cinstone
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Yesterday (April 03rd), myself and Shirley went to Birches Valley visitors centre, near Rugeley, for our first bit of off road driving in Michael. Shirley had noticed these events on the web last year, but as you needed your own off road insurance, which I didn't have at the time, I only got around to having a go yesterday, after my insurance renewal came through and I switched my insurance to Adrian Flux, which covers you for non competitive off road driving.
Up until yesterday I'd only had one occasion of true off road driving, which was a valentines present from Shirley last year at the Land Rover Experience at Eastnor Castle in one of their standard 110 SW Defenders, so I was still more or less a newbie (and still am sad0049).
You have to book your place in advance on what was advertised as a 4 x 4 safari, in that not only do you do some off road driving, but also go out to the more likely areas of the forest to see deer. The event cost £60 for the vehicle and included a breakfast baguette and drink, for two, on return back at the cafe at the visitors centre. The trip was advertised as a minimum of two hours, so with the thought that this kind of trip wouldn't be too extreme we booked our place and waited for the day.
We arrived at the visitor centre at around 06.15hrs in the morning. The actual meet time was 06.30hrs, but we were the last of the bookings to arrive and after a quick safety talk, along with some good humour, tips and advice, we all departed, initially on road, just as it was starting to get light at around 06.20hrs, with one ranger in a Ford Ranger up front and another tailing us in another Ford Ranger at the rear.
In the cavalcade, if that's the right word, were ourselves in Michael, an older red Defender hardtop (with another couple of newbies by the looks of things), a couple in an automatic Range Rover of about 10 years old, a family in an old soft top Defender 110 (ex' military by the looks of things) and a rather more serious couple of blokes in a modified Suzuki Vitara.
Having been out in the Land Rover Experience 110 SW with the standard GR Grabber II tyres fitted, just like the ones on Michael, I wasn't too bothered about the fact that these tyres are road biased tyres as they took everything thrown at them on the day I was at Eastnor Castle. Unfortunately, my limited experience didn't take everything thrown at it, but more on this later.
We had seen our first deer approaching the visitors centre, but after a mile our so on the road, we saw two or three of them only a few minuets after entering the forest area. Not long after we saw what must have been around thirty deer prancing along after they had seen us approach and by being the last but one vehicle in the convoy, they were well and truly into their stride by the time we went by them, but a lovely sight it was to see, even if the light was still quite low.
There's so much to describe of the countryside and woodland that we were driving through, from the shear expanse of the place, to the different types of light, blue skies and the whole experience that it was difficult to take it all in, especially as as well as trying to take it all in I was driving and trying not to hit the bloke in front up the rear at the same time (fortunately successfully!), that I can't describe it and do it any justice, but it was one great experience. I don't have many photographs as all but about 10 minuets was driving, but I'll post the best, really nothing more than snap shots, later tonight.
One thing that was difficult to work out was exactly where you were. We have walked around the forest and chase several times and during our trip yesterday several paths and landscapes looked familiar. However, I dare say that some of the places we drove are not traversed even by feet very often and several signs we passed stated "Authorised vehicles only". The first half of the trip was, more or less taken up by using routes that were interesting to drive on and perhaps got me thinking a little without being too extreme, but were fun all the same. There were times that tree branches were scraping along the paintwork and I realised that I'd forgot to lower my aerial, but there doesn't seem to be any damage, which, if you are going to be too bothered about, don't go off road.
During this first half I was following the chaps in the red Defender hard top and they almost got stuck in mud that was perhaps around rim deep, even though they had tyres that were a little more off road biased than mine. The trouble, I think, apart from perhaps, like me, a lack of experience, was the fact that their back end had slid a little to one side and was dragging against the side of a small bank. After a couple of attempts to get going again they were on the move. At this point I hadn't yet used the low range and diff lock, but decided I ought to use it now. We slipped a bit to start with, but using the bit of knowledge I had gained at Eastnor Castle (namely put it in low and second, foot on foot brake, raise the clutch to the bite, then release the foot brake), we got moving with out too much slipping. There wasn't any more bother for the first half and after around one & half hours we stopped on some heath land that looked like it had been a firing range at some time, which I was proved right rolleye0012. It turned out that it used to be a 600 yard firing range, at a guess, probably used by the R.A.F.
During the driving you are generally not allowed to get out of your vehicle, unless you had too of course, so this was our first chance to stretch our legs. Me being a plank I'd parked Michael behind the red Defender and the Range Rover, so the only way of getting a shot was to shoot towards the sun, so don't expect fantastic shots later sad0049.
Whilst we were stretching our legs the rangers gave us a bit of a talk about the forest, the management there of, deer management & culling, history, problems, plans for the future, etc. But not enough time to have a run out! Still, it was all very interesting stuff.
After about 15 minuets we were on our way again and after perhaps 20 minuets we arrived at a little wooded area with several short but sharp climbs or descents, followed by several pools of water, set out in a short sort of circuit, which we all proceeded round in a sort of "ring a ring of roses" fashion. Michael, like the other vehicles in the party, managed all this, perhaps, tougher terrain with easy.
After about ten minuets of this we continued on down a rather thick muddy track that was quite narrow, steep and lined with pine trees. Following my previous small amount of training, we were already in low with the diff locked, so, with second gear selected, all you have to do is let the vehicle go down in second on tick over, but, I suppose naturally, your right foot is never too far from the brake pedal, which really is the wrong thing to do. One tree seemed to come quite close quite rapidly on the way down and I must have used the brake once or twice, but know catastrophies occurred. Apparently the chap in the red Defender went down more or less all the way with his wheels locked!
A short time later we slowed and turned a very sharp left and straight into a climb of perhaps 40 degrees, which was about half as long again as Michael. I had to wait in turn for the ranger, Range Rover and Vitara to clear the section and then I made my attempt from a standing start. I got about half way up and then Michael started spinning. I tried to get going again, but then dropped back down to have a bit more of a run at it. Success! I cleared the first climb, which was followed by a 90 degree right, slightly climbing turn onto another climb of perhaps 35 degrees, but Michael started spinning again. The terrain under foot, or should that be under rubber, wasn't too extreme, but was very dry and powdery, not unlike compost. I backed up as far as I could to the turn behind and tried again, but didn't get too far before one of the rangers came along and said it was because of my road biased tyres. I think he was being kind really, so I reversed back down to the cries of "don't touch your brakes", which is something you have to do when there's a ledge and quite a drop right at the bottom of the first climb! The ranger probably had the condition of the terrain in mind too.
I continued a couple of hundred yards further on the track to the others who had already gone through the above described section, including the automatic Range Rover with even more road biased tyres than mine sad0049.
So from this I have deduced it was all my fault, (you're not surprised are you). Looking behind us the chaps in the red Defender didn't have a go at it, but the chap with the family in the ex' military 110 went for it and cleared it happy0065. Credit to a chap that knows what he's doing a far bit more than I do.
I suppose in all my attempts took no longer than five minuets and I would have liked a little more time to get used to the conditions and Michael, because he should have got up there. During the three hours we were out I did notice that for the vast majority of the terrain we traversed the General TR Grabber II tyres did excellently, but they did seem to slip around about on the above described powdery terrain and on thick mud that was perhaps only a couple of inches deep. The deeper, wetter stuff and perhaps the more extreme up and down terrain followed by fairly deep pools of water seemed no problem at all.
We moved on and by this time both Shirley's and my bladder were very full, which is not helped by all the bouncing around! We returned back on to the road, then thought the lead ranger was going to go off on another trek, but it ended up being a bit of a short cut back to the visitor centre, where we order or breakfasts and had a well earned and waited for trip to the loo!
We got talking to the chap and family in the 110 and it was all very interesting and pleasant. The couple in the Range Rover came over and it turned out that both of these were regulars. It was a shame the blokes in the red Defender seemed to disapear. The chap in the modified Vitara didn't seem to want to know, apart from a forced "alright" when he came out the loo as I went in. Obviously there's a "thing" going on if you are in different makes of vehicle to the next bloke.
I was flipping angry with myself for letting Michael down, but practice makes perfect I suppose. I have looked at better off road tyres, but I am quite happy with the O.E tyres and as Michael spends most of the time on tarmac, maybe I ought to stick with them for the time being as I won't be going off road that much, perhaps once a month at most. I don't want to change Michael too much from original spec' either as I like him just the way he is, but if any of you have any ideas on more suitable off road tyres to fit the O.E "boost" style alloy wheels without the need to alter the wheel arches in any way, I'd would appreciate your thoughts.
We both agreed that we had fun and I'll definately do another and perhaps others in other locations too, but after all the concentration during the drive I was quite drained later in the day. It would be great if you could park up for a while and take it all in and for me some time doing some photography would be most excellent, but I suppose you can't have everything sad0049.
I got thinking as I went around the forest. What is the best place to be in the convoy? Right behind the leader who knows where he is going, or at the back so you can see all the others mistakes? I also thought, in hindsight, that on occasions I took it a little too softly.
I was going to ask the rangers if they needed any help by offering my "shooting services", but I missed my opportunity to have a word.
Parked up at the former firing range.
Michael at the former firing range.
A couple of snaps of Michael back at the visitor centre.
Chris.
Up until yesterday I'd only had one occasion of true off road driving, which was a valentines present from Shirley last year at the Land Rover Experience at Eastnor Castle in one of their standard 110 SW Defenders, so I was still more or less a newbie (and still am sad0049).
You have to book your place in advance on what was advertised as a 4 x 4 safari, in that not only do you do some off road driving, but also go out to the more likely areas of the forest to see deer. The event cost £60 for the vehicle and included a breakfast baguette and drink, for two, on return back at the cafe at the visitors centre. The trip was advertised as a minimum of two hours, so with the thought that this kind of trip wouldn't be too extreme we booked our place and waited for the day.
We arrived at the visitor centre at around 06.15hrs in the morning. The actual meet time was 06.30hrs, but we were the last of the bookings to arrive and after a quick safety talk, along with some good humour, tips and advice, we all departed, initially on road, just as it was starting to get light at around 06.20hrs, with one ranger in a Ford Ranger up front and another tailing us in another Ford Ranger at the rear.
In the cavalcade, if that's the right word, were ourselves in Michael, an older red Defender hardtop (with another couple of newbies by the looks of things), a couple in an automatic Range Rover of about 10 years old, a family in an old soft top Defender 110 (ex' military by the looks of things) and a rather more serious couple of blokes in a modified Suzuki Vitara.
Having been out in the Land Rover Experience 110 SW with the standard GR Grabber II tyres fitted, just like the ones on Michael, I wasn't too bothered about the fact that these tyres are road biased tyres as they took everything thrown at them on the day I was at Eastnor Castle. Unfortunately, my limited experience didn't take everything thrown at it, but more on this later.
We had seen our first deer approaching the visitors centre, but after a mile our so on the road, we saw two or three of them only a few minuets after entering the forest area. Not long after we saw what must have been around thirty deer prancing along after they had seen us approach and by being the last but one vehicle in the convoy, they were well and truly into their stride by the time we went by them, but a lovely sight it was to see, even if the light was still quite low.
There's so much to describe of the countryside and woodland that we were driving through, from the shear expanse of the place, to the different types of light, blue skies and the whole experience that it was difficult to take it all in, especially as as well as trying to take it all in I was driving and trying not to hit the bloke in front up the rear at the same time (fortunately successfully!), that I can't describe it and do it any justice, but it was one great experience. I don't have many photographs as all but about 10 minuets was driving, but I'll post the best, really nothing more than snap shots, later tonight.
One thing that was difficult to work out was exactly where you were. We have walked around the forest and chase several times and during our trip yesterday several paths and landscapes looked familiar. However, I dare say that some of the places we drove are not traversed even by feet very often and several signs we passed stated "Authorised vehicles only". The first half of the trip was, more or less taken up by using routes that were interesting to drive on and perhaps got me thinking a little without being too extreme, but were fun all the same. There were times that tree branches were scraping along the paintwork and I realised that I'd forgot to lower my aerial, but there doesn't seem to be any damage, which, if you are going to be too bothered about, don't go off road.
During this first half I was following the chaps in the red Defender hard top and they almost got stuck in mud that was perhaps around rim deep, even though they had tyres that were a little more off road biased than mine. The trouble, I think, apart from perhaps, like me, a lack of experience, was the fact that their back end had slid a little to one side and was dragging against the side of a small bank. After a couple of attempts to get going again they were on the move. At this point I hadn't yet used the low range and diff lock, but decided I ought to use it now. We slipped a bit to start with, but using the bit of knowledge I had gained at Eastnor Castle (namely put it in low and second, foot on foot brake, raise the clutch to the bite, then release the foot brake), we got moving with out too much slipping. There wasn't any more bother for the first half and after around one & half hours we stopped on some heath land that looked like it had been a firing range at some time, which I was proved right rolleye0012. It turned out that it used to be a 600 yard firing range, at a guess, probably used by the R.A.F.
During the driving you are generally not allowed to get out of your vehicle, unless you had too of course, so this was our first chance to stretch our legs. Me being a plank I'd parked Michael behind the red Defender and the Range Rover, so the only way of getting a shot was to shoot towards the sun, so don't expect fantastic shots later sad0049.
Whilst we were stretching our legs the rangers gave us a bit of a talk about the forest, the management there of, deer management & culling, history, problems, plans for the future, etc. But not enough time to have a run out! Still, it was all very interesting stuff.
After about 15 minuets we were on our way again and after perhaps 20 minuets we arrived at a little wooded area with several short but sharp climbs or descents, followed by several pools of water, set out in a short sort of circuit, which we all proceeded round in a sort of "ring a ring of roses" fashion. Michael, like the other vehicles in the party, managed all this, perhaps, tougher terrain with easy.
After about ten minuets of this we continued on down a rather thick muddy track that was quite narrow, steep and lined with pine trees. Following my previous small amount of training, we were already in low with the diff locked, so, with second gear selected, all you have to do is let the vehicle go down in second on tick over, but, I suppose naturally, your right foot is never too far from the brake pedal, which really is the wrong thing to do. One tree seemed to come quite close quite rapidly on the way down and I must have used the brake once or twice, but know catastrophies occurred. Apparently the chap in the red Defender went down more or less all the way with his wheels locked!
A short time later we slowed and turned a very sharp left and straight into a climb of perhaps 40 degrees, which was about half as long again as Michael. I had to wait in turn for the ranger, Range Rover and Vitara to clear the section and then I made my attempt from a standing start. I got about half way up and then Michael started spinning. I tried to get going again, but then dropped back down to have a bit more of a run at it. Success! I cleared the first climb, which was followed by a 90 degree right, slightly climbing turn onto another climb of perhaps 35 degrees, but Michael started spinning again. The terrain under foot, or should that be under rubber, wasn't too extreme, but was very dry and powdery, not unlike compost. I backed up as far as I could to the turn behind and tried again, but didn't get too far before one of the rangers came along and said it was because of my road biased tyres. I think he was being kind really, so I reversed back down to the cries of "don't touch your brakes", which is something you have to do when there's a ledge and quite a drop right at the bottom of the first climb! The ranger probably had the condition of the terrain in mind too.
I continued a couple of hundred yards further on the track to the others who had already gone through the above described section, including the automatic Range Rover with even more road biased tyres than mine sad0049.
So from this I have deduced it was all my fault, (you're not surprised are you). Looking behind us the chaps in the red Defender didn't have a go at it, but the chap with the family in the ex' military 110 went for it and cleared it happy0065. Credit to a chap that knows what he's doing a far bit more than I do.
I suppose in all my attempts took no longer than five minuets and I would have liked a little more time to get used to the conditions and Michael, because he should have got up there. During the three hours we were out I did notice that for the vast majority of the terrain we traversed the General TR Grabber II tyres did excellently, but they did seem to slip around about on the above described powdery terrain and on thick mud that was perhaps only a couple of inches deep. The deeper, wetter stuff and perhaps the more extreme up and down terrain followed by fairly deep pools of water seemed no problem at all.
We moved on and by this time both Shirley's and my bladder were very full, which is not helped by all the bouncing around! We returned back on to the road, then thought the lead ranger was going to go off on another trek, but it ended up being a bit of a short cut back to the visitor centre, where we order or breakfasts and had a well earned and waited for trip to the loo!
We got talking to the chap and family in the 110 and it was all very interesting and pleasant. The couple in the Range Rover came over and it turned out that both of these were regulars. It was a shame the blokes in the red Defender seemed to disapear. The chap in the modified Vitara didn't seem to want to know, apart from a forced "alright" when he came out the loo as I went in. Obviously there's a "thing" going on if you are in different makes of vehicle to the next bloke.
I was flipping angry with myself for letting Michael down, but practice makes perfect I suppose. I have looked at better off road tyres, but I am quite happy with the O.E tyres and as Michael spends most of the time on tarmac, maybe I ought to stick with them for the time being as I won't be going off road that much, perhaps once a month at most. I don't want to change Michael too much from original spec' either as I like him just the way he is, but if any of you have any ideas on more suitable off road tyres to fit the O.E "boost" style alloy wheels without the need to alter the wheel arches in any way, I'd would appreciate your thoughts.
We both agreed that we had fun and I'll definately do another and perhaps others in other locations too, but after all the concentration during the drive I was quite drained later in the day. It would be great if you could park up for a while and take it all in and for me some time doing some photography would be most excellent, but I suppose you can't have everything sad0049.
I got thinking as I went around the forest. What is the best place to be in the convoy? Right behind the leader who knows where he is going, or at the back so you can see all the others mistakes? I also thought, in hindsight, that on occasions I took it a little too softly.
I was going to ask the rangers if they needed any help by offering my "shooting services", but I missed my opportunity to have a word.
Parked up at the former firing range.
Michael at the former firing range.
A couple of snaps of Michael back at the visitor centre.
Chris.
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