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The Exmoor and Quantock Challenge 2002 was held on the weekend of 16-17th March 2002 as a fund-raiser for the Conquest Riding Centre near Norton Fitzwarren in Somerset. The events organiser was Richard Towell, a keen off-roader and Jeep owner.
The event had 2 routes, a ‘Jaunt’ route comprising non-damaging greenlanes and country roads and a ‘Challenge’ route which took in several ‘Special Stages’ on Private land as well as some quiet testing lanes.
Our Team of 3 vehicles entered the Challenge after meeting up through the LRE Web Forum and on the now legendary N30 trip to Salisbury Plain last November (don’t ask!). The team was made up of Mark ‘Scrumps’ Pilkington driving a winch equipped 90 CSW, Tony Cordell driving a less than tidy coil sprung Series One and me driving a battered hand painted 110.
Mark had Dave (nearly finished my Lightweight) Tattersall and Rob (I want a 90 now!) Bown navigating, Tonys wife Val was riding with him and on hand with the video camera to make stars of us all on ‘you’ve been framed’. My wife Lucy was with me and as usual had brought along enough tea and cake to sink a battleship, also along with us were Colin Knowle and Becky Crush. Tony had brought along plenty of recovery kit and has a Husky winch on the front of his S1 so we reckoned we were ready for anything.
The weekend started with compulsory bacon butties and gallons of tea in the Forresters Arms in Dunster all laid on by the organisers and very welcome. Everyone was uncertain what they were letting themselves in for, and the sight of some seriously prepared hybrid Land-Rovers, lifted Jeeps, and Suzukis made us wonder if we would get through without some serious damage. Full of excitement we all set off at intervals to lessen the traffic load but it wasn’t long before everyone was backed up at the first lane.
Dropping down into a steep combe there were some nerve testing moments when the temptation to just jump out almost became overwhelming, the route was tight and root strewn with drops to the nearside which luckilly the drivers couldn’t see. We were soon stopped as some vehicles were struggling to climb the rocky slate track up out of the combe. The stumbling point was a hairpin bend that required several shunts to get round and had a large slab of smooth slate at the one point you really needed to get traction. Mark was leading in his 90 and as he was on All Terrain tyres only took a couple of attempts before opting for the quick way up with the winch. I was next and the extra length of the 110 and my Mud Terrains found enough grip to get round, Tonys S1 drove round with very little fuss. Two minutes later we were at the top of the combe waiting for Tony but he didn’t arrive. I walked back with Colin, one of my passengers, and we found Tony stuck on another slab of slate, there was no way he was going to be able to drive up and nothing to attach the wince to so we ran back to get the 110. Reversing back was a nightmare as the mirrors had to be folded in the fit between the hedges (it was that tight!) and the back window was less than clean and misting up, I followed Colins frantic hand signals and got within sight of the S1 and we were soon away again.
The next section was a steep flight of rock steps and left us all laughing at the sight of each other getting thrown about inside our Landies. Things were tame from then on until lunchtime and the deep river crossing at Tarr Steps was a let down at only about 18".
Lunch was organised at the ‘Badgers Holt’ at Bridgetown and was an excellent steak and kidney pie served up unbelievably quickly. Suitably refreshed we milled about outside the pub for a while to look at some of the other entrants vehicles, they ranged from a Suzuki that had cost its owner £150 to a W-reg winch equipped TD5 Discovery! There were some bob-tailed Range-Rovers and V8 Defenders that sounded fantastic, some Discoverys that looked too smart to be dragged through bogs and over rocks and some hybrids that looked ready for anything. Richard Towell the organiser is a Jeep Club member and lifted, Jeeps with front winches and lots of lights were everywhere, there were also several Suzuki’s, a Daihatsu or two and an Auverland.
The next RUPP we got to had got a recently fallen tree 20 yards from the start so we removed it with some natty teamwork and a bow-saw and left it alongside the lane. A few yards further along we came to a halt as Marks All Terrains refused to get a grip again, Tony was keen to get his Waffles out but Mark opted for the winch again as there was a suitable stout tree straight ahead. I can’t remember if we got the winch out twice or three times along that lane to get Mark through but I can remember that Tony and I managed to get through unaided (sorry Mark I had to mention it!).
The last part of the day was a ‘Special Stage’ on Private land that was an event in itself getting to it, there were several trial stages set out. Tony and I had an attempt at a couple before Tony accidentally drove onto a section, I followed him driving blind into the setting sun with a mud splattered windscreen knocking a cane down in the process and we both got a light hearted telling off by a Marshall. It was getting late and there was a bit of a backlog of people waiting to start the sections and as Tony had broken a shock mount somewhere along the line we opted to call it a day. Tony and Val dashed home to repair the Series One and the rest of us made for the warmth and refreshments at the Forresters Arms.
Richard Towell had worked wonders again at the Forresters Arms, we were greeted with Tea and Cake and the evening meal of Chilli and Rice for £2 only a plate was excellent. We were eventually sent to bed by the management much the worse for drink, I don’t think we had started singing but I could be wrong…
The morning arrived much too soon, I was glad to see Mark looking as bad as I felt. The full monty breakfast and lots of tea had us joking again and we were soon on the road to the next lane.
Lucy was driving for a while and the lane started quite innocently but before long it was getting a bit steep and rocky. We approached a very steep step, Lucy took one look and stopped the Land-Rover and told me she thought it might be better if I drove (so she could nag me about breaking the Land-Rover later no doubt). We were leading and as I got in the driving seat I signalled to Mark that things were getting interesting. My passengers seriously doubted my sanity as we engaged low first and went over the top. We lurched over to one side then the other with the BFG Mud Terrains struggling to stop us from hurtling down to the Somerset Levels at warp speed. There were sickening crunches as the side steps again got bent back and a bang as the tow pin bottomed out as we levelled out. We came to rest laughing with relief and we all leapt out to photograph Mark come down. His 90 lurched about as we had, coming very close to scraping the rocks at the sides of the track and pulled up behind us. Tony was laughing so much he set off in the wrong gear and far too quickly, he hurtled down with Val getting thrown about and bashing the video on the windscreen in the process.
The next ‘Special Stages’ section was held at a quarry site and there were a few vehicles struggling to get to the start due to wet muddy grass. Mark decided to leave the 90 back on the safety of the tarmac as there were other All Terrain shod vehicles well bogged down already. It was half an hour or so before we could get to have some serious fun, the Suzuki’s were going well but the Land-Rovers we saw before us had all struggled in the axle deep mud and steep side slope exit. It was down to us to try and save face we reckoned. We launched the 110 through the first section in low second then third and overshot the turning after the end of the section by several yards. Having manoeuvred back the a safe spot we waited for Tony knowing his driving style was going to make good viewing in these conditions. He came through flat out sliding from side to side but making rapid progress non-the less. This much momentum was going to take some hauling in and at the end Tony ploughed into a tree and abandoned Caravan, smashing his snorkel off and giving his windscreen a really hard bang.
The next bit we came to was a drop which to be honest scarred the hell out of me, low first again and we edged over, immediately we lost traction and I tried to rein it back with several dabs of the trottle but it was hopeless. The BFGs at least allowed me to steer but we were to all intents completely out of control. I leapt out at the bottom laughing with the adrenaline rush in time to see Tony come down again in the wrong gear, sliding sideways and getting very close to the back of the 110 before stopping.
There was a steep climb next which we didn’t have a hope of climbing but I gave it a go, the front wheels crested the first part but after trying half a dozen times we drove back out and around the section. Tony wasn’t going to let the Suzukis win this one and blasted up as far as he could then set to work with the Husky winch. The climb was well over 45 degrees and was too long to do in a single pull so we did it in three stages. The first pull from a tree was easy but there wasn’t a suitable anchor point within reach of the 150’ winch cable for the next pull so we got the 110 directly above the S1 and chocked the wheels with Tonys wheel chocks. The angle we were winching at almost a dead lift for the winch so we got a snatch-block out a halved the pull. As we got the S1 nearer the top and the pull angle became more horizontal the S1 started to pull the 110 over the chocks. The chocks safety chains would not reach over the 110 bumper due to its tall tyres, HD bumper and suspension lift so we opted to re-fix the winch to a big tree some way behind the 110. A few minutes later we had the S1 on level ground again smug in the knowledge that nobody else was going to get up that route today.
The Suzukis were having a riot of a time below us in the quarry. The owner of the £150 one was determined to get his moneys worth and tried to roll it end over end by dropping it off a 4’ bank, it went down with a hell of a bang but drove on! Val was videoing all the time and Tony was planning which bit of recovery kit to buy with the £250 from ‘You’ve been framed’.
Next was a Sunday Roast lunch stop at ‘The Valliant Soldier’ in Roadwater and time to repair Tonys snorkel and plan the next part of the route.
We were nearly at the end of the Challenge and I was feeling pretty good at not having needed any assistance to get out of anything I had driven into all weekend. They say ‘pride comes before a fall’, don’t they? We just had a climb over the Quantocks before dropping down and back to the Conquest Centre for a Cream Tea and the finish. Nearing the top we had a struggle to get round a steep corner and had to winch Marks 90 again (yet again Tonys offer of Waffles was refused). Then as we came out of the trees and almost within sight of the last bit of off road driving I lost traction on a side slope. The 110 slid sideways for about 20 yards before coming to rest at the top of a very steep drop into the valley below, Mark was behind us and stopped immediately but had already gone too far. It was too dangerous to attempt to drive out so we towed Marks 90 back to safety then winched the 110 back before driving out further up the slope. The whole fiasco must have taken the best part of an hour and the weather had turned really nasty so we were all soon soaked to the skin.
The finish at the Conquest Centre was a good chance to catch up on tall stories and eat a hearty Cream Tea. The draw for the raffle was held and our team came away will a couple of the prizes (donated by Taunton Land-Rover) so we were all well pleased. We had all had a great time, with lots of real belly laughs, not much vehicle damage and Tonys Waffles were still clean. There’s always next time…
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