Classic Land Rover Magazine November 2023

As a finish to what has been an intersting year, we are proud to have featured in the November 2023 edition of Classic Land Rover magazine at a meeting of the 127/130 Ambulance club in Church Stretton 

My picture as a double spread to introduce the article which if you don't have it you can get as a back issue at https://pocketmags.com/classic-land-rover-magazine/november-2023

There are already some extra pictures of these fine vehicles at https://landroverkaty.blogspot.com/2023/07/127-club-agm-2023.html

Children in Need 2023 Road Run

We took part in the 2023 Children in Need Road Run which rurned out to be quite an adventure on some flooded roads 

The start was at Stratstone jaguar Land Rover in Cardiff where Bronwyn had kindly laid on coffee and breackfast items and we had a lot of fun parking our older vehicles alongside some of the latest (sorry abot the oil on your nice clean tarmac) 

There was a prize for the best dressed vehicle and this was a clear winner along with Tom and Sandra 

At the alotted time we lined up ready for off, but of course it took a few more minutes to get going so sime for a few more pictures 

Then it was off to the Cardiff Rugby ground for a quick stop (made all the quicker because we had lost time in setting off and in the traffic) and then to the Tesco car park where there were already some running repairs needed on Fluffy

After that we headed out into the country for some real fun with a whole load of unplanned water features on a load of lanes that had become flooded 

I was licky that Brobwyn was following in the brand new Defender 130 and she managed to get some excellent pictures from the in car systems that show us having such fun 

This shows us plodding along at a suitably slow speed because you don't know what you will fund in the water even if it is a tarmacced lane 

And a bit later when it got a bit deeper. You can see that we are going even slower in this deeper water

And finally what the fantastic in car video systems were showing in the 130. from talking to her later on she was able to clearly see a tree stump or rock on the verge that  she needed to avoid whis was hardly visible in the near dark by that point 

I have to say that I'm very impressed with the new Defender. 

I hope thay sell well and one day I'll be able to afford one to go on my drive (second or third hand) 

Vintage Sports Club Hill Climb

 Land Rovers don't feature in this post even though we were camping with SWLRC

We went up with a bunch of our friends to Ralphs Cider Farm to see the Vintage Sports Car Club Hill Climb. 

These wonderful cars are bring ragged up a muddy field and tracks with the sole aim of having a lot of fun (OK and maybe possibly winning the event) The cars have to be between 1 January 1919 and 31 December 1930 and fully road legal as they have to get from site to site

Rolling backwards is a failure and marks the highest point you made. Many have been modified to help grip on the driving wheels, but also (and you can see this in the last car which doesn't make it passengers can bounce to add grip  

Here's a bit of video I took 

I'm no expert if you want to find out more abot the VSCC take a look ar their website https://www.vscc.co.uk/  

Llangynidr Show

It may have been be just a local agricultural show, but it's one that we (SWLRC) have joined for a few years and we were able to join the fun this year 

We had great fun with our vehicles. first of all geting one of them (fluffy) started in order to get to the event 

Up over the hill we stopped for a quick photoshoot (sorry about the caravan :) )

And it wasn't long before we were set up having a cuppa 

Just as it got dark we had a plea for help from the food vendor who's van was not up to pulling his trailer onto the site so the Series III was called in to move it with a whole bunch of the SWLRC in the back for ballast to aid grip 

And that wasn't the last call for help - as we left the burger van wasn't able to pull his trailer again so the stricken vehicle the previous day was called in to help and did it most sucessfully 

127 Club AGM 2023

It was fantastic to meet up with the 127 Ambulance club once again in person and what an excellent opportunity this was to compare solutions to the same problems we all have (space, cooking shelter etc)

It's was a great weekend with 2 Marshalls, 2 Locomotors and 4 Pulses and a look around a Land Rover graveyard 

Our hosts Tony and Ruth were fantastic company as usual and we had a great time despite running from awning to awning at times as the showers hit 

First in terms of age were the 2 Marshalls - Katy and in orange Dreamcatcher

Next in terms of age were the Logomotors 

And the youngest were the Pulses 

We're in discussion about a club Morocco trip .. hopefully a lot more to folllow 

WFoLR 2023

 As usual this was a great event with some famtastic cars on show. I can't post all the pictures here, but a selection of some of the highlights 

Series 1s

Series 2s and 3s

90/110 and Defenders

127's 

This year in addition we had some brand new cars on show courtersy of our friends at Stratstone Cardiff 

And the 110 lined up with the two oldest vehicles we had on the display. it is much larger, but its a whole lot more capable and a heap more comfortable

101 or 127

 I recently had a chance to compare the 101 Forward Control GS and the Marshalls 127 up close when I parked next to @hettie_the_101fc at the last SWLRC meeting on Tuesday and think about some of the positives and negatives of both

There was a parking space available next to the 101 so it seemed a wonderul opportunity to do some comparisons with both of them looking resplendent in their new paintwork 

Here is the view with Katy the main vehicle. The key thing from this side is the extra space that you get in the front because the cab stretches right over the engine with no bulkhead behund the front seats which does mean an overall more roomy looking interior space (mind you Hettie is not fitted out out yet so it will be interesting to see if this stays the case

Katy with Hettie

You can clearly see in this picture as well as above that the roofline is higher (although I'm not sure if that is original (I forgot to ask Rob) and conversing with him, it does translate to bigger headroom in the 101 so that is another positive for Hettie

Hettie with Katy

The positives for Katy are a bit harder to show in the pictures, from talking to Rob the 101 does wallow (which is something we have solved with suspension upgrades) and it sounds like the steeting is less precise than the 127. Also the 127's top speed is higher which makes Katy good for long distance travel on roads, and of course the 127 uses a lot of standard Defender parts which makes sourcing them a lot easier

Both are excellent vehicles for a serious off-road camper and both will continue to show how tough a Land Rover is, having both been rescued from a complete state of  neglect to be brought back to their current state 

We look forwards to seeing @hettie_the_101fc again in person as she's fitted out in the mean time we will be tuning into her instagram feed for updates  

Welsh Festival of Land Rovers 2023

 We're going.. maybe see you there