BHCLRC Magazine

Issue No. 48 - Autumn 2011

THE MAGAZINE OF THE BEDS HERTS & CAMBS LAND ROVER CLUB

www.bhclrc.co.uk

LAND ROVER APPROVED CLUB

Front Cover : Tenth Birthday Bash.

This Page: It’s written in the sand.

Contents 4.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

10.

13.

14.

18.

21.

23.

Griff’s Groan.

Pete’s Ponderings.

Heather’s Greenlanes.

Colin’s Competition Corner.

Welcome to our new members.

Latest from Land Rover.

10th Birthday Bash.

Whitwell Family Vehicle Trial.

Derbyshire trip.

Setting out the Croydon RTV. Croydon RTV report Norfolk green laning weekend.

27.

28.

30.

33.

34.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

LRM advert.

A Land Rover experience.

Thetford trip.

The FP guide to...Irony.

Orcadian odyssey.

‘Shiny Thing’ trailer hire.

Trials results.

Events calendar.

Club shop.

Discount suppliers.

Spot the difference.

Enamel grill badges.

Editors Intro Welcome to my last edition of FP. After 10 years on the club Committee I’ve decided it is time for a break and to catch up with other parts of my life that I have been neglecting.

In many ways the last 10 years have flown by, but then when you look at what has been achieved in this club the milestones soon start adding up. The initial excitement of a few mates sitting round a coffee table thinking what a great club they could create, then the frustrations of trying to get membership up to the golden number of 25 so that we could get recognition by the MSA to run competitive events, coincidentally only one more than the number of new members listed on page 7 of this issue.

Very soon membership raced on to the 100 mark and now number 800’s membership card has just been issued. Recently there has been the development of the 4x4 Response section and the on-going enthusiasm to find new ways to enjoy our vehicles and each other’s company.

The club has had its tough days, in fact there was a year from hell when a disgruntled member tested the committee, but even that episode made the club wiser and stronger, leading on to the trade-marking of the tri-colour logo which in turn opened up negotiations with Land Rover for our ‘Approved’ status.

These were great achievements, but a club is only as good as its members, the recent 10th Birthday Bash celebrations revealed what an enthusiastic family BHCLRC has become and long may it be so.

I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me in the last couple of years as Four Play editor with articles and photos, in particular to the person I would like to describe as my ‘Chief Whip’, Heather Parkinson for her constant support squeezing wordage out of the green laning community and to Hayley for keeping my spelling in check .

I’m handing over FP to the lovely Beth Hinchliffe, who will bring fresh blood and new ideas to the publication to take it on to the next level; I wish Beth the best of luck and urge you to support her in the quest of making your club magazine even better.

This edition includes reports from Derbyshire, Norfolk and Thetford green laning trips, the Whitwell FVT and Croydon RTV. Colin tells us about his ‘Land Rover Experience’ and Heather has an Orcadian odyssey.

There is a brief eulogy to the 10th BB but there will be lots more to read about the weekend in the next edition.

Departing Four Play Editor FP Autumn 2011

- Page 3

Griff’s Groan, Secretary says Boy its been busy since the last edition, I’ve been to Billing show for a long weekend on our club stand, Stoneleigh LRM show to marshal the off road course with Charlie Thorn, where a punter nearly wiped me out on the off road course when his Disco decided to disengage the transfer box on a hill and he decided to save his Disco rather than avoid the marshals, close one that! I also met a very nice man doing the photography, called Griff!

Then there was our 10th Birthday Bash this past weekend organised by our sub committee who exceeded everyone’s expectations with a well organised and executed plan for 4x4 fun and celebrations – well done all. A full report will be in next edition which I feel will be a special edition. It was a great delight to see everyone working so hard in the ‘Sandcastle competition’ on a 4x4 fun weekend, just wait for the photos!

I’m not sure if this will be last report as I’m stepping down as secretary at the next AGM in November, but if it is then I would like to thank you all for putting up with me over the past three years and wish my successor all the best. On that point don’t forget that all positions on the committee are up renewal every year and as far as I know a few current members of the committee are not intending to stand again so come on guys and gals step up and take the club forward to the 20th Birthday Bash. GRiFF

Pete’s Pondering's, chat from the Chair A lot has happened since the last issue of Four Play, the Birthday bash was a great success and turned into what is probably the largest club event ever (congratulations and thanks to the 10BB committee for organizing a great weekend), also a lot of members marshalled the off road course at the Land Rover Max Show in August, plenty of Greenlanes trips have been going on and we’ve had some well attended trials.

Looking at the future, we have the Autotest at Codicote in September, a great laugh for anyone who hasn’t attended one before, myself and Avo are planning a Scaletrix evening for the December Club night, plenty of track and cars to play around with and raising money for Macmillan, and finally we have the club AGM in November, and just so everyone knows, all committee posts are up for election by the club members, some current committee members will be restanding and others won’t, so if you feel like putting your name forward for a committee position, all you need is someone to second you on the form that will be coming out soon with the AGM notices.. Pete Page 4 - FP Autumn 2011

Heather’s Green Lanes Hi Everyone, well didn’t we all have a great time at the 10th Birthday Bash weekend! From a greenlanes point of view we organised three different routes and eight groups went out at different times over the weekend. As well as that it’s been another busy period since the last issue of Four Play.

We’ve had four regular trips to Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Thetford and our annual greenlaning and camping weekends to the Derbyshire Peak District and Norfolk.

Earlier this year 4x4 Response supported a competition run by Central Bedfordshire Council offering a prize of a day out greenlaning with the club. The competition was part of the ‘What would you do if…?’ campaign aiming to help people living or working in Bedfordshire and Luton to prepare themselves for emergency situations. The winner was Rosanne Mackness who lives in Bedfordshire. She wanted to experience her local lanes so we delayed her trip until June when the Bedfordshire lanes are open. She came with her granddaughter Rachel and they both had a great day out. They spent the morning in the back of our 110 and in the afternoon Rachel sat in with Dick Greaves in his 90 and Rosanne with Eric Prowse in his Series. I think that we take the capabilities of our vehicles and the lanes we can drive for granted sometimes. Rosanne sent us a thank you note saying that they had both had a fantastic time and that she was going to persuade her husband to buy a Land Rover!

Keith and I were away at the time of the Thetford trip so we asked for volunteers to lead. Roger Jefferson kindly stepped forward to lead for the first time – and you’ll see from his article that it wasn’t too bad at all. Hopefully this will encourage some more of you to have a go!

We had fifteen vehicles on the Derbyshire trip and twelve on the Norfolk trip. Thanks to those who led groups on both trips. We had the usual mixed windy Peak District weather but the sun shone on us in Norfolk (apart from over the Beaumont’s tent – Karen was convinced it had rained all night in her corner of the field!). Greenlaning in the Peak District and Norfolk are completely different but we all had a good time on both trips - out laning and enjoying evenings round the fire. Have a look at Sarah Cahill’s article about Derbyshire and Emma & Paul Jones’ article about the Norfolk weekend.

Now a word of warning – even shallow fords can be very slippery at this time of year. A group out on a club run in Hertfordshire recently found that Barwick ford which is on a road and has a nice smooth concrete base was covered in algae and was more exciting than they expected! Anna Taylor managed to slide in the water putting two wheels over the edge and almost hit the bridge while Ian Parsons and Chris Mayo found it very hard to keep their footing while rescuing her!

FP Autumn 2011

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If you are going to come out greenlaning regularly we recommend that you get a CB. Not only can you enjoy the banter that goes on during the day but it’s really helpful to be able to contact others in the group when something happens – even if its only to say you need a ‘comfort stop’! It helps the leaders as we can quickly alert everyone to hazards on the road and means it’s easier to sort everyone out on the rare occasions (!!) that we take a wrong turn. They don’t have to be expensive and there are lots of knowledgeable people in the club who will happily give advice on what to buy, how to fit it and how to get it working properly.

If you want to come on any a trip please book your place and very importantly if you aren’t going to be able to make it for some reason please let us know so that someone else can take your place. To book your place email greenlanes@bhclrc.co.uk. If you don’t have access to email please telephone 01234 826677.

We send out regular update emails – if you don’t receive them then contact us at greenlanes@bhclrc.co.uk and we will add you to the mailing list.

See you all soon Heather

Colin’s Competition Corner I have just about recovered from the brilliant 10th Birthday Bash and must take this opportunity to thank the organisers of the weekend and all those who helped over the weekend. We had a very well attended Family Vehicle Trial and Punch Challenge more of which will appear in the . next edition of Since the last edition we have been busy with a Family Vehicle Trial at Whitwell, an RTV at Croydon and Heath & Reach, and a Pay and Play day at Yarwell. In addition the club had a stand at the Whitwell Steam Fair where Terry kindly lent us his see-saw to demonstrate in the arena. I would also like to thank those who turned up for a very wet Codicote Village Day to help with the road closure.

The trial attendances continue to fluctuate with 13 at the Whitwell, only 3 at Croydon and then 10 at Heath & Reach – please help promote the events as much as possible through discussions with others and by writing articles for Four Play.

All events are publicised on both the Forum and via our Facebook Group called ‘Beds Herts & Cambs Land Rover Club’ Did you know that you can configure the Forum to send you an email when a new topic is created in a specific area? If you log onto the forum and then select the ‘Whats On’ section, this will display all the recent posts in this part of the forum. If you move to the bottom of the page, you will see ‘Subscribe to this forum’ If you click on this you will be subscribed and you will then automatically be sent an email any time someone adds a new Topic. You will not be overloaded with email as there are less that 10 new topics per month.

Finally just to remind everyone that the AGM will occur at the pub night on Thursday 3 November. As always all committee posts are up for election so if you think you can help or do better please put your name forward or contact anyone on the committee for more information.

See you soon Colin Page 6 - FP Autumn 2011

A warm welcome to all our new members since the last FP Name

From

Vehicles

Stevenage

Fourtrack Defender

Chris

Howells

Mark

Woodland

Harlow

Steven

Woodland

Harlow

Ian Gaye Simon

Cleary

Wisbech

Minney

Kempston

Robinett

110 SCSW 300 tdi

Yaxley

Discovery 300 TDI

Andy

Tilbury

Bassingbourn

Discovery 300 TDI

John

Cargill

Codicote

Range Rover

Jon

Waller

Haynes

Keith Con Harry Pip Mike Louise

Shuttleworth

Luton

2.5 DHSE Range Rover

Hainault, Ilford

Range Rover Classic, Range Rover Vogue

Lessman

South Ockendon

Discovery 2 V8

Hughes

Wigginton

Discovery 300TDI

Duxford

1978 Series III

Cambridge

Discovery TD5

Watford

Discovery 1 3.9EFI, Discovery 1 300 TDI

Hogan

Price Robinson

Dom

Allder

Mark

Johnson

Dunstable

Discovery 1 300 TDI

Aaron

Smith

Tebworth

Defender

Colin

Joyce

Hinckley

Harry

Twigger

Nuneaton

James

Hislop

Great Offley

Defender 90

Kelly

Wright

Toddington

Suzuki Vitara

Graham

Grover

Dunstable

Series III

Bassingbourn

Discovery 300TDI

Paul

Cook

FP Autumn 2011

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LATEST FROM media.landrover.com Land Rover Confirms All-New Defender Land Rover DC100 investigates the potential future direction of the iconic Defender Demonstrates the future of Land Rover capability and versatility Functional and purposeful design delivered by Land Rover design team, led by Gerry McGovern n

Land Rover confirms its intention to launch a new Defender in 2015

The Land Rover DC100, a modern interpretation of the iconic Land Rover Defender will make its debut at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Land Rover also confirms today, that production of a new Defender is intended for 2015.

Commenting on the Land Rover DC100 concept car,Gerry McGovern, Director of Design, Land Roversaid:"Replacing the iconic Defender is one of the biggest challenges in the automotive design world; it is a car that inspires people worldwide.

This isn't a production-ready concept but the beginning of a four-year journey to design a relevant Defender for the 21st century."

John Edwards, Global Brand Director, Land Roveradded: "Loved the world over for its simple, honest and distinctive design, we are determined that the new Defender will be true to its heritage, while meeting the requirements of a changing global market.

We plan to engage with existing and potential customers to help us finalise the details of the new vehicle. One thing's for sure, it's going to be an exciting journey, and we can't wait to get going." LR

Reading the forums the response to the new concept has been very Marmitey, with most hating it, but I remember a similar reaction to a Defender concept in the 80s. Time will tell but I hope there will be an outpost somewhere in the world that carries on building the ‘classic’ Defender once the production line is ripped out of Solihull. Russ Page 8 - FP Autumn 2011

Land Rover Funds Response Units For The British Red Cross Gaydon, Warwickshire, 25 August 2011 -As part of Land Rover's three year global initiative of 'Reaching Vulnerable People Around the World', the first pair of cycle response units (CRUs) were handed over to the British Red Cross at the Guy Salmon dealership in Knutsford yesterday.

This September will see the bikes rolled out across theUK, as part of a vital new nationwide fleet of 26 cycles for the British Red Cross. They will help strengthen the ability of the Red Cross to respond to emergencies and people in need of assistance.

Developed with 2x2, Land Rover's bicycle manufacturer, the 26 bikes (which will work in pairs) have been custom built and will be fully equipped to save lives. British Red Cross first aiders will be geared up for emergencies and the 13 pairs of CRUs will be able to effectively navigate urban and crowded areas, reaching people faster in times of emergency with life-saving care.

Each CRU is fully equipped with a defibrillator, advanced first aid kit and resuscitation equipment, enabling first-aiders to respond to incidents swiftly.

Colin Green, Managing Director of Land RoverUKsaid: "We are absolutely delighted to be able to contribute to the long term support of the British Red Cross in our home market. By installing defibrillators in both the 30 donated vehicles and in these cycle response units, it will significantly enhance the British Red Cross' ability to treat people at crowded events and areas where vehicle access is limited, whatever the terrain or conditions."

"It's been great seeing the bikes here at Knutsford - knowing they will be helping to save lives right across theUK. By equipping our 2x2 cycles with life-saving equipment means that The British Red Cross is even better prepared for emergencies - especially at the forthcoming Chester races and Tatton Park Triathlon in the north west," added Jason Emanuel, Managing Director of Guy Salmon, Knutsford.

Richard Hankins, Head of Events First Aid for the British Red Cross said: "Land Rover's support for this project has considerably enhanced our capabilities to get to people much faster and to provide that critical care. This could play a defining factor in survival to a variety of medical emergencies, such as cardiac arrest - whereby it can be the difference of saving a life if treatment can be delivered to the patient within the initial minutes of the arrest."

The collaboration between Land Rover UK and the British Red Cross is part of the major global partnership between Land Rover and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), announced in August 2010. It involves Land Rover supporting national Red Cross societies in 15 countries, with each country adopting a priority programme. LR FP Autumn 2011

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10th Birthday Bash August 2011 By Owen Rogers.

I’m 34. That’s not my age (anymore); it’s my membership number. I pretty much joined after the original committee members founded the club. I’ve seen it grow from a small bunch of mad enthusiasts putting things together at the Airman, and in various living rooms to what it has become to-day. I moved away from the area, and returned for the Gaydon marshalling in 2008. I had to get approval to break the family holiday up early for this year’s event, so I hoped the boy and I wouldn’t be disappointed.

My son – Toby – was 9 when I joined. He used to sit in the middle seat and change gears. He quickly progressed to sitting on my lap and steering. He got his own back over the years and particularly over this weekend: I was rarely allowed to move from the passenger’s seat: up to Yarwell, during the pay and play and the extreme punch challenge.

We had no idea what to expect. Arriving from Wales around 9 p.m. it was getting dark.

The scene was similar to a Billing, an Eastnor or Stoneleigh – tents and caravans as far as the eye could see. The organisation was just as professional; a meet and greet upon registration and directions provided to the all important, heavily subsidised bar.

Saturday was a scorcher. It must be true that the sun shines on the righteous. With the safety announcements over, the site was open for play, for the whole of the day. With holes, hills and humps galore together with a few cheeky water areas, there was plenty to occupy the traybacks, Series, 90s, 110s, Discos and Rangies.

The air was filled with the smell of fuel and the frequent roar of a V8.

Some of us took a break to help out with prepping the veg for the 17th Century banquet, and many thanks to James Addy and his wife for dishing up a Page 10 - FP Autumn 2011

stunning three course meal to over 120 campers. A disco closed the end of a fabulous day.

Sunday morning started early, not least thanks to a bit of thunder and lightning at sunrise. This did at least cancel out the snoring we endured near our tent over the two nights. With scrutineering underway from 8 a.m. two punch challenges were open to all. We took the extreme option and went back on course hunting for 10 punches, hidden in some very challenging and well hidden spots. The challenge was mileage based not time based, so every foot let alone tenth of a mile wasted was critical.

With our 200+ mile journey home to look forward to, we spent the last hour in the morning watching Russ Beck attempt parts of the site no man had ever attempted before – all in a Series with leafs! – and then said our farewells.

Much had been put into this weekend. Many hours of tireless preparation, by many people: booking the site, setting up the camping area, the loos, the beer tent, the real ale brewed for this unique event, the entertainment, the food, the cake, the hot water permanently on supply, the Tyro, the punch challenge, the greenlaning, the sandcastle competition and the children’s treasure hunt. The list was endless and the enjoyment absolutely fantastic. Many many thanks to all those who helped make the BHCLRC 10BB a resounding success. If you were there, I’m sure you had as much fun as me and the boy. You might have even driven your own vehicle for more than a few minutes without your son beating you to the driver’s side more often than not. Owen The next issue of Four Play will contain full coverage of this event with lots more articles and pictures.

FP Autumn 2011

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10th Birthday Bash - A Big

Thank You The BHCLRC 10th Birthday Bash sub-committee would like to say a really big thank you to the following club members for their donations or supply of goods/services to the Birthday Bash: Diane Sheppard – Birthday Cake Pete Newman (Mick George) – Skip Steve Draper (City of Cambridge Brewery) – Real Ale and also to Vivienne & James Addy for their menu planning, preparation and cooking of the Saturday evening meal.

We would also like to thank everyone for helping set up on Friday, providing or transporting equipment, marshalling, greenlane leading, helping the chefs, organising and running the bar, helping “newbies”, writing articles for Four Play and clearing the site on Monday.

10th Birthday Bash Sub-Committee Chris Bongailas Jason Pegg Jayne Treutlein Keith Parkinson Page 12 - FP Autumn 2011

Mark Goold Neill Blake Paul Vernon Terry Dennis

Whitwell FVT May 2011 By Ian Trudgett.

The latest Family Vehicle Trial was held at Almshoebury near Whitwell on Sunday 22nd May which at first glance looks like a fairly ordinary paddock. But with some great use of the tree line and border into the next field by Colin & Avo, was transformed into a very interesting Trial.

Over a dozen vehicles turned up to compete, and after a quick safety check and explanation of the rules started on the first of seven sections.

Section 1 was a “simple” do you know how long and wide your Land rover is, well a great deal of us didn’t including myself as demonstrated by Avo who

could still walk between my front bumper and the cane!

Section 2 to 7 got progressively worse (for a family trial) with some deep ruts , angled climbs and well placed gates to give even the seasoned Trialer something to think about.

The God of weather was kind to us apart from one almighty downpour, and after chatting to both driver’s families and marshals a great time was had by all.

As a first timer myself I would like to thank all those that offered me advice

especially Colin, Avo and Pete it was most appreciated. And to those club members who made it all happen.

Special congrats go to another first timer Nige White who won the event in his standard Disco with some great driving.

Can’t wait till the next one………Ian Results on page 40 FP Autumn 2011

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Derbyshire Trip May 2011

By Sarah Cahill: Photos from everyone on the trip.

This Whitsun we were back in Derbyshire for some good lanes and lots of gossip round the campfire. The hardy amongst us camped at their usual location at nearly 400m altitude on the edge of Tideswell Moor; Andrew and I brought the caravan to a small but sheltered site in Bradwell. Mike and Anita would have camped too, except their tent poles didn’t make the trip so they got to play motel roulette instead.

Although the comfort (and warmth) was nice, the fire alarm in the middle of the night put a dampener on it!

Our ‘new’ piece of kit for the trip was a little gas stove with interchangeable plates to grill, griddle, BBQ etc. Unfortunately it only really worked with an upturned frying pan as a lid over the food! It was suggested that in future we do a trial run of our toys at home instead of in the middle of a field while hungry. I’m inclined to agree…

By the time our dinner was finished, the fire was going well – it had been expertly built and lit by Richard with his clever fire stick – and it was time to teach some of the younger members of the party (and Keith!) about the deliciousness of S’mores: melted marshmallows between two chocolate digestives – and much better than the American version.

Needless to say they went down very well, although they also had a strong attraction to loose hair, to one or two girls’ dismay.

Saturday started with us one tent down; however we were also missing its occupants and their vehicle – it turned out that Morné had received a phone call at 2am about a Page 14 - FP Autumn 2011

water leak at home and they had decided to return home to sort it out.

Once the drivers’ briefing was complete, the territory was roughly divided between the three groups. We led a group on the north half – this was a good thing as I wasn’t too sure where the other half was, or how you could divide two halves between three groups…

The first lane of the day was to the west of Bradwell, from there we headed to the steep rocky lane down though the quarry south east of Castleton. Some mountain bikers coming up the hill broke our group up temporarily, but banter over the CB kept us on the right track. A bit on the road via Hope took us to the long track up onto

Abney Moor – of course we had to turn back onto the road at Abney to avoid the section that can no longer be driven. Another short road section via Hathesage took us to the long byway across Burbage Moor and we stopped for lunch near the end of the lane, gaining some shelter from the trees at Lady Canning’s plantation.

A loop north of Ringinglow took in another short lane before heading towards the ‘good bit’ of the day – the fabulous Stanage Edge. Of our group, Mike and Anita hadn’t FP Autumn 2011

- Page 15

driven it before, we have done but not in the Disco, whereas the experienced hands of Russ and Bryan – enough said. I still haven’t been in a vehicle going down the exciting rocks as I was needed for spotting again. Andrew struggled most as the Disco had the smallest tyres in the group – and no diff guards, which made things rather interesting. Russ was next and in his Series skipped over the rocks like a mountain goat. Then we got Mike

down quite easily, and Bryan came down in such a way that I barely managed to get a photo…

After a little lane near Bamford we eventually reached Rushup Edge and the lane past The Roych. But unfortunately around the first corner there was a stand-in protest blocking our way. We gently edged the Disco forward and slowly they backed down and cleared the lane - letting us on our way with a defiant “Moo!” Following the one-way down the rock steps meant they were not too great a challenge, although a few towbars made solid contact. After going through Chapel-en-le-Frith, we took the track past Rowter Farm back towards the campsite.

Round the campfire that night the craic was flowing (at speed as the wind was blowing straight off the moor again). Bryan was drinking Titanic Iceberg beer – apparently “it goes down well”… Neil passed his glass of whisky to his son while he went to their tent. However Duncan had not chosen the most stable piece of ground on which to place his chair and it keeled over, but like a good Scotsman he made sure not to spill a drop! And Keith got kissed by a german called Fritz (who fortunately was half springer spaniel).

Sunday saw our group doing lanes to the south. One of the first was Monksdale Lane, tight between the dry stone walls. After an ice cream stop at the old station at Millers Page 16 - FP Autumn 2011

Dale, we followed the long lane to Monsal Dale. Along here we met some walkers who were happy to open a couple of gates for us – jokingly they tried to charge us a pound – EACH! Then via the track to Great Longstone, along which we stopped for lunch. An inquisitive squirrel seemed to find us very interesting and obligingly posed for photos.

Russ and Gaye took over leading, taking the group via the lovely village of Ashford in the Water. A lane at Taddington appeared no longer accessible, so we followed an alternative south and picked up a lane towards Monyash. Andrew knows the corner where this lane rejoins the road well – during a motor club scatter whilst at university, a fellow competitor crashed his car here!

The next lane saw a race between the group and more cows as we hurried to get through a gate before the chasing bovine mob caught up and escaped! This was as far south as we got as for the next couple of lanes we turned east. The lane back towards Middleton had plenty of gates – at its start Russ stopped and gave us a souvenir – a link of chain dug out from his tyre! A couple more lanes led us to Bakewell, picking up an interesting lane which took the group to Chatsworth. A loop round Beeley included another lane before heading back through Chatsworth to Rowland (the obligatory cows holding up traffic again). The lane here passed through disused quarries before joining the road to head north to Calver. A tight and interesting climb up from Stoney Middleton led us to the last lane for Mike and Anita – a short, very steep and entertaining downhill.

The rest of the group followed two lanes around Bretton and then the final lane of the day between Great and Little Hucklow.

Sunday evening saw much of the same campfire gossip – at Russ’s suggestion, the fire pit was moved, getting it out of the wind and keeping everyone much warmer.

Strangely enough it also was much closer to his tent! As so many people had brought marshmallows and there were thankfully enough biscuits, we were able to have more S’mores and it was my turn to get marshmallow in my hair. However, I didn’t seem to care!

As usual on Monday, a group headed home laning south from the campsite, but we decided to give it a miss this year as we thought it might be not so easy with our caravan! Sarah

FP Autumn 2011

- Page 17

Croydon - Setting out the trial By Bryan Moss.

There has been much debate about the value of trials within the club during the last year.

Hopefully, I will now explain how important these events really are.

A quick bit of background to my involvement in BHCLRC. Having Green laned a few times, including Wales and the Peak District, I moved to Hong Kong on a 2 year work placement. While there, I looked into the 4WD possibilities locally, but only found the Hong Kong Land Rover Club. After looking into their activities, I decided that it wasn’t really right for me, their activities being humanitarian rather than 4x4 related (don’t misunderstand this – I fully support what they do, but my general feeling was why use a LandRover for this? – I could get a sports car through that terrain. Since the Off-Road driving style that I enjoyed didn’t seem to exist there, I rented an apartment in Discovery Bay, where cars are banned! My stay in HK was cut short at 17 months, but in that time, I only saw 2 Defenders, and no Series vehicles – well one series vehicle, and if I had been living there long term, I would have bought and restored it – it was a 1952 SI that was rotting in a garden on South Lantau Island.) Anyway, I digress. When I came back to the UK for a holiday, I was keen to use my truck as much as possible off road, and so took it to the RTV trial at Croydon. Due to my earlier exploits in the club it was assumed that I knew what I was doing and so no-one told me that I could compete as a novice! That day of competition got me hooked, and I have competed in every event that I have been able to attend to since.

Setting up doesn’t require any real addiction to competition, though it does help if you are willing to marshal the event as well. However, if you aren’t familiar with competitive events, it is worth doing your first setup with someone who is. On this occasion, the setup team was Mark Goold, Andy Restall and myself – all experienced competition drivers, though with varying levels of driving ability.

The Croydon site at first appearance doesn’t look too challenging. Anyone who has competed there will tell you that appearances can be deceptive. Setting out a trial at this site is very challenging, but can be extremely rewarding (especially when the drivers that have been beating you all season get a 10 on what you thought was a relatively easy section!)

So the setup for this event. We arrived at the site for 10am. Using an extremely rare level of foresight, we decided to set out a section using the muddiest area of the site first. The first 4 gates were placed in about 10 minutes. Then the fun began – the fifth gate was to cross the mud. Sound simple? It took nearly half an hour to extract my truck. Enter the mud with a bit more speed – result, another half hour extracting my truck. Try a different route – more time spent extracting the truck! Only one more possible route – and the truck got seriously stuck again (this time requiring 2 vehicles to extract it!) 2 ½ hours after starting, we still only had 4 gates positioned, but we were all laughing! Having concluded that the mud was unpassable, we set up the next 6 gates, allowing people the option of hanging themselves by trying the mud run. It was gratifying that this worked on the day catching a very experienced competitor. The final gate on this section would have ideally involved a different area on the mud section.

There were two options for this. As the most experienced driver of the group, Andy drove into the first, and duly came to a halt in the mud. After a relatively easy extraction, he tried the second … and came to a halt. After failing to extract him using a single vehicle failed, we hooked a second vehicle on …. I couldn’t see what actually Page 18 - FP Autumn 2011

happened, but apparently it was a bit like a cork out of a champagne bottle! After that, we put the final gate as a tricky exit from a hill climb and went to the second section.

The first section had taken nearly 3 hours to set up.

The second section was to make use of the ruts at the bottom of the field, but as always, we wanted to use them in a way that no-one had done before. After a few minutes experimenting with ways of making this challenging, Andy came up with the answer. The section crossed the ruts at difficult angles several times before finally dropping into them, then requiring climbing out of them at one of the most difficult points. It concluded with a hub finish that required a stop as the rear wheel was part way down a drop.

Section 3 was set out on the wooded slope. We started with the biggest, steepest climb on the site. This proved to only be possible while following the ruts – so we deliberately made the gates wide enough for people to try other routes, and drive down it out of the ruts - happily, this tactic did work, and one competitor tried this route – only managing the climb when they accidentally dropped into the ruts! We tried to follow this with the first obvious descent. My sideways descent of this slope resulted in much joking (and very nearly the requirement for some clean trousers!). When Andy descended in a similar fashion, we abandoned this route and took the next available option. This was steep drop and required a careful access route (the gates were positioned such that an approach from an unsafe direction would result in a points score and the marshals yelling STOP), and was followed by a side slope then a climb and a tight turn into another drop between the trees. The final challenge was a steep climb, to a one gate that wasn’t aligned with the obvious route.

Section 4 used the bomb hole (note – this hole is actually the remains of a cellar from the time of the great plague!) After starting people on a steep downhill slope, they were taken into the hole, and out through the easiest route. After a sharp turn, they were then taken back into the hole between the trees (this caused some concern when FP Autumn 2011

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setting out, but after Andy had driven his Disco through with a foot clear each side, we concluded that there was enough space.) The exit from the hole was the same route as the original entrance (experimentation had shown this to be the more difficult of the safe exit routes.) The following selection of climbs and descents was extremely difficult on the setup day – it just shows how much a site can change overnight that they were relatively easy during competition.

Section 5 – As Clerk of the Course, I would love to take credit for this one, but credit has to go to Andy.

The section started with a weave between the trees – this wasn’t particularly tight, but did require drivers to take the correct line. There then followed the traverse of a side slope – again, not particularly tight but requiring a very careful (and not particularly obvious) line. This ended with a steep climb, which had to be negotiated without any run-up.

The final section was set up in the far corner of the site – a very deceptive area. A difficult climb at the start was followed by a steep descent, then another climb. The canes were again positioned to allow competitors to hang themselves by taking the wrong line while staying within the driven line. As we had on previous sections, we opened up some new areas of the site, bringing the course over some rotting logs as it came across the slope. A few turns at the top of the slope, allowing competitors to hang themselves if they weren’t paying attention and a hub finish concluded this section.

At the end of the day, we had set up 6 sections, all of which could be reversed with some minor modifications. This may not sound much for 8 hours work, but we had found plenty of areas that either weren’t safe to use or couldn’t be driven.

While it’s a lot of fun competing, there is also a lot of fun available during setup. We had a full day of driving and recovery work while setting out something new for the competitors.

Changes in the conditions for the competition made some sections easier, and some sections more difficult. In one case, we had to make several modifications when reversing a section before it was actually possible, while on another section it became considerably easier when reversed. We even had one section where the standard SIII showed everyone how it was done.

Thanks to Andy and Mark for making it such a good day.

Bryan Page 20 - FP Autumn 2011

Croydon RTV By Gaye Minney.

Trial day at Croydon loomed bright and sunny – not just the weather, but the enthusiasm and sunny smiles when we were met by our two course builders, Mark Goold and Bryan Moss. It was just so sad there weren’t more drivers willing to take on their cleverly set sections; nevertheless, quality amply made up for the lack of quantity.

Each trial venue has its own peculiarity and Croydon is no exception. This is a field like no field I’ve ever seen – a lush meadow on the side of a small mountain with a spring bog at it’s base, a few trees and bushes thrown in for good measure further up and, on a very warm summery day such as this, it is buzzing with wildlife.

Before the day began, Russ Beck pointed out a spot where he’d become seriously stuck on a previous occasion. In a small hollow there were remains of a few brick walls below the surface where once there had been habitation. We were told there had been houses on that site but the occupants had been wiped out by the plague. I tried to source some more history but sadly found nothing relevant.

On this day we had only three drivers – John Ralphs in his Series 2a hybrid, Eric Prowse, an up and coming novice driving his Series 3 and Russ in his Series 2a (with me, Gaye, as his passenger ... still learning and watching with a view to having a go at this as soon as I feel ready).

Our intrepid course builders had plotted six sections, some of which would then be completed in reverse. At the request of the farmer we were to tackle the mud hole first as he wanted the thick, gooey clay-like mud to stay in the field! So we started by crossing the ruts by the mud hole and over the deep gully which caused Eric to get cross axled on his first attempt. The section looped around the mud hole, bypassing

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the deepest and stickiest area but forming a steep climb to the 1 gate.

No-one cleared the section. The next was done slalom style – crossing ruts on the flat part of the field and ending with a difficult hub-through finish.

Section 3 took us back to the first mud hole in reverse, but to achieve even the 5 gate proved impossible - many attempts were made to drive that gate with approach adjustments being made all the time. Eric almost turned his vehicle over ... twice!!

The next section was at the bomb hole – passing through it twice, but with no real problems. Section 5 was just above the bomb hole in the wooded area. Here John mistimed his turn and ended part way up a tree resulting in the usual adjustments to be made to the nearside front wing. The next section was at the highest point of the escarpment with a long traverse across the side slope. I have to add here that all along, Mark was giving valuable advice and encouragement to Eric, offering him alternatives should he feel in need – this being one section in particular which held dangers for a novice. To give him credit, Eric took the challenge head on and it almost proved his undoing when he stopped halfway down and quick thinking marshals prevented him from rolling his vehicle.

The far right hand corner of the site took us to Section 7 which, again, proved uneventful but interesting when Russ took quite a large tree branch with him and broke his roof lights. Finally the last Section of the day was 6 in reverse and, amazingly, Eric was the only person to go clear – his first clear for the whole day ... well done!

When the trial was finally finished, Russ and I were very hot, the Land Rover was caked in mud and we felt the day was still young enough to go Green Laning down Violet Lane on to Standon ford, then Latchford ford in order to find enough water to make an attempt at cleaning up the underside of the vehicle. This is how we ended our day . .

In the River Rib at Hanging Wood.

Gaye Results on page 40 Page 22 - FP Autumn 2011

Norfolk Green Laning Weekend By Paul Jones.

Additional photos by Emma Jones, Heather Parkinson and Ian Parsons.

It was a dark and stormy night .... Alright, it was a sunny and blowy day in July. Emma and I were off to ride the greenlanes again. This time we were going to manage it without breaking something, bending something or going home on the back of a trailer.

We got to the camping site at Great Bircham in the afternoon of Friday 22nd July, just as the lady on site was opening up the back paddock for camping. We were the second vehicle there (Bryan was first) so we got our pick of the flat spots in the bowl shaped field. After setting up the tent we went for a wander around the windmill and had a cake in the shop – cakes from the shop became something of a theme over the weekend.

Over the course of the next couple of hours the other vehicles turned up and set up and people settled down around the campfire in a box. Slowly the alcohol and dinners got consumed. The alcohol perhaps a little more freely than it should.

We brought what we thought would be enough for the weekend and drank it all on the first night.

The following morning everyone was divided into 3 groups and allocated to areas/routes where we would be laning that day. We left as soon as the cake shop had opened and everyone had stocked up on cake.

Our group was led by Ian with Bryan in his 90 and two South African guys in a Disco. We’d finally managed to get a working CB so this time we could talk to everyone as we bounced along.

The first lane we hit had obviously not been used since last year. There was very little sign of the lane underneath the overgrown weeds. We had to drive practically in the hedge because there was a ditch somewhere on the other side underneath all the plants.

At one point we crossed the Wells Wallsingham steam railway. There were no barriers across the line so Ian went first. The South African guys were second and as they started up the bank to the railway there was the sound of an approaching train. The guys say they looked up for the train and stopped.

Then they looked down for it and then further down. When it trundled past a few feet from their bumper the train was only about 4 feet high. If they’d been on the line a crash would probably have caused more damage to the train than to their Disco.

Shortly afterwards we stopped for a drink by the side of the lane. We were on a concrete platform used by farmers to pile up their straw. We’d been there for a few FP Autumn 2011

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minutes when an Isuzu truck came barrelling up the road towards us. A guy jumped out and asked us what we were doing. It turned out that he was the local farmer and someone had reported some suspicious characters hanging around in vehicles on the farm track. A few weeks before someone had nicked a bird scarer for scrap metal and then someone else had set fire to a barn.

Back at the camp that evening the campfire was set up again. I had a severe bout of envy and really want to get a Coleman Lantern.

The next day dawned bright and clear and seriously windy. Packing the tents away for those of us that were heading off was certainly an interesting experience.

The first lane started slowly. There was a whole flock of juvenile pheasants running down the track in front of Ian. The stupid things kept running ahead of him instead of jumping off the side in to the bushes. There followed a series of tracks just slightly smaller than the vehicles. Everyone acquired a few new scratches on the side of their Defenders / Disco and we got particularly worried with the low branches continuously clanging off our roof rack.

Some time was spent on Peddars Way – much to the annoyance of the walkers. Bryan had it best at the back. The walkers were frowning when the first car went past, but a series of smiling and waving drivers meant that by the time the last car passed it the walkers were feeling guilty that they were so grouchy and started to wave back.

Finally, we stopped to look at a ruined church near Bewsey St James. The puzzle with the place being that usually there would be a village attached to a church.

The Time Team even came to try and find it, but found nothing.

Oh, and we did lose a bit of the car. The aerial on our CB lost its end at some point. We’ll give Ian his spare back when we see him next. Paul Page 26 - FP Autumn 2011

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A Land Rover Experience

by Colin Argent.

I know not everyone is a Facebook fan but it did recently get me a free half day Land Rover Experience (LRE) day. For those fb’ers out there, I had ‘liked’ a group called Land Rover who occasionally had posted details of the free LRE days which I normally only saw several hours too late. Whilst recovering at home from my hernia I logged on (I was working hard – honestly!) and saw a new post that was offering these and it had only been posted 18 seconds earlier. I rang up and I was in! Now for my second surprise, there was a LRE centre at Luton Hoo, only 8 miles from home.

I arrived at the LRE site to find a row of silver Land Rovers, 2 110’s, 2 Discovery 4’s, 2 RR Sports, 1 ‘Proper’ RR and 1 Freelander – note to self – if buying a second hand Land Rover that is silver – check who the previous owners were – it might have done a lot of off roading! One of the old Luton Hoo estate barns has been converted into a plush reception centre showing LR promo videos with nice comfy sofas and tea and biscuits on tap.

We were introduced to Paul, our instructor, who asked what we were hoping to get out of the day. Paul was a former police driving instructor who got into this job after going on an LRE day himself after he had bought himself a 110. I had wondered whether to play dumb (I’m very good at that) and turn up in a car to see how they explained the vehicles but decided that would be boring so turned up in my 90. We had chosen the 110 as our vehicle as, apart from a short drive in Hayley Brown’s Puma, I had not properly driven the new one and if I was to ever change my 90, it would probably be for a 110 (not a silver one though!).

Paul gave us a very quick overview of the vehicle skipping most of the details Page 28 - FP Autumn 2011

as he guessed we knew what the levers and buttons did. First we went for a road test across to Redbourne, through the fords at Redbournebury Mill, into Harpenden and back towards the centre. Once near the centre we turned onto a track across the farmland to a small wood and open area where some obstacles had been constructed – according to Google maps, the total site is just over 15 acres. Paul first drove us round the obstacles which consisted of; a concrete bowl designed to demonstrate side slopes and get a wheel to lift into the air, a rocky path to drive along, a couple of large humps and then some offset lumps to test the articulation. The woods had some tracks through then using the gentle hills and tree roots to good effect. Dad and I drove the vehicle around the site.

Those who want hard-core off roading will be disappointed, the aim of LRE is to demonstrate the capabilities of the vehicles as standard, they all have road tyres and only the Defenders are modified, having winches fitted. Looking at the expressions of the people in the other vehicles, they were very impressed.

Once back in the reception building for more tea and biscuits I spoke with Richard Beddall (those who go to Gaydon will know Richard as the commentator for the heritage run) who runs this franchise. Richard previously ran the centres at Ashford and Milton Keynes which have closed and been merged into this centre. The course was designed by Land Rover themselves and is the template for all new LRE centres around the world – indeed the dealer off road training for the Evoque is due to be held here. In addition to the demo days, the Luton Hoo centre also offers winch training, trailer handling and will soon be offering BORDA certified instructor training.

If you want a visit yourself then keep an eye on the Facebook group or if you show interest at a dealership and ask for an extended test drive, they will give you a LRE voucher. Colin FP Autumn 2011

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Thetford June 2011 By Roger Jefferson: Extra photos by Mike Rees.

I’ve been on a few greenlaning trips in the past, including a couple with BHCLRC earlier this year. When Heather & Keith put out a SOS call for leaders I thought I would give it a go. Unfortunately my passenger for the last two trips declined to navigate, another colleague with laning experience had a previous engagement, but third time lucky, my cousin Robbie agreed to be in the hot seat.

Having offered to lead, Keith assured me that the Thetford area was an easy area for novices and that he would ensure that we had experienced people in our group.

To give us a chance, I installed a compass which had been languishing in the garage since my classic had gone to the recyclers. (Pause for a moment while I wipe away the tears). I also have a Garmin etrex GPS which we could use to give us a map reference to confirm our position.

So, on the morning of 25 June we headed off to the meeting point at the picnic area just NE of the fiveways roundabout at Barton Mills. We arrived early in order to get the maps and plan the route.

The club maps have all the lanes highlighted which means that they stand out very clearly, making it much easier to plan a route. Ian Parsons gave us an excellent briefing on the lanes in the area which Robbie remembered verbatim, which was just as well as my short term memory is …where was I? Anyway, Ian said he would start to the North (I think) so we decided to go East. We didn’t plan the entire route, one reason being as this was our first stab at leading we didn’t really know how many miles of lane we would cover. We decided (well Robbie did really, I was working on the principal that if it all went wrong it was his fault, and if it went well WE had done a good job!) seriously though, we planned the first few miles of lanes with some thoughts on were we could go next and would firm up on things when we stopped for a cuppa and lunch.

So the time of departure arrived, and we set off, Robbie & me in my Range Rover/Series 3 100” Hybrid followed by Steve Draper and John Patton in Disco Ones with Dick Greaves watching our backs in his Puma 90 – a small but select bunch. We returned to the fiveways roundabout and took the A1101 towards ESE, turning off at West Stow Country Park where we joined our first lane, the Icknield way path running NNE up through The King’s Forest virtually straight for about 4 miles. We looked for Page 30 - FP Autumn 2011

North Stow Hall to the East but could not see it through the trees. We joined the B1106 northwards for a short distance and then headed West on the Duke’s Ride.

As we got to the corner of Berner’s Heath we could see the War Memorial on the A11 near Elveden.

This memorial is where it is because it is at the point where three Parish boundaries meet, (Elveden, Eriswell & Icklingham) and the Parishes clubbed together to pay for the memorial. It is reputed to be the tallest war memorial in Suffolk. We turned SSE at this point towards Icklingham and stopped for a break just before the A1101.

Suitably refreshed we joined the A1101 and again headed to West Stow Country Park, but this time continued on the B road to Brockley Corner where we turned NNE along a lane running along the eastern edge of The King’s Forest and followed this track around the forest to pick up another track running NNE past Triangle Plantation where we took the right fork towards Barnham. We had planned to do an investigatory lap of Burnham, but the A134 was very busy and we decided that it would take a while for four vehicles to turn right across the traffic, so we turned left and left again at the lights westwards along Elveden Road to New Barnham Slip. We stopped for lunch along this track near to where we stopped for supper on the night laning trip.

After lunch we continued southwards to Barrow’s Corner where we turned left back to the northern edge of the forest where we turned left again up the track towards triangle plantation, but this time turned right after half a mile across to the A134, going south about 200 yards and then turning sharp left up Euston Drove.

After going through Euston we came onto the Rushford Road.

After about a mile we turned right onto a track for about a mile to join a B road, Spalding’s Chair Hill, then on to Shadwell, Brettenham & Bridgham where we took a double left to head westwards to the Peddars Way. Spotting a car park at the end of the Peddars FP Autumn 2011

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Way, I drove in to stop for a cuppa, but none of the others followed, in fact, when I parked I could see Dick parked in the lane the other side of the fence. None of the others could get under the barrier into the car park without removing roof bars or CB aerials! We left the car park and joined Dick for afternoon tea then continued up Peddars Way, across the railway line, turning left (west) on the Hereward way for about 3 miles. Half way along, just after crossing the A1075 is Langmere Lake, and here we found a simple stone memorial to Dr Sydney Long, who founded Norfolk Naturalists Trust in 1926. Carrying on took us to a B road to the A134 which we crossed over onto the Harling Way. We arrived at the end of the Harling Way, just north of Brandon about 4.45 and with two of the group coming from Hertford it seemed a convenient point to say our goodbyes and disperse.

The weather was dry and warm, all of the lanes were straight forward and we only had to stop and check our directions a couple of times. The GPS certainly helped, but in dense woodland we occasionally lost the signal. Robbie and I enjoyed the day and hope the others did – they all had CBs and we didn’t, so we have no idea what they were saying about us! Roger Page 32 - FP Autumn 2011

The

Guide To....

Irony

FP Autumn 2011

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Orcadian Odyssey By Heather Parkinson.

We planned our Orkney Expedition as a ‘shake down’ trip for our white 110 and all its modifications and for us to experience living in the vehicle including wild camping and moving on from place to place, planning as we went. The plan was two days travel to the very north of Scotland, three weeks in Orkney, and two days driving back.

The ferry from Scotland was booked for 9.30am on Sunday 19 June so we planned to leave when we were ready on the Friday and split the 640 miles over two days.

Unfortunately all sorts of things transpired against us, not least that Keith was fitting twin batteries to the 110 on Friday morning, and we didn’t leave until 7.30pm. We managed 170 miles and stayed in Harrogate. That left 470 miles for Saturday which took us 11 hours thanks in part to torrential rain and slow trucks we couldn’t pass on the A9.

Orkney consists of about 70 islands of which 18 are inhabited. The majority of the 20,000 population lives on the largest island called Mainland – about 9,000 of those live in Kirkwall, the modern capital and about 2,500 in Stromness, the ancient capital.

The southern tip of Orkney is less than 10 miles from the north east corner of Scotland. The islands are completely different from the highlands of Scotland – no gaelic is spoken and their history is more involved with Norway, Iceland and the Vikings than the Scottish mainland. There is still a Norwegian Consulate in Kirkwall!

Our plan was to travel in the Land Rover to and camp on as many islands as possible – I don’t think we did badly! We went to:

ü

Mainland – with road links over the Churchill Barriers to Burray and South Ronaldsay

ü

Stronsay

ü

Eday

ü

Sanday

ü

Hoy

ü

Rousay

ü

Westray

ü

Shapinsay

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In total we took 14 ferries with the Land Rover and Keith and I went on a passenger only boat to Papa Westray for the day.

We didn’t make it to North Ronaldsay as the ferry timetable would have required a four day stay and the ferry is hoist on and off which we weren’t sure about!

The ferries were fun, small Ro-Ro vessels with some only taking half a dozen vehicles where you stay in your vehicle. We had to reverse on, which was fine for us but not so easy for some of the commercial vehicles and large camper vans. Commercial vehicles were chained down and our wheels were chocked on some crossings, apparently they don’t trust Defender handbrakes.

On our trip to Shapinsay we were closely packed between the side of the vessel and a huge gravel lorry.

I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get out in an emergency. The crewman assured me I needn’t worry - they would just jiggle the vehicles around a bit. Very laid back!!

The inhabited islands are primarily used for agriculture – cows (beef herds), sheep, barley and potatoes. Like Iceland there are virtually no trees. Apparently as a result of climate change and burning the rest in the Bronze Age and it’s too windy for them to grow back FP Autumn 2011

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properly.

Other than on Mainland, communities struggle to survive. We were very sad to see that almost every other shop, hotel or pub is for sale. And yes we were tempted! Eday seems to have it right. The population of about 150 has formed Eday Community Enterprises which runs everything and the island seems to be thriving. Diesel at the community shop was £1.68/litre!

Most of the islands have sandy beaches and wild rugged cliffs several hundred feet high with stacks and arches, inland are rolling fields and wild heathland. The exception is Hoy which has cliffs of 1000 feet in the north and proper mountains.

On the smaller islands we saw loads of seals and eventually worked out how to distinguish between commons and greys. Common seals look like Labradors when they are watching you from the sea. There were masses of seabirds and we eventually saw a colony of puffins (once we’d been told where to look) flying in from the sea straight into their burrows at the top of the cliffs.

We only had two problems with the Land Rover. Over the first few days we became aware that the second battery wasn’t charging. On our first Tuesday afternoon we were camping at Kirkwall and Keith decided to do a temporary fix so we could use the fridge from the main battery. While doing this he dropped a nut down between the batteries and discovered that the main connection between the two batteries wasn’t connected!! No wonder it wasn’t charging. The connection was made and it all worked beautifully for the rest of the trip. Moral of the story is of course not to leave major jobs to the last minute – but we all already know that don’t we?

We noticed a pool of condensation under the mattress of the roof tent after about a week. We have since established that this is par for the course in ‘cooler’ climates and happens to all roof tents – the answer is to go on trips to Australia and South Africa which of course is where most roof tents come from! Keith emailed Chris at Boab while we were away and he advised that we need to ensure that air circulates under the mattress (now sorted with the purchase of a special mat designed for the same Page 36 - FP Autumn 2011

problem in boats – much cheaper than Boab’s option). Chris also advised that we use natural fibres for bedding and gave examples – down, wool, cotton and leather! That’s a new one to me.

We camped in some amazing places but also returned to the council run site at Kirkwall a few times. It wasn’t the most scenic location but was convenient for the ferries to other islands, Tesco and the restaurants in town and the site had brilliant showers, laundry and washing up facilities. We could see three lighthouses and harbour lights from the roof tent when camped at Stromness. We stayed on small out of the way sites with fantastic views on Sanday, South Ronaldsay and Birsay on Mainland. We wild camped by the sea on Eday, Stronsay and Hoy and inland on Hoy too, there being no campsites on these islands. We ate out when we came across somewhere that looked OK but mostly cooked ourselves and discovered that waffle boards are combustible when Keith used one to support a disposable BBQ. We did a lot of walking; the best walks were probably to the cliffs across from the Old Man of Hoy and a 9.5 mile route from the campsite at Birsay that took us round the coast and over a rocky causeway to the Brough of Birsay. We had to check the tide first.

One of the main reasons tourists visit Orkney is its wealth of archaeology. The really well known locations are on Mainland and together make up the ‘Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site.’ These are Skara Brae, Maeshowe, Stones of Steness and the Ring of Brodgar. Skara Brae is a Neolithic village about 5000 years old. The Ring of Brodgar was originally about 60 stones in a circle of which about 30 are still standing. These locations were very busy (by Orkney standards) with day bus tours

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from John O Groats. You have to pay and there were wardens to make sure you didn’t go where you shouldn’t. We found the sites on the smaller islands more fun to visit. We visited Mid Howe on Rousay (as good as Maeshowe) and Knap Howar on Papa Westray. Both were free, unattended and we had them to ourselves. Knap Howar is the oldest standing building in northern Europe; it is a house and a workshop dating from 3600 BC. We could sit at the fireplace and imagine what it would have been like to live there 5600 years ago.

There is also the role Orkney and particularly Scapa Flow played in both the first and second world wars.

I’m not particularly interested in modern military stuff but there is a fantastic museum about Scapa Flow in both wars at the ferry terminal on Hoy. Unfortunately we only spent an hour and a half there as we had to catch a ferry but one could spend hours there. Loads of information and human stories. We bought some books to read instead.

We had ‘good’ weather for Orkney. I was surprised how windy it was (and pleased how well the roof tent stood up to it) but it was mostly dry. Daytime temperatures were between 13 and 23 degrees C with a fair amount of sunshine. The air is clear and what with the wind as well one needs plenty of sunscreen. What we weren’t prepared for was how light it was in June and July. The sun sets about 11pm and rises again at 3am so it never gets completely dark. I didn’t need my torch once. On Hoy we walked to the beach and could take pictures at midnight. The downside was that the seabirds were up early – we had them stomping about on top of the roof tent eating bugs at four in the morning!

We met all sorts of interesting people, both locals and fellow travellers. We met a Welsh couple in a Disco 2 who had done the Mac in 2008, when we first did it – they were doing an Orkney Expedition but didn’t move their huge tent from next to the utility block on the Kirkwall campsite for the whole time!! On Sanday we met a couple in an old white 110 3-door from Orkney Mainland who were chilling out after a stressful week at work in Kirkwall. On Mainland we kept bumping into a young couple from York in an ancient lightweight. We were regularly stopped by locals and other travellers to discuss the vehicle and where we were going. The locals kept saying how pleased they were that we were making the effort to visit the smaller islands – they said that most visitors come to Mainland for a few days and think they have seen all of Orkney. Local farm workers were happy to suggest good places for us to camp.

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The Land Rover was great and took us down tracks we couldn’t have driven in a car but it wasn’t an ‘off road’ holiday. But of course we had to drive the wide expanses of white sand that are the beaches on Sanday!

Would we recommend a trip to Orkney?

Definitely yes but only if you are prepared to take things as they come, including the weather, and aren’t looking for too many commercial tourist attractions. We had a great holiday walking, enjoying the scenery and wildlife and exploring the archaeology and modern history – but if that isn’t your sort of thing you’d better give it a miss.

Heather

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Trials Results

Heath and Reach RTV 24/06/2011

Class

Points

Overall Pos.

Class Pos.

Whitwell FVT 22/05/2011 James Deeks

SP

1

1

1

Mike Deeks

SP

8

2

2

Vanessa Ralphs

SP

11

3

3

Class

Points

Overall Pos.

Class Pos.

Name

Nige White

Adult

11

1

1

Simon Perry

SP

21

6

4

Ian Trudgett

Adult

14

2

2

Simon Day

SP

24

7

5

Stephen Branman

Adult

17

3

3

Ed Lee

STD

12

4

1

Sue Restall

Adult

18

4

4

Russ Beck

STD

18

5

2

Andrew Deeks

STD

25

8

3

Breck Heeps

Adult

19

5

5

Breck Heeps

STD

57

9

4

Bryan Moss

Adult

26

6

6

Steve Fifield

STD

62

10

5

Paul Keen

Adult

28

7

7

Rebecca Argent

Child

36

8

1

Ciaran Goold

Child

36

9

2

Ollie Stapleton

Adult

38

10

8

Ian Hamilton

Adult

40

11

9

Paige Restall

Child

51

12

3

Name

Class

Points

Overall Pos.

Class Pos.

Croydon RTV 26/06/2011

Russ Beck

SWB

20

1

1

John Ralphs

SWB

36

2

2

Eric Prowse

SWB

73

3

3

Name

Page 40 - FP Autumn 2011

Events Calendar National 4x4 magazine editors please note. Please do not publicise our Green Lane events in your magazine as they are often already oversubscribed by existing members.

Events can change at short notice, for automatic updates on all events and possible last minute changes ring the Information line 07999 553146 RTV's & Tyros - Scrutineering 8.30am - 9.30am Trial starts 10.00am If you are not in the scrutineering queue by 9.30am there is the possibility you may not be able to compete.

Green laning - If you want to come on a trip please book your place and very importantly if you aren’t going to be able to make it for some reason please let us know so that someone else can take your place. To book your place or to get on the green lanes e-mailing list please email greenlanes@bhclrc.co.uk or call 01234 826677.

Date

Event

Location

10th - 11th Sep

LRO Show

Peterborough

Tue 13th September

BLEVEC Training

Chicksands

Sat 18th September

Autotest

Codicote

24th - 25th Sep

4x4 Festival (Back On)

Abingdon

30th Sep - 2nd Oct

Wales trip now FULL

Wales

Sun 2nd October

London to Brighton Run

London & Brighton

Sun 2nd October

4x4 Vintage Spares

Newbury

Tue 4th October

BLEVEC Training

Chicksands

Thu 6th October

Pub Night

White Horse, Southill

Sun 16th October

Green Laning

Oxford/Berkshire

Sun 16th October

RTV

Weston Underwood

Sat 29th October

Green Laning

Hertfordshire

Tue 1st November

BLEVEC Training

Chicksands

Thu 3rd November

Pub Night

White Horse, Southill

Sun 13th November

Green laning

Cambridgeshire

Sun 20th November

RTV

Twinney Woods

Sat 26th November

Green laning

Essex

Sun 27th November

Pay and Play Day

Yarwell

Thu 1st December

Pub Night

White Horse, Southill

Tue 6th December

BLEVEC Training

Chicksands

Sun 11th December

Green laning

Thetford

Page 41 - FP Autumn 2011

BHCLRC Club Shop Fleece Polo Shirt Hoodie Kids Polo Shirt Kids Hoodie Kids T-Shirt Nylon Tow Rope 4.5m 12 tonne * Strop 8m * Strop 4m * Strop (tree) 2m * Shackle 4.75t * Shackle 6.5t * Jate Rings (with bolts) Hand Chainsaw Hi/Vis Case (for above) Fire Extinguishers Mugs Sticker 60 x 700mm A4 Sticker 205 x 285mm A7 Sticker (small) 75 x 105mm Enamel Vehicle Badge 54 x 75mm

£35.00 £12.50 £14.50 £6.50 £12.50 £7.00 £25.00 £23.00 £17.00 £12.00 £6.00 £7.00 £17.50 £10.00 £2.00 £20.00 £4.00 £3.50 £5.00 £1.00 £18.00

All the above items that are marked with a * are rated for lifting with a 6:1 safety factor. For hauling the WLL is 2.7 times the lifting SWL. Testing certificates are available for inspection.

Shop Contact: Neill Blake Email: clubshop@bhclrc.co.uk Tel: 07530 397059 New members:- Please feel free to contact me with any questions you have.

Page 42 - FP Autumn 2011

BHCLRC Discount Suppliers

Make sure that you have your membership card to hand when contacting/visiting.

Company

Web Site

Phone

Contact

Discount

4x 4 Partsmaster

www.4x4partsmaster.com

01206 391350

Duncan Mansfield

Variable

4x 4 Touring Gear

www.4x4touring-gear.com

01234 742029

Mark Brooks

Variable

A Flux Insurance

www.adrianflux.co.uk

0844 888 5544

4x4 Department

10%

AC Supply

www.acsupply.co.uk

01462 481806

David

Variable

AJS Tyres

www.ajstyres.co.uk

01737 246073

Andy

Variable

All 4 Wheels

www.all4wheelsgear.com

01353 667044

Kevin

Variable

Alpha 4x4 Funerals

www.4x4funerals.co.uk

01234 720936

Jacqui Dewer

Variable

Ashcrofts

www.autoconv.com

01582 496040

David Ashcroft

Variable

Auto Land, Dunstable

www.4x4service.co.uk

01582 866680

Andy

10%

BBA Reman

www.bba-reman.com

01634 230055

Nick Swan

10%

Bedford Battery

01234 340661

Variable

Blackcircles Tyres

www.blackcircles.com

0845 620 2000

Paul McHenery

Variable

Designa Chassis

www.designa-chassis.co.uk

0870 066 0343

Pat

Variable

Dingocroft

www.dingocroft.co.uk

01494 448367

Tim Britnell

Variable

Elmacs O/R Store

www.offroadstore.co.uk

01462 815404

Phil Elmore

Variable

Footman James Ins.

www.footmanjames.co.uk

0845 458 6782

David Youngs

10%

Jake Wright

www.jakewright.com

01943 863530

John Wright

Variable

Kranzle

www.kranzle.co.uk

0800 970 9292

Variable

Lancaster Insurance

www.lancasterinsurance.co.uk

01480 484801

Up to 25%

Land Rover Gear, MK

01908 679161

10%

Llama 4x4

www.llama4x4.co.uk/

01938 85038

David

10% +

Mansfield Motors

www.mansfield-motors.com

01206 396644

Colin

Variable

Marshall of Bedford

www.marshallweb.co.uk

01234 355655

Clive Thompson

Trade

Noel Dazeley Insurance www.noeldazely.co.uk

01276 25996

Paul Heyden

13%

R and C 4x4 Cranfield

07860 792317

Variable

RCV

www.land-rover-parts-shop.com 01302 880001

Hugh Smith

5%

Richards Chassis

www.richardschassis.co.uk

01709 577477

3%

Rocket Radio

www.rocketradio.co.uk

01462 675481

Variable

Rockingham LR

www.rockinghamlandrovers.co.uk

01536 770078

Rogers Of Bedford

www.rogersofbedford.co.uk

01234 348469

Alan or Mark

Variable

RPI Engineering

www.rpiv8.com

01603 891209

Chris

Variable

Ruftraks

www.ruftraks.co.uk

0141 563 7972

Andy

7.50%

10%

Skytag Vehicle Tracking www.skytag-gps.co.uk

08453 886062

Terrain Master

www.terrainmaster.com

01206 391350

64%

Tinley Tech

www.tinleytech.co.uk

01954 267515

Variable

Tyres Direct

www.tyresdirectuk.co.uk

01582 585845

Variable

Wilburyland

www.wilburyland.co.uk

01462 459658

Mike

Mike Bunton

Variable

10% +

FP Autumn 2011

- Page 43

Congratulations to the winners of the Summer STD, John Norton This STD has 10 differences, get spotting.

Send your answers to mag@bhclrc.co.uk titled STD

Page 44 - FP Autumn 2011

BHCLRC Enamel Grill Badges 75 mm x 54 mm Individually bubble wrapped, five colour enamel badges.

They come complete with mounting post, nut and penny washer, can be mounted on grill or on bodywork via an 8 mm

Price: ÂŁ18 via Neill at the club shop, or if you would like one posted to you send a cheque for ÂŁ20 made out to BHCLRC to: BHCLRC Badges Colesden Lodge Cottage Colesden Bedford Beds.

MK44 3DA

We only have a limited number available, so if ordering by post please phone Russ Brown first on 01480 212717 to reserve one.

FP Autumn 2011

- Page 45

The Parting Shot

A lesson for all of us: Sometimes you need to let a little of what you have kept inside for years, out.

Copy Deadline for Winter Edition – 23rd November 2011 Members Advertising Rates - Non-members add 33% Full Page - £30 per edition (4 Issues = £90) Half Page - £15 per edition (4 Issues = £45) To book space contact Russ Brown on 01480 212717 "Beds Herts and Cambs Land Rover Club" is the operating name of Beds Herts and Cambs Land Rover Club Ltd a company limited by guarantee registered in England no. 5139940 Registered Office: Colesden Lodge Cottage, Colesden, Beds MK44 3DA. Printed by: The Lavenham Press Ltd Arbons House, 47 Water Street, Lavenham, Suffolk, CO10 9RN Contact: E-mail: - bill@lavenhamgroup.co.uk Phone: 01787 247 436 Ordnance Survey maps are reproduced under license.