My trip across Salisbury plane, Brecon, Sarn helen & Strata
Discussion
I was going to put this in the off road forum but it doesn't seem to get much traffic lately, so i thought I'd put it here.
Everyone likes a story and seeing as I recently got back from a 5 day road trip to wales camping and green laning with my wife and brother, I thought I'd share ours.
Over 5 days we went from Dorking in Surrey to Strata Florida in west wales and back, via Salisbury plane, the Brecon Beacons, Sarn Helen and Strata Florida. We went in my Land Rover Discovery 2 TD5 and my brother's Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7ltr V8.
Day 1: Salisbury plane
Started out from Dorking, Surrey and headed to Salisbury plain. Turned off of the A303 just after Stonehenge for some easy, dusty lanes over the hills
After a while (and a chat with some cows) we got to the first chance to get the tyres in some mud; one of many dips in the track that holds water and stays muddy. Josh went first in the Cherokee, got half way before getting bogged down. After some forward and backward moves he got himself out the way he came in. I went next and got through without too much difficulty. This was like a red flag to a bull and josh was straight back in the Jeep determined to get through and regain some dignity. Unfortunately in his haste he hit the water very hard and when he emerged the other side his bumper had come off. In the time it took me to run down to the disco and get on the CB he had already driven over it. Oops.
Once the laughter had subsided we spotted red fluid running out from under the back of the Jeep. Being an auto we feared the worst but after pulling it up to flatter/dryer ground and having a better look we discovered a plastic T-piece used when fitting the LPG (over 100K miles ago) had cracked and dropped the coolant out. A hasty repair using a 13mm socket as a joiner meant it could be filled back up but only run on petrol.
We finished the Salisbury lanes avoiding any more big water hazards. The recovery score was evened up when I decided to go down one of the deeper rutted tracks and ran out of diff clearance. Unfortunately no pictures as by now it was getting late and we wanted to get to or first camp site in Shepton Mallet while we still had light to put our tent up.
Day 2: Across the border
Day 2 started with some maintenance. late on day 1 the battery light had come on on the Discovery as the alternator wasn't charging. Although it was a pain, this didn't worry me too much as it's common TD5 problem that I have had before when offroading especially at clay pay&play sites. The muddy water splashes into the alternator and gets into the small brush holder in the rectifier on the back. The water can drain out but the mud gets stuck and when it dries it jams the holder up and prevents the brushes from making good contact. All that was required was to remove, clean the holder and refit and the problem was solved.
Next was to get the Jeep back running on LPG. While I was fixing the Disco, Josh went to a local plumbing store and managed to pick up some brass T-pieces in the correct size to replace our temporary 13mm spanner bodge.
We replaced both the broken "T" and the unbroken one for piece of mind. Good job too as it wasn't far behind and almost crumbled as it was taken out. Coolant topped back up and leak checked and we were ready to back up the tent and head over the border
On the way we decided to stop off and have a look at Cheddar Gorge which was good and home to one of the friendliest traffic parking attendants I've ever met. We stopped in the "coaches only" spots and he started walking over, however instead of telling us to move on he just wanted to chat about the muddy 4X4's, told us if we were only there for about 20 minutes not to bother with a ticket and said if we wanted to stay longer to go a couple of car parks up the gorge as "none of us can be bothered to walk up there and check the tickets" :lol:
After cheddar we found a jet wash and then made our way over the seven bridge into wales and up to our second camp site next near Abergavenny. A great little site literally on the side of a mountain with great views. The pitches are all at least 50m apart so you get the feeling of being alone and a have their own fire pit which is great. We cooked dinner on the fire and then got our heads down ready for Brecon in the morning.
Day 3: Brecon and Sarn Helen (pic heavy)
I'll pretty much let the pictures do the talking for day 3 as it was pretty much all about the views. You cant drive more than a few miles through Brecon (or the Welsh countryside in general to be honest) without wanting to pull over and take a picture!
We made our way through Brecon to the upper most of the 2 stretches of Sarn Helen that are in the national park to see what the sineage is like at the end of the lanes. As expected they are now closed to Motorized vehicles. We used the stop as an excuse for some lunch and while having a look a nice stream nearby my brother and I ended up going for a dip
Next we went down to the third part of Sarn helen which is just outside the national park to the south. It has a TRO on it but is open from 1st June to 21nd of August. The lane was great although we think it would be better to do from west to east (As apposed to east to west as we did) as the western end is steep with rocky bits and would be more fun to go up than down.
After Sarn we went north to our third campsite near Tregaron which is nice and close to Strata for the next day
Day 4: Strata Florida
The day we've been waiting for; our trip down Strata Florida
The day started with a good fryup in town and then a search for some LPG for the jeep. After a bit of a wild goose chase around a few different garages Josh came to terms with running on petrol once again and filled up so we could head to the lane.
And what a lane it is. Best one I've been down so far. We started from the Abby so the water crossings started small and got progressively deeper as neither vehicle is fitted with a snorkel but we needn't have worried. With the clear weather leading up to and during the trip all of the crossings were quite low. Only the last one reached headlight level and even then that's only because I deliberately took the deeper line.
Once we got to the end of the lane we turned back and set up to wild camp just off the lane in a nice clear spot. You could tell it had been used before as it already had a small fire pit made up from stones and a pile of wood left by the last lot. The wife wasn't keen on the fact that we'd stopped in the middle of nowhere but once I'd got the tent up and Josh had started the fire and got some food on the go she came round
Day 5: Going home__
Day 5 was basically the trip home by the most direct route.
We got up, had breakfast and wrapped up camp making sure the area was cleaner than we found it (there was some rubbish from the last people which we took with us too). then made our way off the lane at the south end and let the sat nav guide us back.
Our only stop was for a leg stretch and a look around just outside of Bristol at the Bloodhound SSC Manufacturing facility where i will be working in the near future.
Everyone likes a story and seeing as I recently got back from a 5 day road trip to wales camping and green laning with my wife and brother, I thought I'd share ours.
Over 5 days we went from Dorking in Surrey to Strata Florida in west wales and back, via Salisbury plane, the Brecon Beacons, Sarn Helen and Strata Florida. We went in my Land Rover Discovery 2 TD5 and my brother's Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7ltr V8.
Day 1: Salisbury plane
Started out from Dorking, Surrey and headed to Salisbury plain. Turned off of the A303 just after Stonehenge for some easy, dusty lanes over the hills
After a while (and a chat with some cows) we got to the first chance to get the tyres in some mud; one of many dips in the track that holds water and stays muddy. Josh went first in the Cherokee, got half way before getting bogged down. After some forward and backward moves he got himself out the way he came in. I went next and got through without too much difficulty. This was like a red flag to a bull and josh was straight back in the Jeep determined to get through and regain some dignity. Unfortunately in his haste he hit the water very hard and when he emerged the other side his bumper had come off. In the time it took me to run down to the disco and get on the CB he had already driven over it. Oops.
Once the laughter had subsided we spotted red fluid running out from under the back of the Jeep. Being an auto we feared the worst but after pulling it up to flatter/dryer ground and having a better look we discovered a plastic T-piece used when fitting the LPG (over 100K miles ago) had cracked and dropped the coolant out. A hasty repair using a 13mm socket as a joiner meant it could be filled back up but only run on petrol.
We finished the Salisbury lanes avoiding any more big water hazards. The recovery score was evened up when I decided to go down one of the deeper rutted tracks and ran out of diff clearance. Unfortunately no pictures as by now it was getting late and we wanted to get to or first camp site in Shepton Mallet while we still had light to put our tent up.
Day 2: Across the border
Day 2 started with some maintenance. late on day 1 the battery light had come on on the Discovery as the alternator wasn't charging. Although it was a pain, this didn't worry me too much as it's common TD5 problem that I have had before when offroading especially at clay pay&play sites. The muddy water splashes into the alternator and gets into the small brush holder in the rectifier on the back. The water can drain out but the mud gets stuck and when it dries it jams the holder up and prevents the brushes from making good contact. All that was required was to remove, clean the holder and refit and the problem was solved.
Next was to get the Jeep back running on LPG. While I was fixing the Disco, Josh went to a local plumbing store and managed to pick up some brass T-pieces in the correct size to replace our temporary 13mm spanner bodge.
We replaced both the broken "T" and the unbroken one for piece of mind. Good job too as it wasn't far behind and almost crumbled as it was taken out. Coolant topped back up and leak checked and we were ready to back up the tent and head over the border
On the way we decided to stop off and have a look at Cheddar Gorge which was good and home to one of the friendliest traffic parking attendants I've ever met. We stopped in the "coaches only" spots and he started walking over, however instead of telling us to move on he just wanted to chat about the muddy 4X4's, told us if we were only there for about 20 minutes not to bother with a ticket and said if we wanted to stay longer to go a couple of car parks up the gorge as "none of us can be bothered to walk up there and check the tickets" :lol:
After cheddar we found a jet wash and then made our way over the seven bridge into wales and up to our second camp site next near Abergavenny. A great little site literally on the side of a mountain with great views. The pitches are all at least 50m apart so you get the feeling of being alone and a have their own fire pit which is great. We cooked dinner on the fire and then got our heads down ready for Brecon in the morning.
Day 3: Brecon and Sarn Helen (pic heavy)
I'll pretty much let the pictures do the talking for day 3 as it was pretty much all about the views. You cant drive more than a few miles through Brecon (or the Welsh countryside in general to be honest) without wanting to pull over and take a picture!
We made our way through Brecon to the upper most of the 2 stretches of Sarn Helen that are in the national park to see what the sineage is like at the end of the lanes. As expected they are now closed to Motorized vehicles. We used the stop as an excuse for some lunch and while having a look a nice stream nearby my brother and I ended up going for a dip
Next we went down to the third part of Sarn helen which is just outside the national park to the south. It has a TRO on it but is open from 1st June to 21nd of August. The lane was great although we think it would be better to do from west to east (As apposed to east to west as we did) as the western end is steep with rocky bits and would be more fun to go up than down.
After Sarn we went north to our third campsite near Tregaron which is nice and close to Strata for the next day
Day 4: Strata Florida
The day we've been waiting for; our trip down Strata Florida
The day started with a good fryup in town and then a search for some LPG for the jeep. After a bit of a wild goose chase around a few different garages Josh came to terms with running on petrol once again and filled up so we could head to the lane.
And what a lane it is. Best one I've been down so far. We started from the Abby so the water crossings started small and got progressively deeper as neither vehicle is fitted with a snorkel but we needn't have worried. With the clear weather leading up to and during the trip all of the crossings were quite low. Only the last one reached headlight level and even then that's only because I deliberately took the deeper line.
Once we got to the end of the lane we turned back and set up to wild camp just off the lane in a nice clear spot. You could tell it had been used before as it already had a small fire pit made up from stones and a pile of wood left by the last lot. The wife wasn't keen on the fact that we'd stopped in the middle of nowhere but once I'd got the tent up and Josh had started the fire and got some food on the go she came round
Day 5: Going home__
Day 5 was basically the trip home by the most direct route.
We got up, had breakfast and wrapped up camp making sure the area was cleaner than we found it (there was some rubbish from the last people which we took with us too). then made our way off the lane at the south end and let the sat nav guide us back.
Our only stop was for a leg stretch and a look around just outside of Bristol at the Bloodhound SSC Manufacturing facility where i will be working in the near future.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Monday 4th August 22:17
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