Laning in the Valleys
Mid Wales is home to some of the finest greenlanes in all of the UK... LRM’S editor takes them on
It’s exactly two weeks to go before the muchanticipated Six Nations Rugby Championships and I find myself in Mid Wales on a Friday evening, where rugby, like singing in an all-male choir, is rather popular. To be exact I’m in the Hundred House Inn, which is only about six miles from Builth Wells, the spa town located on the River Wye. The area is the perfect base for those wishing to explore the area by Land Rover, walking boots or bicycle. The inn is full of about 30 Welsh blokes, getting ready for an inter-club darts event. Obviously the colourful conversation soon turns to the impending rugby championship and the Welsh supporters bemoan their luck with injuries, as several key players are set to miss out. Still the ales flow, the spirits rise and the darts fly. I’m not here for the darts or the ales though. I prefer lager and green-laning, which is exactly what I’m going to do tomorrow.
Wales is without a doubt home to some of the finest greenlanes in all of the UK. Legendary lanes such as Strata Florida, the Wayfarer and Happy Valley always seem to crop up when the topic of conversation is laning in Wales. I have driven these lanes and while they are top notch, they can be a little like the M25 on a Friday evening, if you drive them on a weekend. How can one enjoy the countryside when surrounded by lots of other human beings? So I suggest that you take some holiday if going to do some of the more popular lanes in Wales.
I leave the inn early the next morning as I have to meet my guide and all-round nice bloke Ian Hulme in Builth Wells. As I’m a little early I take a slight detour via the A483 to Cilmery. There I visit the site where the last Welsh Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, was killed by an English soldier in 1282. There is a plaque and obelisk to mark the spot. Judging by some of the literature about him, he is hailed by the Welsh as someone who helped unite the valleys.
I move on to the Little Chef in Builth Wells where Ian and the rest of the convoy are waiting. Ian and his partner Keri Hulme-webb are in his beefed-up Discovery 2. It has a tidy homemade heavy-duty front bumper, snorkel, Britpart suspension, two inch lift and mud tyres. As I will be taking the photos (and opening the gates) I hop in with them. There are three other Land Rovers in our convoy. Keith and Amanda Verren are in a Defender 90 Td5 pick-up, Ryan White and sons in a white (how appropriate) Discovery 2 Td5 and Sue Busby and Tim Hackett in a black Discovery 1 200Tdi. Tim had his recovery rope at the ready, it is wrapped around the extra lights on the front of his D1 while Amanda is carrying the all-important chocolate brownies, which are to be consumed during the lunch stop.
I am not a massive fan of driving big distances on tar between lanes and Ian has promised me that would not be the case today. We would be starting with a lane near the inn I stayed at last night and finishing at the same place! How brilliantly convenient.
Here are my descriptions of all the lanes we drove on the day. Even though we had pretty leisurely lunch (and chocolate brownie) stop, we still managed to finish them all well before the early winter sunset.
“Wales is home to some of the finest greenlanes in the UK”