UKH

Amazing film footage of motoring form the summit of Ben Nevis (1911).

Apologies if its been posted already

http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-motoring-over-ben-nevis-1911/

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

Thats great. Something in the way, no bother, blow it up!

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

Amazing, if the Saturn IV rocket had been available to them, they would have landed on the moon in long coats, ties, collars and walking sticks.

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:
I presume he raced back down to grumble on trip advisor about the lack of facilities on the summit,

"Was most displeased to find only an observatory of some defunctness and no petroleum spirit vendor nor anyplace for the purchase of mint imperials or potted quail. Indeed my only discovery of note upon reaching the lofty height was a couple of young gallivants in the shelter believing it fun to effect some kind of bivouac, much esteemed view was absent being only mist and exhaust fume, 0 out of 5 stars."

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

Big narrow wheels at each corner, massive ground clearance, good axle articulation - just like a Land Rover in the days before they went posh!

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

ah i understand now the title confused me, Car Descent...

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

The car's surprisingly nimble!

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

Jeremy Clarkson's aged well!

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

That's nothing. I have heard that in Wales they've managed to get a train up to the summit of their highest mountain.

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

f*cking green-laners

In reply to Shani:

and a Vauxhall Frontera ... twice!

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

Absolutely awful. The track is not a byway and they had no business taking a vehicle up there or down. There is far too much of this "off roading" going on in the hills. To make a film of it shows how little these vandals care about the environment.

It should be quite easy to identify them from this film and I hope the police will prosecute them, not only for driving on a footpath, but for the irresponsible use of explosives.

In reply to Shani:


and in 1926 Helvellyn became the Lake District's first airport

http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/ebph.html

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:
It's good to see the gentleman maintaining standards of dress on the summit.

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

...yet another annual fundraising event for Ben Nevis......

Tally ho !!

ANdy

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

I would take a guess that it is a first series Skoda Octavia.

In reply to Trangia:

Let's not forget that boat taken up on to Mount Ararat. Once again, religion poisons everything!

http://fxn.ws/1UoOnw0

In reply to m0unt41n:


A Saturn V would have been more use.

In reply to Rigid Raider: Watching the Ford's impressive performance, I was reminded of a tale told by some sad aquaintances of mine who take a huge jeep "green laneing". They told me they were out in the Yorkshire Dales on a hardpacked frozen road with others in 4x4s with huge wheels. Apparently none of them could make any headway when the old farmer's wife tootled past them all in her Morris Minor.

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

There's a video somewhere of a modern Range Rover with big fat tyres being beaten up a hill by an old Series Landy with narrow tyres. It's all about ground pressure.

In reply to sbc_10:

haha - of course...

In reply to Rigid Raider:

I used to read the rain gauges in Mid Wales using one of these...
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3634/3575657581_7ea44b10e7.jpg

Front wheels are wider than than the rear to avoid bogging down. I jibbed on some of the slopes before it did.

"Unavailable to view in your region" (France)

My first job in France was in a forest research lab, with field work mostly in the Vosges. First time I had to go visit the field site I enquired about vehicles & expected a landrover, jeep or at least a 4 wheel drive of some sort. But they had a 'fleet' (if that's the appropriate term) of ancient Renault fours for field work. But with narrow tyres & good ground clearance they seemed to do the job.

In reply to Doug:


Download Hola: https://hola.org/

Works a charm most of the time.

In reply to sbc_10:

theyre tractor tyres no?

In reply to Pesda potato:

Yes.

Having seen one used in anger in the 1980s, it was literally unstoppable. However, the engineering was typically flawed and apparently they were pretty unreliable. The two used locally by the Institute of Hydrology in the Pumlumon catchment seemingly had huge issues as the force generated by both the tractor wheels and reduction axles caused the axles to rotate on their mounts if driven aggressively in low range on boggy ground. The natural tendency for drivers to hammer down if there was a chance of bogging in the wet peat resulted in huge strain on components that weren't up to the job and so the U-bolts holding the axles in place would regularly shear off. I once came across one abandoned amidst the peat hags on the plateau near the source of the Severn due to sheared axle bolts. The farmer in the adjacent upper Wye catchment also had one for a while as did the Electricity Board in the Elan Valley.
http://www.dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/collection/series2/roadless-traction-fo...

I don't know if it's true, but seemingly one of these four had a white swastika painted on the cab roof in response to low-flying RAF jets which were always buzzing it.

In reply to Dave Williams:

I worked for IH at Pumlumon in the 90's when we just had the one 'BogTrotter'. It never failed me on any runs but it was more of the fact that it was a handful and as a consequence one used to drive it with respect.
The local garage mechanic did see a lot of it though to be fair. As my off road tutor informed me...
"The suspension is all in the seat" and " Don't put your thumbs on the inside of the steering wheel".......meaning when you hit a bump your head hit the cab roof and if the wheels suddenly aligned themselves with a rut, those tractor wheels would spin the steering and anything dangling inside.
Taking a corner at 30mph was scary on a forest road, and parking it was an art and a work out as well, but the beast was fully MOT'd and made a spectacular if not menacing site in the rear view mirrors of tourists.

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

How did they get the car up there in the 1st place?

In reply to aln:

http://www.tuckettbrothers.co.uk/News/Ben%20Nevis/Ben%20Nevis.htm