Beat the Winter Blues
Just because the snow’s piled up outside is no excuse not to enjoy your Land Rover. Dave Phillips suggests a wealth of winter warmers to bring a glow to your cheeks…
Dave Phillips comes up with 15 fun things to do in your Land Rover, from camping to off-roading
1 GO CAMPING
Camping in Britain used to be strictly a summer affair. Leaky tent fabrics, inadequate sleeping bags, poor cooking facilities and desolate campsites with no amenities made sure of that. But how things have changed in recent years!
Camping equipment has moved on in leaps and bounds to keep you warm and comfortable whatever the British winter can throw at you, as have campsite facilities.
To find out more, go to the excellent coolcamping.com website, which also suggests the 15 best winter campsites in the UK: https:// coolcamping.com/news/99-campsites-open-allyear-15-of-the-best-winter-campsites-in-england
2 GO GREENLANING
Or should that be whitelaning? Because that’s what it will most likely be if you visit some of popular byways and tracks up in the mountains and moors. Driving unsurfaced roads in winter is fun, but it can also be dangerous – especially if you get stuck on a mountainside as darkness is falling. To stay safe, why not join a convoy organised by a club or one of the many professional tour operators. They take you to the best bits while keeping you and your vehicle safe. Here are just a few:
December 3: Lake District Tour (Cumbria), uklandroverevents.com
December 3: Salisbury Plain 4x4 Adventure Tour (Wiltshire),
4x4adventuretours.co.uk
December 9-10: Wye Valley Adventure Tour (Hereford and Worcestershire), 4x4adventuretours.co.uk
December 9-10: Northumberland Tour, uklandroverevents.com
December 16: Greenlaning (Hampshire), sadlrc.co.uk
December 16-17: Lake District Tour (Cumbria), ardentoffroad.com
December 17: Santa Hunt (Perth and Kinross), scottishoffroadclub.co.uk
December 17: Kielder Forest Safari (Northumberland), kielder4x4 safari.co.uk
December 24: North Yorkshire Moors Tour, uklandroverevents.com
December 26: Tynedale Tour (Hexham), uklandroverevents.com
December 29: Bath & South Cotswolds Tour, 4x4adventuretours.co.uk
January 14: Forest Drive (Banagher, Northern Ireland), landrover-club.com
January 14: Kielder Forest Safari (Northumberland), kielder4x4 safari.co.uk January 27: Wild Wales Safari (Aberdovey area), protraxoverland adventures.co.uk January 28: Lincoln & Belvoir Tour (Lincolnshire), uklandrover events.com
3 PROJECT TIME
Land Rover enthusiasts are incurable collectors. I wonder how many unfinished (or un-started) projects there are out there… rusty old Land Rovers that we’ve brought home to be brought back to life one rainy day?
Well there are plenty of rainy days in the winter, so now’s the time to get cracking. Get it in the garage, stick the heater on and get to work. You’ll soon work up a sweat removing those rustedup fittings. This will be your chance to try out all those tools you bought but never got around to using. And stock up on angle grinder discs!
Even if you haven’t got a project, that’s no excuse. Winter, with hedges and foliage barren of leaves, is the time to scour the countryside looking for abandoned old Land Rovers. So get out there!
4 GET MODELLING
I don’t know any Land Rover fan who hasn’t got a few Land Rover models either proudly displayed in a display case or gathering dust at the back of shelves. Sadly, I fit the latter category, but I still can’t resist my favourite vehicles in 1:76 or 1:43 scale. The big advantage of miniatures over the real thing is that they are cheaper, don’t go wrong and never leave pools of oil beneath them.
But not all models are static replicas. There is a growing movement of radio-controlled Landy fans, who get their amazing models to perform the sort of off-road driving stunts that you won’t find on any Terrain Response knob. We ran a feature on the miniature world of radio control off-roading in the January 2018 issue of LRM (see page 98) and companies such as RC4WD odder 1:10 scale Defenders – see rcbitz.com for more information.
5 BE PREPARED
If your antifreeze hasn’t been replaced in the last two years, get your coolant checked with a hydrometer or replace with new antifreeze. Remember that antifreeze doesn’t just prevent frost damage, it also protects your engine’s internals from corrosion.
Is your battery up to the rigours of winter? It is in cold weather, when engine oil is more viscous and harder to turn over, that you’re likely to be caught out. Get it checked and, if it isn’t holding its charge, replace it.
Are your windscreen wipers up to scratch? How about your washer levels? If there isn’t enough proper washer fluid in there, it will freeze up.
How about your tyres? Is there a good tread depth and are they are the correct pressures? If you’re doing a lot of snow driving, or live in the Highlands, invest in a set of snow chains to get you out of trouble.
Finally, remember that when British roads are gritted they are actually being treated to a liberal covering of rock salt, which will devour any ferrous metal exposed to the elements. Make sure the underside and chassis of your Land Rover is Waxoyled and get under there with the power wash as often as you can .
6 SHOW TIME!
Most folk associate Land Rover shows with the summer months but there is plenty of action in the winter, too. If you like to go camping or drive your Land Rover to interesting places, then the Adventure Travel Show at Olympia, London, on January 20-21 will be right up your street. You’ll come away with enough holiday ideas to last you a lifetime. Go to adventureshow.com
For many, winter is a time to knuckle down in the garage and get some much-needed work done on our Land Rover. But it’s worth putting the spanners down for the day on January 27 to visit the ’Normous Newark Autojumble at Newark Showground, Nottinghamshire, to find the elusive parts or panels you’ve been looking for. Go to newarkautojumble.co.uk.
7 BE A VOLUNTEER
The UK’S dedicated emergency services are everyday heroes who willingly go the extra mile to answer our 999 calls. But what happens when their vehicles can’t get across that extra mile or two of challenging terrain? That’s when Britain’s 4x4 Response network move in.
With increased risk of flooding and extremes of weather, and in remote places where ordinary blue-light vehicles can’t reach, 4x4 Response groups provide valuable support, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
These hardy volunteers are always looking for new members. All you need is a reliable 4x4 and an urge to put something back into the community. If there isn’t already a 4x4 Response group in your area, who not set one up?
To find out more, go to 4x4response.info.
“Get in the garage, stick the heater on and get to work”
8 FIT A WINCH
If you want the ultimate in self-recovery equipment during the winter, consider investing in an electric winch. It’s easy to fit on most Land Rover models, particularly if you also fit a custommade winch bumper to accommodate it. Bolt it on to the bumper, connect it to the battery and you can start winching, but make sure you gen up on safe winching practices first, because these powerful machines are dangerous in the wrong hands. There are lots of makes available, but nobody knows more about winches than David Bowyer, who has spent half his lifetime at Land Rover shows, demonstrating good winching techniques. When he’s not in a show arena you’ll find him (and loads of brilliant advice to boot) at goodwinch.com.
9 SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
One thing all Land Rover fans have in common is a desire to get back to basics. Why otherwise would we drive the draughtiest, most uncomfortable and bone-shaking cars on the planet? And if you want to delve even further back into Basicsville, you could go learn the survival basics on a caveman course run by Bear Grylls or Ray Mears.
Both Bear and Ray are genuine Defender fans, which begs the question: could these bushcraft boys survive without their Land Rovers?
To find out more, go to beargryllssurvival academy.com or raymears.com.
10 DRIVE (OR FLY) TO THE SUN
Fed up with the cold, gloomy British winter? That car with the green oval badge you’ve got parked outside was designed to take you through steaming tropical jungles and the searing heat of deserts, so what are you waiting for? Get out there and find some sunshine.
If you’re in your own vehicle, you can take it across the Channel (ferry or tunnel), then drive through France and down to the south of Spain in a couple of days. And if that isn’t hot enough for you, you can catch a ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco and head for the Sahara Desert.
If that’s a tad too adventurous, you could always fly to your sunny destination and hire a 4x4 to go exploring in. But make sure you can find a car rental outfit at your destination that supplies Land Rovers.
11 GET KITTED OUT
Sometimes, even a go-anywhere Land Rover isn’t enough to see you through to your destination. Whether you’re greenlaning, off-roading or just driving a few miles to see relatives, winter weather can catch you out. Snowdrifts can block roads, as can fallen trees in winter gales, while rivers swollen with floodwater will make some roads impassable.
When driving in winter, always carry an emergency kit to get yourself (or other vehicles) out of trouble. A winch (see No. 14) is the ultimate recovery tool, but you should always carry a spade or shovel, recovery rope and shackles, torch (make sure the batteries are fresh), heavy-duty jump leads and a fluorescent jacket so that you’re visible when working outside your vehicle in poor light. Also bring blankets, just in case you’re stranded in your vehicle overnight.
12 SEEK SOME SNOW
Some winters lowland England receives little or no snow at all, but wherever you live snow shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours away in the depths of winter. Scotland is the obvious destination, but the Yorkshire Moors and Dales, the Lake District, the Pennines, the mountains of Wales, Exmoor and Dartmoor are sure to see plenty of the white stuff. The Chilterns, Cotswolds, Lincolnshire Wolds and higher ground in the Midlands usually get their share, too.
To be absolutely sure of snow, though, you could drive through France to the Alps, where it’s guaranteed. It’s also the height of the ski season, so you can enjoy some après-greenlaning fun, too!