Bofa4x4 Family day out on Cannock Chase.

November 18th 2006

Bofa4x4 have been organising these family days out on Cannock Chase for some time. We all met up at the Pine Cafe near Cannock for some morning refreshment and to check in with the group. Six vehicles make up a typical group including a fully equipped leader and another club member bringing up the rear.

After a quick check that everyone could handle a failed hill climb in a small quarry, we were off.

Although the area of the chase covered is not huge, there is more than enough challenge and variety to fill the day. Mud, long hill climbs, properly scary (but safe) descents, steps, water splashes - all tastes were catered for. Perhaps the worst obstacles were the many tree stumps waiting to catch you out the moment you lose concentration.

I failed two climbs. One was pretty mucky and I got the turn at the top wrong and bottled out when I rested gently against a tree. The other was simply not planning ahead. Thinking the hill was short, I stayed in first and ran out of steam half way up. After a short run back to a drier section, second gear saw me on my way again all the way to the top.

I dipped out of two sections. One was a steep, angled descent between a couple of trees. Looking at it from the other side, it would have been easy but there you go. The other was a couple of short, steep banks that would have caused my absurdly low towbar to take a huge chunk out of the ground. There did not seem much point in that so I gave it a miss. Before going again, the towbar will get sorted.

All in all an excellent day out. Colin Farrel was a very good guide and we all had a lot of fun. The route was just challenging enough for me and allowed me to practice some newly learned skills and stretch my driving and the car just a bit further. I've already booked up another session and hope to get a clear round this time. No failures and no dipping out.