Event Reports

The Solent And District Land Rover Club

Event Report for Greenlane Trip

Sunday 21st May 2006

by Dave White

     I woke up fairly early expecting what had been happening ALL week... RAIN !!!  Got sorted and then went up to Al's house to grab him.... where I was met with bacon sarnies and a large mug of coffee!!!  Cheers Tina. We got down to Rownhams Services, M27, to find most of the convoy there... Chris & Matt (Salisbury) Jeff & Steve, Andy, Rich & Amy,  Justin, Chris, Baz and the I.O.W contingent to name a few... There was also a nice shiny green disco with new members Ian & Linda...   I must be honest, at this point, I was slightly worried that these new members had maybe got the wrong idea, but when I spoke to Ian he said that he was expecting some scratches,  and dents which let me breath a sigh of relief!!

     We plodded from Rownhams up to M3, then A31 where we turned off and did a few of the smaller lanes that you normally avoid when looking at the map as they are quite short.. but these turned out to be quite good with some that obviously hadn't been driven by many people over the past few months as they were quite 'leafy'. From there we headed north on a few other byways and then headed eastwards towards the direction of Brick Kiln Farm. On the way there, leapfrogging from tarmac to greenlane, we were constantly adding new small lanes to the route, but soon found three lanes that had been TRO'd and had to turn the group around a few times. Jeff Harris was really helpful here as he would suddenly shout over the CB that he would take over the lead allowing me and Al time and room to get sorted and find alternative routes. Baz was handy as well to keep us in touch with the situation at the rear of the group when the lanes got too bendy to see the last vehicle..  

     I think we must have covered about 30 miles of lanes and got down to the lane behind Brick Kiln Farm (also wet and rutted, Thanks Ken!!) when I suddenly realised that it was about 2 '0'clock and we hadn't stopped for dinner yet.. So from there we headed down the A31 towards, and through Alton town centre to pick up the Crickle Lane byway...  

Now, I knew that this lane goes down well within local greenlaners, but I didn't realise that a lot of our group hadn't driven it before.. Its the lane that's a bit of a axle twisting, spring twanging, mirror squashing, leany lane.. and I think it proved immensely popular!! Chris was held up briefly while he scratched away some mud to allow his 90 with a roof rack under a low-lying tree, but apart from that we slowly plodded up the lane against the small river that flows under the trucks.. Once we got to the end of that lane it was time for lunch.

      We dropped down into the village that me and Al had stopped at the Sunday before to try and grab some grub only to find that they had stopped serving food..  So we trekked down the road and found another pub that did an excellent Roast Beef. and was quite quiet as the rain was still falling. After a brief dinner stop we all met back in the pub car park. Me and Al knew that the next lane was quite sticky as it was a run-off from 3 fields and we think the local farmer had been using it as the ruts were so deep that if you didn't get a reasonable speed up (10mph'ish) then you would end up sat on the rut - all 4 wheels spinning!! We told the group to shackle a strop to their front recovery points just in case..  

     We got down to the lane and as we came round the bend noticed that there was a blue Discovery stuck in front of us with a few faces at the back window now looking rather happy to see us. We decided that the best course of action was to back everybody up and then tow the disco out backwards. Me and Al could then get in front of them to ensure that whoever came thru behind us could always be given a gentle tug. I was pleased to see that Ian and Linda in their shiny gave it quite a lot of effort but the disco on road tyres just refused to cham on though so Steve and Jeff gave them a slight pull. Andy managed to cruise through the mud on his 101 tyres and lifted rangie. I think that lane proved quite popular and we managed to gain another vehicle in the group after the guys in the disco kindly asked if they could continue with us.. At this point though Baz and Chris from the Isle of Wight had to break off from the group and head back in time to catch their ferry from Southampton. I found Ian and Linda, in their now not-so-shiny-shiny and asked if they wanted to carry on.. to which the reply came back.. "Till the very end" both grinning from ear to ear!! 

     After that muddy lane we did a few smaller lanes and then headed back towards Crickle Lane, but this time we went back down it the other way... By then it was getting on for about 1730pm so we decided that it was time to head back as we were about an hours drive away from Southampton. We went back up the A31 and then nipped back up the lane behind ken's farm again the other way and then stopped briefly at the top.. It was at this point that I realised that I had a problem with the valve area on one of my rear tyres and it was going down rapidly. Everybody jumped on the job and a hi-lift and adapter was quickly presented. Up with the truck and off with the wheel within minutes we were back on the road and heading west towards Southampton. 

     All in all it was an excellent day. We had covered quite a few miles of lanes and a lot of them lanes that I don't think I have ever driven before. Apart from a soggy pair of boots and a tyre with a massive gorse thorn in it the day was a real success and I think everybody really enjoyed themselves.

Many thanks to all that helped with my puncture and all that braved the rain for a long days greenlaning..

Dave White

SADLRC Chairman,

Solent & District Landrover Club

                                                
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