PART THREE

Botch up the 109 and a trip into the desert.

by Toby Savage

Having successfully driven the 600 miles south from Tripoli to our base in the Sahara for the next 6 weeks, it is time to get down to work. Most of our team of Archaeologists have to work from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm on site, digging. This is old Germa, the remains of a mud brick town evacuated in the 1930’s in favour of the nearby breeze block town on the main road. My own position within this group is three fold. I take all the photographs for the project, drive small groups out into the surrounding area on field trips and botch up their Series 3 109 Station Wagon. As this venerable old beast only just made it down here, spewing a constant dribble of oil out of the bellhousing, it was this third role that was to be active first. My son Matt Savage, who runs his own independent Land Rover spares business in Ashbourne (www.mattsavage.co.uk) has sent us out with a big box of spare parts based on feedback from various problems last year. In the box is a new clutch assembly and rear crankshaft oil seal. Engine swaps and decokes, I had done before, but never replaced this particular seal. I don’t claim to be a mechanic, but have skills in this direction bourn out of running an 80 inch Land Rover for the last 28 years. The Archaeologists, on the other hand, take their cars to ‘the garage’ and have not a clue as to how they work. They do make good assistants though, by only needing to be told once which spanner to fit on which bolt.

The mudbrick city of Germa. Scene of the Archaeologist’s five year project.

The absence of a workshop is no problem as there is a big fallen tree to attach the engine hoist to and it won’t rain. A large sheet of polythene is laid out on the sand and with the help of Archaeologist, Phil Balcombe, by lunchtime the engine is out. A little later the oil soaked clutch is off and its time to delve into the murky grime of the back end of the crankshaft. It states in the Haynes manual that his job can be done without completely removing the engine. ‘Just undo the bellhousing bolts and lever the gearbox back about 3 inches’ Pah!! I’d like to meet a mechanic who has. We take the flywheel off and undo the ring of small bolts that retain the oil filter. Getting the old seal out necessitates cutting it so we were committed. Fitting the new one seems impossible and we end up taking off the rear main bearing cap to get the seal in. Having done that there is a long, thin spring that has to be looped round the inside of the new seal and fastened. Not a job for my thick, sausage like, fingers so step in Ruth. Nimble fingered Archeaobotanist, whose long slim digits managed the job. Ruth is polite and comes from Oxford so the mechanics language Phil and I are using is new to her. She soon lapses into it, and is able to amaze the others with her grasp of Anglo Saxon swear words later. The following morning Phil and I ease the engine back in again and all seems well, so a small team set off to look at some nearby features of interest. It is a relief to see them return in the evening.

Phil and Toby soon had the 2.25 engine out with the aid of a fallen tree.

With the old 109 working again its time to take a small team out to research another old settlement called Gasr Mara which lies about 30 miles to the east. This looks like fun because its desert driving all the way. We have some GPS co-ordinates to follow and food and water for three days. A record of our intended route is entered in the day book, along with our expected return time. If we go over this by a day a search party will be sent out. Peeling off the road I stop to let the tyres down to about 20 psi anticipating soft going across the sand. It is better to deflate the tyres first, rather than wait until you get stuck. The going is flat for the first 10 miles before we turn left to cut through a range of dunes. there are no other tracks to follow so we rely heavily on the GPS, often stopping to walk up a dune and peep over the top before blasting up and over it. There is always a danger that the other side will be very steep and could result in going end over end. Best avoided when travelling with one vehicle! Once through the dunes the landscape settles down to rather dull, flat desert. Sometimes stony, sometimes sand. By lunchtime the outline of the Gasr (castle) is visible on the horizon. It is the remains of a big mud brick structure once sporting four towers and guarding a trade route bringing slaves up from the southern African states to satisfy demand on the coast and in the Roman empire. When the wells ran dry about 500 years ago the whole place was left to the ravages of the elements and slipped into decay.

The towers are all that remain of Gasr Mara. The team have collected plenty of firewood.

We made camp and ate some lunch and soon the two surveyors were off to take readings and map the ancient city. Phil and I felt that as we had worked so hard on the old Series Three we deserve an afternoon off. It is late January, we have a short wave radio and the Rugby Six Nations is on the BBC World Service live from Cardiff and Paris. Bliss. We sit in the sun listening to England beat France and Wales trash Italy. Oh for a beer at such times. Alas, a taboo subject here in Libya.

As night falls we are rewarded with a full moon and clear views across the desert. We had collected firewood as and when we saw it on the way out and our fire now keeps us warm as the temperature plummets without the warmth of the sun. After a midnight stroll to the top of a nearby hill to admire the view its time to turn in and I fall into a blissful sleep in the Carabungawagon while the other three make do with tents. Its a great experience to know there is not another living soul for at least 30 miles in every direction and we all nod off.

A tranquil scene sitting in the sun listening to the Rugby 6 Nations.

The following day we are expecting a visit from David, our project leader, with a group from the Lasmo Oil company with Britain’s Ambassador to Libya, Richard Dalton and his wife. They arrived in a small fleet of 4x4s including two Toyota Land Cruisers and a Land Rover Discovery 300 Tdi. This is more than a duty visit as all those present share an educated enthusiasm for Archaeology and are very interested in David’s descriptions of how the history of this region is unfolding with the efforts of our research. As we walk back to our camp Ambassador Richard Dalton and I walk together and he asks "Is that you Land Rover?" I confirm it is, and he reveals with a grin "I’ve got an old Series Two SWB at home. We bought it years ago from the RAF. Great fun, love to have it out here!’

A lasting bond is formed!!

'Picking their way through the dunes the team often stopped to collect Neolithic stone axes and other evidence of civilisation.'

TO BE CONTINUED . . .