Blowing away the cobwebs

I was messing around on my friend Edward’s farm taking some product photos, and testing Deux Smurf’s off road capability when I suddenly remembered an article I wrote for the now defunct Land Rover World magazine back in 2011.

It started when friends of ours, Mark and Selina, who also happened to have a Land Rover 101, wanted to strip the fridge out of my old, tatty caravan that sat by a lodge at Edwards farm. A time was arranged, and as luck would have it, it was one of those rare beautiful days that we seldom get up north, and so, once we’d removed the fridge, we decided that it would be rude if we didn’t go and explore some of the tracks on the farm and surrounding fields.

track that begins with a 2 foot near vertical step. Both my Discovery and the 101 climbed it with ease, and when the track evened out we followed the ruts towards the edge of the field. This part of the farm is covered with rushes and as a result is very boggy.

Mark stopped to watch me traverse a particularly damp and squishy section, no point in both of us getting stuck. The ground was quite firm, that was until I reached a 20 yard stretch of muddy ruts.

'Not a problem.' I thought as I gave myself a run up in third low, only to find myself coming to an abrupt halt in the mud.

Lying on the edge of the Pennines, Edward’s farm includes a large shale quarry that was last used by Accrington Brick in 1939. Though there isn’t anywhere to play in the quarry, it's main use is access to the other side of the farm., so once we'd ventured through and out the other side, we followed the vague tracks that led us onto the luscious green rolling hillside offering views all the way to Snowdonia.

Although the familiar clatter of the 300Tdi Discovery that I had at the time sounded more at home in this farming environment, I must admit that the unmistakeable sound of the burbling V8 emanating from the 101 was music to my ears.

Next we decided to head to higher ground, therefore on returning to the quarry I took a sharp right up a steep hillside

After four attempts, each time getting closer and closer to solid ground, I decided that I didn't want to make the ground any messier. so I gave up. Time for Mark and Selina to have a go.

Even though Bar Grips have the nickname of 'Bar Slips’, it only took Mark a couple of attempts to get through the ruts, and go further up the hill. After numerous triumphant gestures from Mark, it was time to meander our way back down to the farm and go our separate ways as we all had other adult type stuff to do.

It was really nice to escape for an hour or so with great company, it certainly blew away the cobwebs from a dull week in the office; maybe I should start to allocate 'playtime' into my weekly regime…