Beast from the East

[FLY2 10,109]

That same photo was shown on East Midlands News last night Lizzie. Brilliant !

[Jill Sparrow 10,325]

Coal delivery this morning. Only ordered it yesterday afternoon! Nice and snug by the fire. Wine catalogue just arrived! Snow appears to be melting here but still treacherously icy underfoot. My blackbirds are making short work of the cat food!

 

Wish the wind would drop though. It sounds like Wuthering Heights!

[jonab 1,644]

14 degrees C today, reasonably sunny, light breeze.

[Compo 10,328]

So -  there was SWMBO with a ticket for buses and a hotel booked in Glasgow. The flight was also booked and paid for from Glasgow to her OU residential course in Spain.  This morning: No Trains or Buses out of the county or even Inverness.  So we popped up to the airport and booked a seat on the mid-day flight to Edinburgh, with the hope of a bus or train across to Glasgow from there.  The flight originated in Edinburgha and was, of course, delayed.  However, it finally arrived at half past one and she was seated ready to take off.  Bad news! Edinburgh was restricting landings to two per hour for some reason unexplainedand internal flights have bottom priority so there she is four o'clock and still sitting on the plane at the end of Wick runway waiting for Edinburgh to allow the plane to return.  Innit marvellous!

[Compo 10,328]

2 hours ago, IAN123. said:

 Is that your house, Ian? 

 

[carni 10,094]

5 hours ago, LizzieM said:

I’m surprised there haven’t been more wintry photos posted on here,

 

Here's one Lizzie from 'Snowy W-ton'. The sun came out for a while so we decided to take a stroll in the'West Park' our equivalent to 'The Arboretum'.

The boating lake was frozen solid and the swans and ducks were all huddled together. The snow soon returned and looking out of my window now, it looks like Siberia. It is all gusting again, much to hubbies disdain. We have a little gap in the garage roof, that has been on the list for repair? this morning when Chris opened the door he was met with a garage full of snow!!!

 

 

 

 

[DJ360 6,734]

Went to Liverpool to see the First Chinese Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors exhibition at the museum in Liverpool.  Fascinating stuff.  There were lead coins with Greek script on them. showing the links between China and ancient Greece 2500 years ago.  As well as the Terracotta sculptures, there were beautiful and intricately inlaid bits of jewellery etc.  Amazing stuff.

 

But mostly.. it was cold.  Very few people on the streets of Liverpool. 

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jer64j2wAGDiHCKv1

 

Col

 

 

[FLY2 10,109]

Congratulations and well done to the 4x4 owners who have voluntarily come to the aid of their local communities during this period of so called 'exceptional' weather. They have ferried doctors, nurses and other staff to hospitals, taken patients as well at times. Helped fellow motorists out of ditches, and pulled then up hills etc. Generally performing tasks that otherwise would be impossible for conventional vehicles. It's at times such as this when the British community spirit shines through.

So, a pat on the back for the 4x4 fraternity. They're not always used for taking little Charlotte or Tarquin 400 yards to school ! 

[philmayfield 6,203]

Good to see 4x4 owners getting praised. They’re normally treated with derision. Living in the sticks our 4x4’s have been a lifeline over the years and we’ve helped others when needed. The only time we ever got stuck was at a farm sale at Epperstone. It was on a perfectly flat but wet grass field. No traction at all. Fortunately there were lots of burly farmers to push us - much to their amusement and my embarrassment. Went out to rescue someone this week at the bottom of the steep hill up to their house. When I got there they’d gone!

[PeverilPeril 3,292]

Phil, re wet grass and 4x4. When I went on an off road course with Landrover they said that wet grass caused more problems than mud or snow.

It was when the Mk3 Disco came out, having settings for snow/rocks/decent etc. They said that wet grass on slopes had given the programmers nightmares.  I have been stuck down a valley in a mk3 Disco in spite of the trick technology. I went down the same valley later in worse conditions but in my ancient, no frills Toyota pickup = no problems. Basically tyre selection is more important than trick technology.

[FLY2 10,109]

Tyre selection is definitely crucial PP. On my old Landy Defender, I had Avon fitted. I can't remember the actual style name, but they were very similar to what in the past we called 'Town & Country'. More chunkier though !

[philmayfield 6,203]

I went on an of-road course with Landrover at Rockingham Castle some years ago when we bought a Disco.It was really amazing how these things performed. We did manoeuvres that I didn’t think were possible. It certainly gave confidence for on road driving in snow knowing what the limits were. My favourite 4x4 was a Defender I bought 20 years ago and I did some serious off-roading in that. Sadly it was stolen from the Homebase car park in Nottingham when I was only in for 5 minutes! My wife’s had a succession of Shoguns for many years as she used to tow a pony trailer and I used to pull a heavy boat. The Shoguns have been bulletproof but we’ve recently changed ours as it fell into the “dirty diesel” category. I’ve had a couple of Range Rovers as company cars but was not impressed with the build quality. They would go over a ploughed field in comfort without a murmour though!

[FLY2 10,109]

Flashback to the Top Gear Boliva Special, where the old and much maligned Range Rover overcame every obstacle it encountered.

Brilliant.

[philmayfield 6,203]

Range Rovers nowadays seem to be driven by arrogant t***ts. I know because some are friends of mine!

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Landrovers were used underground at British Gypsum, they are not as rugged as most folks think, working underground was a big test the makers should have taken notice of. I learned that 4wd was not the be and end all of winter driving when I lost traction at the top of the drift at East Leake. I'd been called out to a surface breakdown, I stopped at the bottom of the drift, changed to 4wd low range as per the Managers rules, was a bitterly cold night outside, I got almost to the top of the drift when I lost traction on an ice build up near the drift mouth, slid into the conveyor belt, the more I tried, to get out of it, the more I worried about knocking the belt out of alignment. So left it there until I'd rectified the breakdown. When I came back I reversed down the drift a short distance and managed to get to the top without further problems.

When I arrived in Oz a few years later, they were using Toyota Landcruisers underground, seams they had similar problems to British Gypsum, LR's weren't rugged enough to stay in one piece in mining conditions. Many of the mining companies in Oz changed to Landcruisers for the same reason.

Landrovers weren't popular in Australia, they just wouldn't hold up, the Landcruisers were the most popular 4 by 4 down under when I lived there.

 

I did have one big thing I hated about the LR's in the early 70's, they were kidney rattlers, very uncomfortable to drive, no idea if they improved, haven't driven one since about 1975.

 

[philmayfield 6,203]

Lancruisers seem to be ones you see being used by the UN and in the jungles round the world. A farmer I know has had the same one for over 30 years and it’s still going strong. You don’t see so many new ones around now    as people seem to prefer the Landrover Range. The Subaru’s are also very competent but there are fewer dealers and none in Notts.

[Waddo 921]

Tyre selection is important for most situations, but ice or packed snow requires stud's or chains. A 4x4 won't stop any better on ice than any other vehicle. The way a vehicle performs depends on the driver, its not always the tool beings used, more like the tool that's doing the using that causes the problem.

[Cliff Ton 10,488]

32 minutes ago, Ayupmeducks said:

Landrovers weren't popular in Australia, they just wouldn't hold up, the Landcruisers were the most popular 4 by 4 down under when I lived there.

 

A quote I've seen more than once in several places;  according to Australians, if you want to go into the outback you can take a Land Rover - if you want to return from the outback take a Toyota.

[philmayfield 6,203]

People now buy Landrovers for style rather than function. I think even the new Defender will become a fashion accessory and not the functional vehicle it once was. They seem to be fitted with overlarge wheels for aesthetic purposes which makes them less practical in severe conditions. The 4x4 I rather like is the Suzuki Jimny. On YouTube videos it seems to more than keep pace with Landrovers. I quite fancy one as a toy - too old for toys though!

[Waddo 921]

Believe me Phil, you're never too old for toy's, go have some fun.

[philmayfield 6,203]

13 minutes ago, Waddo said:

Believe me Phil, you're never too old for toy's, go have some fun.

I darnt. I’ve had too much already - apparently.

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

The problem with most "cross country" vehicles is the driver full stop. They ask to much of the vehicle expecting the motor to do the work when they really should know how to drive the damn thing. They go on a one day course round a set circuit, a circuit built so they can get round it with out even thinking of ground appreciation.

 

Not my words but the words of my army driving instructor back in spring 1972 at Bovington armoured vehicle driving school. They had a very good way of teaching you 'ground appreciation', if you get it unnecessarily stuck then you dig the bugger out. I once spent 4 hours digging out a 6 wheel drive Saladin whilst the REME LAD recovery crew stood and watched, a very good lesson in deed.

 

There are very few true four wheel drive vehicles unless of course you have a diff lock and they are a pig to drive, more or less straight line only. The Ferret was one whilst the Saladin range was true 6 wheel drive but they both have sun and planet gears in each hub instead of a differential.

[MargieH 7,613]

The 'beast' is melting so now we await flooding - not our house I'm pleased to say, but we have a lot of slow flowing rivers in the area...

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

4wd tractors come with diff locks, I've often got stuck in mud, heel on the diff lock pedal and get unstuck in seconds.

[philmayfield 6,203]

We have a fast flowing one just down the road, the Trent. It was fairly high when I went past at Fiskerton yesterday and I’m sure it will get higher when the snow melts in the Derbyshire and Staffordshire hills. It only affects us when the dyke down our lane backs up but I can only remember it being over the road a couple of times in over 50 years. I have an inflatable dinghy in the garage should the worst happen!