Wack from the boars!

Typical, isn't it? You start a new blog and then disappear off the radar for two weeks. Well, I have been on holiday! So there!The first week, we hitched up the matching Sankey (ooo, nice), took Mutt and Geoff out of school (naughty, naughty...and me a governor too) and went camping up near Bassenthwaite. It was only once there that we discovered that it is, officially, the wettest place in England. Hey ho!

Given a 109" and a 3/4 Sankey to go at, you can carry a LOT of camping gear and do it in style. I've never been sure about camping but it's growing on me now that I can take the living room and the comfy chairs with me.

One great thing is that many camp sites now allow real fires of an evening.....provided that you buy their wood of course. This is an excellent recycling of old pressed steel wheels if you ask me and make sitting out on an English Summer evening far, far more pleasant. And if you sit in the smoke (and who can't?) it helps to keep the midges away too.

Otly had a few nice days out and about in the country side and, really, the weather wasn't bad at all; just the odd spot of drizzle. Nothing to stop us hardened Northern types.

This picture was taken near Castlerigg Stone Circle, Keswick and looks nicer than the stone circle which was eclipsed by new age OAPs talking about how you could feel the vibes, dude.....or words to that effect.

Then on to Honister slate mines. These are at the top of Honister Pass but Otly went up and down again without batting an wheel arch....and looked quite cool in the carpark at the top.

A good time was had by all except for the Thursday morning when we packed up and left and got very, very wet indeed.

Otly behaved very well although the juddering problem after a long run is still there. I shall have to look at that soon.

The second week's holiday can wait for another day. Right now I have to go and feed the animals who are now on their summer holidays. TTFN.

Chug...Zoom!

In between the more serious "things to do" today, I found the time to come home the long and picturesque way. It's the first time since Otly's been back on the road that I've just been out and driven for the hell of it and, boy, have I enjoyed it. It was wonderful. Twisting up and down the winding moorland roads. I'd forgotten what fun it was. You fell connected to it is a way that modern cars don't manage....it must be all the wind blowing in through the gaps!

Anyway, I must try and video that route sometime, and a few others.

I brought the Sankey home this morning and loaded the camping gear into it. We're doing cushy camping this time. All mod' con's will be available. It should be fun.

That which came before.

So, now that I've got this blog and linked to it from my web pages I suppose that I should write stuff in it.
My name is Robert and I own a 1982 Series III 109" Land Rover. I recently had a revelation that perhaps I was now old enough (pushing the big 4-0) to admit that I was a Land Rover anorak and just get on and enjoy it.

I bought Otly (said Landy) about four years ago direct from the MOD; from the TA reserve to be more precise. She was a 109" 3-door hard-top in green and black camouflage. She's been through a few changes since then but none as big as the most recent. When the UK government changed the child seat laws and the kiddies could no longer sit in the back I did the only sensible thing; I rebuilt Otly as a 5-door station wagon. This has taken some time because of the Guerilla nature of my working in an open field but is finally finished (as much as any Landy project is ever finished).

The "new" Otly was finally unveiled to a waiting world just this last weekend at the 2008 "Leafers at t'Pit" event at the National Coal Mining Museum in Yorkshire......and yes, it IS the same vehicle; even the DVLA believe me now.

We had a fabulous time and what a great bunch of chaps and chapettes they are. Thanks to them all for a fabulous weekend and introduction to the world of anorak rallies. The event was organised jointly by the Series2 club and the Old Leafsprung LandRovers forum; which you should visit for a laugh.

We made it there and back (sometimes at the staggering speed of 35mph on the M62 it must be said) with whits intact and never a flinch from the temperature gauge; the fuel gauge was another story that I refuse to go into.

Since then, the tow ball has been replaced with the NATO hitch ready to tow the Sankey off on a camping holiday this weekend so more tales of LandRovering fun are soon to follow.......

This is the Grotto calling.......

Hello world!

This post is by way of a test of my shiny new blog. Having completed my most recent major job on Otly the Land Rover and been encouraged by a few souls to keep writing drivel about Land Rovers I thought this might be a good way to do it.

So watch out!

My website is here