When I am not glued to these forums, I am involved in a voluntary group that uses 4x4 vehicles to transport Doctors/nurses/provides back up to care and social services when their regular vehicles cant cope.
Most of these guys own modified off road Land Rovers, however for the on road work almost any 4x4 can do ( and are a ■■■■ sight more comfortable 
)
Owning a Streatham tractor (Like a Chelsea Tractor but cheaper and with less capabilities) I and my son was invited to spend a day along side Northumberland National Parks Mountain rescue Team. to play on the usually closed Forestry commission tracks in Kielder.
What follows is a diary I wrote for their forums…
Well its back Home, and I am glad to say the driver, passenger and vehicle are mostly undamaged
A little diary of the day with photo’s hopefully
The day didnt start well, with the alarm set for 4.45am However a giant mug of coffee later I wake the boy and get him dressed and get the car packed with the essentials, (Cigarettes, Crisps, Lemonade etc) as an afterthought I throw in the boys rucksack with a spare set of warm clothes for both of us
Then off we goes. Teesside was wet and miserable (as usual before you all say it) , past Peterlee and up to Birtly there is sporadic light dusting of snow. then
About 10 Miles from the Keilder Castle meeting point we start to get a hint of what the day may have in store for us
Queued up around the Castle for breakfast ( I had a Bacon Butty and Mattie had jam on toast if your interested) As can be seen mine wasnt the only non Land Rover there :
First sight of the Forestry tracks,
and it got a bit deeper ! But give the Czech built Korean cheap 4x4 her due she kept going
Got to say the scenery was stunning
One of the tracks before the lead car has gone down…
It was about here were the limitations of the KIA kicked in, Simply needs a bit more ground clearence ( As a modified tow bar eletrics bracket can now testify) There were a few ominous scraping noises from underneath, but the exhaust seems to have stayed on,
Given the lack of ground clearence, having a go here in the KIA was regretfully declined (well to be honest it was obvious even to me that it was never going to happen). Thanks to the kindness of one of the marshalls, Les, My boy and me did get a trip round the quarry a few times , and the boy (and I loved it)
After another 45 minutes or so both the boy and myself were getting a bit tired… so decided to miss the last track. and headed off home .
So was I dissappointed with the KIA?
Not in the least, I did learn a few things, Its far better in snow, even compacted snow than mud !! It does have a surprisng amount of traction even with road tyres, More than I thought even after playing in the recent downpours and on the SPTA.
I also learnt I should keep my gob shut and not tell the boy I will teach him to drive when he is big enough to reach the pedals, (I forgot the rider he had to be able to see where he is going at the same time :-[ )
A good day?
think the smile says it all
