Braving the weather
LLRC goes over the border and explores North Yorkshire’s lanes
FOLLOWING breakfast in Haslingden, members from the Lancashire Land Rover Club (LLRC) set off up towards the lovely market town of Gisburn in Yorkshire. Considering the awful weather leading up to the event and the terrible forecast for the day itself, it was a good turnout. The hardy group divided into two, each setting off in different directions, with the plan being to meet up at lunch and swap lanes.
After picking up the first greenlane of the day just north of Long Preston – a gentle introduction to the day’s laning, we headed towards Settle where unfortunately the weather was getting worse with drizzle and low mist. With its quaint but exceedingly narrow streets, Settle was ‘interesting’ for those in our group with large tyres and spacers on their vehicles. Judging by the scrapes on the walls, others in the past weren’t as quite as fortunate. After lunch at Helwith Bridge, where the two groups caught up for a chat and photos, we moved on towards Ingleton. The ford over the River Twiss was higher than usual and quite fast-flowing, but everyone made the crossing with no problems, including the Freelander on its standard suspension and wheels, which meant it was riding lower than the other Land Rovers in our party. Evidence, perhaps, that the Freelander doesn’t always the credit it deserves.
Next up was the climb to West Cam Road. This was slippery and the drizzle was getting worse by the minute, with visibility at the top reduced to about 50 yards, which made the descent on the stone steps tricky. In fact, this is where we gained our first casualty of the day, when a Defender 90 broke a brake line. Owner Paula started to think that it was the going to be the big yellow taxi home, but as is the spirit of our club, everyone mucked in, and in true Land Rover
enthusiast fashion, and with a bit of improvisation, we carried out a roadside repair and got it moving again.
As our group approached Bob Lane the weather started to clear up. It couldn’t have been more timely because it was a rough old climb over rocks, boulders and wet grass. It certainly came as a relief when everyone reached High Lane and Gilbert Lane and were back on flat ground. This was where we had the final coffee stop of the day before making our way back home.
The group had covered some 75 miles during the day and despite the weather we still managed to glimpse some beautiful scenery in what is a wonderful part of the country.