Discover the difference
Ever-capable Discovery 3 is the ultimate snow warrior, says Steve Miller
When Patrick, the editor, asked me what the subject for this piece was going to be about, before I had chance to reply, he quickly interjected: “It had better not be about the recent bad weather; that’ll be too predictable”. To be fair he had a point, but I’m British so I feel I need to use this opportunity to say how grateful I am for owning a Land Rover, especially during the recent snow fall.
Half of my family originate from Cumbria, and my wife Louise’s family are all from the North East. Beast from the East? To them, it was just winter and all that was required was their “big coat”. It just so happened that, as the weather warnings came in, we had a few days booked off work and were due to head up north to spend a few days with our families. We took the weather warnings seriously so decided to load up the Disco 3 on the Tuesday after work and head up the A1 that night, rather than risk the journey and the expected road closures the following day. At least if we got snowed in up north, we’d be on holiday and it would be a nice excuse if we couldn’t travel home in time for work the following Monday.
As we left South Lincolnshire that evening, the snow had decided to make its first proper appearance and it steadily got worse as our journey continued. By the time we were driving through the Retford area, the A1 was completely covered, and the lanes and hard shoulder were indistinguishable. Conditions like these are where peoples’ general bad driving standards are further highlighted – drivers of cars sporting anything with a German brand seemingly the worst offenders. If only I could communicate with them to say: “It’s okay, you are allowed to slow down below 80mph sometimes…”
After a few hours, we made it to our destination safely. The next morning however, the news was awash with reports of road closures, mainly around our home area of Lincolnshire. It seemed we’d gotten away just in time. The roads in the North East around Durham were pretty bad, too, with most people opting to stay indoors. The Discovery was pushed into action once more as we took a trip out.
Driving a modern vehicle like a D3 is simply brilliant – the traction provided and the feeling of safety is fantastic. The repair bills of last month have long since been forgotten as it has repaid us massively already in my opinion.
The following morning we were due to head west over the Pennines to the Windermere area of Cumbria. The main problem however was road closures. The infamous A66 was closed, the A1 was full of accidents and all the minor roads were unpassable. Our only option was to head north on the A1, then head west along the A69 towards Carlisle, then drive south back down the M6 towards Kendal – a long way round, but the only route possible in the conditions.
Sure enough, the roads were bad, with drifting snow across the M6 that required intermittent lane closures, and a few last-minute swerves by, you guessed it, more German-badged cars. During those few days away, we travelled around 750 miles, including a trip up the Wrynose Pass in Cumbria. The views from up there, of snow-covered mountains and frozen waterfalls, were breathtaking. Would I have attempted all this in any other vehicle? Absolutely no chance.