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Story and Photos by: Steve Fagioli |
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We arranged to meet at Mc Donald's on the A127 around 8:30-9:00 for a 9:30 leave. When we pulled up, Phil & Peter's Land Rover was already there. When we walked in they had just finished eating, so we headed for the counter with anticipation after our previous encounters with the staff there. We were not to be disappointed, it is kind of Mc Donald's to take pity on these people, but do they have to work on the morning we decided to go in. After a while we managed to get some food if not in the right order, by now Paul & Julie had turned up. Not long after Paul arrived, now the only person left was Geoff, who turned up spot on 9:30 with one of his daughters, after a quick coffee we headed off to meet up with Pam.
The next lane was at Blackmore End, this lane starts out quite ordinary but as you get towards the end it gets narrow with a slight side slope, again in the wet it's not so easy to drive. By the time we had finished this one we made tracks to Finchingfield and The Red Lion pub for lunch.
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Story and Photos by Steve Fagioli. |
After
a fairly quick blast along the A130 then up the A12 we arrived at the
Mc Donald's at Springfield, but this time we stayed in the car park.
Pam was waiting for us with Lisa, a friend of hers who had been out
laning with us before, and she wanted to come again? The first byway
of the day was off a roundabout just outside Little Waltham, the lanes
in Essex are not too taxing but do get a little overgrown this time of
the year. We pushed our way through the foliage till we reached the
first ford of the day, at which point I jumped out of the car to let
Justine drive, so I could nip across the footbridge to take some
photos.
We
then turned towards Black Notley There are a couple of byways here
that have got TRO (Traffic Regulation Orders) placed on them in the
winter time. So, this seemed a good opportunity to go and see how they
were holding out after all this rain. They were bone dry. We now aimed
north towards Braintree, just one slight hiccup was that no one had
told us about the new one-way system. Anyway, Sainsbury's has a nice
big car park to turn around in. After a little detour we arrived at
our next lane just off the A131, the first section is only short but
still very overgrown, this leads into a much longer lane. In the wet
this particular byway can get very interesting, as there are quite a
few low spots where water can lay, but today no such luck. Time was
getting on so we decided on a couple more lanes then it would be time
for lunch.
As
we arrived at the pub the heavens opened, so our Bar-B-Que didn't look
too promising. At this point Geoff had to leave us as his daughter had
to go home for her lunch. The rest of us piled in the pub. After a
quick chat with Frank, the Landlord, it was decided we would have the
normal pub menu; if you can call the pub menu normal, ask anyone that
went. By now the rain was pouring down with the odd clap of thunder to
boot, then the lights went out. Lunch by candle light is much more
romantic. Don't you think!
After
lunch the rain had eased, much to our disappointment, but still things
might be a little more muddy. We headed south to pick up a byway just
below Great Bardfield, and, YES, there was mud, quite a lot as it
happens. After some slipping and sliding we eventually came out on the
road, we picked up the second part of the byway and finally came out
near Bran End. We now dropped down through Great Dunmow for the last
lane of the day, the byway is off the A130. Near the start is a small
shallow ford with reasonably steep climb out, it then turns right
along a gravel path. This track is fairly new as the original lane
actually followed the river bank. At the end of the gravel track we
turned left up a gentle slope and pass under a disused railway bridge.
The byway finally finishes at Little Dunmow. 
It
was now time to go to the Terling 4x4 car wash, better known as the
Terling ford. This is a rather long ford of about 250 meters, at this
time of the year it is only about 400mm deep but in the winter it has
been known to be as deep as 1.5 meters (I speak from experience). The
actual ford is not on a byway but in the Village of Terling its self,
with houses all around. Sometimes in the summer there can be quite an
audience of locals watching the nutters drowning their engines and
getting wet. After most of us had taken a couple of runs through, we
parked up to have a chat about the day. Certain other people in a
little blue Suzuki seemed to think they were in a speed boat rather
then a 4x4. Anyway next time I will make sure I bring along a couple
of lifejackets, just in case we find some deeper water. 