news & reviews:

Got any news for us?? Got any reviews of anything you want to share with the world??  Let us know.  Email it to us at the following address: info@thegreenlaneguide.co.uk and we'll try and put it up.

March 2016 - “Quiet, for a Tuesday” ISBN 978-0-9532324-5-1
Last year as part of my retirement plan I decided to start preparing for an overland trip in my Land Rover. I searched for a copy of the highly acclaimed “Vehicle-dependent Expedition Guide”, which I had been led to believe by various articles, was both expensive and difficult to find. I was surprised to find, that despite the exorbitant prices for 2nd hand copies on Amazon, a brand new fourth edition was readily available for £47 + p&p on the internet from Desert Winds Publishing . I duly ordered the guide and as I'm a glutton for travel books, I also ordered one of the other books listed, “Quiet, for a Tuesday” ISBN 978-0-9532324-5-1. It's an interesting account of one man's lone expedition in the Algerian Sahara. Despite having his maps confiscated at the start of trip, by over zealous officialdom, Tom Sheppard still pursued his dream. I am not saying this is an easy read as Tom's mercurial mind jumps from the current trip to past experiences without warning, but it is a very rewarding read. I also found it contained innumerable little tips peppered throughout the text which were both enlightening and helpful, if you are planning such a trip. Tom's enthusiasm and love of the desert and the solitude it brings comes across clearly in the narrative and the photography is stunning. His sense of humour is also apparent when dealing with many of the situations that would cause lesser mortals to fail. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who has a fascination with over land travel by vehicle, although I have to confess to a certain amount of bias as many of Tom's observations and opinions align fairly closely to my own.

Dick

January 2010 - "The Impossible Takes a Little Longer"  ISBN 978-1-4-092-0301-8

I got a new book for Christmas "The Impossible Takes a Little Longer" written by Eric Edis. Its an account of his overland trip from London to Australia by Land Rover in 1957. It was fascinating reading and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you think driving off road today is tough then I suggest you get a copy. It gives an interesting insight to the way the world was just after the second world war. Not only did they not have GPS and satellite phones they didn't even have proper maps! I found it so good, I read it from cover to cover in 4 days, it was hard to put it down. I can really recommend it.

Dick

18.11.2005 - LPGas conversions - polish style.

You got a V8, it's your pride and joy, it's too thirsty but you don't want to bin it.  What'dya do?  Convert it to a cleaner less expensive fuel.  LPG.  If your really clued up you'll get it done abroad, save some cash and have a holiday in the process.  That's what I did, in Poland.  Read about it here.

 Phil.

29.01.2005 - To much to ask?

So, here's the deal, you want some bits for your pride and joy Disco and you phone around and get some prices.  How pointless is it to expect what you've been told to expect?  Apparently it's relatively pointless.

Last week Dick ordered up some parts from a supplier, who shall remain nameless - for the moment, to fix some bits on the Disco.  He was told that the 'seat' that he ordered was 'a minter' which is why it's £75 and they'd include a seat belt stalk, some fixing screws and a fag lighter assembly in the package - all in next day delivery.  Well, the 'next day delivery' turned into 7 days, the seat belt stalk and the fixing screws turned into, well, we don't know because they never turned up and the 'minter' seat was, as they said, a minter...  apart from the grease stains and the fag burns.

Why?  Why do these people treat their customers like this?  One thing's for sure, they certainly wont get recommended by us again and they wont get any repeat business from us either.

Shame!

Phil

12.05.2003 - The Land Rover Magazine Editorial Club (LRMEC).

What is it about Land Rover magazines that you have to wade through all the 'official endorsements' when reading articles, eh??
I mean, let's take for example Land Rover Owner International - because they're the biggest culprits of them all, when reading the mag there's always the "I fitted xyz WHICH ARE AVAILABLE FROM ABC" line where ABC just happens to be colleague of the author on the same magazine and XYZ is something that he/she sells. Why's it always the same people that get endorsed and no-one new?? I have no problems with official endorsements as long as it's not just 'your mates' month in month out - change the record, to be honest it just bores me and makes me feel very sad for these people. Why can't we have an unbiased opinion when reading these magazines?? All the Land Rover magazines (in the UK) are guilty of it, just that some are more guilty (a lot more - LROI!!) than others.
One more thing...if they want to come and sample what sort of a holiday an off-road excursions company offers then WHY DON'T THEY BLOODY WELL PAY FOR IT like everyone else does?? That way, they would be able to offer a much more unbiased opinion. Makes sense really doesn't it?? But I suppose that's what happens when you get greedy.

It's like a big club isn't it?? 'The Land Rover magazine editorial club' (LRMEC). Got quite a ring to it hasn't it??

Autobahn nightmare
Central Germany, halfway home from South Eastern Poland.  What do you do if the Land Rover you're driving suddenly breaks down at the side of the Autobahn??  Read on and find out...  click here.

Off-Road Introduction.

Why not take a non off-roader, who's never been off-road before, out on your next trip??  Even if it's just a short green laning trip.  We know from past experience that most people who come out off-roading really enjoy themselves.  A little while back, one of the Land Rover magazines was running a feature like this.  Can't remember what it was called but it was a good idea.  Surely, the more people who are aware of what we are doing the better.  How many people do you know who think it's all 'mud & glory'...??  Well it's time to prove them wrong. 

Next time you're going out, take the uninitiated with you and introduce them to our sport.

Workshop manuals.

How often have you been trying to do some routine maintenance on your Land Rover and the good old 'Haynes'manual doesn't cover what you want??  Well, we used to use the basic workshop manuals until we got hold of what we'd class as 'real' workshop manuals and 'boy, do they make the difference'...!!!  Click here to find out more.

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