"A Personal Perspective from Phil Walker"

So after months of planning the 12 participants headed South to their respective ferries on Thursday and Friday out of Dover and Portsmouth, headed to the 5 Pillars site in France. For my part a curry in the Dover Docks area did not seem the most spectacular starts, but as anyone who drives a modified Jeep knows covering a couple of hundred miles without a breakdown is in itself a challenge….and of course worthy of a few beers.

Several of us joined up on the docks and made the smooth journey to Noyon. The campsite was everything one expects in France, rural, cheap and with a warm welcome. Judging buy those who had arrived earlier a great place to settle down for a few beers carefully chilled in a paddling pool. Rich equipped well as usual got the BBQ on and with a bit of negotiation the local shops produced all we could eat and drink.

So we leap forward in time and at 9.00 on Saturday we hooked up with Eric of Mudplugs who was to be our guide for the weekend. The site had a green lane tour just to get in and was to say the least off the beaten track. First impressions were a very wooded site with some great slopes and features to play on. We set off in all directions to warm up. First slope I demonstrated a 3 wheel drive hill descent – interesting. Rich showed it’s possible to get most places in a G Wagon, but guess a V8 Bi turbo diesel does help….Reports were coming in of scary attempts to roll over and end on ends, but no damage reports. The famous caves called all too soon. After I’d fixed a broken drive hub and freed a sticky calliper we were off to find them. So what was it to be – well an adventure would be an understatement. The caves are a series of excavations through a limestone seam, started as a munitions dump in WW1 and later developed by mining going on through to the 70’s to become a massive labyrinth of caves and tunnels covering some 2 to 3 km. Description without being there is difficult. It’s very dark, only a couple of entrances and an undulating floor littered with boulders in places, potentially fatal drop off if you take the wrong tunnel and endless loop backs. It’s all too easy to ground out, get trapped on the sides or stuck under the roof. Visibility is only in the narrow field of the headlights. It’s of course also cold being a constant 8 degrees. No surprise then that some got stuck in there for a couple of hours an unable to get out. Did they panic – of course not but the sun does feel warm and welcoming when you emerge. Meanwhile Sam took to underground rock crawling. Bah the yanks have nothing – when did they last rock crawl and have to check for roof clearance??

The day progressed well and nobody really damaged anything. The evening was finished off with dinner in a local restaurant serving traditional fare and a far few beers, before retiring to the campsite.

Sunday we were back and feeling more adventurous. Sam and I decided to take on Eric’s challenge sections and to say the least he has a sense of humour. Testing winches and some great side slopes and drop off. Easy to get up and down, but with consequences for failure. After despatching those Sam and I decide to see if it was possible to get up a bank from an already 45 degree slope, the opposite way to Eric’s planned course. Answer is yes you can if you winch from high up a tree and are prepared for falling out of the top of the drivers’ seat!! Easily the most vertical we’ve been. The photos don’t begin to do justice, but the local’s applause summed up the achievement.

More cave driving and this time an impromptu firework display underground just to test them. From the moment the first one went off it was obvious we were all going to die. Noise, explosions and bits of firework all over. Reports were coming into the local village that mining had commenced on the site… So good so far and a lot of fun, but unfortunately the smoke and condensation from exhausts had created a fog so dense we had to exit with someone walking the route with torches to guide the way – a most bizarre experience.

The evening saw a fantastic BBQ laid on by locals for us. The French make an event of it….Fireworks again – this time the real show but the sun was still up so obvious back in the caves for the display. Spectacular and noise beyond belief with commercial fireworks in a confined space.

After 2 days on site Eric had arranged a treat for us near to Cambrai on Monday. A full days Greenlaning. While the tracks could have been driven in the average Corsa, the area contained fascinating history as it’s on the front line of WW1 battles. Eric is well informed and showed us the site of the first ever tank battle, genuine sections of trench in the woods and war graves from the tens of thousands who died in the area. The site of a dozen Jeeps pulled up in line outside the largest war cemetery in the area was a poignant moment and very humbling.

Monday evening saw the end of the organised weekend with different groups doing different things, some returning home, Rich and myself staying on in the area and Pete stretching the weekend out.

Several people have commented that it was the best weekends off roading ever. I guess the combination of good weather, a great site and some enjoyable meals made it. Certainly a place I’ll be keen to return to. I’ll let the photos tell more of the story.

As organiser I’d like to thank everyone who turned up and made it such fun and for Eric for laying on the site, restaurant, BBQ and being such an amiable and knowledgeable guide.

Some pictures from the event

Sam and Dr Lee proudly present "Jeep Caving in a YJ..."