Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Down on t' farm love. T
’was the week before Christmas, Muddy Madam was stricken down with a nasty cold, our press car was the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, and I was trying to think of somewhere different to take it. Then out of the blue, Nat, an old friend, sent me a message saying that if I wanted, I could visit him and explore some of the tracks around his farm. Never one to refuse an offer to play in mud, I sent him a quick text back saying “Cool, I’ll see you on Sunday!”. When Sunday arrived I threw a few bit’s ’n’ pieces in the back of the Stelvio, and set off for the 2 hour drive towards Helmsley, North Yorkshire to test the Stelvio’s 4x4 credentials and take some pretty pictures. Arriving at the farm, we reminisced about the old times, checked out his old yellow Suzuki LJ80, and I kindly refused the offer to buy a goat, as you do. Deciding that we both didn’t have a lot of time to spend
meandering around the lanes, Nat chose to take me along some of the tracks that skirt through the farm. I was following Nat in his Toyota Hilux tray back, through some fairly deep ruts made by tractors and other farm machinery, and I began to wonder if this was a good idea. I expected to hear an array of noises as the front of the Stelvio plowed a layer of mud and stones from the surface, but I didn’t, the Alfa’s ground clearance is better than it looks. Further along as the ruts evened out I noticed that Nat began to slide sideways, due to the camber of the track, but he regained traction easily due to his aggressive offroad tyres. “How would the Stelvio cope on road tyres.” I pondered. Well, it was one of those buttock-clenching moments THEMUDLIFE.CO.UK
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