A town inhabited only by Land Rover enthusiasts? A town with dirt tracks for roads, a pub named after the West Midlands town where the legend was born, and an art gallery with photos of nothing but Land Rovers? It sounds like Heaven! But no, it couldn’t happen, the government wouldn’t allow it. However, they couldn’t prevent a virtual Landy town could they? A town created using the green lanes of the internet? And what shall it be called? How about… LandyTown?

LandyTown was set up in 2009 by a group of friends who decided to establish their own club and community. They wanted to be able to run their own events and have a chilled out internet presence. The forum and club are now thriving with members from as far afield as Australia and Oman.

Unlike other Land Rover clubs that focus on a particular model or competition, the basic idea behind the formation of the LandyTown club was to offer everyone an opportunity to get their teeth into green laning or soft off-roading with the family car – mums, kids and pets alike. As such LandyTown is not devoted to one particular model, nor one particular geographical location.

This was made possible through the wonders of the internet. Our main hub is the online forum, which is an easy way to organise events, talk about them afterwards, discuss technical aspects of Land Rovering, and chat like you would down the pub (our virtual pub, the Solihull Arms, has nearly 1000 pages of banter). We’re even on Facebook and Twitter for all you social networking fans. Yes, this is a real 21st century Land Rover club!

This, however, does not mean our socialising is solely online. We attend Land Rover shows and organise trips across Europe. Regular green laning trips mean members get plenty of opportunities to meet up and discover the faces behind the usernames. There is even talk of an expedition across the Australian Outback to meet our Australian contingent!

Earlier this year, a group from LandyTown embarked on a seven day trip to Normandy. Crammed into this short trip were two days green laning led by a local company, as well as a day at their pay and play site. Keen as ever to turn this into a social event, the LandyTowners also found time for sightseeing, and hosted a drink party for the locals. Astonishingly, considering the miles covered across a variety of terrains by the group of Land Rovers, there were no breakdowns! This event was such a huge success, it is expected to be repeated again next Easter.

If you’ve been close to the clubs area at a Land Rover show this year, chances are you will have been hounded by one of our junior members wanting to give you a leaflet. If not, look out for us at future shows. We’ll be at the Land Rover Max show in August. You can’t miss us, we’ve had a massive LandyTown banner and international flags made up, ensuring we don’t go unnoticed!

It has also been confirmed that LandyTown will be attending the London2Brighton Land Rover run this year. We are hoping for a good turn out so if you’re interested in joining us, get in touch!

Green laning trips across the Salisbury Plains are regularly led by club members, including our chairman, Malcolm King. These are often run across a weekend to allow for relaxing as a group in the evening, around a campfire when it is a bit chilly. We are hoping to explore other lanes across the UK, with a weekend laning in the Peak District planned in September. The green laning trips cater for all vehicles and levels of experience – informal training is provided if required. Of course, if anyone gets stuck, there’s always someone onhand with a towrope and a camera (pictures usually appear on the forum within 24 hours, for everyone not at the event to, er, learn from). A break for lunch as well as numerous tea and coffee stops are always arranged to emphasise the social side of our outings, share our ups and downs, swap vehicles, and allow kids and dogs to get muddy.

Our kids love to meet up as we do, so much so that we’ve created a small and safe virtual village for them to stay in touch.

Membership to the forum is free, but for just £12.50 per year for single membership you get access to the virtual club house, priority access to events, a free (real, physical, nothing virtual about it) sticker, and discounts from a wide range of Land Rover suppliers, selling everything from oil to Land Rovers themselves.

Ever wanted your Land Rover to get a taste of the outdoors, smell the mud and live its life to the full, whether it’s a standard Freelander or a tricked up Defender? If so, LandyTown is definitely the place for you and your Landy!

To find more about the LandyTown club, visit our virtual town for yourself at www.landytown.com. Say hello on our forum, and before you know it you’ll be a permanent resident!

I’m sure all TOR readers are aware of the stereotypical school run mum, usually found in urban areas in her Range Rover Sport with bling alloys and low profile tyres, not to mention its wonderful terrain response system. But why does she need all that four wheel drive gadgetry, if the most extreme off roading she does is tackling speed bumps in the high street?

The truth is, it’s an image thing. Landys are cool. It’s fashionable to have a luxury 4×4 sporting the green (or black) oval. But what is the point of having a 4×4 when a 4×2 will do the job just as well?

There are two ways Land Rover can respond to this. The first is to stop building these trendy vehicles and focus on the hardcore Defenders with solely workmen, farmers and off road nuts in mind. This would be financial suicide for Land Rover – just imagine how much money they make from selling expensive vehicles to city types. The other option is to do exactly what they’re planning to do – remove all the pointless off road technology and sell a fashionable SUV with 2wd.

The purists will hate it. Some still haven’t forgiven Land Rover for using coil springs. But look at it this way – the more money Land Rover make, the more they’ll have to spend on off road vehicles for the enthusiasts. And besides, if they’re breaking their own rules and have the cash to splash, maybe they’ll do something completely bonkers… 5.0 Supercharged Defender anyone?

Unfortunately, Granger was not to be seen, but I did meet one character; an unusual mix of Frank Pickle and David Horton. We got talking and he reminisced about his wife who he lost 16 years ago – and told, with a glint in his eye, how he’d built an extension to his 14^th century black and white cottage back in the 1980s, and shocked the planning authorities by actually building it to a standard that met building regulations, despite his appearance as a mad scientist.

After listening to his numerous anecdotes about life in the village, we wandered into the pub. Well, attempted to anyway, the main door was not in use, discouraging tourists like ourselves from visiting. Doctor Phillip (as I discovered was the real name of Frank Horton) didn’t join us – he’d rather spend the evening reading under his favourite tree. Besides, he had to be up at 5am delivering the parish newsletter.

Walking through the side door of the Three Kings (not named because of three kings according to Doctor Phil, but because of three brothers with the surname King who established the pub), it was like going back several centuries.

Inside it was crowded, full of local landowners, most of whom Doctor Phil had greeted personally whilst we were chatting outside. Part of the crowd consisted of two “lads” in their 50s, who Doctor Phil told tales of running amok in their teenage years, poaching across the local land and generally winding everyone up. Now they owned half of Worcestershire.

We crept through to the bar, past a notice advertising an upcoming ferret race, and ordered two pints of local ale from Sue the landlady (not a problem, she had gallons of good ale, although she couldn’t guarantee exactly what it was). But then, a female member of our party dared order a pint of lager. I would not be exaggerating if I said the bustling bar went silent. Sue looked at us as if we’d just asked for the blood of her firstborn.

“I’ll see what I can do”, came the reply.

Finding a pump that looked like it had been disused for at least 50 years, Sue poured a pint of lager. I got the feeling that we pesky tourists had just brought shame on this establishment.

The best way to react to anti 4×4 media coverage is to kick up a fuss
 and prove that we’re not all out there to tear up the countryside.

If we do something good, such as maintenance work on green lanes, we 
need to shout about it. Get in touch with local (or even national) 
papers giving details about what we’ve done and a few pictures. No, I
 don’t agree with the bad press we get, but if the papers don’t hear 
about what we give back they won’t report on it.

This winter the 4×4 community got a rare bit of good publicity when we 
went to the rescue of so many people stranded in the few inches of 
snow that covered the UK. We need more of this – if you do something
 to help someone, don’t let it go unnoticed!

We should all do this, and then hopefully the view of the media (and
 therefore the general public), that we’re all “people who go into the 
countryside, dress up as murderers and then go into a field and see 
who can get the muddiest” (as Jeremy Clarkson put it) will change. 
It’s all a matter of education – we should educate people through the 
media so that when they see a 4×4 vehicle on a right of way, they 
think of all the good things we do and hopefully return our cheery
 wave rather than give us an evil stare as if we’ve just murdered their
 nan.

Is it going too far to suggest that we might be able to change the 
view of the public so that they realise that ramblers who descend on 
the countryside with their woolly hats and wrong opinion that they 
have the right to go wherever they feel like, do more damage than us?

If you see some negative publicity – react to it! Don’t give the
journalist an easy time. Write to them, and offer to take them out in
 your 4×4 and show them what it’s really all about. Don’t accept no for
 an answer – a squeaky gate gets oiled! At the very least, they’ll 
think twice about being anti 4×4 in the future.

Drivers of all makes of 4×4 were welcome, but as one would expect, fans of the green oval were extremely well catered for.

The Modified Vehicles Competition was a huge success, with the general public voting for their favourite vehicle of each category (pick-ups, hardcore, big stuff, cool trucks and grass roots). The best in show, chosen by TOR editor Alan Kidd, went to a rear engined Land Rover special owned by a 16-year-old who is planning on using it as a challenge vehicle.

Traders jumped at the opportunity to exhibit in the comfort of the indoor showground, with Land Rovers well represented by well known specialists such as Nene Overland and MM 4×4. Macsport 4×4 took on the challenge of modifying a Range Rover Classic which had been sitting unloved in a hedge for the last six years.

The balcony was set aside for clubs, which unfortunately seemed to be lacking. A lot of the bigger clubs regularly seen at shows weren’t there, possibly due to the restrictions on club stands (no vehicles allowed), or the lack of camping which usually turns shows into a social events for clubs such as LandyTown. This was very definitely a trade show, and lacked the atmosphere of a lot of the bigger shows.

Having said that, a number of worthwhile organisations such as 4×4 Response and Treadlightly had stands on the balcony. There was also an area set aside for a mini off road course with remote controlled 4×4 vehicles for the kids. Something that my 18-year-old mate found great fun, after deciding he had to show his little brother how to do it properly.

Hopefully, after the success of the show at the new venue this year, next year will see more exhibitors, more clubs, and more off roaders wanting to spend their money.

Article copyright Andy Brady