We started to day by returning to our old haunts at Warm Up Woods. With the ground conditions as they were and a few returning to us after a short break it made sense to get everyone into the swing of things gently and remind them of how hard it can be in slippery conditions.

For the first time in a while we had Jason Davies returning in his newly re-chassis’d blue 90. Jay was very keen to put it through its paces and was desperate to give wet corner a go now that he had a diesel (he used to run V8 Range Rovers!) So we made sure we obliged later in the day and the pictures will show it was certainly a good test for the recently put together vehicle.

Kevin Luxton had some very shiny new alloys and very grippy new tyres he was keen to impress all with, so Tim kindly led him and Tony (in a similarly capable vehicle) up the Sunken River Section immediately after Warm Up Woods, something neither had done before – just to keep them on their toes.

Martyn Middleton and Buster were equally keen to try out Sam’s Hill in Warrens Quarry, the hill has become a bit of a personal challenge for Martyn! It seems it still remains that same Challenge! Having said that it was very wet with only Tony and Kevin making the long climb possible I believe. The group also tackled some of the sharper climbs in the earlier sections of Warrens Hill, these proved testing too in their own way – a long old drag, not as steep as Sam’s Hill but a fair bit longer. Bigger tyres and a Tdi seem to make hard work of the climb – just was well Tony had a winch really!

We stopped for lunch at the entrance to our new section in Priestlands. Some mid-week work had seen another section opened up giving an alternative route into the woods. This gave people the perfect option to eat lunch and watch other group members tackle the new section. Some winching was required by some, some drove it all.

Priestlands itself proved as unforgiving as ever. Mike little Suzuki made the most spectacular attempt at one of the slippery climbs getting the furthest, light weight helping a great deal! The new river crossing over the bridge proved a hit with all, over engineered and built using the Royal Engineers schematics/designs it’s certainly not going anywhere now. The route to the bridge caused some interest for some, Martyn seemed to be making full use of his lockers at one point and Tony was desperate to try out that winch again!

With First Drop, First Long Drop and Frist River Drive still to go we had plenty to keep people on their toes. Jason had his second visit to Wet Corner to fit in, plus we managed a transit of Middle Wood through the Bomb hole this time before finishing with the top half of Last River Drive. The pictures certainly show how wet the conditions were – particularly wet corner!