Lane 3

TW2 - SD6245-02

ATUK - LA 4635

This is another lane that has seen change recently, especially as I believe the local village residents wanted it closed due to, you guessed it, more off-piste activity.

If you haven’t driven this lane for a while you will notice that, starting from the western end it has been totally flattened to improve drainage, which was needed, and more recently the very deep rut at the plateau of this section has been repaired. This always took folk by surprise as when filled with water it looks normal, but the off-side rut was actually a good two foot deep, and depending what you were driving would ground your vehicle to a halt - you certainly couldn’t open the driver's door.

Up to this point there had been nothing to cause the Jimny any hassle, and that’s a good thing, being able to leave your 4x4 in second gear low-box and amble your way through gorgeous countryside is one of life’s dwindling pleasures.

Within a few hundred yards or so you begin to head downwards towards Seagram brook where I stopped and jumped out of the Jimny to enjoy the serenity for a while, then a couple of women appeared from nowhere and gave me a bit of a fright!

As I was wearing my Mud Life hoodie they asked what it meant, so I explained what I was doing with the Jimny, the magazine and we had a good rant about those amongst us who lack any moral compass and make a mess of the countryside.

As you begin to climb out from the brook there’s another section that had turned into a bit of a mess, and although perfectly drivable, some motorists had been deviating from the lane to avoid it. According to reports on Trailwise it was repaired last year, but unfortunately had began to deteriorate again.

Driving as slow as I could I entered the ruts, and with the odd scrape from underneath the Jimny took it in its stride, even with standard (tiny), road-biased tyres.

As I continued up the hill, the embankments on either side became taller and closer, the left hand side has been eroded by water and in any other 4x4 would create quite a lean, but being as narrow as it is, I was able to keep the Jimny out of the ruts.

As the lane levels out the surface becomes fairly solid, and there are long sections that, after a heavy downpour can become flooded, but as mentioned, the ground is solid and all you have to worry about is keeping a perfect bow wave.

A little further along I began a long descent towards the end, there were a couple of steps to negotiate, but nothing the Jimny couldn't handle, and within 1/2 a mile or so we were done.

Despite its diminutive stature the Jimny is quite the tough workhorse and fun to take on adventures, and the great thing about driving a smaller 4x4 is that you do have to give some thought on wheel placement, whereas with larger vehicles you can simply plow on, and where’s the fun in that?

In next month’s issue I’ll tell you what happened when I took it up Parkamoor in the Lake District.