This laning trip was organised to hunt for new lanes in the Yorkshire Dales and revisiting some routes that we had not done for ages. Rich did a cracking job finding a route through the Dales however it meant a very early start to get to Leyburn for 9am. Ian was keen, until he realised that he could not get a bacon butty as nowhere opened until 9:30am. We meet Rob at the garage near us at 7am and as no one wants a grumpy Ian when laning, we managed to get some bacon so we could make bacon butties in the carpark.

We drove up on the back roads to Harrogate, Ripon and through pretty postcard villages to Leyburn. Rob did well not to go into the back of Paddington as I did so many emergency stops to avoid partridges, pheasants and a even hare. The partridges reminded me on fresher students as they would run round in a circle in the middle of the road, before deciding which direction to go in. No animals were harmed in our journey to Leyburn and Paddington’s brakes were well tested!

Bethany, Chris and Ian made it to Leyburn on time unlike Mr Dave Cook who had man flu and cried off at the 11th hour. Bacon cooked, breakfast baps assembled and consumed, we headed off to our first lane which was up past the army training ranges  on the way to Grinton. With my Northern Irish accent, you don’t want to appear uninvited on the firing range so we made sure to find the correct turning and were greeted by grouse standing on rocks above the purple heather; the moors looking splendid in the autumnal sunshine. The track curved through the moorlands and I was busy watching the fantastic scenery and realised that Eeyore was not behind me. We radioed to hear that Eeyore had stopped to watch the grouse and did not fancy moving. This would set the scene for most of the day.

Anyone who knows Ian and me, will be aware of the running joke between us regarding recovery. To date, Ian had bragging rights as I had once driven one of his Land Rovers into a tree and on another occasion, had to be rescued from Lancaster! Obviously, I wanted to help a fellow land rover owner and balance the tally. Paddington gave Eeyore a quick tug and we were off again. This lane dropped us down to Preston under Scar from where we worked our way to West Witton on the south side of Wensleydale. There was a steep narrow road up unto the second lane – High Lane which contours along the valley until it drops into West Burton. The views across Wensleydale were fabulous.

We dropped onto the main road towards Hawes. We turned towards Gayle and followed Gayle Beck to the start of the next lane. We crossed a small ford and up through some narrow gates. Eeyore decided he needed a break and after a new fuse for the electric cooling fans and another tug, off we went following the wall past new tree plantings. We dropped onto a metalled road before joining onto the third lane, Cam Road.

We had meet a lot of motor cyclists through the trip and Cam Road was no exception. As we continued up the lane towards Dodd Fell, the lane got steeper and rougher and rockier. We could see the motorcyclists on the crux section, and they were not moving. We walked up to check that they were ok and they were pushing the bikes up a steep, rocky stepped section. This put the fear of God into me as I think motorbikes are better off road than me. We agreed that they would move in and we would go past them on this section. We got back to Paddington to see a motorbike take off up the lane, followed by another one. Eeyore had gone to sleep so Paddington woke him again, before venturing up to see if we could get over the crux.

Paddington was a bit of a star and showed the two motorcyclists left that four wheels are better than two! Eeyore, Doug and Brian, all driven brilliantly, made it up safely and we trundled along the lane, looking out across the valley, from our birds eye view. We picked up the fourth lane, Cam High Road, an old Roman road, and headed towards Bainbridge. We stopped at Semer Water for lunch and a rethink. The plan was to go to Kettlewell and Pen-y-Ghent but we were all concerned about Eeyore overheating. Laning is about having fun with your friends, respecting the countryside and not damaging anything, including the vehicles. The unanimous decision was made to do the ford at Marsett and head to Bainbridge to finish. After the ford, we had to stop for a herd of sheep coming up the road. Eeyore decided to have a quick nap and by this point, we had stopped counting how many times Paddington had tugged Eeyore, so Rich and Chris gave Eeyore a push instead to save Ian’s blushes!

We celebrated with tea and cake in Bainbridge, reflecting how beautiful the Dales looked in the autumn sunshine. To me, this is what land rover life is all about – having a laugh whilst driving cool vehicles in stunning locations.