SLROC Forum
Events => NON SLROC EVENTS => Topic started by: I.AM_a Driver on October 27, 2010, 11:02:39 PM
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Myself and rangerovering have planned a route taking in as many fords as we can manage (25 on the list!) in the Scottish Borders. Route begins between Dunbar and Eyemouth, meeting point is ASDA on Spott Road in Dunbar (EH42 1LE), meeting at 8:45 for 9:00 start.
We have planned a rough route taking in fords listed on Wetroads.co.uk (http://www.wetroads.co.uk) in the Scottish Borders. The route is expected to take most of the day, approx 150-200 miles finishing towards Biggar or Hillend Jct on the Bypass.
We will try to stop somewhere convenient for lunch (bring your own if you wish, we'll find a scenic carpark in a border town) and there is scope to stop for an ice cream at Caldwell's in Innerleithen. For our evening meal we have the choice of either fish and chips in Biggar or a pub meal in The Steading at Hillend.
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Clicky Link Section
Google Maps 'Rough' Route (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Spott+Road,+Dunbar&daddr=Reston,+Eyemouth+to:Chirnside,+Duns+to:Duns+to:Coldstream+to:Earlston+to:Jedburgh+to:Lilliesleaf,+Melrose+to:Hawick+to:Ettrick+to:Innerleithen+to:Peebles+to:Drumelzier+to:Biggar+to:The+Steading,+Edinburgh&geocode=FSByVgMdGLTZ_ylHM8g-9A-HSDGRZahbM26QNQ%3BFe85VAMdiqHe_ym1imtnCz-HSDGNIBmHXs272Q%3BFVF5UwMdP0re_yl3_YvHvw2HSDF1J3e9LTUoAA%3BFXQcUwMdRUHc_ynnBDpSgwuHSDGjvHSFLLlC5w%3BFQEyUQMdBK7d_ynrAnqVYEKHSDEIiu0_WaPg7A%3BFVv6UAMdQTDX_ym165tc_3aHSDHoUArn7ohb8Q%3BFQuOTgMdPxHZ_ymbekejqIB9SDGe4dPBWrN3bw%3BFfolTwMdZUDW_yltDNBM0YCHSDGDov5A2KtYiw%3BFWmuTQMdwnnV_yllosNsWmB9SDG2bX0Q2UCMGA%3BFbigTQMdivPP_yk3UT03tl99SDGCqTptvtjxNQ%3BFe-uUAMd2UPR_yldG8UxS4yHSDHIFL_uekZroQ%3BFb4rUQMdvEnP_ylTzXUFmJKHSDGP3EI73x1_-Q%3BFWZMUAMd3IzM_yn_4zyOgfqHSDFsNxqn5vdFXA%3BFdDBUAMd-jnK_ynrS2ePMKhiSDEAak4O-YkySA%3BFXPaVAMdiiTP_yGbdu0lTqyikQ&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=55.703903,-2.776794&sspn=1.064777,2.469177&ie=UTF8&ll=55.703903,-2.853699&spn=1.064777,2.469177&t=h&z=9)
Rough Directions (pdf) (http://gallery.myff.org/gallery/909650/LocalFordDirections.pdf)
List of fords (http://gallery.myff.org/gallery/909651/LocalFordsList.pdf)
The list of fords is in the order we hope to attempt them, has OS grid references and also the page references for the Philips Street Atlas of the Scottish Borders.
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This event is being publicised on several forums (fora?) including LandyTown, LROi, Scottish LROC, Wetroads and RRR. If you're definitely coming we don't need to know 5 times over, once will do! If you are interested in joining us please post your name below, or PM either myself (I.AM_a driver (http://www.slroc.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=10)) or Steve (rangerovering (http://www.slroc.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=231)) for more information. Look forward to meeting as many of you as possible.
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"Disclaimer"
I'm putting the responsibility firmly on the driver for this 'meet', I'm just providing the route and trying to get a group of people together. Essentially it'll be up to you if you want to attempt any/all/none of the fords we come across over the course of the day, but it should be an enjoyable day with some familiar faces and some new ones too.
Facebook Event page
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=102044456531697&ref=mf
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This sounds like a realy interesting day i am trying to convince family to come but i will definatly be there.
Cheers Bill
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Nice one Bill, should be a fun day!
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Sorry
Will be away then, but could you let me know if you intend doing it again
Duncan
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Will do. All going well we hope to do different regions, we started in the borders becasue it is nearest and there is quite a few to choose from!
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I will deffo be trying to get along to this with my eldest. A day out is overdue.
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hi there is a standard land rover ie no snokel ok for crossing these fords
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hi there is a standard land rover ie no snokel ok for crossing these fords
Hi yes you will be fine. Mine is more or less standard and is a v8 so i will most likely conk out first if its too wet!
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Currently 5 definates, 4 maybes. Looking like a good day out folks!
I have an empty passenger seat if anyone wants to ride along!
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hi there is a standard land rover ie no snokel ok for crossing these fords
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u22/ScubaSteev89/th_Peebles3.jpg)
If you look at the pic above (from rangerovering's signature) that's one of the ones in Peebles, nothing too serious and most of them should be about the same. Some of them are drivable in a 'normal' car or even your work van.... ::) ::)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v73/173/4/61016412/n61016412_32709599_6342.jpg)
There are two that are more serious crossings but Steve and I are doing a bit of a recce on them tomorrow (for the record these are Earlston and Drumelzier) and as many others as we can, just to gauge their difficulty etc.
At the end of the day if you're not wanting to take your vehicle through one, we can find out who else isn't going through and arrange where we'll meet you again to continue the route. I'll try get a better set of directions posted up after tomorrow, and update the list if required; If anyone was going to print these off please wait until Thursday to give me a chance to do this.
Currently 5 definates, 4 maybes. Looking like a good day out folks!
I have an empty passenger seat if anyone wants to ride along!
I also have the passenger seat free if anyone wants to come along for the ride
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I have another name to add to the list, Sam_Td5 is coming along in his Disco.
We did a bit of a recce today on some of the fords we're going to do, a few of them might have to be missed out because of muddy/soft access routes especially if there's a big group of us. Some observations:
-It took us 30 minutes to get from Dreghorn on the bypass out to the meeting place at Asda, sitting at the speed limit most of the way
(please give yourself plenty time to get there for 8.45, we'll be leaving at 9.00 as we've a fair distance to cover)
-There is a filling station at the Dunbar Asda (pay at pump only)
-I guessed the route would be 150-200 miles, I now reckon we might be closer to 250 over the course of the day.
-We'll see how we get on we might cut the route short if time is against us or whatever, I don't want to be rushing from A to B just to get round them all.
Steve was handed the camera today on a couple of occasions, so here are the results (call it a wee taster!)
Pease Bay (first on the list, to gently break you in)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs938.snc4/75102_728637532991_61016412_42999883_1999307_n.jpg)
Chirnside
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs572.ash2/149443_728637912231_61016412_42999885_4162556_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs570.ash2/149222_728638111831_61016412_42999888_4073322_n.jpg)
And also videos
Abbey St Bathans (2 videos- both directions)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G288kvhcVc
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lyvFMn8xTA
Earlston (sorry it was getting dark!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saXUwpo5MEM
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sounding like a great day out. im working :( or id of been tempted out for a paddle lol
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ill Probably head off from the pack at peebles depending on time/fuel level, SWMBO reminded me todaty we are going out at night.... and what SWMBO wants, SWMBO gets :(
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ill Probably head off from the pack at peebles depending on time/fuel level, SWMBO reminded me todaty we are going out at night.... and what SWMBO wants, SWMBO gets :(
No problem, more than happy for people to come and go. Just let us know at the time so we are not wondering where you are half an hour later!
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oh, and mind me not to order my groceries from tesco.com.... if you drive like that for a photo... how do you drive when not being photographed??
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Well since all our vans are satellite tracked (road speed limit Vs actual speed), unscheduled stops, over-rev and harsh braking, I have to drive sensibly :D I've not actually been through that ford recently in the van, and at present I'm on the management scheme so doesn't look like I'll be delivering much beyond Christmas.
Given the amount of rain we've had in the last 24 hours the fords we visit may not be as easy as they were on Wednesday, we'll just have to see what the state of the water is at each one.
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Well thanks to Andrew for coming along, we had a great day even if it did cloud over towards the end (it was actually snowing on our way back to Penicuik). As there were only three vehicles we were able to use the three access routes I was most worried about doing in a big group (East Reston Mill, Marlfield and Nenthorn).
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs096.snc4/36171_729345364491_61016412_43016351_5530051_n.jpg)
From L to R:
rangerovering's 3.5 V8 RRC, I.AM_a Driver's Td5 90 and andrew's 200Tdi 3dr Disco
The fords in the order we visited them was:
Pease Bay
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs478.ash2/75186_729345464291_61016412_43016356_1531686_n.jpg)
East Reston Mill
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs941.snc4/73447_729345643931_61016412_43016366_5374172_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs918.snc4/73173_729345848521_61016412_43016379_1729015_n.jpg)
as you can see, the sun was shining and it really was a beautiful day.
Chirnside
I didn't get any pictures or videos as I was the only one to attempt it, it was a lot deeper than last time and hopefully Andrew or Steve will post a video here soon.
Abbey St Bathans
There are two fords here, the first is an irish bridge and when we recce'd on wednesday there wasn't much water flowing over the bridge, compared to today:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs491.ash2/76425_729345893431_61016412_43016383_7500167_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1149.snc4/149160_729345943331_61016412_43016387_3362834_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs942.snc4/73550_729346003211_61016412_43016391_6079013_n.jpg)
and a video of Andrew on his return (I was on the bridge away from watersplash)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj7gWAXOi5g
Then we moved to the other ford, a deeper and rougher crossing of the same river about 200 yards downstream of the first (again I've no photos of my 90 going through but Andrew or Steve may post some).
Once I'd been through, Steve decided to try taking the RRC through, so fitted his posh wading blanket as a purely precautionary measure....
for the video of his 1st crossing, see link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLs8WLdg9Eo
(ignore my commentary, the last section of this ford is deeper and I was 'helping' him along :D )
and for his return crossing, the video can be found
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5WUJ3PI5Y
after successfully returned, we noticed that Steve was needing to dry his carpets off....
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs894.snc4/72698_729346093031_61016412_43016393_6294227_n.jpg)
... and luckily he didn't completely lose that posh wading blanket.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs935.snc4/74828_729346162891_61016412_43016397_7247626_n.jpg)
Pity about the front valance going missing during the return crossing, if you look carefully at the video it's intact before wading.
Onwards through Duns and to Langton Mill. This ford is very tame and though fast flowing, wasn't even that deep today so we didn't stop for photos.
Next up was Marlfield, we didn't stop at the actual ford but this is the 'road' leading away from it
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs577.ash2/149896_729346222771_61016412_43016400_7349640_n.jpg)
Next up was Darnchester, again I didn't take any photos of the crossing, I think food was on my mind as it was getting close to 1:00 by this point.
We stopped for lunch in Kelso, in the town centre long enough to annoy a few locals and to pop into Greggs, then off down to a nice wee carpark down by the Tweed for a picnic
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs926.snc4/73946_729346322571_61016412_43016404_4407452_n.jpg)
How did the river water get in there?
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs463.ash2/73614_729346532151_61016412_43016414_7874057_n.jpg)
Steve finds he'd not got a cup, so has to improvise
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs992.snc4/76496_729346562091_61016412_43016415_6672676_n.jpg)
(or was he just rinsing the headlamps out?)
After Lunch we headed on to Nenthorn
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1155.snc4/149732_729346661891_61016412_43016417_4370781_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs945.snc4/73886_729346886441_61016412_43016419_924745_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs928.snc4/74131_729346926361_61016412_43016420_4888427_n.jpg)
From Nenthorn we headed over to Earlston, where Leader Water had risen enough to make the crossing a challenge. Once again we'll have to wait for Steve or Andrew to post videos and/or pics as the water was too high for the RRC or Disco to attempt.
Having done this time was getting on, we decided to head to Peebles and make it our last stop before finishing up in Penicuik before going our seperate ways. Passing Melrose and through Galashiels it started to rain, and it didn't stop all the way to Peebles. We found that the river was quite high and flowing fast, I decided I wasn't worth the risk.
We finished up in another supermarket car park in Penicuik, it was still raining and it was getting dark.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs960.snc4/75392_729347041131_61016412_43016423_4823579_n.jpg)
I can't speak for the other 2 (well 3 if you count Andrew's daughter), but I had a really good day and there are still quite a few fords we didn't get to today that we could do sometime in the future (and I look forward to seeing their pics and videos from today).
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Looks like a great day. I've done the Abbey St Bathans fords but must try out some of the others. I couldn't go today but happened to be coming up the A1 when I saw the dark clouds over Penicuik!
Thanks for posting :)
Regards
Ross
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hi guys looks like you had fun wish i had come along but clutch playing up and had to fix my brothers disco hopfully next time ..
Iain
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Just filling in the blanks!
Mark crossing at Chirnside, the flow was so high that it started pushing the back end of the 90 sideways at the far side!
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u22/ScubaSteev89/Photo240.jpg)
Andrew coming back over at Abbey
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u22/ScubaSteev89/Photo242.jpg)
Mark coming back at Abbey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL3BZxk-Fr4Crossing the deeper ford at Abbey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlb6wt1V47M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhv35tPwm4U
Coming back at Earlston
(http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u22/ScubaSteev89/Photo246.jpg)
Apologies for lower quality, was on my phone!
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Id like to thank Mark And Stephen for what was my first time using my disco for its proper purpose. Now ill start off saying i dont know where some of these were taken, so ill edit in where as i find out. I also have a nifty my track to try upload.
(http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/9707/imag0047.jpg)
Right so Three of us met up in the RP.
(http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/4117/imag0048r.jpg)
I had my Good luck Charm with me
(Yes i did remove her before we set of, she would have got in the way of Dash Cam.
(http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/91/imag0049c.jpg)
Stephen coming through Pease Bay.
(http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/2122/imag0050o.jpg)
One hot engine + a ford + Stephen = lots of steam
(http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/1331/imag0051ae.jpg)
Mark being sent over the ford at chirnside. This was going to be done a few times during the day as my intake is in the wing, and Stephen has a V8. Mark had a snorkel.
(http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/1976/imag0052x.jpg)
Mark coming back. We decided to skip this ford.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BBxNlEIjWk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL1EG24Al04
On the way to Abbey St Bathens
(http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1618/imag0055j.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8541fRXjpDc
Mark heading over the first ford at Abbey St Bathens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiFnWdGSztg
Me at ASB. Just after i stopped, the Pub Landlord came out and pointed out we were in the pubs private carpark, and if we were involved in 'activities' we hed to park across the road, 3 metres away from where we were parked. I apologised, and we moved the vehicles. If you do go to this ford, park on the right of the road, not the left.
(http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/2223/imag0056m.jpg)
This is the second ford at ASB.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MKbPKJFHcE
Mark Crossing the second ford at ABS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZOtV4D6tN0
Stephen doing the ford
(http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/9084/imag0058j.jpg)
(http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7443/imag0058qx.jpg)
(http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/9746/imag0059h.jpg)
(http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/783/imag0059y.jpg)
Stephen coming back
(http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/9027/imag0063t.jpg)
After the removal of the super expensive wadding blanket, notice anything missing?
(http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/6454/imag0064l.jpg)
Not the most watertight units are they?
(http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/2880/imag0067d.jpg)
Mark going to look for the missing valance and number plate.
I woosed out of this ford. Having My daughter in the car, and the fact it is my family car was at the front of my mind, and the fact that i would have to come back via the same ford as it does lead to nowhere
this is where it gets a bit vague as to names.
these were leading up to the small ford with the muddy approach
(http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/4752/imag0068o.jpg)
(http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/4143/imag0069.jpg)
(http://img602.imageshack.us/img602/2746/imag0071l.jpg)
(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/9646/imag0072k.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apOMWQNgHtM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZIKV0jJ4jY
this was Mark crossing the bridge at Earlston, At the end you can just hear Stephen and I laughing as mark drops down and we both go 'bollocks to that'
So we give him the signal to turn back
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzlBZv0Uw4U
is him coming back. Now if you look closely in his video of me crossing the first ford at ASB you will see him get slightly wet..... i only remembered this when he was almost on top of me.
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looks like a a fantastic day sorry i missed it but my landie was getting remodeled. the hard way
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Was laughing at the Earlston one when Mark starts floating downstream briefly :D
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yeah, ill need to bodge together a better mount for the camera. get the mount out of frame:P