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Abbeyleix…Co. Laois…4.30p.m……Friday 29th December…...the sun has just gone down and it's starting to freeze again. Ivor Clegg and myself are waiting in Edwin Pratt's garage for Mervyn Colton who is on his way from Dublin to meet us. He arrives at 4.45, and after completing some minor last minute servicing to his Land Rover 90, we are ready to leave at 5.30 for Mallow Co. Cork and this year's Shamrock Safari. Alan Gethings in his Pajero has gone ahead and is due to meet Malcolm Cooper in Urlingford. As we leave Abbeyleix, I ring Damien Heneghan who is traveling down via Limerick from Longford. He informs me that he has driven the past 50 miles at less than 35 mph due to the road conditions and was now just the Mallow side of Nenagh. We now have a fair idea of what lies ahead. In Cashel we catch up with Alan and Malcolm who have opted to wait for us as they are getting tired of traveling at 15mph in traffic. Not that the roads are icy here or anything, just some drivers being a bit over cautious, but better to error on the side of caution. When we get within the bounds of Cork Co. Council we realize some people had a good Christmas.….three inches of hard packed snow on the main Dublin-Cork road and they were only starting to grit the road now! In Mitchelstown we stopped for something to eat and then turned off the main road and headed across country for Mallow. This road was even worse as regards snow and ice but we managed to maintain a respectable 40mph. As we came within a couple of miles of Mallow I decided to give Damien a ring again to get directions as to where we were staying, thinking that he would be already there. He was only just entering Mallow at the same time as us so we made our way to the Hibernian Hotel car park to rendezvous. The Hibernian is the headquarters for this event and the car park was an off roaders dream. A large contingent of vehicles had made their way across the Irish Sea and among them were some of the UK's top off roaders, Simon Buck to mention one, just back from Malaysia. Besides Simon's truck-cab 90 there were a whole host of other 90s, Discos and a beautiful shortened, coil sprung lightweight. There were of course makes other than Land Rover including a very professionally built G-Wagon which was a work of art with it's integrated Stainless Steel roll cage and custom interior all finished to perfection. After we finished drooling, we found our accommodation and headed out for a sociable evening to form our plan of attack! Ivor Clegg and myself had just taken delivery of two G10 winches from David Bowyer and had yet to test them in anger. Also on the two G10s and on Damien Heneghan and Mervyn Colton's Milemarker winches was the new Amsteel winch line, which had also yet to be tested! Saturday morning came and after breakfast we headed for the nearest Statoil Service station to fill up with 'motion lotion' and goodies for the day. The freeze hadn't been as bad as recent nights, but we weren't complaining. 9.00am saw us seated in the ballroom of the Hibernian having been give a warm welcome from Brian Hartley of Club Off Road. The event is run by Club Off Road with the groundwork before the event being completed by Jimmy Deane and Maurice Brosnan aka Off Road Ireland. Jimmy and Maurice will be joined from next year by the Irish Four Wheel Drive Club (IFWDC) in the organization of this and other events. As the crowd gathered Brian began his introduction to the event and reliably informed the drivers that "yes, this was Ireland and yes, it would rain!" With the briefing over we were divided into three 'mullocking' groups, and we headed off. These three groups were made up of people who had worked together before so we ended up as the Irish group with seven vehicles in all, all Land Rovers! Bottle Hill was the venue for the trails on Saturday, and as we reached the Car Park at the entrance we saw a number of protest signs. No, they were not against the off-roading, but Cork County Council is considering digging out a large section of this beautiful hillside and placing a superdump here! The first trail was a lovely drive. Off the main track and down the edge of the forest until turning sharp left over a mound and into the forest. This could only be described as a big child's dream…..Off Roading in Santa's Grotto! Towards the end of this U shaped trail was a winching section which, depending on how far you got before you got stuck, varied from 20 meters to 100 meters. Most forms of off road recovery and negotiation were used here, from kinetic ropes, to winches, to waffles. After a period of time and one dead vehicle we got off the trail about 1.00pm. Following a leisurely lunch and revival of the 'dead' vehicle, we headed into the second trail. This was a straightforward drive through and so it was onto trial 3. This was what it's all about. After an easy enough drive through the first section we rounded a corner to find two large holes which made full use of the 90's approach and departure angles and then onto the real winching section. At the end of the trail was about 50 meters of pure mud run Irish Style…..Peat Bog. Each vehicle made it about half way, if they were lucky, before having to get the winches out. Ivor Clegg in his V8 90 got his first real chance to test the new G10 here and judging by the smile as the G10 ground down and hauled hard he was suitably impressed… as I might add were the onlookers. When Ivor had extracted himself and his 90 from the depths of the bog, he turned around and latched the 90 to a tree using some Amsteel extensions. He then paid out the winch line to Malcolm Cooper in his 90 who was in need of help to get through the mud pit. As Malcolm was being hauled out, I was next behind him. Having looked for an alternative way around, I positioned the 90 sideways in the mud pit and got the winch line out. Having secured to a tree with the help of Mervyn Colton and Jonathan Heneghan, the G10 brought the 90 clear of the pit over a four-foot high bank. Having disconnected the line I continued along the top of the bank until dropping nose first into a drain. Winch time again and this time Ivor's 90 was a good anchor point. Once again the G10 knuckled down and did it's job extracting the 90 from the hole and taking eight inches of the bank it was stuck against with it. One more hole to get through and we were home and dry. The biggest test in this operation was for the Amsteel, the bit at the back of Ivor's 90, that is. With two vehicles, one being winched by Ivor and the other using his 90 as ground anchor at the same time, there must have been something in the region of a 15000lbs plus pull on the single strand of Amsteel securing the 90 to the tree. Two Warn 8274 winches had tried to retrieve their vehicles from the same hole earlier and had stalled out! With my 90 on safe ground it was the turn of Mervyn Colton with his 90 and Milemarker to do the same as I did. And once again no problems. With this winching task completed, we set off back for the road and down to Castletownroche for a welcome meal. The green laners had arrived before us and were just finished their meal and departing when we arrived. They were off on the night run. Most of our group was planning on heading that way also except for Ivor Clegg and myself, as we had to head for back for our respective homes. According to those who did go on the night run it was a lovely one, and one of our guys even managed to get some more winching in! One of the locals had planted their car in a ditch and Mervyn Colton obliged by winching it back onto the road. Mervyn himself then headed for home also. So, that left three vehicles from our gang there for Sunday, Damien Heneghan in his 90, Malcolm Cooper in his 90, and Alan Gethings in his Pajero. Alan had parked up the Pajero for Saturday as he wanted to go mullocking with the rest of us, but he was planning on going Green laning with it on Sunday. As the heavy rain arrived on Saturday night/Sunday morning, Damien decided he'd go green laning also on Sunday. As it happened so did a lot more drivers and the Green laners were split into 'really easy' and 'that bit more challenging'. Damien and Malcolm opted for the 'bit more challenging' section and said that they really enjoyed it, as did Alan who opted to go with the rest of the green laners. All in all, it seems that a good New Years weekend Off Road was had by all. Many thanks are owed to Jimmy Deane and Maurice Brosnan and co. for laying out the trails. To Club Off Road, Brian Hartley and his team of Red Coats for keeping everything running smoothly. To the Hibernian Hotel in Mallow for their hospitality and professionalism, and to Coíllte, the landowners. If you are reading this and are now sorry that you didn't go to this event, well don't despair. St. Patrick's Weekend sees us all back in Mallow for the Three Peaks Challenge, three more days of serious Off-Roading :-) UPDATE Due to the Foot and Mouth Disease crisis, the Three Peaks Challenge has unfortunately had to be postponed. |
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