Evening Wander

I barely ever go green laning at night, not because I’m scared of the dark, it’s that I’m usually sat on the couch at home with Muddy Madam and Lilly enjoying a bit of TV, and therefore can’t be bothered!

However, last month I noticed a thread on the Northern Monkey’s Facebook page, it was from Tom Wanderasking if anyone fancied a trip over to Hawes to drive a small number of lanes around the area before it got pitch black. The main event would be to drive the lane at Stalling Busk before it's closed for winter repair.

After topping up Deux Smurf with ESSO’s finest, I set off for the 2 hour drive to our rendezvous point at the White Lion Inn, in Cray, North Yorkshire.

Along with Tom and Rachel in Tom’s V8 Discovery 2, our group consisted of Craig in his V8 Discovery 1 and John, who’s incidentally the editor of the Discovery owners magazine, in his unmodified 3-Door Discovery 1, and of course yours truly in Deux Smurf. There had to be at least one person in the convoy with a sensible 4x4!

Lane 1

As we left the White Lion the rain was already horizontal, and as we climbed our first lane, SD9480-01, it got worse. Simply getting out and closing a gate left me sodden.

On a clear day SD9480-01 offers some stunning views, but today wasn’t one of those days! It has a solid base with the off hump here and there that 4x4s with low ground clearance need to be aware of.

Lane 2

Before we reached the end we turned left onto SD9185-05, or Bob lane.

The last time, in fact the only time I’ve driven down here was in a Jeep Renegade Trailhawk, but the lane has changed a lot in the last 3 years, it’s a lot more ‘washed out’ and rocky near the bottom, and now requires good clearance and low speed control.

Before you reach the bottom there’s a large rock step, which in fairness looks much worse than it actually is.

Lane 3

Busk Lane, SD9086-02, was the main reason for a little mooch as it’s closing from the 1st November 2021 until 30th April 2022 for drainage and surfacing work. Again, the last time I drove Busk Lane it was high summer and therefore dry, which meant the water level was low, very low. Tonight though, it wasn’t.

The first water crossing was only a foot deep, if that, but it was fairly fast flowing and gave an indication of what was to come.

Despite being much deeper and a longer stretch, the next section isn’t too bad because you’re driving along with the current so water is less likely to lap over the bonnet.

watch the video on YouTube - https://youtu.be/B1i5LXixeGg

The last water crossing was just that, a crossing, and with water level high with a powerful current, it was going to be fun.

First was Tom, and his tall Discovery 2 was pushed sideways with the current, as was Graig’s Discovery 1.

Next was John in his standard 2-door Discovery. We figured it would be better to enter the water at an angle heading towards the left side of the entrance, that way, when the current caught him he wouldn’t be pushed too far down stream to miss the exit. It worked a treat. My turn next, and I don’t mind admitting that I was a tad nervous.

Just as John did, I entered the crossing pointing slightly left, and as I reached the middle I watched as water lapped over the bonnet of Deux Smurf and I felt as the powerful current tried to pushed me downstream. With a slight correction of the steering and extra throttle I was back on terrafirma.

watch the video on YouTube - https://youtu.be/EaXGWtwC-SQ

The next lane Tom had planned for us was around 20 minutes away, and by this time darkness had fallen, and the rain and surface water made the B6255 ‘interesting’.

On arrival at the western end Arten Gill Lane, SD7986-04 it turned out to be a Bridleway. Actually, only part of it is, it’s one of those weird lanes that finishes at the county boundary, and the other county has reclassified it, so we turned around and headed for West Cam Road, SD8486-01 & SD8283-03.

By this this time we’d lost John. Not literally, like, “OMG, where’s John?” No, he had to leave us and went home.

Lane 4

West Cam Road starts of okay, then gets progressively rockier, and the higher we climbed, the thicker the mist - the rain was still horizontal and very wet. Rachel was an absolute star at this point and was both gate opener and closer - cheers!

Apart from the poor visibility, the going was quite good, until we reached the limestone slabs where, if you remember from a few issues back, we rescued a biker who had come off his bike damaging his leg.

Tonight however it was would be Craig who would be the second victim as his Discovery 1 lost traction and slid ‘round to a 45º angle on the lane. This doesn’t sound too bad, but his rear wheels were only a few feet away from the edge of a very, very long and steep drop.

We all jumped out of our warm cabins to assess the situation, and after reversing and foot or so and packing the step with a few stones, Craig gave it a bit of controlled welly and climbed the slippery step. I decided to hug the left hand side of the lane, and despite being at a very uncomfortable angle, the ultra grippy and reliable BF Goodrich KM3s found traction, as they always do.

Still shrouded in rain and mist, we ambled our way further up the side of the hill until we reached tarmac. Because we would all be travelling the same way home, towards the A59 near Skipton, it was decided that we would find a pub en-route to indulge in a well deserved tea - that’s evening meal or dinner for southerners!

As it was just past 8.00pm, a few pubs turned us away as they’d stopped serving food, but a HUGE thanks goes to the Buck Inn in Buckden who made us food despite the time - and it was delicious!

Thanks has to go to Tom for arranging the mooch, a bigger thanks goes to Rachel, who ended up with soggy knickers due to opening and closing the gates, and if you find yourself passing, pop in for a swift pint and some grub at The Buck Inn for fantastic food and exceptional service.