68 LANDROVER MONTHLY
MID WALES GREENLANING
VERDICT
Besides the views this is a lovely ar ea
to spend the day, the greenlanes are
very close to one another with
somethingfor every vehicle andtast e.
Rock cr awls, forests, amazing views,
water splashes andyou are unlikelyto
meet manyother 4x4s.The red kit es
are a sightto behold circling above you
as you drive around. Ifyou didn’tfancy
taking your LandRover on to the lanes
you could drive around the single-trackWecarry on back to aroad to loop around sowecan now
head back into the area via Lane4, anotherUCR. This lane
has a firm base across open countryside with those views
again.Eventuallywemeet up again with the southern part of
Lane 2 and head towards a parking area thatwould be a great
lunchstop at LlynPendham. Insteadwechose to sit next to
the largest lake for a BBQ as Patrick’s stomach was
complaining at the lack of food.Wepullover and he fires up
hisWeber portable gas BBQ andweall tuck into sausages
withPeri-Peri mayonnaise sauce! That’s certainly another
first for most of us.
Lane 5 is just to thewest of here. It has a firm base.Halfway
along it splits.Yo u want to take the right-hand fork. Do not
take theBOATto the left. The left fork takesyou downa
steep grass field with a side camber.It is very slippery when
wet andwas the scene of an accident where two LandRovers
slid off and ended up damaged at the bottom of the slope
earlier thisyear.Stick to the right fork, a firm track which
ends in a descent at one end with an old brick tower and an
information board that has details of mining in the area.
Wenow loop back around another one of the single-track
tarmacroads and back to LlynPendham and this time head
south to pick up Lane6, anotherUCR. This is another wide
gravel track. Another ascent and a large deep puddle in the
middle, about one foot deep when it’s beenraining.Atthe
end of this lanewegostraight ahead torejoin theroad and
head south a mile or so, this then bring us to two choices
of lanes.
Tothe east is aUCR, a lovely track with some,yep you
guessed, incredible views.It has a couple ofrock sections.It’s
very well signed for cars, bikes andwalkers.Tothewest is a
UCR.Again, this is an easy lane, with a firm base. AndI
promise Iwon’t mention the views! The highest part of the
lane can be a littleovergrown and scratchy in summer.
We opted for the eastern UCR in sympathy for the
Discovery 5’s paintwork. After this laneweheaded back to
the car park at the visitor centre,this time heading the
oppositeway south down Lane 1. Therockystep proved
interesting on theway up this time, but a careful choice of
route andPatrick managed to drive the D5 up unscathed. The
height the D5 canraise up to is something to behold.Wethen
headed back through the visitor centre.4567roads around the lakes and take in the
views and enjoy the area. There are
numerous spots to pull over to let the
dog or kids out and have a picnic,too.
Chatting at the endof the day
everyoneseems to have enjoyed
themselves and the lanes. Memory
cards are bursting with pictures. The
Auto Express chaps are beaming
having never done anything like this
before. What has been interesting isdespite the LandRovers differences all
of them have managedeverything that
has been thrown at them withease.
Even the 20-inch low-profile road tyres
on the Discovery 5 seemedto have
survivedeverything that this area can
throw at them.From a £1500 Land
Rover to a £7 5,000 one, bothcan ha ve
a gr eat day in this area without being
subjectedto damage. Whatother
manufacturercan you say that about?Pat showingoff his
barbeque skills again