4x4 Mag - Off-Road Fun

In Praise of Off-Road Fun !

by Peter Shepherd

It's a regular "problem", and we receive several e-mails a week requesting advice on venues and suitable locations for people to try out their off-roader. You've got the shiny 4x4 with the big wheels and off-road tyres, a selection of freewheeling hubs and lots of extra gear levers but where to use them, how and when ? Well, the how and when can be found out at an Off Road Driving Centre but the were to go to play question can be more difficult. With this in mind Peter Shepherd recounts his initiation into the world of non-competitive off-roading in the earnest hope that it will assist the fledging off-roaders who visit the magazine.

Within weeks of getting my first 4 wheel drive vehicle I had that urge to take it off road, to try it out in some mud and see just what it could do (and what I could do as well!). But the problem was where do you go? The local hills? The local quarry? What if I went to one of these and got stuck? What if something went wrong? What if I was driving where I shouldn't? All these questions were flying around in my head, and these doubts stopped me from doing any of these things.

So, where to go to try my car off road. Eventually I bought a 4x4 magazine to try and find out where I could go, and what to do next. There were a few adverts in the back for off road driving centres, and I quite liked the sound of some of them. A few telephone calls later and I had discovered that a lot of the Off Road Centres wanted you to use their cars, not your own. And they all wanted to give instruction before they would let you venture out on your own. This didn’t really appeal to me, I just wanted to go somewhere I could drive my own car and have fun.

Another 4x4 magazine was in order, and this time I struck lucky. The Doncaster Jeep Club were holding an event that was open to any type of vehicle, no instruction, no membership, just £15 for the day and "do what you want". The Doncaster site wasn’t too far from me, and with the event being held on a Sunday I had the time on my hands. I arrived early, paid my money and drove onto the site. No instruction, no advice and got stuck straight away! The site was a sand quarry, it was very wet and my normal road going Isuzu Trooper found it just that little bit hard going. As more people arrived, I realised that this site was great for watching the die-hards with specialist machinery, but a little bit restricting for those of us with normal road going 4x4s. Don’t get me wrong, I had a good time. The car didn’t get damaged, just filthy, and I only had to be towed out about ten times!

The off road-driving bug had a hold of me, and I was soon looking through the 4x4 magazines for the next likely event. It just so happened that two events were scheduled for the same Sunday. One at Mow Cop near Stoke on Trent which was organised by 4x4 Funday Ltd , and one an hours drive from there at Holy Moor Side near Chesterfield, organised by 4x4 At Play. So I decided that I would try them both out, and spend half a day at each.

The first half of the day was spent at Mow Cop. An event run by Richard Walsh and his 4x4 Funday Company. On arrival, I was greeted by Richard himself, who straightaway knew that I was a ‘novice’ and new to all this off road stuff. After a little chat Richard offered to let me have a look around the site to see what I thought before taking any money from me. I didn’t bother, he seemed genuine enough, so I paid up and went in. The site itself was very big, with a lot of open meadowland leading down to some (what I considered) steep hills and plenty of mud. There were all sorts of vehicles there, and I soon found my way around. Thanks to the good layout of this site, I was able to keep out of the areas that would have been too much for my standard vehicle, yet still have a challenging time. Yes I still had to be towed a couple of times, but with plenty of willing volunteers around, that was no problem. There was also plenty to watch, with an almost impossible mud run at the bottom end of the site where the serious boys played.

I was really enjoying myself, the car was covered in mud, but that was all. But I had to move on by dinnertime, or I would never know just what the competition over at Holy Moor Side had to offer. Speaking to Richard on the way out, I explained where I was going, and he wished me luck, and also said he would see me at the next event.

The second site was not too far away and I arrived at about 1.00 o’clock expecting to find a busy place with 4x4s crawling all over it. But it wasn’t! The track leading into the site wasn’t too bad, but beyond that looked pretty daunting. With deep holes and very deep looking mud I didn’t think that I would be going far.

I spoke to the organiser, Chris Jones, and expressed my doubts as to the suitability of my car for this site. But he seemed to think that all would be well, and in the end I took his advice and paid my £15. Two minutes later I was stuck fast, still on the main track! Looking around I could only see two other cars, and these were already joined by a rope so I had to set off walking to find the organiser, who after having a good laugh and finishing his cup of tea finally came and towed me out. Unfortunately, he towed me onto the wrong side of the mud hole that I was stuck in and then cleared off, leaving me stranded with not a lot of places to go. The site had some very steep climbs around, and a lot of really badly rutted tracks leading between trees with sticking out branches. It was pretty small really, and not a lot of choice about where I could drive I decided not to go any further, and to make my way back out.

I almost had to call on the services of the organisers Landrover again, as I had to go through the same sticky bit that had trapped me before. But not wanting to bother him again, I decided to battle my way through, and attacked it at speed. After a few attempts, and probably not doing my car any good at all, I was through, but I hadn't enjoyed the experience at all. I decided that this site was not for me, and about half an hour after arriving, I left.

I decided to stick to the 4x4 Funday Ltd sites. The one that I had been to was great, and I suspected that Richards other sites would probably be just as good. They were on almost every weekend all over the place, and so with plenty of opportunities to try out different sites, I ventured out to most of them.

I am now an avid off roader, and have even bought myself a purpose-built Suzuki just for off roading. I only attend 4x4 Funday Ltd sites now. That way I know that I will be able to spend the whole day out at a good site and have fun. All without damaging my car. I even still venture out in my road going 4x4 at some of the sites, as I know that Richard has carefully chosen them, and that as long as I drive accordingly, no damage will occur. It may sound like I am trying the ‘hard sell’ for the 4x4 Funday Ltd events, maybe I am. But I know from bitter experience that some of the other organisations holding these kind of events just aren’t as thoughtful about the choice of site, or as friendly when you do get there.

Out of the three different events that I have attended, the 4x4 Funday Ltd events have proven to be the better ones. They are genuine FUN days out and good for both novices and experts. Give Richard a call to find out about his events, you won’t be disappointed, I wasn’t.