As some of you may have noted, Spare Dave – Admin’s Debbie’s other half, has fully embrace his Land Rover Life with the Volvo EV being replaced with a very nice 2017 L405 Range Rover.  Now the original plan was to go laning in Larry, Debbie’s Disco 2, but wobbly ball joints saw a last-minute change of plan, so Monty (as the L405 is now known) was press ganged into his first laning experience. Not wanting to slum it either, Emma and Mike decided to take Scarlet, the P38a Bordeaux Overfinch, leaving me with a choice of which Landy do I take. The theme of the day seemed to be Luxury Laning, so I decided to do the polar opposite and take Minty my 1967 109” 2a.

Now Minty hadn’t been used for a few months, so first things first I had to get him out of hibernation. Not having been started for while, it took a bit of cranking to get the 4 pot into life, but soon enough the burble of the 2 ¼ petrol filled the air. As did the fumes.

Once on my drive Minty was looking, well, let’s say neglected. Grime and green slimy stuff from the rain covered the body work so I decided that a good old jet was in order. In no time at all Minty was looking better and being February, I had lost the feeling in all my fingers. A cup of tea was in order.

The premise of the day was to check out some of my local lanes, that had recently been re-opened following TRO’s and some maintenance, to check the suitability for a Series 123 club laning day I am planning. I had driven all the lanes previously, but it had been a while, and to be honest I was keen to see the repair work that the local council had done.

Above – Spare Dave used the day to test all the buttons and gadgets Monty had to offer!

After Monty arrived at my house, he and Minty set off and collected Scarlet on the way to the first lane. It’s only a short lane, and in the main quite simple, but it was en-route to the main lanes and it was a shame to miss it. The lane is in Berry Brow and takes you past some housing and a farm before a steady climb. As I approached the climb, I noted a lady walking her dog, looking quite perturbed. As she saw me, she called her dog and started to walk towards me. Stopping, as I always do with walkers, I awaited the usual “what do you think you are doing” conversation, but no. She politely asked if I had driven the lane before because round the corner was quite a difficult section that usually caught people out. Once I said I had driven the lane many times and that I knew the section she was referring too, she smiled and recited an anecdote of an Amazon driver who had to be rescued. It turns out rather than complain about us, she was just being helpful making sure we didn’t get stuck.

Below – Scarlet tackles the axle twist on the first lane with ease.

Minty took the obstacle in his stride, with Monty and Scarlet taking a cautious but steady approach. Once completed we joined the tarmac again and headed towards Holmfirth and our next set of lanes. Holmfirth is a pretty village on the outskirts of Huddersfield known, in the main, as being the location for Last of the Summer Wine, the BBC’s longest running sit com, which last aired in 2010. As we drove through Holmfirth towards Holme Moss, we could see snow on the distant hills and very pretty it looked too. The road starts to climb and becomes twisty as you leave the village of Holme, but before you reach the summit you take a left onto Rake Head Road, and the start of the next set of lanes. Ultimately, these lanes would take us near to our planned lunch stop, but more on that later. The track is very firm and suitable for all, offering stunning views of the countryside, however this and the other lanes in the area are all under threat from a permanent TRO. As you start the lane you note a lot of severe off-piste damage. During Covid, the lanes were a magnet for a lot of late-night activity and off-piste driving. Stories of gates being removed and farmers fields being damaged were commonplace, as were threats from some of the drivers when challenged. This, as you would imagine, caused distress to the local community who general look down on all green laners with the same view. It would be a shame if these lanes were closed, and GLASS is fighting this, but the use of these lanes is now closely monitored, and any miss use could lead them to being shut permanently.

The lane twists through Holme Woods and takes you along Yateholme reservoir. The wet weather of late had meant huge, deep puddles had to be negotiated before the tarmac section that brings you along a dam at Riding Wood. I love the views from this dam and have a photograph of every Land Rover I have owned parked on it. I mentioned this to Emma, who laughed and showed me a picture of her own Series 3 parked at the very spot! Great minds think a like it seems. Whilst parked up we got talking to a local, who had been involved in the lanes repair work, and was also a Land Roverist. The hope is that now the lane is no longer as challenging, the track will be less popular with the “extreme” laners who tended to do the off-piste stuff.

Above – The wet weather of late meant a lot of deep puddles had to be tackled!

As you join Brownhill Lane you take a tight right, the lane taking you up a steady climb through a wooded area. As you get to the top, you reach the section that saw the most damage. Whilst a lot of the damage was caused by off-piste activity, a great deal was done by water eroding the lane and last time I drove it the track was in poor condition with large steps and axle twisters. A considerable amount of work has been done by the council; the whole lane is now graded and is suitable for most 4×4’s. One of the well-known features of this track was a tight left-hand bend, with severe axle twists and a 25⁰ side slope. It could catch out the unwary, and I once had a local telling me an Isuzu once rolled here, however now, it was flat and featureless with nothing more that the vista to make it interesting.

Above – If you go down to the woods today, you’d find Minty leading his more luxury cousins!

At the end of this lane, you cross the tarmac and start the next. The dirt road becomes tarmac and then becomes dirt again when you reach Ward Bank Road. This lane runs along a hill side with far reaching views of the Holme valley to your left. The track is narrow and this is where we encountered our only real issue of the day. As we got near to the end, we met a group of fellow laners, there was an entrance to a field on the right and a second entrance to a drive on our left, but it was going to be a tight squeeze. It was at this point that Minty decided to go all primadonna and cut out, refusing to start. Minty had never liked the wet and the damp of the day had got him in a bit of a grump. Whilst the fellow laners were amicable about this and assisted, the same couldn’t be said about the lady whose house the drive belonged to. Despite not needing to use the track she, well let’s say, made her displeasure known to the group. Her Husband came out, and whilst not overtly joyed was a lot more amicable and came to talk to us. We apologised for the nuisance and soon had Minty up and running. I parked him in the entrance to the gate whilst Monty was positioned in the entrance to his drive (With permission). It was obvious that with Scarlet still on the track there was no way the others could pass, so the Husband very kindly let us open his gate and reverse into his drive to make space. With our Land Rovers now out of the way, the other passed and we thanked the husband for his assistance before heading on our way. The nuisance of the anti-social green laners from the COVID days has left a scar with the locals for sure.

Below – Monty, Scarlet and Minty all waited patiently in the car park at the Oil Can Cafe, whilst we had our fill of Luxury hot chocolates and grub!

Once back on the Tarmac, Minty had another wobble before we made it to our pit stop for the day. The Oil Can Café (or Carding Shed as it is also known) is literally on the doorstep of this lane. The Café has a small selection of classic vehicles on display as well as a plethora of motoring memorabilia in the main eating area. Food and drinks ordered, we had pleasant hour or so just catching up.

Tummy’s full and we headed to the next set of lanes. The next lane was straight forward, but a few bushes needed a slight trim to protect the Range Rovers wide girth, and brought us out at Totties, then a few roads later we were at one of my favorites, Scaly Gate. Our planned route took us up the hill then at the crossroads at the top we elected to take a right, back down the hill. Plenty of puddles and rough tracks made this great fun and as we got to the bottom the smiles from both Range Rovers were evident. We then did a quick circuit and took another lane that brought us out at the same crossroads, albeit a different direction. Again, taking a right, we headed onto Hirst Lane, another hard based track. A quick left / right over Penistone Road and we were on the final lane, another straightforward hard based track, that brought us out on Barnsley Road. This was the goodbye point, as Monty head to the M1 whilst Scarlet and Minty headed back to Huddersfield.

It was a fun day, and all enjoyed themselves especially Spare Dave who spent most of the day playing with the various settings and gadgets Monty had to offer. It goes to show, that you don’t need the most demanding lanes to have a fun day out with friends. Just good views, good food and good friends.