g n i n Life a L
aton E n e r u a by L
Read about green laning as seen through Lauren ‘Sunshine’ Eaton's windscreen at The Green Lane Association, and find out what’s hot, or not, in the laning world each month. Enjoy!
Stilettos, Stupidity, Snowdonia, and a whole lot of Spin On the 20th August North Wales Live ran the headline “Stiletto wearing Snowdon walkers prompt mountain rescue teams to issue exasperated safety warning”. Read the full story here. Can you imagine the outcry if this stupidity, the sheer numbers of users queuing along RoWs, or emergency incidents was down to us as vehicular users? I can honestly say in the history of laning no one has gone out in stilettos and needed to waste emergency worker's time over anything so unbelievably daft. At no point in the history of laning have this many vehicular users ever descended on one RoW, nor have there ever been so many injuries and even deaths on a RoW due to laning...or parking issues on main roads, litter, human excrement along a RoW, ever - which are all a continuous problem in Gwynedd, Cumbria, The Peak District and elsewhere. But this is happening in most national parks on footpaths, and no one is saying "those yobs in walking boots and cagoules are causing havoc! Close the footpath!" Ironically I know many laners are members of rescue/response services, I’ve been one myself. I find it incomprehensible that people like and support response service personnel when they are seen dealing with this kind of incident, that is until any of them drive a 4x4 down a quiet lane on their day off! Each year around seven people die falling off Crib Goch, and this figure is echoed on most peaks in the UK. We all know climbing a mountain is a dangerous pursuit even in the relatively 'low' terrain of the British Isles. Driving RoWs appears to be much safer, and thankfully injuries and deaths while laning are rare to unheard of. I think the worst I’ve ever done was break a nail opening a gate, quite a feat to be honest as I’ve usually taken most of them off fixing the Landy the day before.
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THE MUD LIFE MAGAZINE
