LANDROVER MONTHLY 15WI[email protected] @LRMonthly facebook.com/LandRoverMonthlyAN ALUMINIUM INSPECTION LAMP
Thanksto Ring, the writerof this
month’s winning letter receives an
AI3 Aluminium Inspe
Lampworth £3 9.99.
Lamp uses COB LED
Technologyto provid
Lumensof light outp
and acolour temper
which simulates na tu
daylight. It als o
features a handy hoo
and magneticbase.
fi nd out morego to
Ring’s website
ringautomotive.com.AFTERreturning home after another
great weekendat the Kelmarsh Land
Rover Show I have to comment on
some of the negative social media
posts about the show. Most of them
relate to the weather, of course, and
were posted on the Sundayevening.
Now as human beingswe can
control loadsof things but when I last
checkedwe have yet been ableto
exert some sort of control over
the weather.
The or ganisers put loadsof effort
into putting on lots of new attractions
such as the JungleTrack and the
extreme action in the 4x4 arena.
Sadly, theweather put a haltto
these things.
Fortunately I hadmy rain jacket and
mountaineeringtent with meso the
rain did not bother meat all.
Also, I was at the show onmy own.
I can understand that ifyou were
therecamping with thefamily then
after about three nights you might
want to head home.That is exactly
what happened.Some traders and
campers left early on the Sunday. This
obviously upset the day visitors as
peoplewere packing up.
What has happenedto the British
bulldogfi ghting spirit. Have we
become a nationof online moaners?I can’t wait for the 2020Kelmarsh
LandRover Show. Surelywe can’t
have rain for four events in a row?
Pete Williams
Via email
Gladyou enjoyed it, Pete. The LRM
team certainly did – and likeyou
we’re pr aying for be tter weather next
year. See you there! –Ed.parliamentary time,even if some maverick
politician didwant to take it up. Ican’t see
our MPs botheringto take on such atask
for what, in the bigschemeof things, is a
relatively trivial issue.
Besides, what aboutfarmers in their
LandRovers and 4x4s who use these
lanes on a dailybasis to access their stock
and crops? It would be impossible to
impose a blanket ba n on 4x4s on unpaved
roads for thatreason alone.
The bans that are imposed in the future
will continue to be madeat a local level,
by county councils, inresponseto
localisedconflicts among lane users.
It is therefore imperative thatwe take
this issueseriously. I don’twant to hear
any more lameexcuses fromfolk saying
“it’s not LandRover drivers doing the
damage, it’s other 4x4s”, because that
simply isn’t true. LandRover clubs need
to deal with the idiots in theirranks. They
need educating –to learn that what they
are doing is unacceptable behaviour.The
message will get throughto even the most
pig-headed individuals,eventually.
At the riskof sounding like I’mfl attering
LRM, I have to say thatyour magazine has
a trackrecord of promotingresponsible
and non-damaging greenlaning.Keep up
the good work.
John McNally
Sheffield
Out of Africa
I boughtmy fi rst LRMat a ne wsstand at
our local airport, and now it is the only
place I know whichsells it around here
and I have to make aregular monthly trip
and pay my parkingfees to buy it, but I do
not mind.
Anyway, our family recently made a trip
to the Limpopo province nextto
Mapungubwe NationalPark, which is also
a World Heritage Site andworth a visitby
the way.
We stayed at Venetia Limpopo National
Park and had the opportunity to do our
own version of greenlaning or aswe call it
in South Africa, Echo 4x4 trail driving.
VLNR,for short isowned by the De Beers
Mining Group and next doorto the reserve
you can fi nd the biggest diamond mine in
South Africa.
The route included mostly dry river
sand aswell a good rocky and gravel
tracks amongst st unning trees, grazing
elephants and antelope.The park also has
a healthy lion and leopard population.We
did manageto ge t stuck once and with the
assis tance of our guide quicklygot outof
the situation without any interference
from either elephants or lions.
The LandRover De fender Trophy
Challenge Limpopo 2018 event
also found itsway through this
reserve. Needless to say, it is a great
way to exploreSouth Africa and its
nature re serves whilst driving inyour
own vehicle.
We drove a stock standard 2009
Discovery 3 TDV6 SE and it never mis sed
a be at.
I ha ve also sent some photos of usdriving in thereserve aswell as myself
digging the wheels out – plus a photo of
the biggest baobab tree inSouth Africa
(also situated on thereserve).
I hope this encourages fellow readersto
make the tripto South Africa and enjoy
our version of greelaning.
Phillip Smit
South Africa
I will beattending the 2019 Defender
Trophy inSouth Africa later thisyear and
driving in aconvoyof over 30 Defenders.
It is being heldvery close to VenetiaPark
and I lookforwardto it – Ed.LETTER OF THE MONTHAnd now for the weather...