Discourse15

THE MAGAZINE OF THE DISCOVERY OWNERS CLUB

Number 15 - January/February 2004

Land Rover Range Stormer Northants Treasure Hunt Mid Wales Reservoir Trip The Wool Church Run

Rights of Way Under Threat Green Lane Repairs in Wales and Wessex The French Connection and Trip www.discoveryownersclub.com

Page 1 - Discourse 15

The Small Print For the purposes of this notice, ‘Discovery Owners Club’ and ‘Club’ are interchangeable and assumed to mean the same thing.

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 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.

Complimentary 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 event. 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 destroyed or returned to the event organisers.

Data Protection The Club recognises its responsibilities under the 1998 Data 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 may have access to member information having shown good reason. Ordinary members may request contact information of another member. This shall only be through a Committee member who will contact the member to first ask permission.

Committee Meetings 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 dates for committee meetings are: 1st. February, 2004 at Northampton and 7th. March 2004 at Redditch.

Club Events

Acknowledgements

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.

Front cover photograph by ........ Back cover photograph by Alan Smart.

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. The Club’s ARC Representative is Alan Smart.

GLASS The Discovery Owners Club supports 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 Sites & DOC Forum www.discoveryownersclub.com and www.discoveryownersclub.org are the Club’s website addresses. www.docforum.co.uk is our forum address. For instant access, all you need is a valid membership number to register on site. Once registered, you can log on anywhere in the world to catch up with your favourite club, post replies and help fellow Discovery Owners.

Subjects range from Caravanning to Humour. There’s optional email notification for individual postings, entire topics or forums.

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 Alan Smart for a Rate Card and details of space available.

Small Ads for DOC Members Members can place small ads for Discovery stuff in Discourse for free.

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.

Discourse 15 - page 2

In This Issue Land Rover News Discourse Crossword Book Review Five Minute Job Northants DOC Treasure Hunt Discovery Juniors Italian camping Holiday General News No Going Back Worcs. Group French Trip Class of ‘93 Reservoir DOCs Wool Church Run LRE Billing Christmas Market Rights of Way Under Threat Committee Corner The Tale of a Funny noise Down Your Way What’s On - Tim Arnold Calendar and Contacts Regional Meets Situations Vacant

4 6 7 7 8 9 10 11 12 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 18 22 26 26 27 27

Articles for Discourse When submitting articles for inclusion in Discourse, please save the document as a text file without embedded images. Images should be separate and sent either as photographs or digital images in .jpg format on CD. All files should be sent to the Club’s Editor for selection. They should only be sent to the Publisher directly by prior arrangement. Photographs will not be returned unless requested.

Your Interim Committee Neil Brownlee

Paul Walker

9 Lindisfarne Way, East Hunsbury, Northampton, NN4 0WG. Tel: 07768 366 157, Email: chairman@discoveryownersclub.org

17 Ditchford Close, Hunt End, Redditch, B97 5XT Tel: 01527 404103, Mobile: 07939 411995, Email: vicechair@discoveryownersclub.org

Alan Smart

John Francis

The Bales, Cow Lane, Kimpton, Andover, Hampshire, SP11 8NY. Tel: 01264 772851, Fax: 01264 773300, Email: secretary@discoveryownersclub.org

32 Lichfield Road, Halewood, Liverpool, L26 1TT Tel: 0151 486 9910, Mobile: 07766 168869, Email: johnfrncs5@aol.com

Lee Jones

Tim Arnold

73 Tottenham Crescent, Kingstanding, Birmingham, B44 0ST. Tel: 0121 603 3632, Mobile: 07759 299031, Email: memsec@discoveryownersclub.org

9 Sunstar Lane, Polegate, East Sussex, BN26 5HS Tel: 01323 489003, Mobile: 07801 292024, Email: events@discoveryownersclub.org

James Law

Kim Hollings

1 Vulcan Close, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 4LZ Tel: 01227 264747, Mobile: 07944 836 177, Email: publicity@discoveryownersclub.org

15 Knowsley Crescent, Offerton, Stockport, Cheshire, SK1 4JB. Tel: 0161 480 7096, Email: camping@discoveryownersclub.org

Mick Caswell

Peter Greenway

66 Western Road, Daws Heath, Thundersley, Essex, SS7 2TL Tel: 01702 553281, Mobile: 07765 894009, Email: essex4x4@aol.com

18 Fenhurst Road, Ward End, Birmingham, West Midlands, B8 3EQ Tel: 01484 644764, Mobile: 07956 825867, Email: clubshop@discoveryownersclub.org

George Glover

Gerard Brooks

158 Malcolm Drive, Duston, Northampton, NN5 5NH. Tel: 01604 582252, Mobile: 07721 559456, Email: northantslsr@discoveryownersclub.org

16 Deganwy Close, Llanishen, Cardiff, CF14 5JT Tel: 02920 757459, Mobile: 07977 545790, Email: waleslsr@discoveryownersclub.org

Don Hoaglin

Mark Hooghiemstra

23 Springcroft, Hartley, Longfield, Kent, DA3 8AR Tel: 01474 707531, Mobile: 07714 696270, Email: kentlsr@discoveryownersclub.org

The Cottage, Wood of Aldbar, Brechin, Angus, DD9 6SZ Tel: 01307 830441, Email: scotslsr@discoveryownersclub.org

Chairman

Secretary, Archivist, Wessex LSR

Membership Secretary, Sth. Staffs LSR

Publicity & Press Officer

Acting Member Representative

Northants LSR

Kent LSR

Vice Chairman, North Worcs LSR

Acting Treasurer

Events Co-ordinator

Camping & Caravanning Officer, North West LSR

Acting Club Shop Officer

Wales LSR

Scotland LSR

From the Editor’s Keyboard - Alan Smart A Happy New Year to you all!

This edition of Discourse has many reports from local sections and members about their activities. If you were not involved but would like to be, then contact your Local Section Rep (LSR) or if there isn’t one in your area then call Paul Walker.

If you are a member, there should be an insert in the magazine with the notice for the AGM to be held at Gaydon on 20th March. This is your opportunity to have your say in the running of the Club. While on the topic of the AGM, I will not be standing for re-election this year due to work and domestic commitments, so the next edition of Discourse will be my last. It’s been a difficult decision to make but I feel it’s time for someone else to have a go. If you’re into desktop publishing then give me a call.

Clubs like ours can only function by people giving their time and efforts. Unless we have volunteers, the jobs have to go outside and that means we pay and the membership rates go up accordingly! It’s your Club and you’ll only get out of it what you are willing to put in.

Finally we have negotiated a 12.5% discount with Haynes Publishing on all their manuals - more details inside. Next time we hope to bring you other major discount schemes for Club members so membership really does have its benefits. Happy 2004.

Page 3 - Discourse 15

Land Rover News

Range Stormer Land Rover unveiled a new concept vehicle at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Named the Range Stormer, this high-performance, supercharged 4x4 makes its world debut at Detroit, and follows the reveal of a design rendering at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September this year. This is Land Rover’s planned entrant into the booming high performance SUV market.

Good News for Land Rover Industry figures show that in the first ten months 2003 sales of 4x4 SUV’s, ranging from the tiny Suzuki Jimny to the Range Rover, have increased by 13 per cent to 136,688 registrations.

Land Rover’s Freelander leads the compact SUV sector with a 30 per cent share of the 66,584 total sales. These sales are four per cent up for the first 10 months of the year over the same period in 2002.

There’s a new Freelander planned for 2005.

In the medium SUV sector, sales have increased by 40 per cent to 23,310 units. Leader of the pack is the Nissan X-Trail with a 34 per cent share of the sector.

In the large SUV market, sales are up 15 per cent to 46,794 registrations. Sector leader is the Land Rover Discovery with a 22 per cent share of the market.

..and the bad news Commenting on the new concept, Land Rover’s managing director Matthew Taylor, said: “Range Stormer is a modern, striking, hightechnology vehicle. It is very much conceived to be an on-road, high performance machine, as well as class-leading off-road like all Land Rovers. Breadth of ability is one of its many strengths.”

Land Rover Discovery was fifth from bottom of Auto Express’ reliability poll. The only cars that fared worse were Citroen’s C3 and C5 models, Fiat’s Punto and the Lotus Elise. Meanwhile the Nissan X-Trail is undergoing a revamp with new engines and interior and will more of a challenge in its sector and may steal sales from Land Rover models. It fared no better in a recent Motoring Which? survey either

..and even more bad news As we go to press, Solihull workers are in dispute with Ford. Land Rover workers want parity with their Premier Auto Group (PAG) colleagues in Jaguar over pay and working hours.

GTR Website Land Rover design director, Geoff Upex added: “It is possible to apply Land Rover design language to a vehicle of totally different proportions and still make it very obviously a Land Rover. This is what we’ve done here, and the result is a Land Rover like nothing that has been seen before.”

The vehicle has Terrain Response, a smart and simple-to-use new Land Rover technology which enables to driver to select one of six terrain settings from high speed road work to deep ruts.

The system then delivers the best possible on- and off-road composure and control by optimising the entire vehicle set-up, including suspension, powertrain, throttle and traction control.

Discourse 15 - page 4

AFTER a few years Land Rover has completed the roll out of its Global Technical Reference (GTR) website designed to provide users with instant, 24-hour access to detailed vehicle maintenance information.

The network launch has been staggered, beginning with a US specific technical database available to their Independent Motor Traders (IMTs) and the general public through the Internet. A service tailored to the equivalent users in the UK was available several months later. Land Rover employees and European IMTs gained access in September, while the worldwide dealer network can use the GTR site through an extranet from this month.

The GTR site offers users improved availability and access to all technical materials, from maintenance check sheets and body repair manuals, to vehicle inspection advice and service bulletins. This allows dealers and IMTs to respond quickly to service actions and new part updates, causing minimal inconvenience to the customer in the event of a repair. Previously such information was uploaded onto a CD and sent to users via post.

Land Rover News US and European legislation dictated the need to supply all emissions related technical information to the IMT and general public, but the GTR site has grown into a Land Rover solution for providing a wider resource of technical materials.

Two Land Rover Award Winners at Bluewater this Christmas

GTR is a subscription based system, providing information over a sliding cost scale depending on the period of subscription and the range of information selected. All charges made to the public and Independent Motor Traders are aligned with those made to Land Rover’s own Authorised Repairers.

Land Rover’s Bluewater-based Adventure Zone has won the Best Leisure Marketing Campaign of 2003 award at this year’s Property Week awards. The award comes in time for the introduction of Land Rover’s flagship vehicle to the Adventure Zone - the Range Rover. For the first time, visitors to Bluewater can experience the thrills of Land Rover’s Adventure Zone in a Range Rover this Christmas.

Land Rover Managing Director, Matthew Taylor, said: “Global Technical Reference contributes to Land Rover’s commitment of improving customer satisfaction by connecting every dealer technician directly to the publications database. With 24/7 connectivity and direct database access, GTR will dramatically reduce publication lead times.”

You can find the Global Technical Reference (GTR) website by using the following link: www.landrovertechinfo.com

Lotus and Caterham Heritage Cars Come to Gaydon The Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire has taken custody of a selection of unusual Lotus Seven sports cars. The cars are owned

by Caterham Cars of Surrey and have been loaned to the museum by Graham Nearn, chairman and founder of Caterham Cars.

The cars range from an early (1953) Lotus Mark VI which was the first production sports car made by Colin Chapman who had recently formed the Lotus Car Company; to a more recent (1992) Caterham Super Seven, which won the Nelson Ledges 24-hour race.

The cars tell their own story of how Colin Chapman made his dream come true and provided an affordable sports car in kit form for the DIY car enthusiast. The production costs were kept low, as most of the parts were sourced locally. Initially the chassis came from a factory a few doors up from the Lotus factory and the aluminium body was from a body shop in the same street. Colin Chapman saw the potential for his Lotus cars and took them to even greater heights with F1.

Caterham Cars were one of the original Lotus service centres. They took over the production of Lotus Sevens in 1973 and have recently celebrated their 30th anniversary with the production of 30 special edition Caterham Cars.

Colin Chapman was the pioneer of economical lightweight sports cars, in kit form. By manufacturing in this form he saved the buyer the expense of hefty Purchase Tax, therefore making them far more affordable. He used specially selected and cost-effective components, including Ford engines and Progress Chassis.

From the variety of Caterham cars on display it can be appreciated how the Lotus cars have been cherished by Caterham Cars, since the founder Colin Chapman died prematurely at the age of 54 in 1982.

During a 45-minute demonstration ride, visitors will tackle a challenging course covering seven acres of Kent cliff-side and boasting four different themed zones. Each zone places obstacles of varying severity in the vehicles’ path, including railway sleeper steps and a deep watersplash. Clambering over a steep mineworker’s shack and descending a 12 metre long 42-degree slope demonstrates to visitors the vehicles’ supreme ability in climbing and hill-descent technology.

Since its opening in June 2002, the Adventure Zone has given over 11,000 visitors an off-road experience they will never forget. The retail complex is also home to a Land Rover Gear store, where visitors can complement their driving experience with branded clothing, outdoor equipment and tailored off-roading adventure holidays.

Bill Welch, marketing programmes manager at Land Rover, said: “We are delighted with the award and look forward to welcoming more new visitors to the Adventure Zone in 2004. It is a great way to take an hour out of the Christmas shopping ordeal and gives visitors a chance to experience the adventure side of Land Rover, while also seeing our vehicles’ unrivalled off road ability.”

Member Discounts In this copy of Discourse you should have found a leaflet detailing a discount scheme we have negotiated with Haynes Publishing. Haynes is well known for their no-nonsense manuals and is forever expanding their catalogue that now boasts over 2,000 titles. As a memebr of DOC, you qualify for a 12.5% discount and free delivery to UK addresses.

You can telephone for the 153 page catalogue on 0800 9171898 or go online to www.haynes.co.uk using username DIUB. You will need to supply your surname and membership number when ordering as proof of Club membership. Haynes will verify that you are a current member to qualify for your discount.

Page 5 - Discourse 15

Discourse Crossword Across

14 Compression ignition engines use this fuel. (6)

1

Driving uneven ground requires lots of axle

. (12)

5

These converters became compulsory on petrol engines in 1993. (9)

15 A name for a common sort of alloy wheel. Also a sort of swimming race in which you can swim how you like. (9)

10 A long wheelbase Defender. (3,3)

20 You can top up your lead-acid battery with distilled

11 Lose this for your radio and you won’t be able to listen. (4)

22 Birmabright is a sort of

12 A man struggling with his umbrella means there are

25 If you drive in deep mud you might get

14 Push the little gearlever to the left to engage

ahead. (9)

. (8)

16 One alone probably wouldn’t stop a train, but more than one ‘holds up’ each corner of older Land Rovers. (4) 17 Don’t go around the curve in the road trying to guess this one. (4) 18 Landrover Owners get Very Excited about their cars. (4) 19 What wheels do when you go places. (6) 21 An A would be red, whilst a B is yellow. An unclassified one is white. (4) 23 You operate these for the handbrake and gears. (6) 24 Black, round rubber things. (5) 27 You might end up on the end of one of these if you get stuck or breakdown. (3,4)

. (5)

alloy used to make Land Rover body panels. (9)

26 If you lend someone money they

. (5)

you. (3)

29 Where we go for a drink after a hard day. (3) 30 An aftermarket alternative to Land Rover rubber suspension mounts - made of polyurethane. (8) 31 A piece of ground having specific characteristics. ‘ ‘4 x 4 Parts Master Limited’. (7) 32 A catalytic

Master’ are now

is fitted in 40 Across. (9)

33 Really, you might drink this in 29 Down. (3) 35 You put this in your coolant and in your screenwash. (10) 36 The springs and the shock absorbers are part of the

. (10)

38 Maker of aftermarket electric cooling fans and engine preheaters. (7)

28 Land Rovers love to wallow in this brown stuff. (3)

39 A tea leaf that pinches stuff. (5)

30 V8 Land Rovers drink a lot of it. Diesels don’t use any of it. (6)

41 The opposite of down. (2)

34 They slow us down. Not a tea break. (6)

46 If you brake too hard and you don’t have ABS you’ll

37 Radiators should be full of it. (7)

48 Shooters might put this in a rack in the back of their Land Rover. (3)

40 It is a tube that the waste gasses pass out of. (7)

50 Curtains hang from one. Trains run on two. (4)

42 Brake assistance is provided by this. (5)

51 24 carat. (4)

43 The centre of the wheel. (3)

52 They can be electric or viscous, but they both suck. (3)

44 It’s in your head and you use it to think. (5)

53 Keep a

on it. (3)

45 We try to stop steel components turning into this. (4) 47 One would let in half as much rain as the two in the top of some Discoverys. (7) 48 You are supposed to grow flowers in the

. (6)

49 What that wheel in front of the driver is for. (8) 52 Currently, Land Rover’s smallest model. (10) 54 Abbreviated name for the thing filled with coolant. (3) 55 Things that aren’t young are

. (3)

56 Green things we can drive on. Land Rovers are built at Lode . (4) 57 One at the front, one at the back, and a lockable one in the middle. (12) Down 2

The Series 1 Discovery shares its chassis with which other Land Rover model? (5,5)

3

Go faster. (10)

4

Flashing yellow lights on the corners. (10)

5

Discovery Owners Club is more than just a one make club. (3)

6

The case full of cogs that all Land Rovers except Freelanders have. (8,3)

7

You use a mower to mow the

8

Manufacturer of wax polish. Not a tortoise. (6)

9

A way of forming metal by pouring it molten into a mould. (4)

. (4)

13 The wheels are on the ends of the

. (5)

Crossword devised by James Ferguson. Answers in the next issue of Discourse.

Discourse 15 - page 6

. (4)

Book Review

From the Editor’s Bookshelf

Alan Smart

Land Rover by James Taylor Although this book only has a single Discovery in it, it charts the progress of the Land Rover on which Discovery and Range Rover were based. It charts the evolution of the legend through civilian, military and special vehicles from the post-war stop-gap product to become the world’s most versatile vehicle. Lavishly illustrated with period photos, drawings as well as modern photos, the book follows the development through the Series I right up to modern day Defender. James has brought together a collection of photographs to do the marque proud.

Overseas variants also feature.

Each model is accompanied by a ‘Fact Box’ giving the technical specification of the model as well as the total number for the production run with engine and transmission options. A good book to dip into for the Land Rover enthusiast.

And that Discovery? The very last page has a Discovery Fact Box featuring a 1996 XS model showing James’ allegiance to the model!

Five Minute Job Alan Smart �������� ���

Here’s a preventive check you need to carry out if you own a Tdi Discovery. The heater fresh air flap is vacuum controlled and draws its vacuum from the engine driven pump that also works the brake servo. There’s a T piece in the main pipe where the small rubber pipe goes off to the heater and this has a habit of splitting. The result is that there’s normally enough vacuum to work the brakes for one application but if you need them again there’s nothing except a very hard brake pedal. I found this out in a car park without any dire consequences!

��������

������ ������

������ ����� �������

�������� �������

��������

The solution is simple. Cut about an inch off the pipe and push it back on the T piece. I reckon there’s enough slack to do this two or three times. This is the second time mine’s needed doing in eleven years. Next time it will have to be a new piece of pipe.

If you have a petrol model with cruise control, the vacuum circuit also suffers. If your cruise control has stopped working, check the rubber pipes first. I bet they’re split!

� �������� ������� ������������ �������� ����������� �������� ������������� ��������� �

����������

� ������� ������ ������ ������ ������������� ��������� ������ ����� ��������������

����� ����� ����� ����� ����� ����� ����� ���� ����� �����

�����������������������������������������������������������������

Peter Greenway - 18 Fenhurst Road, Ward End, Birmingham, West Midlands, B8 3EQ

Page 7 - Discourse 15

Recent Events

Northants DOC Treasure Hunt Christmas 03 Alan Beale So we find ourselves at that special time of year again. That time of year when aunts you haven’t seen all year go out and hunt down the worst pair of socks in the world and with great pride (or a profound hatred because you tied a firework to her cat’s tail when you were eight) wrap them up in naff paper with snowmen and send them to you for Christmas. That time of year when your credit card company’s employees start booking their four week holidays in the Seychelles. That time of year when that bunch of blood sucking parasites collectively referred to as ‘the children’ suddenly acquire the ability to communicate, all be it in the form of a list of expensive requirements which are a must for the teenager of today scribbled on piece of paper that used to be their English homework, thrust in your hand, as no words are actually exchanged. That time of year when despite all your best efforts to avoid it you still eat and drink far too much and over Christmas dinner upset the wife and ruin the whole thing because you couldn’t manage that eleventh roast potato.

But most importantly it is of course that time of year for the famous NORTHANTS DOC CHRISTMAS TREASURE HUNT. That time of year when DOC members are drawn to the wild Northants countryside like a herd of migrating caribou (well, four of them anyway) to test their driving and navigating skills and see just how strong their marriage is.

Once again after a successful Christmas party the night before we gathered at the Quays public house in expectant anticipation for the event. This year’s volunteers for a chance to get hopelessly lost in Northamptonshire were Roger and Helen (this was their first attempt at this challenge), Vince and Doreen, also first timers, Darren and Jules, old hands at this event and desperately hoping to improve on last year’s spectacular second (from last) finish especially since last year’s winners who were hoping to retain there title had to pull out at the last minute due to unfortunate circumstances. (or their bottle went ) Steve and Lucy also first timers made up the final team.

This year’s course and clues were cunningly planned by Neil and Maddie and George and Bridget and I had an opportunity to drive it on the Thursday night before to test it out. The route itself was a complete circumnavigation of Northampton (approximately 50 miles) and ran in a clockwise direction through the outlying villages and hamlets. I did the test run in the dark so I missed all the benefits of country driving but the course was very interesting and challenging. They had also thrown in a couple of green lanes for good measure, one of them even had a very wet start point (a river drive of some 50yds) which did cause a small amount of concern among the teams but only a little bit as they were all up for it. I completed the route in 2 hours 45 minutes and got most of the clues, some of them did make you think.

Discourse 15 - page 8

The clues, 40 of them were a mixture of straightforward information finding: house numbers, street names etc. but a few were a bit more cryptic and took a bit of finding out and of course some were completely off the wall. (well, Neil did come up with some of them). So by the Sunday everything was ready.

We kicked off the event with names in a hat to decide the order of departure and the first team left the pub at 11.00am, the rest following at 5 minute intervals. They had strict instruction on the route and the clues (well we gave them the paperwork in a sealed envelope and said you start and finish here off you go) so by 11.20 they were all on there way and by 11.30 the course marshals George, Neil, Frank and me were in the café for breakfast. The teams were also given a help line number to ring if they got into difficulties but each call was 5 minutes added to their time. One or two calls for help were received but it made no difference to the outcome.

After breakfast the marshals returned to the finish site and eagerly awaited the return of the intrepid teams. (it was opening time). Then after an amazing 2 hours 37 minutes the first team arrived home. They answered 39 clues correctly and covered 53 miles. The second team home in 3 hours 3 minutes answered 36 clues correctly and covered 64 miles. The third team made it back in 3 hours 47 minutes answered 34 clues correctly and covered 80 miles. The final team to make it back for last orders took 4 hours 7 minutes to complete the course and answered 32 clues correctly. (we had given up on the mileage at this point).

So another successful treasure hunt had come to its climatic climax with new title holders Steve and Lucy taking the trophy for a hard to beat next year result. Darren and Jules took second place a vast improvement on last year’s result (well one place in fact) but in the right direction. Vince and Doreen came a respectable third.

Roger and Helen finished in fourth place (we don’t have a last place).

Everyone who participated in the event either as player or marshal all said that they had had a great day and will be up for it next year.

To finish with I would like to thank Neil and Maddie and George and Bridget for producing the course and clues. I would like to thank the Quays pub for putting up with us all day (I will get George to apologise to that barmaid) and of course most of all many thanks to those brave teams who made the day for us with there skills, their endurance and their charm. (plus the fact that they didn’t blame me for the small mistake in the course notes).

Bye-bye now and hope to see you all next year (come on give it a go you will love it).

Discovery Juniors

Uncle ‘Mad’ George Glover Here As from this edition of Discourse, I hope to make this new Discovery Juniors page a regular feature.

I’d like to hear from you with your letters and stories just like the big Discovery kid from whom you stole this magazine! If you think you have an interesting story or letter, then send it by e-mail to me at discoveryjuniors@discoveryownersclub.org or by post to address below.

For the under fi ves I would like you to draw and colour a picture of a Discovery. It must be all your own work. The prize is a cuddly toy. I’ll print the winning picture in the next issue.

For the other two age groups (5-11 and 12-17 years old) there’s a Word Search game to do. The prizes are a Pin Profi ler and an AM/FM Headset Radio!

Put your name, age and address on your entry and send it to me: Discovery Juniors Uncle MAD George 158 Malcolm Drive Duston Northampton NN5 5NH Uncle George’s decision is fi nal.

Prize Word Search

Page 9 - Discourse 15

Member’s Story

Italian Camping Holiday Diether Hofmann

For our last two summer holidays we have towed our Eriba Puck caravan on our Discovery 200Tdi from our home in Rottenburg, Germany to Camping Venus situated on Lake Idro in the Brescia Province of Lombardia region in Italy. Rottenburg is 100kms north of Munich.

Camping Venus stands right on the edge of Lake Idro and has all modern facilities and is ideal for lovers of sports, nature or just relaxing. Situated between Lakes Garda and Iseo, Idro is a patch of blue in the green surrounding woodlands and meadows that slope gently to the water’s edge. The lake is a sailors’ and surfers’ paradise due to the constant wind and the lack of large speedboats because of the 10hp limit. It’s also a favourite with fishermen as it is teeming with fish and with mild temperatures, it’s a bather’s delight with easy access to the beach. English is spoken at the site.

The Dolomites at 3,400meters (over 11,000 feet) can be seen from the northernmost tip of the lake and provide another challenge for visitors. The area has many pleasant towns and villages for shopping and enjoying Italian cuisine.

If any DOC members are interested in making the trip, I can offer a stop-over at my house before continuing on through

Discourse 15 - page 10

Austria (Kufstein and Innsbruck) and on in to Italy through the Brenner Pass on to Trento, Tione and on to Idro.

If any member wants more information, please contact me at dr.diether.hofmann@t-online.de

General News

V5 Registration Documents There’s a new look V5 Registration document on its way during 2004. The DVLA plans to replace all existing V5s by the end of the year with a new A5 four page document still with tear-off portions to send to DVLA for change of owner.

The move is part of a package to crack down on unlicensed vehicles as it will make the registered owner responsible for taxing the vehicle or completing a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN). If your vehicle was off the road prior to 1998 this will not apply.

For the history buffs: the old style beige or green logbook was originally introduced back in 1921 and local county councils administered the scheme. In 1965 the Government decided to centralise the system and established the DVLA at Swansea where the old style VE60 log books were transformed into the computerised V5 we now know.

LRW News Land Rover World are offering readers a free web-based classified advertising service to its readers. For more details see www.landroverworld.co.uk. The service is for all types of Land Rovers and should suit all needs and pockets.

Diesel MOT Diesel vehicles coming up to three years old may need professional attention to get through their first MOT test, warns the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI). More people than ever before have been using diesel vehicles in the last few years, as their popularity has grown. However, motorists may not realise how much attention diesel vehicles require in comparison to petrol-fuelled vehicles.

Ian Davis-Knight, RMI head of MOT and technical operations, explains: ‘Diesel vehicles need constant professional attention to ensure they run properly. More diesels than ever before are going to be taking an MOT test in the next year, but many motorists may not realise that diesel cars need special care. To get through the MOT test, a diesel vehicle will need to have been maintained correctly.

Part of the examination for diesel vehicles will be an emission test. This will involve measuring the smoke emissions from the exhaust, while the engine is being revved up to its maximum governed speed.

According to Davis-Knight, this could damage a vehicle if it has not been well looked after: ‘This test will not harm an engine that has been serviced and maintained correctly.

However, if this is not the case, and the camshaft drive belt has not been changed when required, there is a possibility that damage will be sustained. You will be asked about the service history of the engine and whether the camshaft drive belt has been changed.

‘The tester will not carry out a test on the vehicle if assurances on these points are not received. If the belt has not been changed, it is advisable to have it checked and replaced as recommended by the manufacturer.’

Pre-Budget Report 2004 The Chancellor has published his Pre-Budget Report. It was announced that, following its recent consultation, the Treasury had decided that the environmental benefits of LPG did not warrant the current level of fuel duty incentive. It was confirmed that duty on LPG would gradually rise during the next 3 years to a level more consistent with its perceived benefits. However, for Sulphur-Free Fuels it was confirmed that the Government would introduce a duty differential for sulphur-free fuels of 0.5 pence per litre over ultra-low sulphur fuels from September 2004.

For Bio-fuels the Government would examine ways of focusing the fuel duty regime on input as well as product based taxation to incentivise more environmentally and economically efficient types of bio-fuels manufacturing.

Member’s Letter Dear Editor, It’s that time of year again. All us Land Rover Owners watch carefully the weather forecasts, waiting for snow, sleet and terrible driving conditions. Why? Because we own Land Rovers, that’s why!

Driving through the first winter snow, I look at all the struggling cars and ‘tastefully’ lowered 4x4’s in which drivers don’t have a clue how to engage 4-wheel drive and look helplessly at you, while you purr past.

Going uphill on a minor road to Tesco, I engage my difflock with a smile. Arriving on the snow covered car park, I look for another Land Rover to park next to (so they can have a chat while I’m inside).

While I walk to the entrance, I look back over my shoulder to check if the lights are off and can’t help but notice a little curve in the grille.

Is that a smile? Show off!!

Mark Hooghiemstra.

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Members’ Stories

No Going Back Nick & Eve Evetts

It was in March 2002, without the aid of a TV crew we made the decision to look for and buy a house in France. First visit, second house - bingo, right place, right price we had to have it! The house is situated not far from Domfront ( ORNE ) departement 61, Basse Normandie.

We fell in love with France some years ago, but knew little of Normandy. We have been learning rapidly ever since last year.

Portsmouth to Caen is the preferred sea crossing as it gives us the shortest road route by far, a mere 145 miles to Portsmouth and only 60 miles on the other side. Don’t get us wrong we love driving in France but you cannot buy time.

The first major delivery of our belongings took place in July 2002, with the aid of our Discovery and a Brian James race shuttle trailer. Now this is one serious trailer with front, back and side doors, two axles and yes, we filled it to the roof.

That weekend the cheapest crossing we could get for this lot was Dover to Calais which meant 260 miles on the other side in appalling conditions, not to mention the road to hell, the M25.

Son-in-law and myself completed the round 1,000 mile trip in 32 hours which included about 7 hours sleep....well we were empty on the return!

Since then we have made many journeys in the Discovery using its formidable load carrying capability, transporting anything from laminate flooring, fridge-freezer, wardrobes, TV, sundry DIY materials and only ever room left in the two front seats.

Outside we use a custom built roof rack, full length and full width. I don’t think I could calculate the total weight it has carried! We have rear suspension air bags to cope with all this weight, a highly recommended accessory.

We buy most DIY materials locally and most of it goes inside, however we did have one major disaster when we had to buy a new corner bath from Bricomarche in Mayenne - no problem!

We put it on the roof with ratchet straps, believe me it was solid.

So there we were cruising steadily back home when suddenly BANG! The bath came off and barrelled over into the offside rear panel causing considerable damage and then smashing itself to pieces all over the road. Happily we were alone on the

Discourse 15 - page 12

road no one was hurt. Methinks ‘Les Gendarmes’ would not have been happy bunnies!

That afternoon a new bath was purchased, the women were left behind and it went inside this time. The good news is that the bathroom is now finished!

We have made many new friends both French and English.

We even get flashed by French Discovery owners, local English friends include Discovery owners Dave & Dot who live there for at least six months of the year. The local village people have become our best language teachers and social organisers.

We know we have DOC members in France and would love to make contact - who knows a DOC ‘rendezvous’.

Worcs. Group French Trip 2003 Nick & Eve Evetts

This year’s trip was with only four Discoverys with only four members and eight friends and family. As Midlanders, we hold the M25 corridor in contempt and therefore we all felt a mid morning departure was essential. Despite a monster crash on the clockwise bit by Gatwick we all met on the usual lay-by above Dover in plenty of time to catch the Friday 4.00pm, two hours ahead of our booked Seacat.

Once Paul Jones found the correct exit from the first roundabout we made rapid progress to St. Omer and our hotel.

Parking was competitive but free. We had minor problems with room allocation but all was resolved and we quickly met in the bar for some “milk of amnesia” and then off to the local restaurant for what turned into an excellent meal and social get together.

Saturday. In the morning eventually all sat down for breakfast and the day’s activities discussed. Some of us went walkabout around St. Omer’s excellent Saturday market with an obligatory coffee and chat while others disappeared to see a railway station - ‘I think’ and some headed off the 20 odd miles to Belgium.

At lunchtime we all gathered and drove together the short distance to “La Coupole” this is a museum housed in an

Members’ Stories underground bunker, which was built by the Germans in 1943.

It is dedicated to the history of the V1 and particularly the V2 rocket, which was never actually launched from here, but it did lead to the first moon landing.

“La Coupole” was meant to be an assembly, fuelling and multiple launch site for developed V2, however as the allies

moved across Europe following D-day the whole complex was heavily bombed and overrun, and thankfully never launched a V2 at Britain. Enough said. We spent three hours in there and could have spent six! But we had to go to “Auchan” and fill several trolleys with Christmas drink and goodies and of course nice cheap fuel.

Oh dear, PJ got us lost again so I followed the bonnet back to “Les Frangins” where we all took a little liquid refreshment before going out to another restaurant “L’entrecote”, it was there we had another hysterical evening with Evie Jones providing the cabaret, many tears of laughter were shed! It was a late finish that night.

Sunday. Well, yes the last day, but we had another visit to make this time “Vimy Ridge”. The Canadian war memorial is a very moving place to visit, here are preserved trenches, shell craters, no go areas (live shells) and a huge memorial with many thousands of names engraved upon it. A time to ponder on history and then back to 2003: a Seacat to catch, hopefully early. Yes three Discoverys made it for 3.30pm. Simon Greco was queuing in Auchan and only just made it for 5.00pm. We had a very smooth crossing and because we Midlanders hate the M25, I, yes I, decided to navigate “the City”. Well the whole journey took 5 hours, thanks a bunch Justin Timberlake who was performing at Earls Court, but the best award goes to the driver of highways agency gritter, in the traffic jams on the M40. The wally was at a standstill with the spinner on pulse steadily shot blasting everybody’s car within a 10 metre radius.

Well done!

We arrived home just after 9.00pm, tired, hungry but happy.

Well done Paul Jones yet another successful Jones promotion - be there or miss it!

Class of ‘93 Alan Smart

MoT time for the One-Ten was fairly uneventful with only a comment about some rust starting in the rear cross member, a well known problem. It’s a pity after all this time Land Rover don’t redesign this well-known dirt trap. As we use the One-Ten for heavy towing I plan to replace the cross member instead of trying to patch it. My New Year’s welding course at evening classes will be put to good use. It was good to note the smoke test was an identical reading to last year. Good maintenance and good diesel does pay off. It won’t be too long before the starter motor will need attention as sometimes it fails to engage. I hope it lasts until the warmer weather!

At last we have got to the bottom of the Range Rover’s erratic coolant usage. During the major service it was discovered that the valley gasket between the heads and the inlet manifolds had deteriorated to the point where coolant was getting in and being burnt off in the engine. While it was apart I invested in the extra labour to pop out the cam followers and inspect the cam lobes, as this is a known high-mileage failure on the V8 engine. It often shows up either as erratic coolant usage, which is mistaken for a failed head gasket. As the valley gasket gets replaced as part of the bigger job, a lot of work is wasted. I’d rather re-do the smaller job than disturb the heads unnecessarily. Having said that, it’s only done 103,000 miles - just run in!

A new set of Michelin XPCs was sourced from our local main dealer of all places. Not only were they cheaper than our local ‘discount’ tyre depots, they were actually in stock whereas everyone else had them listed but were having supply difficulties. Michelin have stopped making them in the UK but these came from France.

As the Range Rover spends most of its time on tarmac with the occasional foray onto a wet field with the caravan, XPCs are an ideal choice with good road manners and enough grip when needed.

The Discovery had started to wander. Someone suggested it was the owner but my mechanic said the vehicle wandered, the owner rambled! The A frame bushes on the back were shot. At 179,000 miles this is getting predictable as the last set did 90,000! With the bushes replaced and a couple of steering joints as well it all goes in a straight line. All should now be well for March’s MoT. The rear floor will be replaced this spring as it’s more than a bit scabby - another job for the new welder!

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Recent Events

Reservoir DOCs John Fancote

During the early part of the summer I was rash enough to volunteer to organise a trip through the Elan Valley in Mid-Wales to see the reservoirs and travel over the narrow mountain roads in the area.

This is how the day went.

Pictures by John Fancote and Vicky Hill

We all met at Ombersley, near Droitwich at 08.00. The group included Paul Walker & Ann, Nick & Eve, Paul Windsor & Debbie, Paul Jones, Simon, BEJ, myself, James & Friend, Vicky, Chris, Lee, Graham, Paul N, Jenny & family. In all eight Discoverys set out for Wales. Nick took the lead having travelled the route before. The last time I had been to the Elan Valley was with my mum & dad in an old Ford ‘Pop’. We headed off arriving in Rhayader on the A44.

From Rhayader we took the B4518 to the Elan Valley. At Caban Coch Reservoir we stopped in the car park to look over the dam and also picked up our ninth Discovery with Bill and Sue, who were on holiday! We turned left over the bridge to Claerwen Reservoir and carried on to the end of public road at the dam. A few of us took the lower road to the base of the dam where there were public loos! The rest went to the top of the dam and waited for us. There is a BOAT. at the end of the reservoir, although this is passable for Discoverys (according to Paul W!) we didn’t do it on this trip. After looking at the view we set of back the way we came. Turning left after the bridge we continued up the valley past Caban Coch, GarregDdu, Pen-y-Gareg & Craig-Goch Reservoirs. It was very noticeable that the water level in the reservoirs was very low. You will see the remains of the railway that was built for the construction of the reservoirs in places.

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The road goes up the valley to the junction at where we took the mountain road to Aberystwyth. Nick, Eve, Paul & Debbie had gone ahead to film us coming up the valley to the junction. The mountain road is very narrow with passing places. On the way down there was a livestock lorry coming up the hill so we all had to find places to pull off the road to let him past. A good job we were in Discoverys!

At Devil’s Bridge we turned right on the A4120 towards Ponterwyd.

Simon had to get some fuel and the others carried on, or so we thought! When we came out of the petrol station they were waiting for us. The road they had taken had been stopped off with bollards and eight Discoverys had to do multi-point turns to get out again.

We found another road to get us back on route towards Nant-y-moch Reservoir. We stopped again to take photos. The weather was cloudy with drizzle and up this high we were driving through cloud!

The road runs alongside the reservoir and runs through forested areas and comes down into Tal-y-bont on the A487. Simon, BEJ and myself stopped here for a pub lunch while the others carried on to Ynyslas. We met up with the advance party on the beach at Ynyslas for a group photo. After the break we took the road towards Machynlleth joining the A487. At Machynlleth we took the road up the valley of the Afon Dulas. This goes over the mountains and meets up with Glyndwr’s Way. We follow Glyndwr’s Way and this took us around Clywedog Reservoir ending at the dam. We stopped to take pictures and had an ice cream. We had a look at a Series II SWB Station Wagon parked with original mould round the windows!

After Clywedog we took the road back towards Llanidloes. This was the end of the tour for some of the grou p. Some went back the way we had come, others went back via Newtown and Ludlow.

The views of the mountains, even though the mist, were great and the roads with little other traffic were a pleasure to travel. During the trip we had CBs and walkie-talkies going with lots of chatter and jokes going back and forth. I’d like to thank the members of the Worcs.DOC group for supporting the trip and making it worthwhile. There were a number of double takes from passers by when they saw nine Discoveries going past!

For those interested and want more information there is a web site at: www.elanvalley.org.uk/dams_and_reservoirs.html

Recent Events

Wool Church Run Alan Smart

From there the run to the halfway point at the Filkins Cotswold Woolen Weavers was uneventful as we passed through the beautiful Cotswold countryside. At Filkins we had our lunch break and we were asked if we take on a blind lady, Pam Jones, who had been navigating the Triumph with the hood down. She was frozen and the prospect of a run in the Discovery was very appealing. It had a roof and a heater! After a look round the weaving sheds and the shop we headed off for the wool churches, through Lechlade and on through Fairford and Northleach where we parked in the square for a cuppa. Pam told us it was her 60th birthday that day and that she had been totally blind for twenty years. I tried to describe the town square for her and you realise how inadequate words are.

Even though she could remember the colour of the stone and the shapes I found it hard work. I can tell you that a picture paints far more than a thousand words.

The Wool Church Run is a classic car run with a difference. As it raises money for Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, you give over control of your vehicle to a blind or partially sighted navigator using a road book in either Braille or audio tape. John Macartney of Oil Leak Classic car Activities organised the event with Angela Shear from GDBA. Although the event was meant to be classic cars, there was an eclectic mix: a thirties Bentley, a 1968 Scimitar, a Morris Marina Coupe, a Rover 2000TC, a Triumph TR3, a 1972 Range Rover, a mustard coloured sixties’ Mercedes and an MG TF that was 50 years old that very day. We didn’t feel out of place in Ee-ack even though it was a mere thirteen years old.

Our navigator was my mum who is losing her sight to macular degeneration which, I’m glad to say is not hereditary. Three years ago, she could drive, read a book and watch television. Now, at 79 years old, all of these pleasures are denied to her. There were sixteen vehicles but only eight navigators so the plan was to swap round at half time. The best laid plans.... As we were the only crew who had supplied their own navigator, somehow mum hadn’t got her audio tape. Never mind, we had the road book that I had already translated into kilometres.

Angela waved us off at half-minute intervals and we set off from Charlcotte, near Stratford for a 105 mile run through the Cotswolds on a glorious autumn day. All went well until about 21 miles in when we rounded a corner to find the Bentley doing a three-point turn. The Scimitar was doing the same and the TF was parked up.

The road book said ignore the sign to Condicote and follow the signs to Lower Swell. The signs only said Condicote and Upper Swell. A quick look at the map confirmed you had to go through Upper Swell to get to Lower Swell. Swell!

The next navigational surprise was an instruction that said at the T junction turn right and first left. This caused a bit of debate as it appeared to go into an industrial estate. I voted to go on and turn left at the traffic lights but the navigators insisted I was wrong (would you argue with both your mum and your wife?). A quick turn round in a pub car park across the busy A429 Fosse way, we were ready to turn right only to be greeted with the Range Rover, Bentley and Scimitar exiting the industrial estate waving that we should not go down there. No comment!!

We went on to Chipping Campden where we stopped at the church.

There was an avenue of lime trees between the lych-gate and the south porch. They had been planted in the 1860s and pollarded.

This had caused the trunks to rot from the centre so they are hollow.

A couple of them were C shaped. Pam spent some time exploring them by touch. We went into the church and met the crew from

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Recent Events the Rover 2000TC. There we all were trying to paint pictures in words for our navigators. The windows were painted glass, not stained and with the afternoon sun behind them the colours were spectacular. Outside we caught up with John Macartney and all posed for the ‘team’ photo. Pam insisted I took lots of photos - for her husband. I had to take the church, the team and all the cars.

By now the light was fading and we headed back to Charlecote via Stratford along the A429. By now deja-vu was setting in for me as parts of this road I had now driven four times and it was the route home as well!

In all we raised £340 in sponsorship. Thank you to all our friends who sponsored us, members of the Range Rover Register, Janet’s dog trainers and some of our own committee. Pam had raised over £200 as well.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day but the best part was knowing that you had been able to let two people do something they would not usually be able to.

LRE Billing Christmas Market Ann Walker

For those of you who went to Billing on the weekend of 29th-30th November, you will recall it as a very wet and windy weekend. This did, as the saying goes, put a dampener on the whole event.

Taking into account that this is the first event of this style at the Billing Aquadrome, and considering how large the summer LRE show is, it was, to my own view a huge let-down. I pre-booked my tickets to the Riverside off road course (the one Land Rover used this year to show off the G4 vehicles) I made the trip across country from Redditch to Billing in near monsoon conditions, that’s how hard the rain was falling. We found the traffic light on the A45 around Northampton, and were soon parked up in the market car park, a quick look around the car park showed about 80 4x4s of differing types. A mad dash into the huge marquee to avoid the rain, found us stood next to Silverline tyres. As the husband did not need new tyres we carried on further into the marquee where we found the main selection of stalls. We found the following stalls, Diff-lock, David Bowyer winches, where we met the club shop officer Peter Greenway, who at that time had his eye on a new winch, which he bought and has now fitted. Next we came across the LRE stand selling all their usual gear, then it was onto the Pete Wilford stand, Pete as you may know is the cartoonist for LRE magazine, the at the end of the marquee was the Land Rover Gear Collections stand, This is where I dragged my husband and promptly spent a lot of money. My husband never seems to mind, as long as he gets a new jacket or sweat shirt out of it.....

After leaving the Gear stand it was a bit of a let down as that was the sum total of traders. Well it was a dash back to the car for a bite to eat, and then the off-road course (which I hate as I keep telling Paul). The course was wet & very slippery as the vehicles before us

Discourse 15 - page 16

had chewed up the top layer of grass. The entrance to the course is via a steep descent, with a right turn at the bottom, Paul took this nice a easy as the river is at the bottom of this hill. At various points around the course the track seems to head for the river, and I must admit it did make me wonder if we were going to end up in the water, but Paul kept the Discovery moving and soon it came to the mud run, we slid a bit, turning left into the approach for the mud run or mud bath which is what it looked more like, Paul called out to me to hold on tight, (I was sitting in the rear seats at the time with our daughter, while Christopher our son sat up front with his dad). Paul then gunned the Discovery into the mud-bath and with much glee from Chris, the mud went everywhere, all over the bonnet and up the side windows, even managing to get mud onto the alpine windows. As we drove on through the run, Paul noticed a man stood by a quad bike taking photos. After finishing the mudrun, there were a couple of hill climbs with a small hill right at the far end of the course which was tucked up against the end fence.

Paul had three goes at going over this small hill but could not get the angle from the fence line and the turning circle into the ruts on the start of the hill to take us over. On the third attempt the rear of the Discovery had swung over to the fence and Paul called it a day and drove over the grass verge towards some marshals who said, “Bad luck, about the hill but at least you had ago, some others have missed it out totally.” After a couple more hills we were out of the wooded section and at the end of the route. This is where we found the stand for the photo man. www.picman.co.uk Paul picked up a business card and made inquires about the cost of the photos. We had paid for two turns of the course, but me being a bit of a wimp when it comes to going off-road, and not feeling too well, I talked Paul into going home after only one run.

To summarise I hope that the LRE Christmas market gets a chance for a repeat next year, because with the right weather, and a lot more trade stands it would become a good event to attend. Just like Donnington in February, that started out as a small event and is getting bigger each year, so who knows, maybe the Christmas event will become as big as the summer event, now that would be something to see!

STOP PRESS

New Local Group for East Anglia Suffolk / Norfolk (area 13) The Oyster Reach Public House, Bourne Hill, Wherstead, Ipswich, Suffolk Contact - Patrick Young Home, 01394 672 482 Mobile, 07811 415 719 e-mail, patjen@tiscali.co.uk Meet on.....Last Monday of each month.

Rights of Way March 2004. Part of the problem is that non-mechanically propelled rights have until 2026 to be registered whereas those for mechanically propelled have just one year!

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Tarriff: Wheel Cover Umbrella Key Fob Tax Disk Holder Triangle Sticker DOC Mug Big Kid Sticker Van Sticker 33 inch Sticker 22 inch Sticker Website Sticker Turn Me Over

Black Green

Yellow Silver Silver White Red

£.p 20.00 15.00 2.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 3.50 3.50 3.00 2.00 3.00 6.00

County Councils have taken widely differing stances. Hearsay tells me that Northamptonshire are actively closing byways whereas Somerset has reclassified all their RUPPs to BOATs. On my own doorstep Hampshire and Wiltshire have a byway policy that supports responsible use.

As responsible Club members, what can you do? Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CroW) County Councils have to set up Countryside Access Forums made up of people within the county to look at these issues. They are advisory bodies but some Councils do take them seriously.

Find out who your local representative is and lobby them. You can do this either through the ARC’s local club which you will be able to find at www.the-arc.co.uk or look on your County Council’s web site for information.

When you drive lanes you should record dates and times, map references, surface and weather conditions and send them to either the Green Lane Association (GLASS) or through your local ARC club. This will act as documentary evidence that the lane has been used. Write to your MP and tell him/her that this is an infringement of your rights to deny you access to these ancient rights of way.

p&p Stickers 75p ea, other items £2.50 ea

Please make cheques payable to Discovery Owners Club and send to:

Peter Greenway - 18 Fenhurst Road, Ward End, Birmingham, West Midlands, B8 3EQ

Rights of Way Under Threat Alan Smart

The Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have issued a consultation document ‘Use of Mechanically Propelled Vehicles on Rights of Way’. Under the proposals Roads Used as Public Paths (RUPPs) would be reclassified as Restricted Byways which means they would not be open to mechanically propelled vehicles. This would only leave Byways Open to All Traffic (BOATs) available for green laning and many of these are under threat as well. Unless there is a well-documented history of use, they could be downgraded and lost for ever.

The Club is throwing its weight behind the ARC and LARA (Land Access and Recreation Association) who are coordinating their responses to try and keep our 6,000 miles of our ancient highways open. Submissions have to be in by 19th

Unless we all act NOW we will lose these rights forever. You can get a copy of the consultation document from www.defra.gov.uk or by calling 0845 9556000.

The Club promotes the responsible use of green lanes and supports the paper’s aim to do away with illegal and irresponsible use of lanes. However, as with much legislation, the majority will suffer because of the mindless few who treat lanes as their personal play pits, as battlegrounds to be conquered or scrambles practice tracks and spoil it for the rest of us. We need to distance ourselves from these people and actively promote ourselves in the community at large as responsible users and, where possible, work with our County Councils to keep our rural byways open and in good repair.

Page 17 - Discourse 15

Committee Corner

Committee Corner Your Committee met early December. Nick Brooker who held the positions of Treasurer and Publisher has had to stand down de to ill health and the Committee is saddened by his departure and wishes him well for the future. John Francis who has offered his services before will be approached to be co-opted into the role. Membership currently stands at 600 but we have 252 renewals outstanding. It was agreed that Committee members would telephone canvass the outstanding renewals to get them either to renew or find out why they were not renewing.

The events calendar for 2004 is filling up and it was proposed to investigate running a DOC national event. The country has been divided into 20 area in an effort to make local groups more active. The plan is to recruit LSRs for each area and when a member joins the LSR can contact them, welcome them to the club and tell them about local events. Paul Walker is co-ordinating this initiative.

The matter of five year membership raised at the last AGM was considered. It was agreed that the work involved in administration by which funds would have to be ring-fenced and drawn down each year did not warrant the effort in what is a voluntary job. The Committee did consider also offering members within the Euro zone a published membership rate but the cost of currency conversion made it prohibitive.

The Committee reviewed to proposed rule changes to be presented at the AGM and made minor corrections to further clarify membership classes. Maddy Brownlee gave a presentation on changes to the Data Protection Act that affects the Club and we need to change the wording on some of our forms to conform.

Alan Smart has decided not to stand for re-election at the AGM as due to an impending change of job he will not be able to devote the time to editing Discourse and carry out his Committee duties. He is willing to act as the Club’s Archivist but not as a Committee post.

the committee work and editing of Discourse too much. Alan plans to produce the March edition of Discourse and then call it a day. Also, Nick Brooker has had to stand down as Publisher due to ill health.

The Club urgently needs a new Editor and Publisher.

Discourse is the Club’s official publication and is sent to every member, all Land Rover franchises, the major Land Rover and 4x4 publications, our advertisers and other selected clubs and dealerships.

The Editor is responsible for the content of the magazine whereas the Publisher composes the layout of the magazine.

For editing, you must have word processing experience, a good use of English and a keen interest in Discoverys. For the publishing, a professional DTP program such as Quark Xpress or Adobe InDesign, a photo editing program such as Adobe Photoshop and a vector graphics program such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw would be required. Print management is also part of the publishing responsibility. If you have Editing or Publishing experience and you fancy a go, please contact Alan on 01264 772851 or e-mail him at alan@the-bales.co.uk for more details.

Copy Dates for D16 All copy must be with the Editor by the 27th February for inclusion in the March edition of Discourse (provided we can find a Publisher!)

For sale Large ski box and lockable roof bars for Discovery. No longer have vehicle. £100 for both. Stephen Locke, Ely, Cambridgeshire. Telephone 01353 664500.

Future Committee meetings: 1st February, Northampton, 7th March, Redditch, 20th March, AGM Gaydon, 4th April, venue TBD

Genuine Land Rover Discovery Waterproof Seat Covers Front and Rear (Grey) VGC £100. Headrest, armrest and lumbar support (by Trakkers) in Sonar Blue £30. Genuine rubber loadspace mat £30. 5 door sunblind kit £40. 2 x Goodyear 235/70/16 GT+4 tyres as new (100 miles) £100 Pair. Rear door trim in Sonar Blue good condition £10. Grant Jobson.

Telephone 01903 531425 (West Sussex ).

Situations Vacant

The Tale of a Funny Noise

Discourse Editor and Publisher Required Alan Smart has decided not to stand for re-election at this year’s AGM. Alan, who has been a committee member for three years, is finding the pressures of a new job is making

Discourse 15 - page 18

Gerard ‘Wizard’ Brooks

Are you sitting comfortably? Like most wizards, I’ll begin this tale at the beginning. Goth Thing had a bit of a knocking noise coming from her nether regions occasionally when she

Roadside Repair was reversed, not a loud banging noise just a bit of a clunk, clunk, clunk.

I ruled out the usual suspects, the A frame ball joint was replaced last year (after much cursing), and the transfer box output shaft had been replaced with a new crossed-drilled job, a few years ago and still looked brand new upon inspection.

One Saturday morning in September as we reversed out of the driveway, my daughter, Leigh commented on the clunking noise and, in typical wizard fashion, I said “What noise?” “It’s stopped now,” was the reply. Excellent, no noise no problem!

In the afternoon Mrs. Wizard, two kids, two grandparents and myself were making a 280 mile round trip to Heathrow airport.

The grandparents were flying back to South Africa after a month’s holiday in Wales. All went well until we drove into the tunnel just before the entrance to the airport. “There’s that noise again.” said Leigh “Only it’s louder now and we are not reversing.” (trying to be smart) I stuck my head out of the driver’s side window and sure enough it sounded like we were dragging the exhaust pipe along the road. I stopped when it was safe so to do and had a look underneath, and saw nothing amiss. No exhaust hanging off, no broken bits, just a few twigs stuck on the lower rear shock mounts from the previous weekend’s greenlaning trip. That must be it then, a stick or stone stuck in the brake calliper or something.

I’ll soon have that sorted once we have dropped of the old folk (sorry mum and dad). Once we got back to the multi story car park I got underneath and pulled out a handful of grass, problem solved. It was for about two miles and the noise returned and became intermittent for about four miles.

I thought I’d stop at the next service area and take off the rear near side wheel, because that is where the noise seemed to be coming from. Goth Thing must have decided to play mind games at this point because no sooner had I mentioned this to SWMBO when the noise promptly stopped and didn’t return for the rest of the 140-mile trip home.

Sunday morning I pulled off the rear wheel and brake calliper, all nice and clean and the wheel hub turned nice and freely, I whipped of the front near side wheel just to check that as well.

As expected all was well with that one. Expletives deleted! I hate it when things like this happen, something was waiting to rear its ugly head and bite me on the bum. I didn’t have long to wait, after doing my last 12 hour nightshift a few weeks later, I was on my way home at six in the morning when the rear near side wheel locked solid, no funny noise, no clunk, clunk, clunk, just wham locked solid. Now I am not the smartest of people, especially at six in the morning but this did strike me as rather odd. After skidding to halt on the side of the road I got out to investigate. The first thing that occurred to me was the nice long skid mark in the road, I had just put on a new set of BFG’s All Terrains and now I have just scraped off a bit of tread. Most sane people would be thinking “How am I going to get home?” or “I wonder what is wrong?” or even “What if a truck come hurtling along the road and crashes into me?”

.No, I was more concerned about my new tyres.

After assessing the situation I tried to pull away thinking that once the bearing had cooled down I might be able to limp home the 3 miles or so, but no such luck. After waiting a while it still didn’t want to move. The only thing to do was change the bearings.

Now I must admit that not many people carry spare wheel bearings around with them, but it just so happens that I do. I have a large tool box in the back of Goth Thing; it’s more of a trunk than a tool box, and in it is an Aladdin’s cave of bits and bobs that might just come in handy once in a life time. When I started to take the wheel off I realised that I had stopped right next to the kerb and had to jack Goth Thing right up to lift the wheel up and over it.

I removed the half-shaft and brake calliper, I was then was faced with undoing the large lock nuts that hold the wheel hub on. Without the correct box spanner one can get these nuts off with a hammer and chisel, luckily I had the box spanner.

Once the hub was off the damage could be assessed in all its glory, the outer bearing was fine but the inner one was totally shot, all that was left was the inner and outer bearing race and a few bits of molten metal. Great! Changing the outer bearing was straightforward and non-eventful; I just hammered out the outer bearing race and gently tapped in the new one.

The inner bearing was where the fun was about to start, the bearing had welded itself onto the stub axle. After a lot of cursing and swearing I had to admit defeat, it just didn’t want to come off. At this point it was time to put into action Plan B: take off the stub axle and walk home, cut the bearing off then get Mrs. Wizard to give me a lift back again.

I packed up all the tools and anything else that could be nicked if left out, and headed for home. I didn’t want to phone home just in case I woke up everyone and anyway the kids would laugh at me if they had known Goth Thing had broken down again.

On I trudged. My better half phoned as I was almost home and I explained what had happened and what Plan B entailed.

A funny thought entered my head at this time, what if all the people you see wandering around with a mobile phone stuck in there ear were Land Rover owners talking to their spouses about plan B (or C and D for that matter). I got home and had a cup of rocket fuel coffee, then cut off the bearing from the stub axle with an angle grinder, needless to say the neighbours were not impressed, it had just gone 8 o’clock!

Mrs. Wizard then gave me a lift back up the road in her very reliable Freelander and I proceeded to put Goth Thing back together. Job done by 10 o’clock. The only thing that annoyed me when I was busy with this little episode was the three Muppets that hooted at me while I was slaving away. Do these plonkers actually think I would breakdown early in the morning just to block off half the road because I had nothing better to do?

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Discourse 15 - page 20

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Down Your Way

Wales - Green Lane Repair Day Gerard “Wizard” Brooks

On Sunday the 2nd November several members of the Welsh section of the Discovery Owners Club met at the Brecon Mountain visitor centre to embark on a bit of repair work to the Sarn Helen river crossing near Blaen-nedd-Isaf. This section of the lane is badly worn and as you come out of the river there are some rather large rocky steps cut into the track. This is not so bad when you are coming down the hill and into the river but crossing the river and going up the hill fairly tricky.

crossing it is easy enough, but due to several days of rain the river was about the size of the Zambezi river in full flood, well not quite but we decided it was impassable, and to prove the point one of the moto crossers who passed us earlier up the track fell in the river while trying to cross on his bike, and the water was up to his waist.

Wayne suggested going back up the track a few miles and crossing the river on the bridge further down stream. This was a good idea because it would enable us to meet up with John and the others, warn them about the level of the river and travel around to the other side together. We met the others just as they came down to the river, so we all done an about turn and set off back to the Plas-y-gors woodland and picked up the track down to the stream.

Now all good plans have flaws in them and ours was about to show itself. As the six Discoverys came out of the forest, Nigel spotted another group of Land Rovers heading down the track.

We decided to wait and inform them about the level of the river, unfortunately we didn’t mention this to John who was in the lead, so John, Jerry and Paul set off down the track, Matt, Nigel and myself got left behind. We had two CB radios between us and both CBs were in the group that got left behind, and mobile phone signals are weak at the best of times on the Beacons.

The DOC members were Jerry Cheadle whose initial idea kicked off the event, John Batchelor, Matt and Ross, Nigel and Sian, my better half Linda and the kids Leigh & Jemma and Paul Newman from Land Rover Enthusiast magazine.

Altogether we had six Discoverys, when considering the poor weather conditions it wasn’t a bad turn out.

We planned to set off at 10am in two groups of three, Matt and Ross leading myself and Nigel down the Old Roman road of Sarn Helen to meet Wayne Evans from the Brecon Beacon Parks Board on the south side of the river crossing at 11.30.

John would set off with the second party 15 minutes later.

The drive down to the river crossing takes in some of the best parts of the Brecon Beacon National Park, and even though the weather was fairly poor the scenery was stunning, on a clear day you can see for miles across the Black Mountains.

We met Wayne at the river crossing as planned at 11.30, Wayne came up from the south side and we came down from the north side, normally the river is no more than knee deep, and

Discourse 15 - page 22

Out of the three of us none of us knew the area, but we did have our trusty OS maps (OS Landranger 160) so out came the maps and we looked for a suitable route. We decided on a route up and over a hill called Carnau Gwynion. We got to the top and Matt went on a little further on his own, only to report over the CB that it was a dead end. Right, out with the maps again. We found another route that looked OK, so it was about-turn and back down the mountain. This next route took us through the small village of Ystradfellte and onto a part of the beacons called “Cairns”. As we went down this lane it was getting steeper and steeper and the ruts were getting worse and worse, maps are generally OK but they don’t inform you about large ruts, bogs swollen rivers and fallen trees etc.

Down Your Way Matt brought us to a halt and decided to carry on on foot to see what lay ahead. We rounded a bend only to discover that the road was totally undrivable, the only thing to do was go back up the hill and find another way around. This was definitely easier said than done, because we now had three Discoverys bumper to bumper down a tiny lane full of rocks, tree stumps, water and the biggest ruts you will ever see, with no space to turn around.

On top that we had an eight-foot wall of mud on the one side and a four-foot wall of mud on the other and the Discoverys were leaning over at a 40-degree angle. In a word we were well and truly stuck.

the hill away from the worst part of the lane. So all that was left to do was put the kettle on for a well-deserved cuppa and line up for a photo shoot. Needless to say we all stuck together on the way home.

Our options were pretty limited, we could phone the AA, (not) or find a friendly farmer with a big tractor or we could dig, claw and fight our way out. Funnily enough we all decided on option three: dig, claw and fight. Now being at the back I had to go first, at this point Linda and the girls decided to abandon ship, and who could blame them, with a few tons of mud and rocks only a few inches from the side windows. With Matt and Nigel standing on the high side of the bank and pushing the roof away from the sidewall I tried the gentle approach first, but kept sliding into the sidewall. Linda, Ross, Sian and the kids threw a load of rocks down from the opposite bank and we packed these in on the deeper ruts, trying to prevent the Discovery from sliding into the wall. I decided the only way out would involve power and lots of it, and because of the angle we were stuck at some damage was inevitable. Once I got going I planned on staying going, so diff lock on, reverse selected, right foot down and left foot up. Guided by Matt and Nigel, Goth Thing responded just as planned, she was like a wild horse, she bucked, kicked, squealed and groaned, and by God did she fly up that lane. Once at the top the look on Nigel face told me that Goth Thing didn’t come out unscathed, but it was better than I expected. She was scratched from back to front along the passengers side, the sidestep was buckled and bent and the rubber ripped off, she also had a fist sized dent in the rear quarter panel and the front indicator lens was cracked, but we were out.

Northants - Christmas Laning

Nigel fared a little better having an equally heavy right foot he got away with a few dents and scratches and a busted indicator.

Matt the luck bugger got away unscathed, due to the fact hat he had a better run up than Nigel and myself, and we had filled in the worst of the ruts.

The rest of the journey to the river was uneventful and when we did meet up with the others and explained what had happened Wayne told us hat he had never heard of anybody getting themselves out of that particular track unaided, the last person was in a Defender 90 and it took a farmer four hours to get them out with a tractor.

So it just goes to show that a Discovery really is the best 4 x 4 x far.

By the time we got to the river crossing Jerry, John, Paul and Wayne had done all the repair work needed to make some of the larger steps drivable, and direct the water that runs down

Thanks to all that came along especially Wayne from the Parks Board who is a really nice guy and very pro 4 x 4 drivers, Nigel who came down from Gwynedd North Wales and Paul from LRE who drove up from Carmarthen.

“MAD” George Glover

Saturday 13th (13th and they’re out with me!!) arrives it’s the weekend of the Northants area DOC Christmas party. The weekend started off at 13.00hrs with everyone meeting in the Billing Quays car park, with eight vehicles ready for the greenlaning run. We wait until 14.00hrs then set off.

As the Discovery Owners Club promotes responsible By-way driving we broke down into two groups of four, Frank and Duncan leading the first group with Bob Sinclair and friends, Vincent Hartman his wife Doreen and not forgetting their son Tom in his Land Rover Rescue ranger hi-vis vest,(well someone’s got to get us out of trouble) and last but not least Darren and Roz Burgess fetching up the rear,.

The second group consisted of myself and my son Ben leading group two, with Roger Spencer his wife and their daughter Zoë, Darren, and with Richard Casbolt and his son Alex fetching up the rear of group two. First to leave was Frank and his group our group left about 30 minutes later.

The first lane was a ten minute drive, down a UCR then onto the by-way; the first part being level was good going. We then turned a sharp left and started to descend a slight hill, it had rained rather heavily the day and night before so the ground was a bit sticky making it slightly treacherous. In my group Darren and the Spencer family being on road tyres were soon slipping, but with advice over the CB they were soon trundling along with no problems. At the bottom the by-way was rather rutted but everyone got though with no hitches. The way out was to ascend the other side but mud, road tyres and a slight side slope could have been a recipe for disaster but again advice and good driving every one came through unscathed.

As Northants CC has seen fit to apply Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) on most lanes in the county it was another 10-15minute drive to the next lane.

This next lane started through a field as a UCR then onto the by-way. This lane had seen a lot of farm traffic in the last few weeks so was well rutted, (but the leisure 4x4 fraternity will with out a doubt get the blame). Coming over the brow of the hill we see in the distance Frank and his group. I got on the CB to find out what the problem was; it turned out Bob Sinclair had

Page 23 - Discourse 15

Down Your Way misread a rut and had lost traction so Frank and Duncan had to pull him clear. As Frank knew we would not be far behind he decided to carry on the rest of the way with the tow rope connected even though Bob had now regained traction.

Pleasantries were exchanged they then disappeared into the distance not to be seen till later.

The next two lanes where a nice gentle drive with the odd big puddle thrown in for good measure.

The last but one lane we done had a chicane at ether end and made for very skilful driving and tight manoeuvring on everyone’s part.

On our way back now and the last lane we drove was another UCR, so a nice gentle finish to the day and by this time it had started to get dark so it was all back to the Quays for a drink!!, NO not us (THE INFAMOUS LAST LANE) it was suggested we all did the first lane in reverse and in the dark!!, and as I said at the start this lane was a bit treacherous the first time through, going back the other way well!! Let’s just say every one needed all the experience they had gained on that day’s outing to make it through and luckily every one came out the other end unscathed. A well-earned pint was the order of the day when we all got back to the Billing Quays.

I would just like to give a big thank Frank and Duncan on behalf of every one for a great afternoon out with what lanes were available to them.

Discourse 15 - page 24

Down Your Way Christmas Raffle At the Northants Christmas party a raffle was held and the grand sum of £31 was raised. As most of the prizes where donated it was decided that any monies raised was donated to charity. A draw was made for members to nominate there favourite charity, and the the Marie Currie Foundation was selected.

start work at the southern end. I took Matt and his van to the northern end and that’s where the trouble started. The track that looked OK when we surveyed the job two month’s previously, had quite a few blackthorn and elder bushes that would need to be cleared before we could get to our start point. This took ten of us over an hour. The local farmer had given permission to burn the debris on his stubble field so we worked in two teams - slashers and draggers! It worked well and by midday we already had two bonfires underway.

Wessex - Lane Clearance Alan Smart

A local lane running up to the Wiltshire border had become overgrown and the last time I had driven it was about two years previous. With a new Parish Council who seemed to be interested in what the villagers wanted I decided to approach them about getting the lane cleared. After a few phone calls I had managed to contact Hampshire County Council’s Paths Partnership Officer. HCC work with local groups to ensure byways and paths are kept open. It’s a bit of a cop out really as they are responsible for keeping them open funded by our council tax! In reality, many of these byways are so low down the priority, they’ll never get done.

The 500-yard section was mainly blackthorn (sloes to you!) and has long, very sharp thorns. They will penetrate the soles of your boots and even tyres. After some e-mails to local groups and a letterbox leafleting campaign around the village the day dawned a bright sunny day with a light breeze. As we gathered at the village hall it was then the significance of the day came to me - England was playing France in the rugby world cup. In all we had eight Discovery Owners Club Members, two from the Range Rover Register, two from Hants and Berks Rover Owners, ten villagers and Matt from HCC. After we had all signed on for insurance purposes, Matt gave us a Health and Safety briefing. We then split into two groups to work from each end of the lane. Tools were distributed from Matt’s van and Ashley Pocock of HBRO led the first group to

Onto the main event! I moved the One-Ten into a ‘forward’ position and the first 100 yards was fairly easy going and then it was back to blackthorn and bramble. We pressed on using the same tactic to clear a path about eight feet wide. By half past three the light was starting to go as the sun set behind the hills and the temperature dropped. My objective had been to drive the lane so with just 70 yards separating us from the other crew I set about removing just the damaging branches. We stoked the fires and then tended them until they were safe to be left having raked over the ashes. Then, by headlights, I drove the lane - elation! We’d done it.

By the time I had ferried people back to the village and then taken the tools and Matt back to his van it was about six-thirty and pitch black. Home for a hot bath and a hot meal.

If we’d another six people we could have completed the task.

We need to organise another day soon to finish the job and then we need to get a commitment from the farmers to keep the hedges either side cut back. A good team effort and DOC have made more useful local links.

Page 25 - Discourse 15

Events

What’s On - Tim Arnold

2004 Calendar and Contacts

Donnington Indoor 4x4 Show

15 Feb - Indoor 4x4 Show, Donnington Contact Peter Greenway - 01484 644764, 07956 825867

The Club will not be exhibiting at the Donnington show on the 15th of February this year but Peter Greenway can obtain a discount of £3.00 per ticket for a block booking. Call Peter as soon as possible if you want to tale advantage of this offer.

9-12 April - Easter - Caravan/Camping W/E Contact Kim Hollins - 0161 480 7096, 07831 541245 or Chris Gorvin - 01827 261758

Seventh Exmoor Challenge and Jaunt March 26th – 28th 2004. Full Details from Richard Towell (E-mail: richard_4x4@hotmail.com or telephone 01823 451544) or Jim Balance (e-mail: wjf.balance@ntlworld.com or telephone 01823 480955).

ARC National Rally This year’s National is being organised by the Peaks and Dukeries Land Rover Club and will be held in Derbyshire. The DOC has been asked to run the public off-road course (Scenic Drive) again. This year’s terrain looks far more interesting than last year’s. For those not familiar with the event, there’s two days of trial and a safari (high speed cross country racing) to watch as well as many trade and club stands.

The scenic drive allows members to take their own Land Rover around an off road course. More details and booking forms from Alan Smart.

DOC National Rally The Club is investigating running its own National Rally from the 25th to the 27th of June, in Worcestershire. The site we are looking at offers camping and caravanning for 150 units plus two off road courses, quad bikes, clay shooting and a bar. Watch this space for more details.

2 May - Land Rover Heritage Run & LRM Show, Gaydon Contact Neil Brownlee - 07768 366157 ? May - Piece Hall Land Rover Gathering, Halifax Contact Neil Brownlee - 07768 366157 15-16 May - Land Rover Owner Show, Driffield Contact Required 29-31 May - ARC National Contact Alan Smart - 01264 772851 19-20 Jun - Land Rover World Show Contact Paul Walker - 07939 411995 25-27 Jun - DOC National Rally, Worcestershire Contact Paul Walker - 07939 411995 3 Jul - Discovery Challenge Contact Paul Walker - 07939 411995 16-18 Jul - Land Rover Enthusiasts Show, Billing Contact George Glover - 01604 582252, 07721 559456 or Kim Hollins - 0161 480 7096, 07831 541245 ? Jul - Beaulieu 4x4 Show Contact Stefan Tapp - 02380 441905 or Alan Smart - 01264 772851 21-23 Aug - Town & Country Show incorporating Caravan/Camping W/E, Stoneleigh Contact Kim Hollins - 0161 480 7096, 07831 541245

The Discovery Challenge

11-12 Sep - Land Rover Owner Show, Peterborough Contact Chris Gorvin - 01827 261758

An event run by the North Worcs & South Midlands section.

? Sep - Langley Farm Contact Required

What is it? It is not a race. It is a navigational map-reading exercise.

The challenge is a fund raising event for a number of charities and is open to all members of the Discovery Owners Club. The object of the challenge is for teams of two persons to navigate around a set route, using ‘road books’, map reading, route plotting, cryptic clues, and various other means in a Land Rover Discovery.

? Sep - Belgian National Contact Neil Brownlee - 07768 366157

There will be an entry fee of £ 45.00 per car, this will be split down to cover the cost of the evening meal on the Sunday night and the the cost of prizes, The rest of the money will be shared equally between the following charities: Air Ambulance, Heart fundation. There will be a

? Oct London to Brighton LR Run Contact Paul Sutton - 02392 357919

raffle and a auction to help boost the money being raised.

How do I get more information? Entry forms are available from the North Worcs & South Midlands Representative, Paul Walker. By post: send an SAE to 17 Ditchford Close, Hunt End Redditch, Worcs, B97 5XT,

or phone: 07939411995, or e-mail: doc.worcsrep@blueyonder.co.uk .

Discourse 15 - page 26

? Sep - Major’s Memorial Trial at Eastnor Contact Alan Smart - 01264 772851 25-26 Sep - Abingdon 4x4 Festival Contact Garry Tredwell - 01235 520240

Date TBA - National 4x4 Show (Trentham) Contact Malcolm Bourne - 01270 627143

This issue of Discourse has been published using Adobe InDesign 2.0 for Mac. © Copyright 2004. The design and layout, use of typestyles, and source files created in the production of this publication are the copyright of the Discovery Owners Club. Special artwork, photographs and images used in this publication are copyright of the originator. No element of it may be copied in full or part in any form without the express written permission to do so.

Events

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 Post Vacant. Tel: Paul Walker.

The Horseshoe Inn, Windmill Hill, nr. Hailsham.

Second Sunday of each month 12:30 pm onwards Post Vacant. Tel: Paul Walker.

Home Counties North Location: When: Time: Contact:

Kent

Location: When: Time: Contact:

George IV PH, London Road, Baldock, Herts.

Third Tuesday of each month 8:00 pm onwards Post Vacant. Tel: Paul Walker.

Black Lion, Southfleet.

First Wednesday of each month.

7:30 pm onwards Don Hoaglin. Tel: 01474 707531

Northampton Location: When: Time: Contact:

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:

Scotland

Location: When: Time: Contact:

The White Hart PH, Evesham Road, Redditch, Worcs.

Second Tuesday of each month 8:00 pm onwards Paul Walker. Tel: 07939 411995 The. Se of each month 8:00 pm onwards Mark Hooghiemstra. Tel: 01307 830441

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:

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

Wessex

Location: When: Time: Contact:

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: Paul Walker.

Yorkshire

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 your own Local Section of the Discovery Owners Club in any area not covered in those listed above, contact Paul Walker or any of the Local Section Representitives on the Committee who will be pleased to advise and assist you.

Situations Vacant Editor Required for Discourse Any Member with word processing experience, a reasonable command of the English language and a basic knowledge of the publishing and printing process is invited to apply for the Committee Post of Magazine Editor. The position entails reviewing and selecting articles and images sent in by members together with sourcing material from other Land Rover Clubs and Land Rover’s publicity department.

Member’s articles will need to be sub edited and prepared ready for the publisher. Images will need to be selected to illustrate the articles and prepared ready for the publisher. Six issues of Discourse are produced each year.

Publisher Required for Discourse Any Member with access to a professional Desk Top Publishing application such as Quark Xpress, PageMaker or InDesign, together with graphics programs such as Illustrator and Photoshop is invited to apply for the post of Magazine Publisher. The position entails compiling the document and laying it out to a standard format, originating, scanning, resizing and placing images, and further editing and sizing texts to fit the layout. There is adequate scope for redesigning the cover and format provided production costs do not exceed the budget. The Publisher will need to liaise with the Editor and Printer to ensure that the document is suitably formatted and delivered to the membership on time. Six issues of Discourse are produced each year.

Page 27 - Discourse 15

Salisbury Plain on News Years Day 2004 - Bob Dunlop still splashing in puddles, at his age!

Photo - Alan Smart

.

Discourse 15 - page 28

Printed by Hawksworth Graphics - 01889 565234