A Very British Expedition
Land Rover Experience has launched a new series of Eastnor Explorer expeditions. Steve Miller signs himself up
Land Rover Experience has launched a new series of Eastnor Explorer expeditions – Steve Miller investigates
When an invite to attend one of Land Rover’s events drops into my inbox, I’ll always sit up and pay attention. Usually because the invite is to do something exciting. To sum the email up, Land Rover Experience has recently launched a new series of Eastnor Explorer days which gives attendees the opportunity to experience expedition adventure, while under the expert guidance of LRE instructors. My invitation to attend a day’s session would give an insight into what LRE has created for anyone who books the course and my job now is to share it with you.
The course takes place over a maximum of three days, which can be booked separately or together, giving guests the flexibility to fit it in around their busy schedules and meaning anyone can experience the thrills of expedition off-roading at Eastnor.
Now I consider myself to be a reasonable off-road driver – not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I have experienced my fair share of testing terrain over the years. I think it’s fair to say that the majority of people who attend this course will come away having learned at least one new skill. These new series of expeditions are great and would certainly be a natural progression to anyone who has done some greenlaning in the past.
With little or no experience beforehand you will come away with the confidence to tackle any expedition situation. However, this course certainly isn’t for the novices alone, as the experienced instructors can judge the skill level of each individual and will teach them accordingly. There are after all 5000 acres of ground and 60 miles of trails, with varying degrees of difficulty – the wannabe adventurer really is spoilt for choice.
The drive into Eastnor alone is breathtakingly beautiful, especially after my drive down, mainly consisting of motorways. Upon arrival at 9.00 am, I was greeted in the LRE visitor centre with a lovely coffee and before long my fellow adventurers received a quick briefing from Simon Millwest. Simon looks after the product development at Eastnor so was keen to talk us through what treats he had in store for the day.
After the briefing, our team of six were then shown to our expedition-ready Defender 110s. Three of us were allocated to each vehicle, plus instructors. A really nice touch was finding our names on the Land Rover doors along with a Union Jack. The adventure really had begun!
Leading from the front in the support vehicle was Simon and his team in an all-new Discovery. The driving of the 110s would be shared between the three of us throughout the day. After ensuring radio contact between the two teams, we made our way out of the car park towards the first section.
I took the wheel for the first stint and within just a few minutes, we were changing into low range with diff lock engaged as we made our way through the woods and onto the first trail. The trails soon got progressively more demanding with off-shoots everywhere. My teammembers in the back were given an ordinance surveystyle map to navigate to a specific location, while maintaining radio contact with the team behind so they knew where we were heading.
The Discovery, which also carried the day’s photographer, had already made its way into the distance to find a spot to capture the perfect photo of us approaching. No pressure.
Within the first hour, we had made a few driver changes and really started to gel as a team – receiving expert guidance, hints and tips from our instructor along the way. The aim of the day was to showcase some of the elements that the three-day course would include so we didn’t have too long to hang about.
“With little or no experience beforehand you will come away with the confidence to tackle any expedition situation”
[Eastnor Explorer Expeditions]
It fact, it wasn’t long before we were experiencing really tough off-road tracks, but I wasn’t sure whether this was down to time constraints or our driving skills; I will go for the latter! As the going got tougher we were soon having to plan our routes more carefully. Our instructor allowed us to make a few mistakes before suggesting we try a different approach. Who says learning can’t be fun, hey?
After a couple of hours, we arrived at a few out-ofvehicle tasks. Simon explained to us all what skills we needed to learn over next hour, which would come in handy towards the end of the day for our final task. There were two tasks to learn at this stage: how to tie knots and mastering precision vehicle control. Firstly we had to create a lashing; a couple of tree trunks tied together that bridged a small gully. There were two knots we needed to master for this: one being a Timber Hitch, the other, a Clove Hitch. We would require these new-found skills later, where the knots needed to withstand our Defenders crossing a ravine.
Once they were mastered, the two teams swapped and we headed over to a steel training bridge which was just a few inches off the ground. The aim here was to get the Defender up onto narrow rails, whilst maintaining expert control. One person would drive, one would be out of the vehicle giving guidance to the driver and the third person was needed to remove wooden blocks, which imitated a broken bridge – placing them in the gaps either side of the wheels to maintain flow of the car. It was kind of like a jig-saw puzzle as both blocks were different lengths. This was teamwork at its best. The goal was to not allow the wheels to touch the low point at any time. It required a methodical approach, precise driving and expert guidance to ensure a safe passage.
After this we drove to a lovely spot in the woods for a picnic; our lessons weren’t over however. Firstly, we needed to make a shelter, and then we had to make a fire using a steel fire lighting flint, which had been given to us at the briefing. We were given a supply of water, then set about getting our Volcano Kettles boiling. Somehow, the teas and coffees tasted so much better – and ever so much more satisfying knowing we had lit the fire ourselves. After toasting marshmallows we packed everything away for the afternoon’s training.
As one might expect, the second part of the day included some more demanding off-roading. The ultimate goal for the day was to reach Camel Bridge, but in order to do that, we had to navigate through some seriously deep-rutted sections and get through the very muddy Bomb Hole.
I was behind the wheel for this section. As soon as we made our way down the hill into Bomb Hole, the 110 lost traction and we found ourselves stuck. The mud was like really thick cement and came up as high as the bonnet. With a smile on our instructors face, he said “perhaps this might be a good time to set the winch”, I asked for another attempt. He said if it’ll move we can.
Fortunately the 110 moved backwards and I managed to reverse back up the hill. This time, I approached a little faster. The 110 managed to push through a little more but to no avail. I could see the sludge was just being pushed along a bit. I looked over for approval to have a third attempt. I really didn’t want to be beaten, and I certainly didn’t relish the thought of standing in the deep mud, trying to set the winch.
This time, the Defender managed to push past the build-up of mud, desperately scrabbling for grip – the engine close to the rev limiter. It cleared Bomb Hole and made its way swiftly up the other side. The sense of achievement was fantastic as I received a round of applause from my fellow teammates. It was some of the best off-roading I had ever done.
After a quick driver change, we continued on our way to Camel Bridge. After a quick history lesson about the bridge, all we needed to do now was to get the 110 over the next tricky section. This required the use of our roofmounted shovels as the ruts were just too deep. Our 110, which was leading the way, became beached – both wheels spinning helplessly. The 110 behind gave us a
“The sense of achievement was fantastic. It was some of the best off-roading I had ever done”
quick tug backwards with a rope and then it was all hands on deck to dig us out.
The last part of the day was to utilise our recentlyacquired rope skills as we were to drive both Defenders over a ravine using a makeshift log bridge. We were required to tie both tree trunks together at both ends to ensure the logs stayed together. A volunteer to drive was needed, and a navigator. I put my hand up to drive and no one challenged it. As soon as I sat in the driver’s seat – I doubted my decision – it was actually quite daunting – firstly because everyone was watching, and secondly, the skills we had developed were going to be tested.
In truth, it’s the navigator who has the toughest job, as it’s their eyes on the vehicle’s position that really counts. Their job was to give clear concise instructions as to whether to steer left, right, move forward or stop. It certainly got the heart racing as we slowly edged across. Once safely over, it was another feeling of great achievement and a real testament to the day’s activities.
The day was over too soon and I was sad to say my goodbyes as we’d formed a proper team bond. Will I go back? Most definitely.