Off roading in Derbyshire

[Noel Johnson]

Well where to start really – The beginning is probably the best, but please bear in mind this was my first time and there will have been a lot missed out…

10 o’clock yesterday morning Dawn, myself, Gary (Warm water diver) and a few other chaps started our green lane exploration of the Derbyshire dales and jolly good fun it was too. We formed a convoy of 7 vehicles and were guided through the maze of ruts and mud by Keith of Simply 4x4 and his mate in his lovely 4.6 V8 range rover, followed by Gary in his 2.2 Frontera, My diddy little Freelander came next, followed by another range rover , then a Jeep Liberty (I think), a Disco and another Jeep, this time a Cherokee.

The weather on the Pennine bridle path was atrocious and grip was limited so it was a case of carefully traverse the steps to the bottom, this picture was just after them.



I was a little concerned at this as I could see the rather large lead Range Rover dissapear from view. The traverse was easier said than done and caused me no end of worry as all I could feel and hear was the bottom of my car being ground by large lumps of rock! Still I made it in the end, I just took my time and went down gradually. At the bottom of this ravine was a nice wading opportunity illustrated by the nice Rangie behind us.



Onward, upwards, a little bit sideways and a quick pit stop.



After this section of lane whilst avoiding other convoys coming the other way (which was fun) and getting some improvement in the weather we arrived at another obstacle and had to wait for a group of motocross riders coming up the bit we were going to go down. Well to my mind it was a little bit steep, but a watchful eye was cast in the shape of Keith who directed my down, and I only got a bit stuck once.

Gary’s descent.







My descent









The Liberty got stuck and had to be dragged out but made it the second time



During lunch we chatted to the other drivers and generally got to know each other before a gentle descent down a 1:3 hill! The HDC on the freelander was worth its weight in gold on this one as it was the first time I’d ever used it in anger. The picture is of Gary’s car as my hands were fairly well occupied.



Another ascent followed, near a golf course I think, where I managed to get stuck again on some very eroded tarmac, I think the clue was in the warning sign saying “Road unsuitable for motors”. My rescue consisted of me reversing and having another go which somehow worked the third time! Another lesson learnt there then. Followed by more ruts, me being a muppet and crossing 2 sets of ruts in the mud and managing to drive the car sideways even though I wasn’t trying to and requiring more expert advice from Keith “Reverse, left a bit, straighten up, now floor it” Being a kit-car driver I can relate to floor it, however my traction control warning light couldn’t, it was flashing away followed by me thinking “No s**t Sherlock, tell me something I don’t know”

A little bit of wading up around one of the Derbyshire quarries was nice followed by a lovely ascent up a hill where the road was just stone. Gary had managed to hole his exhaust by this point and was sounding more and more like a max power boy by the minute. Unfortunately the digital camera had run out of battery by this point so we went on to the SLR.

We finished at 5pm under the arches at Buxton, happy but shattered and did the last two lanes in the dark.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and can’t wait to do it again, now where’s that Freelander spares catalogue – I could do with lifting it a bit…

[rodger_the_cabin_boy]

oooo let me know the next time your going and i will bring my discovery
if you check the back issues of landrover owners mag they did a project shopping trolly with a 2" lift and snorkel, under body protection mt tyres looked realy good