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excursions: Wales | Feb 2002. Sunday We are all up at about 7:30 this morning, time to prepare for the last day. Down for breakfast by 8:00, would we like the full English breakfast? asks Alistair. You bet! After the obligatory bowl of serial and a glass orange juice we all tuck in to the bacon eggs. After copious cups of coffee and tea and lashings of toast and marmalade, honour is satisfied and we can truly live up to our call signs of "Bloater1 and Bloater2". We pack our bags and empty our rooms, so that Sue can get on with preparing for the next guests. We settle the bill and deposit our bags etc. in the lounge to be collected later, after we have completed the day’s off-roading. Sue and Graham always allow us to do this and it makes life so much easier. Just as we are about to leave Sue says "I don’t suppose you would like to do us a favour"? Depends what it is. "Well there is a lane which runs up the back of the property which is very overgrown. The council keeps promising to clear it but nothing happens. We want to bring the horses down it but we can’t because it is too overgrown. I don’t suppose you could all run up it in your Land rovers to clear a way. The first part of the track is not too bad and then you will get to a place where there is a tree stump in the middle of the track, you might get stuck there but I think it should be ok". No problem, we decide to give it a bash.
We set off in convoy at around 9:30 with Uriah (the 110) in front, the series in the middle and "the beast" following up the rear. Uriah is in the lead on the assumption that it is the largest and would make the biggest hole in the brush. The first part of the lane (the easy bit) is very overgrown forcing the mirrors flat against the bodywork. After a few hundred yards we are brought to a halt by a large over hanging tree. The only way passed is to dig out the lane on the opposite side to level the track. This gets the motors to lean away from the obstruction. The lane is so tight we can’t get the doors open to get out, but after bit of manoeuvring and a lot of effort we all get out except Dave, who sits steadfastly in "the beast" waiting for events to happen. It takes about half an hour with everybody digging furiously before we can continue and Uriah still manages to whack its roof, leaving a sizeable dent. After about a quarter of a mile we come to the tree stump. The tree stump is a good 18" to 2 feet across and it is smack in the centre of the track. I would say it was at least 30 years or more in the growing, so this lane was not driven for a long time before it was cut down and it doesn’t appear to have been driven much since. The lane is so narrow from this point on we decide to walk it to see if it’s possible to drive the rest of the way, although it won’t be easy to go back either.
The lane is narrow with steep banks either side with trees and
bushes growing out of the sides. It takes about 15
We now attempt to push further up the lane, this involves charging up the lane until we stop, then backing down and trying again. Each attempt gets a few more feet until Uriah eventually gets going again in earnest. A few hundred yards further up the lane we are forced to stop by a another tree stump sticking out of the side. The lane is too narrow to get round and the stump projects about 6inches across the windscreen. After a lot more scrambling and shunting the series and Range Rover join Uriah. Now its out with the Axe, bow saw and sledge hammer. The less experienced members of the team are of the opinion that they can batter the stump into submission with the sledgehammer, some hope! After a great deal of sweat and cursing we resort to the felling axe but even progress with this is slow. After about another 20 minutes the offending stump is passable and we continue on. We eventually emerge at the top of the lane about 1:30 in the afternoon and we have only travelled about three quarters of a mile since leaving the farm! As it now much later than originally planned we decide to skip some of the other lanes and make directly for what was to be the last lane of the day. This lane lies to the north of Oswestry and is aptly named "Heart Break Hill" it is shown as an almost straight line going up a hill side with very tightly packed contour lines. The idea is to take "the beast" up in order check its stalling characteristics now that it has been converted from auto to manual. Previously the car always stalled on steep inclines and there was a debate as to whether it was the petrol running out of the 4 barrel Holly or whether it was the torque converter. We set off for Oswestry on the A483, we pass through Oswestry and head for Rhydycroesau on the B4580. Just before Rhydycroesau we strike off north down a small metalled road to Carreg-y-big where head west through some woods until we come to a farm at Llechrydau. Here we join the green lane that runs north to Dolywern. Everything is going fine until the series unceremoniously dumps its rear silencer on the lane. It’s sleeting quite hard and the underside is dripping wet but under Mark goes with a length of bailing wire. As he crawls about underneath the series the sheep obviously think its feeding time and before you know where you are, we are surrounded by bleating sheep. After the usual round of predictable jokes we are off again, boy does that series sound throaty for 2.25 diesel. Eventually we arrive in Dolywern but we can’t find the start of the lane, in fact the roads seem to bear no resemblance to what’s on the map. After half an hour of meandering around we eventually decide to stop and ask a local who is just loading his sheep dogs into the back of his Landie. Yes he does know Heart break hill but he’s not sure you will get a Land rover down it. He remembered 30 years ago taking a bike down it but he was sure it’s not been driven by a car, for a very long time. It takes about 15 minutes to arrive at the top of Heart Break Hill it’s not quite what we expect. There are no tyre tracks running down the lane and it is steep, wet and boggy. We had assumed it was a rocky track, no such luck. It is still gently raining and the going is very slippery. I elect to go down first in Uriah with Chris and Bruce, Phil is to video the first 200 yards of our descent from the top. The plan is to take Uriah, which has the most aggressive tyres, all the way to the bottom to check that it is not too dangerous for the others. I tell them I will radio up if it is safe to follow. All goes well for the first few yards, but the further we go down the steeper it gets. I stay in 1st gear low box, diff lock engaged and go as slow as I can. The trees close in and the track gets even narrower and steeper, I attempt to slowly stop as I’m not sure what lays ahead as the track curves and appears to descend even steeper. By now I am very nervous as I can feel it is very slippery. The car eventually comes to a sort of stop (well the wheels are not going round) but we are still moving slowly down hill. I let the brakes off just enough that the wheels begin to turn (at least I can steer now). The track gets very narrow with a deep gully on one side that causes Uriah to lean sharply towards a thin hedge line, on the other side of the hedge is a steep drop. The only way down is to ride with 2 wheels right on the very edge and hope we don’t slip over. As we descend the slope the trees become thicker, at least the ground is drier here. I take the opportunity stop at a place where the track levels very slightly. The handbrake is full on and barely holds the car. We all get out to check the remaining descent on foot, it is so steep we can barely walk down it. By now I have more or less decided that there is little chance of the series coming down as it has virtually road tyres and there’s no way I’d chance it down here. Almost at the bottom of the track there are 2 trees growing diagonally across the path both require us to drive perilously close to the edge to avoid them. We decide the prudent course is to cut them back with the bow saw before we attempt to squeeze passed. As soon as we start to saw a great commotion starts at the bottom of the hill with a woman screaming and shouting at us to stop as we have no right cut the tree down. We try to explain that we are only cutting it back sufficient enable us to pass, but she’s not having any of it. She calls for her husband to get his shotgun and continues to hurl abuse at us. We complete the pruning back of the first tree and I decide that we will have to attempt the rest of the descent as it is. At the bottom of the hill at the point where the lane joins the metalled road the track is barely two and a half feet wide it comes out at a sharp angle. This means the only way down is to drop the front hand right wheel down a bank some 2 – 3 feet high and hope the car doesn’t roll. Chris and Bruce decide they will not climb back up to the motor but elect to walk to the bottom and wait in the road. All this time the woman is still screaming and shouting, time to beat a hasty retreat. I leg it back up to Uriah fire the old girl up and come down as fast as I dare. As I drop into the road with a sort of corkscrewing action it’s like something out of a comedy sketch, with Bruce and Chris scattering out of the way, but as soon as Uriah comes to a halt they leap in and we are off. We radio up to the others and advise them not to come down. Unfortunately they had not waited right up the top, as agreed and so they had to reverse back up the track about 100 yards before they could get back to the road. Because it was slippery and steep this takes a while and we eventually meet up some 15 minutes later by the pub. By now it’s gone 2 O’clock so we decide to call it a day, the ascent of Heart Break Hill will have to wait for another and probably drier day. We make our way from here to Oswestry where stop in a garage to fill up and pressure wash Uriah and "the beast". Phil is quite affronted at the suggestion that he should wash the series (he likes to wear the mud as some sort of badge of honour). Phil and Mark have brought their gear with them and do not have to change tyres so they decide go straight home without going back to the farm. We all set off around 4 o’clock from Oswestry and when we reach the outskirts Phil and Mark set off on the A5 main road to Shrewsbury, while we go back to Welshpool on the A483. By the time we arrive back at the farm the light is beginning to fade so we quickly collect our gear, Bruce and Chris immediately set of for home, leaving Dave Tony and I to set about changing the wheel sets. Once we have changed the wheels and packed the cars its time to clean up. Fortunately Nick allows us to go round to the equestrian centre at the back and use that facilities there. We change into some clean dry clothes, clean up and use the toilet. About half past 6 we get a call from Phil and Mark they’ve already arrived home! We are ready to leave by about 7 o’clock so we say our goodbyes and set off for Shrewsbury. We stop at the Little Chef on the Shrewsbury bypass for something to eat and we are back on the road around 8 o’clock. The return journey is relatively uneventful apart from heavy traffic as we join the M6. Tony travels back with me in "the beast", which gives us a chance for a good old-fashioned chin wag before we get home. I arrive home about 11 o’clock after unloading the car I drop into bed around midnight completely exhausted but satisfied. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can plan another trip. For those people wishing to plan a trip of their own I would suggest you research your intended routes before you depart. I can recommend the farmhouse where we stayed it was a great place to stay and is ideally situated to explore mid Wales. The atmosphere is informal and friendly, if you ask nicely Graham will allow you to use his facilities (jack, airline etc.) to prepare your cars before you set out. When you return at the end of the day you can relax in the lounge until the early hours making good use of the bar. The contact details are as follows:
Lower Trelydan, Guilsfield, WELSHPOOL, SY21 9PH
http://www.theaa.com/hotels/45431.html Author: Dick Turpin
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