When it comes to green lanes in the UK, Strata Florida is simply iconic. Named after Strata Florida Abbey, which was founded in 1164, the lane has is all. Challenging sections, water crossing (quite a few to be fair) and amazing scenery. The lane is famous for is wet sections (you actually drive along the waterways for some sections) and the bomb hole. A Steep, rock face dip and climb.

Now, I had wanted to drive this lane for years and after far too much procrastination a plan was hatched. Using the Easter break weekend, a small group of us planned to stay in the village of Rhayader as our base camp, to enjoy the lanes and local attractions. We all travel separately on the Friday and met at the hotel we had booked. A pleasant evening meal was had ahead of an early night, it was going to be an early start and quite a long day.

Driving your Land Rover in the snow can be fun… but with a 25% decline on the way down it can also be, er… interesting.

As I drew back the curtains, I note it has snowed during the night as a light dusting was covering the bonnets. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, but this was going to be problematic later that day. We had four Land Rovers in our group, firstly an ex-miliary 110 hard top, a 110 Station Wagon (both pre the Defender name), a late model Puma 90 and finally a L663 Defender 110. We set off in convoy with the Station Wagon leading the way. A Short while into the journey we started to climb, and the snow got deeper and deeper. Going uphill none of this really caused any issues, however once we got to the top and looked at the steep road down it was quite daunting. The snow was fresh and undriven, with a large drop to the left of us. With nothing else to do, we decided to press on, but agreed we would go down leaving a large gap between us.

Strata is famous for its water crossings

The 110 went first and to be honest it was quite undramatic. Once at the bottom the 90 set off. A couple of slips and slides later that too had parked up safely. It was my turn in the L663. Set to snow mode, and with hill descent engaged I set off. Now the L663 is a heavy vehicle and has wide tyres. Shortly after starting the descent, I realised the vehicle was tobogganing. I had some steering control, but other than that the vehicle couldn’t be stopped, it was sliding.  With my heart rate now well into triple figures I was trying to keep the Defender straight and was planning how I could stop. I noted a shallow ditch to the right and thought that would give me better grip. Driving your pride and joy purposefully into a ditch isn’t a clever idea, but with a large drop to the other side of the road it did seem like a sensible option. The wheels dropped into the ditch as planned and after a bumpy few meters the vehicle stopped. I got out to assess the situation and noted the last 110 coming down the hill, fully sideways facing the drop. The driver was more like a passenger with no control. The vehicle managed to stop a few meters from the back of my Defender with the driver as white as the snow that laid on the ground. We still had over half the descent left, so after a large dose of brave pills, I set off again. The plan was to keep the wheels in the ditch as long as possible and for a few meters this worked, then we bounced back onto the road and we were sliding again, back to square one. It wasn’t a particularly fast slide but when you are behind the wheel of over 2.5 tonnes of vehicle with no means of stopping it is a little disconcerting to say the least. I note a tree had protected a small piece of tarmac from the snow so aiming for this, I was able to bring the Defender to a halt again. It was at this point that my wife said that I was on my own and she was going to walk the rest of the way. Little way down the road I noted a grit bin, so before we set off again, I spent a good 15 minutes gritting the road with my bare hands. After this both myself and the other 110 made it down without further drama. We regrouped and decided that we had had far more excitement than planned and we hadn’t even started the green lanes yet! It also goes to show, that no matter what you drive, if there is ice under your wheels you are going to be in trouble.

Sections of Strata can be quite technical meaning you have to plan your line. Walking the section is always good idea when the going gets tough.

Getting to the start of Strata we quickly got the first water crossing. With the overnight snow and rain from previous days, we were unsure of the water levels and had agreed that if they were too deep, we would abort the Strata plan for another day. We got out and checked the water flow and depth. It looked ok so we proceeded, I was finally driving Strata Florida! With regular stops to take in the scenery we progressed. After about an hour we came across a group travelling the other way, this can be a problem in certain sections, but we met on a wide area so after a brief chat to swap pleasantries both groups were back on their way.

Strata can be very rocking in places and there were a couple of areas which were technical to drive. Each time we would get out and discuss the best lines to take and share duties for spotting. The toils of the morning were now forgotten, and we were all really starting to enjoy the day. 

The infamous bomb hole, a steep solid rock climb, and great fun to drive.

It wasn’t long before we reached the bomb hole. A hole in the track with a solid rock, steep incline out of it. Now you can drive round this if you choose, and three of the four Land Rovers decided to do this, however. I really wanted to drive this obstacle, so again taking some brave pills, I lined the L663 Defender up. Suspension on its highest setting, low range and rock crawl setting selected, I set off. As you enter all you can see is the steep rock face. Then quickly the front of the Land Rover rises and all you can see is the sky. As we crested the top the vehicle slowed and momentarily came to a stop. The computer was having a bit of a think. A split second later, the traction was re-distributed, and we were off! A clunk from the back as my tow hitch contacted the rock and we were done. I am not going to lie; it was tremendous fun.  

We continued on our way and came to a section where you follow the water course. You are in a narrow gully, and for something as wide as the L663 this doesn’t give you many options in picking your line. You just try to stay as central as you can keeping your paint work out of harm’s way wherever possible. It was on this section where our next challenged happened. A few meters before we climbed out of the water back onto the track, the dashboard lit up. Type pressure was lost in my front right wheel. A sharp rock had sliced the sidewall of my tyre. Bugger. We swapped it over with the spare which on a L663 is a full-size affair unlike these space savers on other modern cars. It also meant I had no back up now, so even more care had to be taken when picking the lines.

Claerwen Dam in full flow. You may recognise this from a well know TV car show where a Series 1 was winched up it.

As we came to the end of the lane, we stopped to regroup, and big smiles were all around. The next part of the day was also a bit special. We drove towards Claerwen Reservoir and started to follow a lane around. Now this particular lane isn’t something you can just go and do on a whim. Our group leader had made arrangements to get us permission to do this, which was good especially as we were stopped by the rangers who checked our credentials and let us on our merry way. The lanes are not technical in the slightest, but the scenery is amazing as you follow the lake shoreline around and well worth the effort. As we got to the end, we all parked by Claerwen Dam, which with all the water of the previous few weeks looked amazing. As we arrived back to Rhayader and parked up, we looked back on our day. It had more excitement than planned and it had cost me a new tyre, but you know what? It was great. Another evening was spent eating and drinking with good friends. Its not a bad thing you know, living your best Land Rover Life.