Green Lane Association hard at work in the background to keep Lake District lanes open

New tech hubs for driverless Land Rovers

THE DAY WHEN YOUR LANDY doesn’t need you to drive it any more is getting closer all the time. The latest nail in the coffin of the good old days comes from JLR itself, with the announcement of three new global tech hubs as part of its push to develop autonomous vehicles.

The hubs are located in Munich, Bologna and Madrid, cities which were chosen for the local availability of digital engineering skills. JLR already has hubs in the USA, Hungary, Ireland, UK, China and India the company says these additional facilities will create 100 jobs, taking its global engineering team to almost 9000 employees.

The Lake District National Park Authority recently actioned a temporary closure on Stile End. Scheduled to last at least a month, this will allow a programme of work including management of the stone pitching and drainage repairs on the steep section at the Sadgill end.

The Green Lane Association has offered to help with the work, and it has also been involved with the rehabilitation of Breasthigh Road. At the start of March, the Association’s Cumbria reps team met LDNPA officials on a site visit to check the trail’s condition – during which they also planted around 40 trees on the fellside.

‘This is an interim inspection to see if further work is needed before what will hopefully be the final inspection toward the end of April,’ comments GLASS. ‘We will be assisting on both occasions and helping to plant trees with local GLASS volunteers.

‘Having walked over from the east at the end of January, we are hopeful that a favourable decision will be made at the end of the TTRO so that we can enjoy the ride over Breasthigh once again.’