Green Lane Report by Dave Govier.
The green lane run took place over the weekend of the 7th to 9th August. Camping was available and we had booked Court Farm wild camping. This is quite basic with a single toilet and cold water tap, but in a lovely setting. I had spoken to the owner Shane and he was extremely helpful regarding our stay.
Friday afternoon and I head to Builth Wells. The lanes we were planning to drive on the Saturday were ones that I had driven at the end of June with the Land Rover Series One Club. The reason being is I knew we wouldn’t get stuck on any, plus Bruce Harris was joking us in his Nissan X-Trail, so the lanes needed to be suitable for all vehicles.
When I arrived at the camp site on Friday afternoon Dave Ball and Steve Burrows were already there. My small tent and gazebo wee soon up, and we headed into Builth Wells to the Merry Fryer for some fish and chips. Later on that evening Little Dave joined us.
Sunday morning and it was a short 10 minute drive to the meeting point at Hundred House. The reason being was the first Lane was not too far from here. On arrival, Richard Ellis and Bruce Harris & Sharron were already there. We were joined soon after by Craig Howard (with his wife & Children) in his 110 and Adam and Minna in another 110. The first lane was only about 1/4 mile from here.
Everyone enjoyed this first lane, it had nice views and a well defined route. As we headed to the start of the next lane we came across some TRF riders, which one of them was finishing doing some repairs to a bike. We realised that they would be quicker than us so we let them go first. Also there was a Dutch registered SWB Mitsubishi 4×4, and they joined at the back of us. Not far into the lane we went through a gate, and as Little Dave went through all the sheep escaped!! So we spent the next 30 – 40 minutes getting them back into the field that they had just escaped from! I am pleased to say it was a success.
After this lane was completed it was just before 1pm, so we headed to the nearest pub for some refreshments. This also gave Craig and Adam’s children a bit of a break from sitting in the Landy’s.
The next lane was another long open lane with stunning views. This was followed by some shorter more enclosed lanes, making it a nice variety. I am pleased to say that the X-Trail was doing well.
After we finished these lanes Craig and Adam decided to head over to Claerwen Reservoir, to the west of Rhayader. We headed to do 2 other lanes, one that finished by Llandrindod Wells Golf Club, and then one final lane that finished by the Quarry in Builth Wells. Both these lanes were nice, and afterwards we headed to the camp site for some food.
After we had eaten, we consulted the maps and Trail Wise to see what Lanes could be driven on Sunday morning. The plan was to finish by about 1.30pm, as several members of the group had late afternoon / evening plans. The plan was to finish at the reservoir, but that was going to be time dependant.
Sunday’s lanes were different to Saturday’s, with one along the edge of a few fields, and another along an enclosed forest track. All very enjoyable. The start of the shortest lane of the weekend was quite interesting to find. This was a crossing of the Wye, and the start was in between 2 houses – which was off the main road. Fortunately Dave Ball has the OS Maps on his phone & Trail Wise so we knew we were in the right place. We were pleased that the recent weeks prior to the run had been very dry, otherwise we certainly wouldn’t have attempted the crossing!! As it was the water was up to the rear crossmember!!
We all made it across, and after this Richard decided to head home. We had another longer lane to do, and his Jeep was running warm due to an issue with his viscous fan. We said our goodbyes and headed to the next lane.
What ended up being our final lane was just north west of Rhayader. This had a few nice stone based climbs with great views of the valley to the west. By the time we had finished it was 1.30pm, so we said our goodbyes before heading our various ways home.
Thanks to everyone who joined us, I hope you all had a great weekend.
Dave Govier
