Flocking to the river
Spring is in the air and Dave’s eager to get out exploring in his Land Rover
SPRING has to be my favourite time of the year, as nature wakes up from its hibernation and the countryside comes alive. Here in the Nene valley the meadows are alive to the sounds of sheep and lambs… and Land Rovers.
I’m an early riser. I like to be out and about before dawn in order to witness the day’s sunrise. And the first people I meet are usually my farmer mate Martin and his partner, Jane, out tending to their flocks of sheep. At the time of writing they have already helped deliver dozens of lambs in recent weeks, with just one small flock of heavily-pregnant ewes about to drop in the next couple of weeks.
The capacious load space of Martin’s Defender 110 Hi Cap (with Ifor Williams canopy) is stuffed to the rafters with the paraphernalia of a busy farmer as he drives around the meadows, checking out his flocks. The warm weather following the wet winter means the grass is particularly lush this spring, but the sheep still welcome the supplementary feed that Martin and Jane bring them daily – so much so that they come trotting towards him as soon as they hear that distinctive Td5 engine note.
It’s something that most greenlaners have experienced: drive a diesel Defender anywhere in sheep country and they’ll literally come flocking to see you, because your car makes the same noise as the farmer’s and they think you’re delivering their dinner.
At the time of writing, lockdown is still in force, but I’m counting off the days to when I’ll be able to escape in my Ninety and simply go off and explore. Nothing exotic – there are plenty of bits of Britain I haven’t seen yet. Being stuck at home for months
on end makes you appreciate the simple pleasures that you used to take for granted but you’re now missing.
I’m lucky in that I live in a beautiful corner of the countryside. Because of that it has been a popular destination for those who haven’t been too scrupulous about sticking to lockdown rules, but I guess the picturesque river with its locks, weirs and mills is a great temptation. It’s also pretty easy to socially distance if you’re walking across a big, open meadow.
Water seems to draw people like a magnet and it’s not just folk who want to be by the riverside – it also includes hardy souls who enjoy wild swimming. Most frosty mornings see them take a dip in the murky brown waters of the ice-fringed River Nene. To do for pleasure what would be considered a crime against humanity if forced to do it by others seems an odd choice of recreational activity, but each to their own, I say. After all, they would probably object strongly to driving a Land Rover like my very austere 1984 Ninety, with its hard seats and even harder suspension, little in the way of heating and sliding windows that you open by hand. They would think I’m mad, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Funny old world, isn’t it?
Like most of the adult population, I’ve now had my first coronavirus jab and feel a lot more confident about the prospect of a relaxed, post-covid summer. Or perhaps it’s just the spring weather that’s put a smile on my face.
Like many, I watched more television than normal during lockdown. Luckily I live alone, because I would have driven any partner mad with my annoying habit of looking out for on-screen Land Rovers (and often pausing the programme in order to take a screen shot). Recent “captures” include a Forward Control 101 polished to within an inch of its life and being used to carry the late Earl Mountbatten’s Union Jack-draped coffin to his funeral, in 1979.
Even the recent ITV screening of the Meghan and Harry interview with Oprah Winfrey included a some footage of Charles and Diana’s tour of Australia in 1981… with the royal couple standing in the back of one of the lovely maroon Royal Review Land Rovers. Meanwhile, in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (the sequel to original Mamma Mia! movie) eagle-eyed Land Rover spotters like me will have spotted a garishly-painted open-top Series III driving along an idyllic Greek island’s coast road.
To be honest, it’s become a bit of an obsession and has expanded to include an extraordinary attention to detail. A recent Smithsonian Channel documentary on the first of Nazi Germany’s V2 rocket attacks on London included a dramatisation of a corner shop scene in 1941 Chiswick, with a soldier buying a bunch of flowers for his girlfriend. I wonder if I was the only person to spot that he paid for his purchase with a £1 note bearing the Queen’s head – a full 12 years before she ascended to the throne? Perhaps he was a time traveller… but nobody will ever know for sure, because seconds later the whole neighbourhood was destroyed by that huge flying bomb.
Yes, I really do need to get out more.