1 and the toilet. The other two teams carried on leaving a convoy of three which were to continue together almost to the end. On to our next two locations, Toronto and Quebec. They are to the west of Bishop Aukland and Durham respectively. Our job was to photograph a crewmember by the Welcome to sign. What on earth the residents of these small villages must have thought as throughout the afternoon 4x4 s kept screeching to a halt outside their houses!! Onward to the rendezvous point at Washington services for a break and to pick up the instructions for the rest of the Challenge. We are pleased to see we aren t the last to arrive by a long shot. It s 9pm Saturday night and we can t set off again until 1am. Instructions and maps in hand we go into the services and get a coffee and another and another, just to wash down the proplus!! The place is full of our fellow challengers plotting routes, including Charlie Dimmock. I get my maps laid out on the table and look at the co-ordinates I ve been given and start plotting. Several other teams come and ask my advice! I must look like a professional! I haven t the heart to tell them it s my first time!! Sunday 9th March 1am seems to take an age to arrive. A lot of people have room in their vehicles to get their heads down, or if you re the army guys you just sleep under the vehicle! No such luxury for us. Just more coffee and proplus! At last it s 1am and the convoy picks up where it left off. Up the A1 again and then off on to the A697. We cross the border
into Scotland at 2.30am at Coldstream and all dive out to take the Welcome to photo. It s not a requirement but it seems like a good idea at the time!! We leave the A697 now and have to go across country to Abbey St Batham. Trying to find the shortest route we use some B roads. I m sure the countryside would have been beautiful had it not been pitch black!! As we cross the Black Adder river I spot a country park on the map and come up with a cunning plan!! Just call me Baldrick! We turn into the entrance of the country park but it looks like someone s driveway so we have second thoughts. Just as we are turning round a Range Rover on the event turns in and goes right in. We give it a few moments to see if he comes out but he doesn t so one for all and off we go in! On the map it s a straight road all the way through and out just below our destination. Well I ll never trust a map again! We ve only gone 100 yards when we come to a T junction. Which way? Eany meany! Right. Another 100 yards, another T junction and so this went on for 20 minutes. We were totally lost! We thought we were going to end up there until daylight and had almost lost the will to live when miraculously we spotted a white van passing the end of the track we were on. We deduced this was a proper road and headed for it. It turned out to be the road we wanted to be on. Definitely more by luck than management!! We arrived on the road to Abbey St Batham to be met every few yards by our fellow competitors, some driving, some foraging about in the undergrowth! We didn t know why but we were about to find out. It was a long and winding road but we eventually found the checkpoint in a field at the top of the hill. We checked in at 3.15am and had 30 minutes to decipher the next set of instructions. I plotted the route from the coordinates, the objective being to follow the route and write down numbers allegedly strategically positioned along the way! At 3.45am we set off in search of numbers, whilst reading the map, feeling extremely tired and dying for the loo!!! Numbers ..mmmmmmmm .can t see any! We are out there with torches, looking all over but for the first few grid references we can t see anything. Eventually we find one. Whey hey ! Feeling invigorated again we press on but again the numbers are elusive. We begin to think the people ahead of us have nabbed them!! Anyway, numbers or no numbers we carry on to the end of the night navigation just outside Dalkeith. Next stop California (I wish!). Round the outskirts of Edinburgh up towards Falkirk, photo shoot at California. Off to Moscow next. We re really travelling the world this weekend!! Down to the other side of Glasgow to Moscow for another photo. We then head down the A76 coming off at High Enoch for some forestry driving, again spotting numbers on the way. We do better this time in daylight! On across some hills and through another forest to a place called Ae. Down to Lochmaben to spot a statue of Burns, then it s a quick dash on to the motorway at Lockerbie. Andrew goes into a panic when I tell him next stop Gretna !! At the services at Gretna we get further instructions, the frst of which is to drive down the M6 to J34 at 60mph. Even this proves to be difficult as we have a
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Recent Events ferocious head wind working against us! At J34 we turn off for Caton and meet up in a tiny car park by the river. A fifteen minute break and we are off again. This is the final exercise and we are determined not to be last!
Concours d’Elegance
We set off at break neck speeds, throwing the Camel round country lanes. We are just about to take a left hand turn when we spot our friends Malcolm and Linda in their Nissan being towed out of a ditch by the lads in the Defender, or should I say trying! It isn t moving so we double up and the Camel does its business. By now Mick No2 is running on vapours so the convoy disbands finally so Mick and Mick can find a fuel station. We continue, racing against the Nissan and Defender. We are on a mission to beat them. Up hill and down dale we go, writing down the answers to various clues on the way. We are taking no prisoners and as the Defender guys are studying their map, we overtake them and on to the next clue. We even have time to stop for a brief chat with another Camel Discovery owner who we are amazed to see coming towards us. It turns out he lives in the area. Malcolm and Linda are not far behind us and are impressed by the way Andrew throws the Camel round corners. So impressed in fact that they nickname him Two Wheels Tommy!!
No, it s not a dirty word - 99% of Discovery owners in one form or another have a secret harbouring, that they would win a prize for there vehicle being judge the best, even if it is just for the size of their winch!
It comes to the final clue and we just can t spot it, deciding to leave it we head out of Grimsargh and head back to the M6. We spot a 90 on the event at the side of the road and stop to see if they are OK. They re trying to work out where the final checkpoint is. We trade them the last clue for the checkpoint and off we go to Charnock Richard Services to check in and get directions to the hotel. We are pleased to learn that there are about ten vehicles still to come in behind us including the Nissan and Defender. We did it!! A quick intake of caffeine is needed before we travel the few miles to the hotel just outside Warrington. Would you believe it, we ve been driving for 36 hours and on the last stretch we hit standing traffic!! Just when you want to relax before dinner! Ah well, I guess we ll just have to pop some more proplus. We finally reach the hotel at 6pm. By the time we ve handed all our sheets in and checked in, it s 6.45pm before we get to our room and we have to be down for pre dinner drinks at 7.30pm. Quick shower and change and down we go. We meet up with our convoy and Malcolm and Linda and after drinks go in for dinner. The winners are announced, well what can I say, they re driving a Discovery of course! There is also an auction and with that and everyone s sponsorship the event has raised over £20,000 for Macmillan Cancer Relief. After dinner we retire to the bar and before we know it its 1am in the morning. We ve been up for 43 hours, driven the best part of 1,000 miles and it s really starting to show. We say goodnight and retire to bed for some well-earned sleep. It had been a thoroughly enjoyable yet testing weekend and one that we will be back to take part in again next year. We would like to say a huge Thank You to everyone who sponsored us and helped to make a difference.
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Chris Gorvin
This year at the Abingdon 4x4 Festival there is going to be a Concours d Elegance. We are not looking for perfection, so those who have taken part in one make club competitions need not rush for their toothpicks. You may laugh, toothpicks are very useful for getting in corners and, together with the toothbrush, make short work of buffing up tyre tread with shoe polish. They re mad, I hear you cry, lock them away. Well hold on; these boys have only taken to extremes the weekend car wash in the same way as the Paris Dakar guys take the humble greenlaning. OK, so some of you guys and galls want to try the concours. At Abingdon the intention is for anyone who wants to enter can. You do not have to have a spotless machine or a brand new one either. I have a cunning plan that takes age and mileage into account as well, so owners of a 150,000 mile 93 model will have as much chance as a 50 mile 03. What I have tried to do is to indicate what my fellow judges and I will be looking for. Please bear in mind that none of us are professional concours judges, but our decision will be final. So what will the judges looking for? I have adopted (cribbed) the judging form from my days in 1980s and 90s entering MGs. Firstly you will be required to give your name, registration and class you are entering. There are four classes to enter. Class 1 Discovery Condition this is open to any Discovery Series 1 in original or near original condition. Non-factory extras will be marked down. Class 2 Discovery condition this is open to any Discovery Series 2 in original or near original condition. None factory extras will be marked down. Class 3 Discovery Modified Again open to any Discovery of any age, if you have 10 lifts and multiple roll cages, or neon lights and chromed wheels this is the one for you. Class 4 Non Discovery, modified or condition. We have a number of Shoguns, Vitaras and Jeeps etc. coming, this is the one for these guys. Class 5 Best of Show one overall award, first place only, the rest of the classes have prizes for first second and third You will need to have booked in by 11am, and when judging starts (1.30pm) you need to be with your vehicle we will give a more accurate approximation of the time on the day. Oh
Concorse d’Elegance and by the way, you cannot trailer your pride and joy to the show.
Seats, all 7 in some cases, again rips, saggy squabs and marks will be marked down. (60 marks)
How are the marks allocated?
Carpets, similar to he seats, but please take the floor mats out (40 marks)
Exterior: 320 marks Paintwork should ideally be first class, free of scratches (ha ha!) and with no visible poor repair work, panel gaps around the doors, tailgate and bonnet should be even. First inspection should be done with the doors closed. Further checks will look and the operation of doors etc. (120 marks) All bright work or black finish including bumpers, roof racks, tow hitches etc. for finish, fitment odd colouring, etc. (50 marks) Condition of underside of the vehicle, we will refrain from donning white gloves, and wiping our hands on the underside of the arches to see if any dust has gathered. Mainly because we would like our hands still attached to our arm at the end of it! You get the gist, we are not looking for polished copper brake pipe etc., but the cleaner the underside and the fewer the oil leaks etc. will have benefits. (70 marks) Condition of wheels and tyres, obvious what we are looking for here. A tip, if you have time, take the wheels off and clean the reverse, an easy few marks to be gained here, most judges used to prefer a satin look rather than the gloss of some products. The spare will also get done here, and you will be asked to remove your spare wheel cover. In fact this can be left off and judged off the vehicle. (40 marks) Condition of glass including sunroofs. Glass polish is better than the quick clean stuff here, make sure you remember the inside of the alpine windows. (40 marks) Interior: 350 marks First is to look for the general appearance as a whole entity before moving on to the trim panels. (70 marks) The roof lining and internal sunroof surrounds is next. (30 marks)
Dashboard no messy wiring, clean appearance, no screw holes, missing pedal rubbers, etc. Note: GPS, and or phone hardware will be included in the overall dashboard, and will not effect the mark for originality. (100 marks) Boot area, including condition of trim panels, spare wheel mounting and spare wheel cover. I am not going to include tools; jack etc., however any item visible will be included in the overall mark. Please empty all your stuff, picnic, kids toys etc. out before, or as the judges get to you, as it will save time. (50 marks) Engine compartment: 230 marks This is split into 6 areas Engine block, head, rocker cover (30 marks) Exhaust manifold and exhaust pipe (30 marks) Fluid systems brake, clutch, injection system, PAS, air con etc. (70 marks) Electrical system, wiring and alternator (40 marks) Rubber hoses and control cables (20 marks) Sheet metalwork: bulkhead, under bonnet, inner wings (40 marks) Mechanical 100 marks (functional) yes, we are going to check thing work We will check the following; all get 10 marks for working. Wipers, horns, headlamps, side lamps, tail lamps, numberplate lamps, stop lamps, reversing lamps, fog lamps and direction indicators. All that should give a grand total out of 1000 points. My guess is the winners will get somewhere between 500 and 600 points, which is great and something the owner who he or she will be may be justifiable proud off. Anyone who enters will get their judging forms back, and
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Member Story hopefully in 2004 will come back for more even cleaner. As a word of encouragement, in the early nineties, I took a 3 year old MG Maestro, which was used daily to go on a 20 mile round trip to work. Across to the MG rally on Jersey and along with a concours field of some 50 other MG or various types and vintages back to 1930 motors, came away with not only best in class but also best of show. Yes it took a lot of hard work but it can be done if you are mad enough. Now for equalizer! On a full blown concours event vehicle age and mileage are irrelevant, as all competitors are trying achieve the same level of competence, for Abingdon the vast majority of folks will use their Discoverys on a daily basis, so those running older motors will be at a disadvantage. So you get 5 marks for every year old you Discovery is to a max of 10 years old i.e. 1993, and you get 1 point for every 1,000 mile you have done to a max of 100,000 miles, this could give you an extra 150 points. OK, there you have it. Get out the polish and get to it. If anyone has any question on the concours or would like to help out with setting the area up at Abingdon over the weekend, please drop me an e-mail chris.gorvin@ic24.net of ring on 07774 963577.
Class of ’93 Alan Smart
It s been a fairly uneventful couple of months with the fleet. The only real drama was the One-Ten started to smell of diesel. Much peering underneath and under the bonnet didn t show any obvious leaks until the day that I filled it up. There was this wet smear down one side of the tank. With a full tank I suspected the seal around the submersed pump. On Discovery and Range Rover there s a hatch in the rear floor to access it but on the One-Ten it s a tank out job. I decided that I would only fill it to half full until I could get round to doing it. It was still leaking when the low fuel warning light was on. The OneTen has a steel tank unlike the Discovery and it has corroded through between the tank and carrier which acts as a double skin. A few phone calls revealed tanks were in short supply. Newbury 4x4 sourced a galvanised tank and were willing to fit it for a reasonable fee but he couldn t take it for a week so it
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had to sit there with a bucket underneath. I hate messing about with diesel; I never seem to get rid of the smell and my hands seem to peel for weeks afterwards. I was impressed with their attention to detail; all new hose clips and nuts and bolts. The tow bar bolts that had been replaced were even the correct grade. I have finally cured the rear light saga by running a new independent wire from the under bonnet loom to the rear and then cutting out the old loom. It may seem a bit drastic but it s solved the problem. Obviously somewhere the wire has chaffed inside the chassis. I suppose I had better expect other circuits to play up at some point. After 100,000 miles the Range Rover was starting to wallow and all four shock absorbers were leaking. New springs and shock absorbers were fitted all round from Rimmers who do spring and shock absorber sets both standard and up-rated (don t forget to ask for your DOC discount). Now it doesn t wallow so much round corners or find the bump stops as often. It even drives better in a straight line. It s amazing what you get used to with components that fail slowly over many years - you just compensate. Tim Arnold covered this job in Discourse 8 when he did a 2inch lift. I found the quickest way to undo the bottom mountings on the rears was an angle grinder! Unfortunately the fronts are not so accessible but a large pair of stilsons on the lower part of the shock absorber body solved the problem. I m glad I bought a new pair of spring retainers (part number 572087) as I sheared studs off both sides despite a good soaking with Plus Gas the night before. These have imperial threads so make sure you have some UNF nuts ready. The amount of panel corrosion on my black Discovery was starting to cause me some concern until I saw this month s LRO feature on buying a cheap Discovery. On mine the bottom of the aluminium door skin of the passenger door has now completely corroded through leaving it detached from the steel frame that is in good condition. The driver s door isn t much better. I know what I m looking for at the next Sodbury Sort Out! The main steel frame seems to be OK, which must be due to the amount of Waxoyl that was pumped into it on its second birthday, but other areas of the paint work need some attention. The LRO featured vehicles has some real structural rust so maybe mine s not that bad after all. There are however some stone chips and off-road scratches that are starting to bubble and I have to deal with them before they turn into real problems. The pre-production five door is running faultlessly but I need to get the off-side sill done before its MoT in September. The only worry is the power steering pump is getting noisy. I m still on the look out for some blue trim and a set of the original pattern Goodyear Wranglers. If you have some you want to part with, give me a call.
Disaster!
Stand and Deliver!
Stefan Tapp
Alan Smart
This is a friend of Stefan Tapp in his 1997 Discovery Tdi ES. This is what happens when your wheels aren t pointing straight ahead when driving in ruts! The ruts shallowed out and his Discovery lurched up a bank to the left and very slowly flipped him on his side whilst driving a byway on the ridgeway! Damage? A 50 pence-size dent above the filler cap, Will he ever be able to live it down? Never!!
The problem with many tools sold by high street stores is they are not man enough for the average Land Rover. I needed a new pair of axle stands as my old pair was, well, old, and didn t have the lift or the strength to support a Land Rover. Machine Mart to the rescue. Their excellent catalogue and website is very helpful and they have a very comprehensive range. I settled on a pair of their 6 tonne stands (CAX-6TBC) with a closed height of 400mm with a maximum height of 615mm. They have a ratchet mechanism instead of the pin and hole system that makes them very easy to use with a wide jaw that allows either the axle or chassis members to site on it safely. At £23.44 they represent very good value for money. If you don t need that amount of lift, there s a pair of 3 tonne stands (300/430mm) at £15.22.
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Discourse 13 - Page 20
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Recent Events
Greenlaning for Absolute Beginners John S. Batchelor Not so long ago I was one of the members who had not ventured farther off tarmac than a green field used as a car park. My first real go at greenlaning was a club outing to Salisbury Plain organised by Steve Goodfellow. I approached this with some trepidation, but thanks to following some of our club experts over lanes chosen to be easy for beginners, I found that I had thoroughly enjoyed it and had neither got stuck nor damaged my 300 Tdi. I then had a go at a local offroad site, trying the easy route laid out by the organisers and again didn t get stuck and did enjoy it. However the bug really bit after I was lucky enough to get an invite from my local Main Dealer to go on a Land.Rover course at Eastnor Castle. That was a real eye opener; chance to drive everything from a Freelander to a 4.6 HSE Range Rover (which I DID get stuck!) while a instructor sat beside you and explained how to attempt what you considered impossible, but wasn t!! From there on I ve gradually got more confident, and possibly more competent, to the point that I m now happy to lead other people over some of the lanes I ve explored in S. Wales. With this enjoyment in mind, I offer a few thoughts to other beginners who may be thinking of dipping their toes (and their Discovery) into this particular pool of water. Preparation: firstly, no matter which Discovery you drive, even in showroom condition it is capable of far more than you will believe possible, provided it is driven with a degree of common sense. You do not need to spend a small fortune modifying it before going green laning. Don t bother at this stage with raised suspension, oversize tyres, loads of under body protection and a winch! Those may come later when and if you feel you really need and can afford them. Initially all you need are four things; namely recovery points front and rear, a decent towrope, bridle and shackles, wading plugs and a spade. Front recovery points can be Jate rings or, perhaps better, Jackall combined recovery eyes and hi lift jacking points. Rear recovery points can be a good tow bar or Jate rings. Get a 6 metre x 12 tonne breaking strain towrope, a short bridle to go between the recovery points and certified shackles. DON T buy cheap gear; if you have to use these in a serious extraction the forces involved are immense and a gear failure could kill someone, so only buy tested gear from reputable sources and look after it. Keep ropes free of oil, clean off mud and store out of sunlight. Also, when buying a towrope, don t buy a KERR (Kinetic Energy Recovery Rope), buy a normal dead rope; KERR recoveries are not techniques for beginners and involve even higher stresses on gear and vehicles. The wading plugs keep the mud and water out of the drain holes in the timing belt case on 200 and 300 engines and the bell-housing on manual gearboxes; V8 s, TD5 s and auto s have no holes to be blocked up. However, if you drive a V8
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then you need to waterproof the distributor with a rubber glove and silicone sealer and carry a (big) can of WD 40. The spade can be an ex Army short shaft, pointed type. What else do you need to do? Well make sure your vehicle is in sound condition with no mechanical or electrical defects; miles from anywhere is not the place for it to die on you. At this beginners level I would suggest you can get away with normal road biased tyres (I m still on Michelin XPC s), but a good All Terrain pattern such as BFG s could be a sound choice when next time comes to replace them. Remember, for most of us our tarmac mileage and drivability is more important than off road performance, and Mud Terrains tyres are generally not so good on wet tarmac. Similarly, when it s time to replace dampers then fit some De Carbons (my choice), Bilsteins or Old Man Emus but don t lift the vehicle on raised suspension unless you are willing to accept a deterioration in tarmac handling. I ve now also fitted a front diff guard, but that was more because I got it cheap than because I felt it really necessary at this level! A hi-lift jack or an air jack is a good idea, though not essential for your early trips. Finally take food and nonalcoholic drinks, a First Aid kit and warm waterproof clothing with you; you probably won t need them but if you do .you ll be glad to have them!! Where to go: get a map of your area and learn how to read it. The Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger series are the minimum you should use and the 1:25,000 Explorer series are a better choice. Make sure it s an up to date edition as well. Look down the side or across the top or bottom of the map until you find the Public Rights of Way display and there you will find the symbols for Footpath (dots), Bridleway (dashes), Road Used as Public Path or RUPP (dot and dash alternating on Landranger or side by side on Explorer) and, best of all, Byway open to all traffic BOAT (crosses). All of these will be in Red on a Landranger and Green on an Explorer map. You should not drive a footpath or a bridleway, irrespective of how inviting it may look or how many other idiots you see using it. Don t do it, we 4 x 4 drivers get more than enough bad publicity, even when it s not warranted. You can legally drive a BOAT and may or may not be able to drive a RUPP or the white Unclassified Country Roads (UCR s) that you will also find on the map. To get the definite information on the latter two, you need to make the acquaintance of your local council Rights of Way officer who will have a copy of the Definitive Rights of Way map that he should allow you to inspect. Alternatively, check with someone else in DOC from your area or join GLASS and check with their local RoW officer. Remember also that these are still public highways with all the usual laws applying, even if there is no tarmac in sight. From the map you ought to be able to find some routes near you that look interesting. Note well how steep the rises and falls may be, what streams or rivers you may have to cross and how boggy the terrain may be; then choose a suitable day. For your early learning I d strongly suggest avoiding anywhere that
Recent Events / Discovery History might be wet if the weather either has been or is raining hard. Now find yourself a like-minded companion driver. DON T be tempted to go off alone in your Discovery, at least until you have a good deal of experience. One vehicle can get stuck miles from assistance; at least with two of them you have a reasonable chance of retreat even if you cannot recover the stuck one. Best of all, go with a couple of other vehicles and at least one experienced driver to guide you. Terrain & technique: this is the bit where experience comes into play. It s also the bit most beginners are keen to learn, sometimes without having taken on board the stuff above. Probably the safest way to learn how to tackle various surfaces is at an off-road centre, with an instructor if possible. Failing that, read as many books or magazine articles as you can and then go out as a passenger with a more experienced driver and see how obstacles are tackled. For books I can recommend The Land Rover Experience by Tom Sheppard as excellent. Also worth while is the video How to drive off-road from Land Rover Owner International magazine, together with their regular articles by Vince Cobley. As soon as you get off the tarmac, get into low range so as to reduce speed and increase your control of the car but don t lock the centre diff on a Series 1 Disco until you can see slippery ground ahead. You will find that technique largely comes down to reading the track ahead and planning where to place the vehicle to minimise chances of getting stuck or of damaging something. If in doubt get out and inspect the next 50 yards on foot before driving it. This is especially true where water is involved, either as a ford or as a boggy bit. But remember it is also true when climbing a hill; you need to know what s over that blind crest ahead. Don t blithely put your Disco into those ruts unless you know how deep they get or you ll only find out when you re bellied out. And if you are in ruts more than a few inches deep then don t try to steer out until they shallow; you ll risk damage to the sidewalls of your tyres and, even worse, the car may suddenly climb out and shoot off down the hillside (saw the results of this at Eastnor Castle). If in doubt back out and try again straddling the ruts. Drive as slowly as possible, hence the Low Range, but as fast as necessary to keep your momentum. You are there to enjoy the scenery, not taking part in a Comp Safari!! In particular, if you come to a really soft piece of track consider if you can cross it without churning it up. Diff lock will be necessary in Series 1 Discos and speed and momentum may be the answer, but it may also just leave you further into the mire, making extraction even more difficult. Remember, we need to improve our relations with walkers and horse riders, otherwise we are going to see this recreation banned in the future. It is better to turn back and go somewhere else than to leave a morass to annoy non-motorised users of the road. I hope all that I ve written does not sound off-putting because my intention was to encourage newcomers to this side of
Discovery ownership. Green laning is in my opinion a wonderful way to see the countryside, particularly if like me you can no longer walk so far as you could in your youth, and you own one of the best machines made for the job. Especially go out and have a go on some of the trips that Club members organise. If they have made the effort to plan out a route then support them, otherwise they won t bother again! In particular, support Gary Tredwell s efforts at our annual Abingdon festival; even as a marshall you will learn a lot about how to tackle various obstacles (or how NOT to, as the case may be), and you can get expert advice as well. Have fun, be careful and get hooked! Then write about it to Discourse!
G490WAC Alan Smart Member David Harry Harris from Norfolk has recently bought G490WAC which was rescued from the scrapyard! David contacted me to ask about the vehicle. It turns out to be the earliest of the 1989 Plymouth launch vehicles known to the club having the Special Development Vehicle number SDV05.
Previously this honour was held by former chairman John Capewell whose G486WAC is SDV06 (the vehicles were not registered in SDV number order). It s V8 powered finished in Mistral, a bluey-grey Micatallic finish. Harry tells me his Land Rover nut friend Steve Read rescued the vehicle three years ago, it having been stolen and recovered. The locks were damaged and there was some minor body damage. He restored it for his father-in-law who wasn t really interested in the history of the vehicle. It s now done 99,000 miles and Harry says he finds any excuse to drive it. All we need to do is find G451WAC which is SDV04 and the earliest according to my records (unless you know otherwise!)
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Letter to the Editor I ve just joined DOC at LRW show and enjoyed reading Discourse 12 and look forward to future editions. Whilst reading it, on page 24 I spotted the photo of the project car. About a week before the show I saw two in convoy in Evesham. On the 1 July while driving to work I spotted a third. This was left-hand drive, travelling at a good speed so I only got a quick look, but I m sure they re one and the same. With the disguise work, it would be hard to say it was much different to the photo, but it did seem to have a flatter roofline more like a Range Rover. They all seemed to be travelling on a similar route. Is it possible they were going to Eastnor Castle or similar for testing? Bill Jones.
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Down Your Way
North Worcester & South Midlands Paul Walker My, what a busy couple of months that s been. In the last issue of Discourse, John Fancote gave a report on the point to point that was held way back in February. Then the group attended the AGM at Gaydon; nice Convoy of twleve Discoverys down the M40. April saw the group move its venue for the meetings as we had now out grown the corner -section of the pub. A frantic search of the local drinking holes turned up only three possibles out of nearly 80 pubs! We tried a pub just down the road, April s meet was OK. We had the section of pub that could curtained off from the mass rabble. However, when the group turned up to hold our May meeting the landlady had forgotten to close this section ready for us, it was full of students !! So we tried to hold the meet in the middle of a noisy pub.......Never again was the verdict from the group. So back to square one. New venue required ! This turned out to be a lucky strike for me as I had had dealings with the pub over the road from our original pub, This new pub has been used to hold DOC committee meetings and is quite a nice sized room. After bartering with the landlord, the room was ours, for one night a month and it s FREE! So since June the Worcs group now has its meet in a nice large room, we can now hear ourselves talk and at least we can all now park on the car park. The one main failure of the first pub was that it had no car park. Anyway back to the group s activities: May saw a large number of the group visit the Heritage Day at Gaydon. May 17/18 saw a couple of the group plus some other members Green laning on Exmoor. D12 page 21. May 25th found the group out and about on the green lanes of the Cotswolds, this beening known at Cots II, Cots I was done last year, Cots I ( the return) is set for October this year. June 14th found the group holding yet another treasure hunt. This one was organised by Nick & Eve Evetts. A great day was had by all. Me? I had to work that day but have made arrangments to do the hunt soon, with a couple of the other members who could nt make it. Then it was the LRW show at the end of June, which I thought was a bit of a let down on lasat years show.......enough said. So to future events for the Worcs & south Midlands section. August has some of the group on a mystery walk around the black country.....Dudley & Sandwell for those that don t know. Also on this day there is the open invite to the DOC membership of a green lane trip around the Cotswolds. September sees a weekend in Wales laning and doing the tourist bit over on the west coast. Then there s Abingdon. For next year we have plans afoot for a laning trip around Bristol & Bath, A weekend to Yorkshire to hold our second photo hunt contest, which we might tie in with a trip to the
new FreightLiner depot near Leeds. A trip on NGLD back to the Cotswolds to help clear a lane is planned for March 2004. Cotswolds lanes II ( the return) is on the cards, and the biggest event yet will be a convoy to Berlin in Germany to visit Holger. If you are interested in going on this trip to Berlin, please email Paul Jones jonesthegeneral@hotmail.com
East Sussex Damian Bunn The DOC East Sussex group has recently started activities in, wait for it East Sussex. As a fairly small membership area, in maybe the smallest in the country we are striving to get a regular meet and events going. Currently we meet with the Hastings & District Land Rover Club, at the Black Horse, Telham on the second Sunday of the month. If you are into off-roading we have a contact for use of a 70 acre site not far from Battle, Alas at this stage it is invite only, but we are working to get our own, DOC access. There are a few lanes in the area, none of any real note, and the Hastings & District LR Club are very heavily involved with these, maintaining and clearing. Oh did I forget to mention that the Sunday meet is also the regional Glass meet. We are working on a web page to keep locals up to date, but if you would like to get more active in your area please feel free to drop in to the Sunday meet or contact Tim Arnold (details at the front of Discourse) or Damian Bunn (01424 813673 / damian.bunn@my90.co.uk) for more information.
Wessex Alan Smart Like many regional meetings, we are struggling to establish a critical mass. It s a Catch 22 to run an event you need enough people, to get the people in you need an event! My initial thoughts are a treasure hunt, always a good stand by. Our monthly pub meets have as few as four people but last month we excelled ourselves with eleven. If we can continue at this rate plus a couple from those locals who signed up at Beaulieu we should be on our way. Finally a date for your diary: New Year s Day will see the annual drive across Salisbury Plain including the village of Imber that was requisitioned by the Military during WW2 and never returned. It s only open a few days a year and this is one of them. It s well worth the drive.
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Events
What’s On - Tim Arnold Detling Off-Road Weekend 16-17th August The Kent and South East section invites all members to join us at Penny Spring Farm, Detling, Nr Maidstone. For those with further to travel we are camping Saturday night and will be getting together around the barbecue
Langley Farm 13th & 14th September The Yorkshire Land Rover Owners & Rover Owners Club will be holding their Annual 4x4 Event at Langley Farm, Scissett near Huddersfield. This will be the Event s 22nd year, and includes an off-road course of over a mile long, trade stands, auto jumble, vehicle line up and family entertainments. This year sees the wedding blessing of two club members at the Farm. Camping is available from Friday 12th September, and the Club welcomes all makes of 4x4 s to take part in the fun. Further details from Muck Moses - Camping and caravan bookings Tel: 0113 2860586. E-mail: langley@yroc.freeserve.co.uk Camping w/e pre-book £25 per unit - on the day £30 Day visitors £5 per person or £10 per car Off-road course £10 per driver per day - paid on the day Trade auto-jumble: Sarah & Jon Ackroyd Tel: 01274566672 (after 6pm). Auto jumble - £10 per day or £15 per 2 days - PLUS entry fee Trade stands - 5m x 10m = £50 - 10m x 10m = £100 Sponsorship flags £100 - contact Rosie Makinson
in excess of two miles long. This year the event, on the 27th & 28th September, is going to be bigger than ever and to make the course work we need volunteer marshals. No experience or special equipment is necessary only the commitment of some time over the two days that the course will be open. Tasks will include managing traffic, offering advice and encouragement and maintaining safety, and all with a grandstand view of the action. As an incentive all volunteer marshals will receive free entry to the event (worth up to £50.00 for the whole weekend) and the eternal gratitude of the event organizers! If you would like to give it a go and be part of the biggest event on the Club calendar then please contact the Clerk of the Course, Darren Burgess, on 01344 445820 or email disco300@ntlworld.com.
UK Rhino Charge 4th October Our own Tim Arnold is planning to take part in this event that caters for all levels of off-road skills from novices to the more experienced. Any Shiny driver who would like to join me as navigator give me a call. The site is the 1,500 acre deer park at Pippingford in Sussex. All proceeds from the event go to Rhino Ark in Kenya in support of conservation. More details from Tim Arnold.
Guide Dogs for the Blind Classic Car “Wool Church” Run 19th October This new event is a 110 mile drive through the Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire countryside with a difference. You get a blind navigator with a Braille roadbook! There will be a normal book just in case you get lost. The event that is open to all classic vehicle owners plans to not only raise money but also to give blind and partially sighted people the chance to actively take part in these sorts of events. Further details from Alan Smart.
Abingdon 4x4 Festival 27th – 28th September The club is in its third year of running this event in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Abingdon. As well as the off-road course there s caravanning and camping with all the socialising that goes on, trade stands and the DOC stand. There will also be the first Concours d Elegance event. Organiser Garry Tredwell (01235 520240) promises that this year s event will be even bigger and better than last year s. For more details speak to Garry especially if you can help before the event or during the weekend.
2003 Calendar and Contacts 16th August Mystery Tour, Yorkshire Contact John Patton 16-17th August Detling Off Road Weekend Contact Tim Arnold 22-25th August - Caravan/Camping Weekend Contact Kim Hollins 0161 480 7096 or 07831 541245
Marshals Wanted!
23rd August - Cotswold Lanes Contact Paul Walker
Have you ever fancied being a marshal? No, not the sort that wears a tin star and a low-slung holster. We re talking about the ones who ensure the smooth running of an off-road event!
23-25th August Town and Country Festival, Stoneleigh featuring ARC All Rover Weekend
As we re sure you all know, every year the DOC hosts the Abingdon 4x4 Festival, which is centered on an off-road course
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30-31st August - Hational 4x4 Show, Trentahm Gardens Conatct Tim Arnold
Events 6-7th September - LRO Show, Peterborough: Conatcat Chris Gorvin. 07774 963577 6-7th September Major s Memorial Trial, Eastnor Conatct Alan Smart 13-14th September - Langley Farm Conatct Chris Mullen 01274 634166 13-14th September Dunsfold Collection Open weekend 01483 200567 27-28th September - Abingdon 4x4 Festival Conatct Garry Tredwell Date TBA Green Lane Weekend, Yorkshire Conatct John Patton 4th Oct - UK Rhino Charge, Pippingford Park, Sussex: Conatct Tim Arnold 5th October - London to Brighton Land Rover Run Tim Arnold or send SAE to 10 Middlesex Road, Mitcham, Surrey, CR4 1QP for entry form 19th October Blind Navigators Classic Car Run in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind (Gloucester & Oxfordshire) Conatct Alan Smart 25th October Old Sodbury s Sortout Newbury Showground. More details from 01454 323109 or www.oldsodburysortout.co.uk
Regional Meets Central Southern Location: When: Time: Contact:
East Sussex
Location: When: Time: Contact:
The Packhorse, Milton Hill, nr Abingdon, Oxford. Third Wednesday of each month 7:30 pm onwards Garry Tredwell. Tel: 01235 520240, 07802 495658
Location: When: Time: Contact:
The Horseshoe Inn, Windmill Hill, nr. Hailsham. Second Sunday of each month 12:30 pm onwards Tim Arnold. Tel: 01323 489003
Location: George IV PH, London Road, Baldock, Herts. When: Third Tuesday of each month Time: 8:00 pm onwards Contact: Kevin Beel. Tel: 01462 893886
Kent Black Lion, Southfleet. First Wednesday of each month. 7:30 pm onwards Don Hoaglin. Tel: 01474 707531
Billing Quays, Northampton, (nr Aquadrome). First Thursday of each month. 7:30 pm onwards George Glover. Tel: 01604 582252, 07721 559456
North West / Manchester Location: When: Time: Contact:
The Railway PH, 1 Avenue Street, Portwood, Stockport. Second Wednesday of each month 8:00 pm onwards Kim Hollings. Tel: 0161 480 7096, 07831 541245
North Worcs / South Midlands Location: When: Time: Contact:
The White Hart PH, Evesham Road, Redditch, Worcs. Second Tuesday of each month 8:00 pm onwards Paul Walker. Tel: 01527 404103, 07939 411995
South Staffs / North Birmingham
Location: Moxull Hall Hotel, Holly Lane, Wishaw, nr Sutton Coldfield, B76 9PD. When: Last Thursday of each month Time: 7:30 pm onwards Location: When: Time: Contact:
Wales
Location: When: Time: Contact:
Wessex
Location: When: Time: Contact:
The White Hart PH, Wolverhampton Rd, Cannock Second Thursday of each month 7:30 pm onwards Lee Jones. Tel: 0121 603 3632 The Felin Fach Griffin PH, Hay on Wye. First Sunday of each month 1:00 pm onwards Gerard Brooks. Tel: 02920 757459, 07977 545790 The Rack & Manger, Crawley, Hampshire. Second Wednesday of each month 7:30 pm onwards Alan Smart. Tel: 01264 772851
West of England
Location: The Wheatsheaf PH, High Street, Winterbourne, South Gloucestershire. When: Last Friday of each month Time: 8:00 pm onwards Contact: Post Vacant. Tel: Neil Brownlee.
Yorkshire
Home Counties North
Location: When: Time: Contact:
Northampton
Location: When: Time: Contact:
George & Dragon PH, Apperley Bridge, Bradford. Last Friday of each month. 8:00 pm onwards John Patton. Tel: 07748 502200
Location: When: Time: Contact:
Sir Jacks PH, Bawtry Road, Bramley, Rotherham. First Sunday of each month. 12:00 noon onwards Martin Thomas. Tel: 07985 736021
If you would like to form yor own Local Section of the Discovery Owners Club in any area not covered in those listed above, contact any member of the Committee who will be pleased to advise and assist you.
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