May 2002 Newsletter
EDITORS PAGE
Yes fellow off roaders it's that time again to read this boring greeting to you all so here goes.
Welcome to you all from all the committee members, who are all hoping that you are all still enjoying the club as much or more so then you were when you first joined us, if this is not the case feel free to come and see any or all of the committee at any time to let us know your views on how we can make changes to the club to make all of are members happy and wanting to come back to our club year after year, after all it is the members that make this club what it is and the club belongs all members alike.
May I just say that although I have not done any off roading because of my bad back I am still an active member of the club/committee so if you want to talk or have any problems I am always at the end of the phone if not face to face, at least on the phone you don't have to look at my ugly mug.
I hope you all enjoy the news letter and once again I am always looking for pieces written by other members on such topics as new venues, services that may help other members i.e. garages, gas fitters, chefs, carpet fitters, electricians ect.
Also hobbies, interest ECT that you may have someone will also be glad to read about so come along peeps please give me some ideas.
Once again hoping this newsletter finds all members well and hope that you all enjoy
Your editor
Sandy xx
West tisted 21st April
The day started like any other off road day with Steve getting on the site nice and early to set up for the day.
By the time Barry and myself turned up all setting up had been done with the very welcome help of nick new thank you,
When we turned up it was time to get the barbecue lit for those early bird breakfast burgers, which Chris kindly got from the wholesalers for us, burgers and hotdogs where going for �1 canned drinks 50p tea or coffee 20p a cup which seemed to go down well with all that where brave enough to test them out, put it this way nobody has phoned and complained about being ill, ha ha. Because after all Barry was doing most of the cooking.
Although it was not very wet every one did seem to enjoy themselves there were casualties Andy Comlay and his mate Steve Cowley went limping home in there series land rover thinking that they had broken the front diff when at home under close inspection it turned out to be something wrong with the free wheeling hubs, another members fuel pump where presenting problems but I'm glad to say that its back on the of road course again.
Marshals for the day where Colin, Gary, Wayne, Steve and Chris may I just thank them for their hard work it was very nice of them to volunteer there services may I just say that if I have forgotten any body once again I'm sorry and thank you for your help.
As I said the day went well its nice to be able to get back to the off roading side of the club now that foot and mouth are hopefully well behind us now, once again may I just say thank you to all members that came along and helped to make the day another success.
Sorry last but not least thank you to Zoe and Emma for once again volunteering to collect money at the gate for the day.
HAPPY OFFROADING SANDY XX
BRICKILN FARM 5TH MAY
Sunday started nice and sunny it became over cast but didn't rain, Barry, Zoe, ray, Emma are friend Maria her son peter and myself turn up about 9 am to find Steve and a selective few setting up so we all pitched in to help I set up the barbecue Barry, ray, Zoe, Peter, and Emma helped with the setting up and Maria helped me. Pretty soon members started to turn up and Emma and Zoe where at the gate to meet them making sure disclaimers where filled in and money was taken.
Very soon there were reports of vehicles getting stuck Zoe got stuck down the bottom and peter came running up to the barbeque for help, Wayne went to the rescue and pulled them to safety good no damage done, but who spoke to soon because by the end of the day the Suzuki had obtained a broken clutch, pulled the steering damper off and a few dents.
Wayne was pulled out by Chris then Barry had to pull Chris out backwards. Richard also obtained some damage to his landie and it was over heating.
The big bomb hole was very very wet and was claiming lots of victims people dropped down into the hole and some adventurous people were not able to get out again due to the fact they tried to leave by the right hand entrance people where being pulled and winched out all over the place.
Then the tomb raider look alike landie bellied out big time many attempts were made to tow him off to no avail then had to be winched out by Steve. Barry's rangie got a few dents and was very dirty, quite a few vehicles were so muddy they were hard to recognize. People where coming up for burgers with mud up to there knees so I think I was in the right place catching a bit of sun every time the sun came out and staying out of the mud.
All in all I feel a good day was had by all with burgers and hotdogs at �1.50, tea and coffee was 20p a cup made very nicely by peter, who now wants to come again THANKS for the help.
Thursday 9th may pub meet at Hampshire Rose
Thank you to all members that attended the pub meet this month we actually had thirty eight members turn up we had a new member join on the night and other people have requested membership forms so hopefully this will mean fresh blood in the club.
Lots of things were mentioned but I think I can say that from me and all the members we are sorry to hear that Steve and Sarah have handed their notice in from being chair persons but they will still be very active inside the club but as chair persons they will be sadly missed as who ever takes on the role has got a lot to live up to, to be as good as Steve has been for the club, better stop praising him up now as he wont be able to get out of the door because of the size of his head.
Once again may I say from all of us,
"A VERY BIG THANKYOU".
I have just also received an e-mail from Jayne confirming that they to are going to be leaving the committee due to ill health and other commitments so they feel that they should hand the job over to someone else, But I would also like to thank them both for the hard work they have both put into the club and to say from us all that we hope they will still stay as members, Jayne has said she will help any one who takes over from her with any problems that may occur, may I just say from every one a BIG "THANKYOU" for all the good work you have done.
Once again thank you and you will be strongly missed.
SANDY xx
Bar man mugged
On Sunday 5th of may there was a mugging, it occurred in Widley very close to the Hampshire rose where the pub meet is held, on Thursday the 9th when we arrived at the pub I was told about the mugging and nearly fell over when I was told who the victim was, it was Joe who is are happy smiling bar man each Thursday.
The four men and two young girls who done the mugging stole Joes watch and mobile phone they also tried stealing his trainers in doing so they have injured his ankle, he is as you may or may not know a professional dancer but he has had to put this back for at least six months and is unable to return to work for a while which is sad, we all hear about this happening but we never think it will happen to any one we know.
As a club at the last meet we as the Wessex hill runners done a quick collection and we made �70.84 although this may help to get a new watch or phone we all know the scars of some thing like this happening will take a long time to heal so may I just say from the committee good luck Joe, and a big thank you to every one who donated to this very worthy cause.
Sandy x
RRR Easter Rally O2
Having recently started subscribing to the Internet, I quickly took the opportunity to check out our Club website. Needless to say, I was very impressed with all the hard work and excellent content that has gone into this venture.
I then thought it might be interesting to visit the website for the Range Rover Register and see how they did things. The TM events" page caught my eye, an Easter Rally near Marlborough, Wiltshire (not far from home), so off I went to visit!
When I arrived at the campsite on the Saturday afternoon there were only a couple of people around (the rest were out 'n' about), but I was lucky enough to spend an hour or so chatting to the Wiltshire Area Rep about their club and what they get up to, and I was surprised at the number of similarities between us both! I learned that the RRR originally started in 1980, with the purpose of tracing the whereabouts and any Information on the pre-production and post-production vehicles (known as Velars), before it's launch in June 1970. As interest grew, so did the Register both nationally and internationally, to encompass all marques and models up to the latest 3rd generation Range Rover.
All that aside, nowadays it is a well-organised, family orientated 4x4 club, who's 2000+ membership enjoy the same things as we do - greenlaning, off-road days, visiting local and national events (with Club stand too), camping trips, liasing with local County Councils to assist with greenlane clearing, raising money for charity and helping-out other members "in their hour of mechanical need." What I also found noticeable was the apparent absence of any "elitist attitude", which I thought would exist in this type of club.
As I was leaving, the convoy of vehicles were just returning from their day of greenlaning, both locally and on Salisbury Plain. It was obvious they weren't proud
- Dirt and mud from tyre to roof!!! A friendly and interesting bunch of people who are nutty about their own 4x4's Just like us then!!!
Giles Sadd
Treasure Hunt 12/05/2022
A big thank you to Joe and Ben for organising such a fun day.
It was a nice sunny day when we all met at U.T.E. base buriton industrial estate petersfield.
Every one teamed up so there was two vehicles in each team we teamed up with Colin and penny Holmes.
There was a quick briefing and every one set of for the challenge and the lanes.
We had to follow directions on the form that was provided and pick up the clues on the way, then having to tax are brains for the answers writing them on the answer sheet, their where questions for kids to.
In total there where seven lanes but only five questions that some were very well hidden.
Well-done to the winning team Shaun and Andrew who received tow ropes and the kiddies prize was a nice kite but none of the kids went home empty handed as there was a bag of sweets for all.
Once again thank you for a great day and folks don't forget any problems with your motors you can always contact Joe or Ben who will be happy to help. Look for them at above address or contact any of the committee who will gladly give you directions.
Sandy x.
Green Lane News
By Patrick Manuel
Home: 02392 369660
Mobile: 07866 297543
Email: [email protected]
National Green Lane Day - Sunday 24 March 2022
Another excellent turn out from club members - a big thank you to everyone who supported the event. We managed to clear the lane in a couple of hours. We were supported this time by Jane Noble from Hampshire Paths Partnership. Jane has only recent joined the HPP team and was keen to come and meet us. She was very impressed by the clubs approach to the work and dropped me a line after the event where she said, "It was a delight to work with such a mixed and enthusiastic group".
I managed to be a bit more organised on the press coverage front this time round and helped Hampshire County Council to put together a press release that went to local Petersfield papers - I am not sure if anything actually appeared in them thought. I also sent releases to all the major 4x4 and Land Rover magazines that I could think of including LROI, LRW, LRM, LRE, 4x4, 4x4 Enthusiast and Difflock (the web based off-road mag that can be found on the Internet at www.difflock.com). We had an article published in Difflock and a mention on the Clubs page of LROI. If you can think of any publications that I have missed out (are there any non Land Rover single make mags?) please let me know and I will include them in the hit list next time.
National Green Lane Day - October 2002
The club intended to run two green lane clearance days a year, one in support of LARA's National Green Lane Day, the other being a club-initiated event. Well LARA have just announced that they will now sponsor two clearance days in 2002 the next one being on the weekend of 19/20 October. This fits in very nicely with our plans so we are aiming for the next Hillrunners clearance event to be on Sunday 20 October. Don't say you have not had enough warning!
Hampshire Count Council have suggested that we clear a small cluster of lanes at Four Marks but we need to undertake a survey and contact the landowners. More details will be provided nearer the time.
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Hampshire Paths Partnership Training
As part of the HPP scheme Hampshire Count Council will provide training. There are courses available for risk assessment, first aid and use of brush cutters. The First Aid course is four days long and at the end of it you will be a certified first aider. The brush cutter course is two days (probably a Friday and a Saturday). Places on this course will be limited. If you are interested in attending any of these courses please contact me.
Wessex Lanes Database
At last the nights are beginning to get shorter and the weather is improving so I have been hitting the lanes again. The database now has over 160 of the 300 identified lanes in the Wessex region (the area within about a 25 mile radius of Portsmouth) photographed and written up to at least some extent. You can access the database on the member's only area of the Hillrunners web site or I can provide it on CD-ROM.
Maps
Maps are pretty useful things to have when you are out on the lanes, but they should not be trusted to be totally accurate or up to date as the following two incidents show.
I was checking out a Right of Way near Petersfield that was shown on the map as a RUPP. The lane was actually signposted as a bridleway but I thought I would walk it anyway. As chance would have it HCC were doing some work on the lane and I got chatting to the South Hampshire RoW Officer. He said the RoW had been reclassified as a bridleway seven or eight years ago. The map I had was the latest issue OS Explorer.
There is a Right of Way near Wickham that is show on the OS maps as a footpath, the map on the Hampshire County Councils web site as a RUPP and is signposted at each end as a Byway (although one post also has a small notice on it saying that it is a footpath)! What is the status of this lane? Hard to tell but a call to the RoW department at Winchester should sort it out.
Salisbury Plain Green Lane Trip
I felt inclined not to mention the Plain in this newsletter and hope no one would notice. But that would not be very honest of me so instead I will confess that I have not done anything and stand by for a torrent of abuse. I will have to do something soon because the embarrassment of admitting yet again that I have made no progress will get too much to bear.
Doing your own thing
To end on a high note, I am sure that more club members are now getting out and about on the lanes by themselves or in small groups. This is really good news because laning is as much about exploring as it is driving. With organised outings it is normally a 'follow the leader' routine which means that you miss out on half the fun - trying to figure out exactly where you are on the map! If you have not yet ventured onto a green lane by yourself you do not know what you are missing. There are many lanes in the Wessex area can be driven in almost any car, and certainly any 4x4, so get out there and give it a go.
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Wessex Hillrunners Guidelines for Greenlaning
1. Tread lightly - travel at a maximum speed of 10 mph.
2. Don't drive the lane if you think that you will cause it damage from which it will not naturally recover (e.g. whopping great ruts) - keep the heroics for off-road sites.
3. Give way to all other lone users - horses, cyclists, workers, etc.
4. Give horses a wide berth. Stop the car, turn off the engine and wait for them to pass. Back up if necessary.
5. Reduce speed passing dwellings and farm buildings.
6. Clear obstructions if possible (fallen trees etc).
7. Do not litter - or better still, if you see any litter pick it up.
8. Don't deviate from the course of the lane unless it is to avoid an obstruction. That bomb hole just off to one side may look fun to play in but you will be trespassing if you do this without the landowners permission.
9. If travelling in a group, limit convoys to six vehicles at a maximum. Larger groups should split into two or more smaller convoys. Leave a good gap between each convoy.
10. If approached by members of the public, police or landowners for whatever reason, be polite and try not to get into any arguments. Smile and keep the clubs good name.
11. You may be challenged about your right to drive a lane. You are fairly safe if the lane in question is a BOAT or a UCR, however if it is a RUPP you need to be certain that it does have vehicular rights. If you are challenged about your right to drive a lane:
a. If you are certain that it has vehicular rights make up your own mind as to whether you wish to continue.
b. If you are not certain that the lane has vehicular rights, state that you believe that it has (otherwise why were you driving it in the first place?) but that you will confirm this. State that you will not drive the lane on this occasion (if challenged on the lane or as you leave it then this is not an option!).
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SAFETY AND RECOVERY
12. Try to avoid getting stuck in the first place - if the lane appears that challenging then maybe you should not be driving it.
13. Beware of obstructions (over hanging trees, hidden roots).
14. Be on the lookout for submerged objects (concrete, metal work).
15. Think of your capabilities and your vehicles.
16. Use correct recovery techniques if required (think safety).
17. If you get really stuck and all else fails, call the club for help - Take a mobile phone and make sure you have the contact numbers with you before setting off. Providing an OS map reference will help to locate you.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
18. Green lanes have the same laws as normal roads, you need to have a valid licence and be driving a taxed, MoT'd and insured vehicle.
19. Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) and Temporary Road Closure (TRC) notices must be obeyed. Look out for them at the entrance to lanes.
Website news
www.wessex-hillrunners.co.uk
The website contains loads of information on the club, it's members and the vehicles they drive. We also like to put photos and write ups of events that have been organised or we have attended.
There is a discussion board and a "for sale and wanted pages", there has been an online chat area for sometime as well, but so far has never been used!
The website is kept up to date and as informative as possible but it does rely on the members of the club passing information, pictures and stories for inclusion. I can also write a page for you, giving details of a project or just more about you and your 4X4!
I have a link of the week page; this may not always be 4X4 related but is usually worth a look! If you have any suggestions for the Link of the week let me know.
As with the club as a whole the Website belongs to all of you so if you think it needs something tell me and hopefully I can help! But sorry we can't add an oil leak for the real 4X4 effect!
Jim Tyler
Website Editor
Email me on: [email protected]
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AMSTERDAM TRIP
FRI. 1ST NOVEMBER/MON 4TH NOVEMBER
Any one interested in a long weekend away in the great city of Amsterdam??
If so give me a call on:
Home: 023 9248 1323
Mobile: 07802 447271 (or e-mail on [email protected])
I am trying to get a group of at least 16 people to go and have a relaxing weekend in a great refreshing city.
The accommodation is going to be in the hotel Acro a 2* hotel with on-suite toilet and shower facilities. Bed and Breakfast,
3-night stay, the hotel is approx. 10 min walk from the infamous "red light district" and even closer to some of the museums "van gogh" for instance is just around the corner.
The cost of the trip is going to be approx. (dep.on numbers)
�190.00 per. Person this includes flight from Gatwick or Heathrow, (to be confirmed) B&B accommodation.
Transfer to central station is approx 4 euros (�2.50)
Transfer to hotel from centraal station approx 15 euros (�10)
Transfer to hotel is approx 30/35 euros (�20/�25)
I need to know numbers ASAP so that I can book and get as much discount as poss. (more spending money)
Deposits req. ASAP full amount MUST be paid by the 9thAugust.
HOPE TO SEE AS MANY THERE AS POSS. YOURS
BARRY
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