Welsh Laning 23/24.7.11

[Ben]

great weekend.

wild camped by a lake friday night, i got a great nights sleep but some of the others didnt as there was a rave going on across the other side of the lake and the music didnt stop and was still going when we left about 9am the next morning.

the next morning.

sausage and egg sandwiches for breakfast.

we left the lake and carried on down towards tallybont.

the next lane we drove was one id heard a lot about, and it had always been referred to as "the bastard" lane.

few pics at the top, while the trucks were all undamaged............

low branch.

was a cracking lane and extreme and challenging. cant wait to try it the other way, going up hill.

few more lanes.

we got a call over the CB to say Gav had lost his brakes completely.

we stopped and had a look and could clearly see brake fluid spurting from the metal brake pipe on the front off side calliper.

me and Mike soon had a temporary repair done and we were back on are way.

very tight gate on sarn helen

saturday nights camp spot.

sunday morning i headed off and met up with my mate Mike in his hilux, and some of my suzuki mates, for another days laning.

the weather was perfect all weekend, and i had an amazing trip. cant wait for my weekends laning trip this weekend, will be my last one for a month, while i strip my truck down and rebuild it.

heres my suzuki mates blog with pics of the sundays laning.

http://www.bits4vits.co.uk/store/laning ... g_130.html

 

[Paul]

 

[Ben]

ive only posted half of the pics i took!

 

[Chris]

Great pics Ben. Some really arty 5h1t in there too!

Looks like a great trip.

Chris

 

[Gav Peter]

Bout bloomin time too - take it you have finished off the boss's truck then...

Great pics dude - I have zilch to add Hopefully Jim & Laura can chime in with some too...

Off to look at your other thread

 

[warrenpfo]

Ben

it certainly seems like you are making good use of the weekends and having some great trips. Do you think there is any chance your nav man with his fancy gps would share some of the track that we could add to our new routes section?

If so i am happy to contact him if it’s easier?

Happy laning.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Haven't heard it called "the bastard" before if I had to nominate one for that title round there it would be SN7940098283 to SN7825598353, unless they've trimmed it since I last saw it

 

[Gav Peter]

It was an interesting little lane whatever it is/was called - it removed the last bit of rear flare from Muxley...

Just had a mooch through the vit thread Ben - seems we covered some similar tracks on Sunday... Did you not see the Simex rubbings on the sides of those narrow bridges?? (Many thanks to Mike for spotting me & Ava through BTW!!!)

So, slightly OT, how does one remove the front flares without the aid of rocky banks??

 

[Chas]

So, slightly OT, how does one remove the front flares without the aid of rocky banks??

I managed to remove the near-side one by going through a water splash a wee bit too fast, the off-side one was removed by ripping it off by hand

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

grab and pull Gav

 

[Ben]

thanks guys.

if i get a spare half hour i will add all my sunday laning pics.

boss's truck still isnt finished Gav, was working on it till 10pm monday night, and still havnt finished fitting all the back suspension. was a horrible job, had to cut most of the rusted bolts off. not fun lying on your back under a filthy truck, with 5hit falling in your eyes getting showered with sparks.

finished at 5.30pm and came straight home yesterday as was falling asleep in the van on the way back from site.
emptied my truck of all my camping gear and found one of my oil drums had split and leaked a few litres of oil every where.

at least the ply in the back wont be rotting for a long time.

hoping to do some more on his truck tonight. need to be ready for the weekend as were booked into a b&b in mid wales and are planning on doing sarn helen on sunday.

going to attempt going up the bastard lane on the saturday, got the winches at the ready.

Warren, im not sure he would want the route putting on the net, even though this thread is reasonably secure. they take the laning very seriously, and are dead against people finding a route/lane and going out and trashing it.

that said i will ask him and explain that were all responsible laners, and see what he says.

John, i dont think its on the coordinates you gave me, but then again im not great at reading coordinates.

on the OS map its situated just north of Machynlleth, across the river Dovey. its accessed from the A493 one end, and from a minor B road the other end. it snakes its way through forest land.

i thought there was a good chance youd have driven it. does it look farmiliar in the pics?

its a cracking lane.

 

[TobyJug]

Nice.....

Looks like a great weekend....

very nice..

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

John, i dont think its on the coordinates you gave me, but then again im not great at reading coordinates.

on the OS map its situated just north of Machynlleth, across the river Dovey. its accessed from the A493 one end, and from a minor B road the other end. it snakes its way through forest land.

i thought there was a good chance youd have driven it. does it look farmiliar in the pics?

its a cracking lane.

Sorry I wasn't clearer Ben, yes I know that lane and have always just called it the one round the back of Machynlleth It's more fun the other way round but you shouldn't need winches, it's an easy drive with big tyres Keith used to get up there in his disco The one I gave you the coordinates for is (or was) a bit tight, definately no roof racks and don't blame me for what happens to your truck Your Suzuki mates might find it easier going being so much smaller than LC's.

Looks like a great weekend BTW, not at all jelous

 

[SpinDrift]

Looks like it was a great weekend.

I need to get my backside in gear and get out more. At this rate the summer is going to be over and I am not going to have done much!!

 

[Gav Peter]

grab and pull Gav

Right, gotchyah!!!

 

[AndyCook]

Great weekend report and photos
having driven some of those lanes now and recognising them on pics makes it more intresting

 

[Ben]

thanks guys.

John, i will have to check that other lane out.

going to do a bit of a re-run of last saturdays laning this sunday, in that were going to drive the lane down to TallyBont, then do the bastard lane, then happy valley, then probably strata, and hopefully end up at the b&b Steven stayed at some time in the evening.

heres a few more pics from last sunday.

first lane of the day.

jimny needed a pull.

nice ford

next lane

strange stone arch on B road.

amazing scenery

more tiny gates.

tiny bridges.

dont think an 80 would have fitted, i had an inch's clearance each side.

next lane had a 70ft long ford, found through wetroads site.

the last lane of the day which rises up out of barmouth, started off well.

but soon got tighter and tighter, to the point where the walls had collapsed, and we wouldnt have got through without moving many tons of stone. with it being 8pm we decided to reverse back down, and call it a day.

scratched my newly powder coated bumper on the rocks on the last lane.

was a fantastic weekend and we had some great weather.

cant wait to get back over there for another weekends laning this weekend.

 

[Red Oktober]

Some of those scenary pics could easily passed off as anywhere in the world .... wales has some of the most beautiful countryside anywhere

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

That last lane has been blocked by the walls falling in for maybe 10 years Ben It's caught a few people out going in the other direction with getting part way down the hill before realizing they can't get through and then it being so steep they can't get back out again. About 7 years ago I heard the air ambulance had to be called out to someone who broke their leg while clambering around trying to get their truck off the rocks. It's a fantastic lane for views, very scenic on a nice day. Last time I drove it in March 2006 in the opposite direction I exited on a farm track that shows on the map as a white just south of the BOAT. How time fly's

 

[Gav Peter]

strange stone arch on B road.

amazing scenery

more tiny gates.

tiny bridges.

dont think an 80 would have fitted, i had an inch's clearance each side.

An 80 will fit We went past that arch & covered the lane(s) above on the Sunday too