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Off Road in London?
In many countries they have the enviable luxury of thousands of acres
of beautiful countryside in which to roam free in their 4 wheel drives.
Australia,
Canada & America, how we envy you. As you enter Europe,
populations increase whilst land mass available starts to shrink
at a frightening rate. Enter a city the size of London,
local government frowns upon us driving in the parks whilst others go about
walking their dogs or flying their kite. Living in London one
would expect to travel 50 or more miles to find
a place to get ones tyres dirty.
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However, hidden only 7 miles from the Tower of London in an
easterly direction as the raven flies is London's best kept off-road secret.
On the last Sunday of every month, those few who
have been quietly whispered the word, load their high lift Jacks.
Pull the tow ropes out of storage and quietly head to a south east
London suburb called Thamesmead.
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4wd.sofcom.com/News/1999/990309.London.html
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Gently nestled beside old mother Thames and the housing developments
of Thamesmead, Plumstead and Woolwich lies a vast tract
of land that until very recently belonged to the central government war
department. Now that the cold war has melted a
little, the benefits to the 4x4 community are now becoming available.
Cheap and plentiful
ex-military
Land Rovers to play with,
and ex-military sites to play on...... yes...... there is a God!
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Being a none conformist, I chose not a
Lode Lane
product, but something a little different, a
UMM
Transcat (right) from some wine growing
area of Portugal. Built from the parts bin of many European car
manufactures with a very solid chassis of French origin, my Transcat
turns many heads, most to say "what the hell was that".
It's basic, solid, reliable and puts to shame many vehicles
costing more than I can afford.
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UMM Transcat
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So if your stuck in London, and you happen to notice that it's the
last Sunday of the month, quietly find your way over to Thamesmead
for the best four wheel drive fun in London.
The photos are from the last off-road London day on the 28 Feb 1999.
As you can see not everything comes from Lode Lane.
- Graham Ellis, 3/1999.
Go to the
UK
and
UMM
pages
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