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O.S. map No 94 required if you want to follow our route.
Yours truly posing at one of the O.S. triangulation points on Rudland Rigg
Gary crossing the ford at SE706877
The Rudland Rigg green lane about 9 miles of solitude
A couple of fords added to the day when we went up North Yorkshire to drive the Rudland rigg green lane amongst others.The weather was kind to us and to add to the enjoyment of the day for me I bummed a lift with Larry in his 110 as it was a little to far for me to take Mushy Pea for the day,it makes a pleasant change now and then to be the passenger and actualy see the countryside you are travelling through.
Accompanied by Gary and Karen in their Defender,Paul in his Defender and Dave,who came with a winch which had a Discovery attached to it,we made our way northwards and over Sutton Bank to start the green laning by firstly driving the ford at SE706877.The ford is shallow enough for any vehicle but take a wide sweep to the right to avoid the deeper parts.
Dave's new winch
Exiting the ford the lane rises for about half a mile to join a minor road where we turned left to pick up our second lane of the day from SE693925 to SE687909,another easy lane suitable for any motor,which crosses open moorland as do most of the lanes during the days outing.
At the end of the last lane turn right for a short run on tarmac to start the Rudland Rigg lane from SE659926 to NZ592061.
Larry's 110 an absolutely superb machine
At about 9 miles in length Rudland Rigg can offer anything from total solitude to abject desolation depending on the time of year and prevailing weather conditions.Crossing open moor land for most of it's length up to the northern end the lane is suitable for any motor.
The view across the moors is as good as it gets anywhere and along the way there are ancient road signs and triangulation points to watch out for.
Towards the northern end of the Rigg the lane starts to descend towards the flat lands south of Middlesborough and it is a little bit surreal to look down upon this bit of England from up in the hills,it reminded me of my time in Holland where everywhere is flat.
9 miles of scenery like this it's got to be worth the effort to get there
At the northern end as you descend towards the end of the lane the track surface has been washed away exposing a few rocky steps but nothing severe.
Whilst driving over Rudland Rigg Larry let me drive the 110 and I can tell you they are an absolutely marvellous machine to drive.
From Rudland Rigg we made our way to the second ford of the day at NZ653074,it is a shallow ford over a tarmac road and although we travelled through the beautiful Kildale moor it wasn't really worth the extra mileage but we did have an impromtu picnic at the side of the road and then decided to go back to Rudland Rigg.
The flat lands south of Middlesborough
The object of driving Rudland Rigg again from north to south was to pick up a side lane off of the Rigg at SE641975 which would bring us to a minor road to take us to our last lane of the day from SE613952 to SE635891.
This last lane is not easy and is not for the shiny motor but with a bit of care and attention any motor would be able to travel it. Because of the ground conditons it is advisable not to try this lane alone.
Part way along the trail Dave's winch lost forward momentum and had to be rescued by Gary's Defender but to be fair to Dave the Discovery only had road tyres on and he hadn't got round to putting his 2 fridges in the motor yet as the extra weight would have probably given him enough traction to get through.
Although this last lane is only about 3 miles long it took us the best part of an hour to do it due to the ground conditions on the day.
The second ford,not really worth the extra mileage
Cometh the hour,cometh the man
Our hero Gary to the rescue
All in all another great day out and worthy of a return visit.
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