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NEWS: A NEW HILUX TO STICK IT TO THE TAXMAN | RIGHTS OF WAY: A DAY TO REMEMBER IN THE LAKE DISTRICT

OVERLANDER

ROADBOOK Cumbria, Northumberland and the highest green lane in the country

WOLF: IT’S BACK!

Could the Army’s replacement for its old Defenders actually turn out to be a new Defender?

November 2026 £5.99

WE WILL ROCK YOU Mini’s new off-roader proves itself in the Rocky Mountains

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Editor

Alan Kidd

Design

Ian Denby-Jones

Contributors

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Richard Hair, Vic Peel, Harry Hamm

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4x4

NEWS: A NEW HILUX TO STICK IT TO THE TAXMAN | RIGHTS OF WAY: A DAY TO REMEMBER IN THE LAKE DISTRICT

40% WOLF: IT’S BACK! OFF OVERLANDER

ROADBOOK Cumbria, Northumberland and the highest green lane in the country

Could the Army’s replacement for its old Defenders actually turn out to be a new Defender?

November 2026 £5.99

WE WILL ROCK YOU Mini’s new off-roader proves itself in the Rocky Mountains

CRUISING CLEVER

Building a hardcore Land Cruiser needn’t cost the earth

THE BEST 4XFAR Discovery 4 prepped for adventure on the trails

Pay quarterly by direct debit and you can get Britain’s only all-marques 4x4 magazine delivered to your door – for less than half the price on the front cover!

CONTENTS NOV 2026 4x4 Scene 4

News

Land Rover unveils the Defender it wants to sell to the Army, and a Discovery it wants to sell to you, while Toyota sets loose a Hilux that wants to set the tax man’s trousers on fire

10 Rights of Way

A reminder of the one about all work and no play…

12 Products

Get your classic Land Rover ready for next summer and save a load of money in the process. Plus, top shocks for overlanding and LED torches that glow red or white

Every Month 18 Subscribe

Get Overlander 4x4 delivered for a fraction of the cover price

64 Next Month

Scary overlanding in the heart of vampire territory

Tested 14 Subaru Forester

At last, an off-tarmac session in the latest model to wear its illustrious badge, as we brave the traffic and head for Salisbury Plain

Vehicles 20 Jeep Wrangler Striker

What happens when you let a top name in Ultra4 rock racing do anything he wants to your vehicle

24 Canny Cruiser

There are still people who say you can’t build a hardcore Land Cruiser without spending a fortune. Here’s the proof that they’re wrong

28 Adventures in Modernity

The Discovery 4 was way too posh to be used as an overlander, right? Wrong: this one’s been on all the lanes and been used for recovery, too

36 Mini in the Mountains

The new Mini Countryman Edition has a name to make you groan but it’s already been to places that’ll open your eyes

Adventure 42 Rhino Charge

Hardcore action from the African bush as Kenya’s off-roaders gather for the annual frenzy of truck torture – and all for the best of causes

52 ROADBOOK Northumberland and Cumbria

A fantastic route among the hills at the top end of England, including the highest green lane in the whole of the country November 2026 I Overlander 4x4

NEWS

MILITARY DEFENDER UNVEILED – AS LAND ROVER BIDS FOR KEY ARMY CONTRACT

hen the original Defender went out of production, people said Land Rover would never again build trucks for the Army. But here is the Wolf Series II – a new-shape Defender few of us saw coming, built to compete for the MOD’s Light Mobility Vehicle tender and unveiled at DVD 2026 at Millbrook.

www.overlander4x4.co.uk

The Light Mobility Vehicle programme is in effect the Army’s search to find a replacement for the old Wolf, the last serving examples of which were retired from service and consigned to auction earlier this year. Unlike the original, which looked similar to an everyday Defender but was significantly heavier-duty underneath and, famously, powered by the previous-generation 300Tdi engine as the Td5 was considered too complex for battlefield maintenance, the Series II is based on the same D7x platform as the civvy version. This same monocoque structure underpinned the D7x-R vehicles that took part in this year’s Dakar rally – an event which, though Land Rover won by a virtual walkover in a class with no other works entries, can now be seen in more specific context than ever as a way of demonstrating the vehicle’s readiness for extreme action in the public eye. In Land Rover’s own words: ‘New

Defender’s recent success at Dakar and a demonstration at the MOD’s independent testing ground, where it was the only vehicle to have successfully navigated all obstacles, shows the vehicle’s supreme off‑road capability.’ Land Rover also says that the new model ‘is Defender’s first military vehicle launch since the original Defender Wolf, which served the British Armed Forces for more than 70 years.’ You might expect them to know what a Wolf is, really, on account of they built it, but anything’s possible if a Series I can turn into a Defender sixty years after it was made. The Light Mobility Vehicle programme requires trucks to be capable of supporting nine specific variants, and Land Rover showed four of these at the DVD event. These were tactical mobility and general purpose vehicles, a battlefield ambulance and a utility vehicle. Other requirements are for enhanced protection, command and control, equipment support

and mission systems vehicles, as well as a troop carrier. Unlike in the Dakar, Land Rover will face serious competition for the lucrative MOD contract. This comes from the Ineos Grenadier; Ford Ranger; Babcock GLV (a vehicle based on the Toyota Land Cruiser 70-Series); Chevrolet Colorado and Silverado; and a combination of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and Caracal 4x4. Babcock is already very well established in the military supply chain and in the current political climate, the presence of an American contender brings with it the threat of swingeing trade tariffs if anyone else wins. Major contracts are of course intensely political at the best of times, something that worked in Land Rover’s favour back in the 1990s when a battlefield ambulance contract was snatched away from Pinzgauer at the last minute and awarded to Solihull after intervention by Number 10. The MOD allocates 10-20% of each vehicle’s overall evaluation score to the social and economic benefits it would bring under its Social Value Model

and Land Industrial Strategy criteria. Even though the Defender is built in Slovakia, this should favour Land Rover as a UKbased manufacturer with well established supply chains throughout the Midlands and beyond. Nonetheless, it has been speculated that JLR’s announcement of 4000 job losses over the next two years, which came just three days after the launch of the Wolf Series II, was timed to remind the government of its importance to the regional economy. The company promises it can ‘produce a vehicle that meets military requirements for a new, modern fleet at pace and scale with enduring sovereign capability, backed up by JLR’s global supply chain.’ Nonetheless, Land Rover’s ambitions for the Defender go far beyond just the domestic military market. The company has established a new Defender Defence Division (really, it’s called that) which will ‘engage with and support the requirements of other defence organisations.’ As always, though, being chosen by the army back home is a key that opens doors in a manufacturer’s export markets.

‘The Defender Wolf Series II is our next generation military vehicle,’ said Defender boss Patrick McGillycuddy. ‘British designed and engineered with pioneering off-road technologies and an engine built in Wolverhampton. The Defender Wolf Series II is intended as a light mobility solution for people and equipment transportation for the defence sector. We are bidding for the UK Ministry of Defence Light Mobility Vehicle tender with a modern replacement for the world‑famous Defender Wolf that served the British Armed Forces for over 70 years. ‘Our Defender Wolf Series II has been tested to the extreme and is highly suited to military light mobility purposes. Defender already demonstrates its versatility in tough roles for emergency organisations around the world such as border force, mountain rescue, police and fire.’ Vehicle trials are due to start imminently and run through to the end of January 2027. Official procurement is due to start on 30 April, with an announcement to be expected some time before that.

July 2026 I Overlander 4x4

NEWS

RANGE-TOPPING LANDMARK LEADS NEW MODEL LINE-UP FOR DISCOVERY 5

he Discovery 5, remember that? It hasn’t gone away, even if almost everyone who would once have had one is buying a Defender instead now, and Land Rover has just rejigged the model line up – which now ‘offers three distinct specifications to make the most of family adventures, showcasing the best that Discovery has to offer.’ The range now starts with the Discovery S. Well, it already did but this now features a panoramic roof, 21” diamond-turned alloys, Meridian audio and more driver aids and safety systems than ever. The seats are trimmed in a choice of Ebony or Light Oyster leather and you get wireless phonecharging, up to nine USB points and plenty of hidden stowage options to go with a large cubby box.’ Perfect for everyday family excursions,’ says Land Rover, which we don’t doubt one bit even if the everyday family might wonder where they’re supposed to find £69,540 for a car. Next up comes the Tempest. This is ‘the pinnacle of luxurious family exploration’ and ‘the most comfortable and highly-specified Discovery ever created.’ Now available with the exclusive option of Borasco Grey, this comes with a matte protective film wrap as standard and features a copper finish to the badging and accents around the body, wheels and towing point covers. Inside, the options list gains new Light Oyster and Caraway leather seat colours,

www.overlander4x4.co.uk

accentuated by Ebony and Light Oyster detailing respectively. Finally, we have the Landmark. An old name for a new model, this comes with an exclusive Tasman Blue paint finish chosen to echo the Clearwater Blue used on the first Discovery at launch back in 1989. That’s not all, either, as the front tread plates, centre console, B-pillar inserts and puddle lamp projectors feature a mountain peak logo inspired by the graphics on the old Disco 1. Somewhat differently to the original, the Landmark rolls on 22” alloys as standard. Nine alternative wheel designs are available, including a smaller 21” for if you want to run dumper tyres. The vehicle’s exterior gets dark grey grille and vent accents, while the interior features matching brushed aluminium. Standard equipment includes a sliding panoramic sunroof and centre console fridge. Oddly, considering the sky-high equipment list on all models, the Discovery has only now been updated to run Driver Attention Monitoring. This uses a camera which constantly watches your face and alerts you if you get distracted from the road; it been common-

place on new vehicles for a while now, so something of a surprise that the Disco has only just gained it. Something it did gain some time ago was a range of accessory packs whose contents allow you to tailor the vehicle for dog carrying, cycling, road trips and adventures at the beach or in the snow. These are ‘curated’, which is Land Rover speak for they exist, and are available on all models. Best of all, the Discovery continues to be available as a commercial vehicle. So if you don’t need a second (or third) row of seats, you can run one as a company car while sticking it royally to The Man. All models are powered by Land Rover’s D350 diesel engine and can tow 3500kg, with prices for the Landmark starting at £71,395 (Commercial) and £75,860, and for the Tempest at £73,745 and £83,940. There’s also a Commercial SE model priced at £64,785, which to us looks like the pick of the bunch.

Heavy-duty Rear Bumpers DA5647 | Heavy-Duty Rear Bumper Discovery 1 - 300Tdi - will also fit 200Tdi. See note below. y One piece heavy-duty rear bumper manufactured from 5mm steel with incorporated steel end caps y Finished in black y Provision for NATO/recovery point in centre of bumper y Fixed to standard mounting points and for added strength, extra fixings in centre where tow bar mounts

Note: Tow bar and rear lights not included. Will fit 200Tdi if 300Tdi lights are used. Right light - AMR6510 Left light - AMR6509 DA5647KIT Replacement fitting kit for heavy-duty bumper DA5647

DA5646 | Heavy-Duty Rear Bumper Discovery 2 y One piece heavy-duty rear bumper manufactured from 4mm steel with incorporated steel end caps, finished in black y 2 Recovery points and 2 Hi-Lift jacking points included y Fixed to standard mounting points and for added strength, extra fixings in centre where tow bar mounts

britpart.com Find your nearest stockist - britpart.com/stockist Part numbers used for identification purposes only and do not imply or indicate the identity of a manufacturer. Products available from a Britpart stockist. E&OE.

Note: Tow bar and rear lights not included. Up to 3A771194 Right light - XFB101480 Left light - XFB101490 3A771195 onwards - Right light - XFB000720 Left light - XFB000730 DA5646KIT Replacement fitting kit for heavy-duty bumper DA5646

NEWS

TAX-BUSTING TWO-SEAT HILUX NOW AVAILABLE

n the wake of the new laws that put a stop to tax breaks on four-seat pick-ups, converting them into two-seaters has become a thing. A popular thing, too. And it’s just become more popular still as Toyota is the latest manufacturer to do it. Available on both the 48V diesel hybrid and fully electric versions of the Hilux, the factory conversion allows the vehicle to qualify for flat-rate benefit-in-kind taxation, as well as the 100% per cent plant and machinery allowance. It involves the removal of the rear seats, creating a large, flat and lockable load space in addition to the rear bed, and promises ‘no compromise in Hilux’s quality, performance and safety.’ Measuring 1290mm wide and 640mm deep, the space created behind the seats is ideal for things like tools, equipment and materials that would be prone to going walkies if left open in the back. The second row of doors remain usable, so you don’t have to thrash around trying to get at things the way you might have found yourself doing if you ever owned a crew-cab.

www.overlander4x4.co.uk

If you don’t need the rear seats, the conversion brings clear benefits in terms of load space and flexibility. No standard equipment is lost and the vehicle continues to be compatible with all the accessories and customisation options already available through Toyota. And talking of things that aren’t lost, Toyota’s excellent 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty continues to apply. In addition, of course, there are potential ownership cost savings for business users and company car drivers. Not that the latter will necessarily concern you if you’re making the jump to electric motoring as a way of sticking it to The Man, but the more the merrier and of course it’s a way of holding on to diesel without said man taking your trousers down. As a guide, a company car driver in a Hilux Double-Cab with the 2.8 D-4D engine will pay take on an annual benefit in kind of 37%, while the conversion reduces this to a flat £4020. Whichever form of propulsion you prefer, the Hilux remains a proper off-roader with the ability to take on serious terrain

and the build quality not to fall to pieces in the process. Toyota promises that even the EV can wade in up to 700mm of water. Less is more, as the saying goes, and in this case the work involved means less seats costs more money. The 2-seat conversion adds £1250-£1300 to the cost of the Hilux; it’s available on Icon and Invincible models with either power source, as well as Active in diesel form only – that is, the entire range part from the 2.8 Invincible X. Prices (CVOTR) start at £36,815 and £49,356 for diesel and EV respectively, the latter including the government’s OZEV discount, and top out at £43,732 and £51,732 in Invincible form.

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rights of way Enjoying the Lake District lanes in the middle of the work that goes with being a GLASS rep

THE LIFE OF A GREEN LANE ASSOCIATION REP normally seems to be an endless procession of meetings with the council, meetings with landowners, meetings with fellow stakeholders, organising volunteer work groups and so on. Or in certain parts of the country,

www.overlander4x4.co.uk

trying to get the local authority to talk to you, trying to get the local authority to talk to you, trying to get the local authority to talk to you and so on. So it’s always good to hear about it when they manage to get some time away from the coal face to actually do some green laning.

Ian Bosher, who’s the North Yorkshire Rep for GLASS, got out and about with some fellow association members earlier this year on what he describes as ‘a northern gathering to remember.’ This saw a very varied group of vehicles take on a very varied group of lanes in the Lake District – and they came from Nottingham, Northumbria, Cumbria and Lincolnshire, so quite an impressive variety of home counties, too. ‘The weekend kicked off in style with more than twenty of us sharing a fantastic Friday evening meal at the Sun Inn in Pooley Bridge,’ says Ian. (That would be the same Sun Inn that we used as the starting point for one of our roadbooks in the recent past.) ‘From there, we split into smaller groups and headed out on a mix of challenging and scenic routes making something for every taste and every vehicle. ‘Sunday brought a real highlight: a warm welcome at the magnificent Dalemain Historic Mansion where Jane Hassel, whose family has owned the estate since 1679, greeted us personally. With special permission granted, we were able to drive around to the front of the house for a group photograph that will no doubt become a treasured memory.

‘Afterwards, we headed back out in smaller groups for another day of superb laning, taking in some of the UK’s most iconic routes, including Breasthigh Pass and The Fox. The weather, the scenery and the company combined to create a weekend that will be talked about for a long time.’ And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what green laning should be all about. Getting together to savour a beautiful part of the country, spending some money with local businesses, making friends with each others and your hosts: it really is that easy. Ian describes the group as ‘a community growing stronger every day.’ And how right he is. ‘Perhaps the most uplifting part has been the sense of connection that has grown across the group,’ he says. ‘New friendships were formed in the Lakes and they’ve continued to flourish through our lively WhatsApp community. The support network is stronger than ever, the enthusiasm is infectious and there’s a real buzz around everything we’re doing.’ And what are they doing? Going green laning, as you’ve seen – but a whole lot more besides. ‘The past two months have been nothing short of remarkable for our green laning community,’ says Ian. ‘What began as a determined push to review every queried lane in the county quickly grew into a showcase of teamwork, persistence

and genuine passion for protecting and enjoying our countryside. ‘A dedicated group of volunteers rolled up their sleeves and set about checking every lane with an outstanding query. It was no small task, there were plenty to get through, but the outcome has been incredibly rewarding. ‘Thanks to the team’s efforts, Trailwise2 (GLASS’ interactive database of rights of way covering the whole country) has now been updated to reflect several lanes that are open for use once again, despite previously being thought closed. ‘A huge part of this success comes down to excellent cooperation from North Yorkshire County Council. Their response times have been outstanding, with replies landing within 14 days every time. Whether it was a clear answer or a promise to investigate further within the next fortnight, their commitment has been invaluable. ‘They also deserve a special mention for reacting so quickly to help get one of our region’s best lanes repaired after the winter weather took its toll. This was a brilliant example of what can be achieved when authorities and responsible users work together. ‘From lane checks to repairs, from cross‑county collaboration to unforgettable weekends away, the last two months have shown exactly what makes our community so special. Passion, teamwork and a shared love of the great outdoors. Long may it continue!’ And amen to that.

Greatstones Lane reopens at last – but it’s too narrow to take a 4x4

GREATSTONES, GREAT NEWS. The Somerset lane is open again – and fully repaired at last – after a prolonged series of closures and endless discussions between the local authority and GLASS rep Charlie Moore. However while the right of way is there to be used, you can’t actually fit a 4x4 down it as trees lining the sides of the sunken holloway mean it’s only wide enough for a quad bike. If you’ve got one of those, Charlie urges you to use the lane and add a comment to the effect on Trailwise2. He also urges you to ignore the illegal No Motor Vehicles sign at the western end which has been put up illegally and should (‘should’) have been taken down by now.

November 2026 I Overlander 4x4

PRODUCTS Package pricing on soft-top conversion kit for classic Land Rovers From £1049 inc VAT | www.heritage1948.co.uk HERITAGE 1948 makes hood stick kits for the 88” Land Rover Series II and III. It also does the hoods to go on them. And right now, it’s got a special price on offer if you buy the whole lot as a full conversion package. This includes the hood itself, traditionally manufactured and available from stock in a choice of colours, as well as the full stick kit to support it. Promising to contain everything you need to turn an 88 into a Soft-Top, the latter are shaped by hand-operated tooling in the same process by which the original parts were manufactured back in the day. ‘We have selected a high-quality steel and low-volume galvanising to produce the most accurate, period-correct Land Rover hood stick sets on the market,’ says Heritage 1948.

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Expedition-focused shocks from Old Man Emu £varies | www.arb4x4.co.uk THE MT64 IS A DAMPER FROM OLD MAN EMU – which describes it as ‘the ultimate all-round shock absorber’ – and it’s intended specifically for off-road expedition travel. Sitting in between OME’s existing Nitrocharger and ultra-high performance BP-51 ranges, it’s a monotube shock engineered to handle heavy loads, long distances, rough roads and heat – resulting in ‘excellent Free UK Delivery on orders over £15.00 + VAT responsiveness, whether towing on the pavement or tackling technical terrain off-road.’ With a 22mm shaft, 72mm body and 64mm internal bore, the MT64 features the same 6061 ali construction as the BP-51. The size of the bore allows the shock to hold more oil, allowing greater heat dissipation in punishing conditions. Snap-ring grooves in the shock’s body provide different positions for the forged aluminium spring seat, allowing a range of height adjustability from 0-76mm. 4x4 Magazine_2023_September_PS Autoparts_QP.indd 1 18/08/2023 15:28 Old Man Emu says the MT64’s final specification was arrived at through an exhaustive test regime beginning with Finite Element Tyres cheap. Not cheap tyres!! computer analysis, which pointed to potentially weak areas which could then be re-engineered for greater strength. Following this, the field testing phase saw vehicles run through millions of suspension cycles to simulate real world conditions. The MT64 is available with light, medium and heavy-duty spring options, giving you more scope to achieve the ideal set-up for your vehicle – whether it’s for towing, carrying heavy loads, travelling the world or tackling every kind of on and off-road situation. The fitment list on Old Man Emu’s UK website seems to be limited to the current Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok, however others are available if you go to the source back home in Australia.

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November 2026 I Overlander 4x4

4x4 Magazine_2023_Feb_RLG Tyres_QP.indd 1

11/01/2023 17:23

SUBARU FORESTER 2.0 TOURING

www.overlander4x4.co.uk

ard as it is to believe, almost a year and a half has passed since we had our first go in the latest version of the Subaru Forester. That was on a one-day launch event that didn’t include any off-tarmac work, so we said at the time that we’d have to hang fire on how it stacked up in the rough – but that we had no doubt it would maintain the high standards the company has set over several generations of this and other models. We’ve now spent a week with a Forester, during which time we took it on a mission to prove itself on the green lanes and military roads of Salisbury Plain. This was during one of the hot spells we had so many of this summer, so the ground was baked dry and full of traction, but that gave us the chance to take some lines over the terrain that asked questions of the vehicle’s suspension rather than it all being about the tyres. We’ll come to the laning shortly. But first, a recap on what’s new about the Forester. It starts with the vehicle’s frame, which is now manufactured using new welding techniques – contributing to a three-fold increase in torsional rigidity. And we like torsional rigidity because more of it means tighter dynamics, better crash performance and less noise, vibration and harshness. Talking of crash performance, you’re less likely ever to be treated to a demonstration of this as every model in the range is equipped with the same high level of active and passive safety equipment. Subaru’s EyeSight system has evolved, too, to offer 15 different kinds of driver assist. The company says five of these are completely new and seven have been improved from the previous generation.

It’s the law

You’re sighing unhappily at this and wishing you could still get cars that didn’t go squeak, boing and lulu every ten seconds. Truth to tell, it only takes one intervention that prevents you from having a mighty one and your view tends to change, but the legally mandated bleat-bleat-bleat for going 1mph over the speed limit will only ever be tiresome. Subaru, like every other manufacturer, has tried to make this as easy as possible to disable – you need to flick through a few menus to get there, which is a bind when it has to be done at every start up, but you get used to it quite quickly and after that it only takes a few seconds.

Said menus are displayed on a new 11.6” infotainment screen which works well without wowing you with any visionary new ideas. It’s easy to use and does what you tell it, and it doesn’t drag its heels in the process, so that’s fine. Much more subtly, a slightly lower waistline allows greater all-round visibility and the seats were specially developed, with input from posture specialists, to prevent the lower back movements that cause head sway and fatigue. Our sojourn on the Plain came with a three-hour motorway journey on either side of it and we weren’t creaking by the end, which we’d call a vote in favour of this working. We weren’t deaf, either. Subaru worked on lowering the amount of noise transmitted into the cabin from the vehicle’s body and, though the 2.0-litre boxer engine can get rowdy when pushed very hard from a low speed, overall it’s very refined. It’s spacious, too, with ample legroom for tall adults in both rows of seats, and the enlarged glasshouse lets in plenty of daylight. The cabin decor could be more imaginative but its layout is excellent in practical terms and as always with Subaru, it’s very solidly put together.

Plain sailing

So we rolled down to the Plain without a care (inevitable hideous motorway traffic aside), enjoying the Forester’s well judged combination of smooth, quiet cruising and, once on to more interesting roads, taut, sure-footed handling. It’s not a vehicle that lives to be thrashed but there’s plenty of zest in that engine and you can make brisk progress without ever feeling like you’re pushing it. There was a time, several generations back, when the Forester was basically a jacked-up Impreza estate and you could get a version with the hooliganspec engine that status brought; it’s more mature now, perhaps better at playing the percentages at the expense of playing to the galleries but still rewarding enough to make a cross-county drive feel like an occasion. And what of the other kind of crosscountry drive? Well, Subaru is very good at making vehicles that look like crossover estates but are capable of performing heroics off-road; the Forester morphed into an SUV a couple of generations ago but ultimately, it’s still a Subaru and that means it still has a reputation to live up to.

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It succeeds. The Forester has the latest version of Subaru’s X-Mode, which is rather an Action-Man name for the equivalent of what Land Rover calls Terrain Response, to tune its tractability depending for various terrain types, and it’s particularly capable of making a difference in wet conditions. We didn’t have those on the Plain but as we said above, this allowed us to take lines over the ground that we might not otherwise have been able to, which demonstrated that the suspension does still flex – not like some flappy three-link hero, of course, but there’s enough travel there to keep all four wheels on the ground even when that ground wants to play.

Through it all, we never got even a chirp from the traction control. We did similar stuff with the previous model and it was incredibly capable, albeit with a bit of thinking time when a front wheel lifted clear off the ground on the way up a steep, uneven hill, but our feeling is that this one responded slightly more quickly and significantly less noticeably to the same sort of challenge.

Fight or flight

Typical owners won’t go looking for a fight, of course, however a very high proportion of them will use their Foresters on loose and bumpy tracks. Very much like the

The cabin decor is conservative but its built quality is excellent and the seats, which were specially designed to counter fatigue, remain comfortable over many hours. The tablet style display does its job unfussily – and becomes a useful virtual spotter when you’re off-road 16

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Army roads you get on the Plain (and to which, in many cases, motor vehicles have permissive access). Here, it’s the natural traction in the all-wheel drive system that comes to the fore, in particular around corners, though the suspension also does a manful job of keeping your fillings intact if you’ve been lulled into a false sense of security by the smooth going and suddenly find yourself going way too fast into a military-grade pot hole. While we’re on that subject, the Forester’s braking is very effective on loose surfaces. It was bone dry, again, but gravel can act like marbles and the clever stuff that starts going on when you plant your boot on

Left: Every generation of Forester has had a 2.0-litre boxer engine. This is the latest, with various hardware and software improvements from the previous model. It does get a little thrashy under very hard acceleration but mainly it’s very refined indeed Centre: The latest version of Subaru’s EyeSight safety system uses three cameras to scan ahead and offers 15 different driver assist functions – five of them new and seven improved over the last generation Right: The rear seats fold closer to flat than it looks here, and the aperture is well shaped for loading big, bulky items. There’s not a lot it won’t sensibly take in this configuration – and when the seats are up, there’s still a big enough boot to swallow all the family’s clutter the anchors modulates the inputs to help counter that. It’s the sort of thing every SUV manufacturer tells you about while you’re trying to stay awake in their press conferences, but to get a demonstration of it working in anger brings home just how good the technology is. The Forester is not the only vehicle that can do it but it CAN do it and very well. It all adds up to make this a very sure footed way of tackling faster off-road conditions. Toss in the flexibility and deep-seated traction it dishes up on more extreme terrain and while ground clearance

and suspension stroke clearly do define some limits, they’re absolutely miles, and many of them, beyond what we can imagine any owner ever asking of it. We always hark back fondly to the first two generations of Forester, where versions with a manual box actually had low-range to go with it; that’s a long way in the past but the off-road intent those vehicles showed has barely diminished. This is a vehicle that walks the walk just as much as it ever did. If we’re honest, we don’t think the modern Forester has as much charm and character as those early ones. As we said

above, it’s a more grown-up vehicle now, trading the silly grin for a satisfied smile. That’s long been the case, however, and while this latest model doesn’t inject any fresh charisma it doesn’t lose any more compared to the one it replaces. More importantly, it’s as much of an all-rounder as it always was. More so, in fact, with those improvements in comfort and refinement giving it cross-continent skills to go with its cross-country ability. The Forester has always been about doing everything well; this one does many things better than ever.

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STRIKE ACTION Even by Jeep’s normal standards, the Wrangler Striker may be the most extreme concept vehicle it has ever brought to the Easter Safari Words Tom Alderney Pictures Jeep

he concept vehicles Jeep has created down the years have taken many forms and been tailored to many purposes. We think this is the first full-on Ultra4 build the company has ever done, though. Most manufacturers would cock a snook at doing such a thing with their precious vehicles. They want you to think their 4x4s are capable of anything in standard form

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and would never countenance the idea of modifying them. Jeep doesn’t think like that: as many years of Easter Safari show trucks have demonstrated, it wants you to see its vehicles (principally the Wrangler, but others too) as being ready and able to be turned into whatever your off-road tastes require. The oft-quoted blank canvas, if you will. And here’s where it gets really extreme. Ultra4 is a combination of rock crawling and

off-road racing, on courses which could be seen as a very long and particularly rough time trial. A very long and particularly rough time trial with winching. You’re going over very, very serious terrain here, and you’re doing it against the clock. At events like the fabled King of the Hammers, it takes a seriously good crew and, most of all, a seriously good vehicle to stand any chance of success.

Rocking it

Casey Currie knows that. He’s a regular at the Hammers and was also the first American to take a class win in the Dakar, so he’s more than a little familiar with rocks, deserts and getting 4x4s across them pronto. Jeep partnered with him to create the Striker, a Wrangler concept ‘built not just to survive the most extreme terrain, but to dominate it.’

How do you do that? By starting with a bespoke chassis, that’s how. Actually, that’s not where you start. Everyone who’s ever built an off-road vehicle will tell you the trick is to base the whole thing around the size of tyres you’re going to use and let it all flow from there. The Striker sits miles high on a set of 42x13.50R17LT Nitto Trail Grappler MTs. So you already know how things are going

to flow. Big, big and more big, mainly. And clever, too, of course (Currie Enterprises is pretty well known for that). So we were talking about the bespoke chassis, from which heavy-duty Currie axles hang on long-travel springs and massive remote-reservoir Fox shocks. Unusually for anything that calls itself a Wrangler, it’s independent up front – though of course this is a totally focused race set-up similar

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to those used on comp safari specials in Britain, so unlike the systems you see on everyday SUVs it doesn’t compromise articulation at all.

A crate deal

Power to the axles comes from a crate engine, as you’d expect. And not just any old crate engine but a Hellcat V8 which develops 707hp stock and has been worked to something north of 800. Well, 42” tyres

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take a lot of spinning. The exhaust headers run straight in to side pipes which certainly help get rid of the hot air, though they run beneath the tucked-in sills and look like they’d be the first point of contact if a rock got in there. Massive ground clearance means the rock in question would have to be a big one, but then that’s the kind they drive over in Ultra4. Those sills are part of a body made using steel and carbon panels which bolt on, and

therefore off again, for instant access to every part of the vehicle. Of course, this makes for easy changes in the event of damage, too, though Jeep is more interested in the ‘strength, width and purpose’ it says they emphasise. Custom half-doors and an open top give the vehicle a bit of a visual link to the classic appearance of a typical rock rig, but more important is the safety and fitness for purpose built in to a fully raceprepped cabin. Everything that gets show at the Easter Safari is a show car but they’re Jeeps and they need to do their job, too – even when that job is right at the edge of the extreme envelope. ‘The desert does not reward hesitation,’ says Jeep. ‘It crowns dominance.’ It also stresses that the Striker is a ‘non-production concept’ while saying that it ‘pushes far beyond the boundaries of the current Jeep lineup, exploring what’s possible when capability is taken to its absolute limit.’ Whatever it is, this is one hell of a use for that blank canvas. It’s big, big and more big, and it’s very, very cool. It might be built for one thing and one thing only – but what a very good thing that is. Those other manufacturers can look down their noses at building something like this, but we bet that secretly they’re wishing they could.

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BOXING CLEVER There are 4x4s you create yourself, and there are those you build out of the box. Land Cruisers tend to fall into the latter category – but it doesn’t need to be that way Words and Pictures Dan Fenn

his is a 4x4x4 story. It started a long way back, when a lad up north was taking his truck to a playday and asked his mate along for the ride. His mate was Shaun Dickinson and he came home hooked; this here is the fourth in the line of 4x4s he owned as a result of what that momentous day opened his eyes to. Shaun is a mechanic by trade and, possibly as a result, a long-time fan of all

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things Japanese. His first two 4x4s were Daihatsu Fourtraks but having experienced that vehicle’s doughty brand of off-road hardiness, he decided that number three should be a Toyota Land Cruiser. Specifically, this was an early version of the short-wheelbase 70-Series that was known in the UK as the Land Cruiser II. Back in the late 80s, this had a 2.4-litre engine and was scarcely less rugged than the Fourtrak

of its time. But in 1993, Toyota introduced the 3.0 1-KZT turbo-diesel and things were never the same again. That’s what this Cruiser Shaun runs. A post-93 model with said 3.0-litre unit, it’s badged as a Prado. This means it came in to the UK as a grey import having started life in Japan, but it’s fundamentally the same truck that we got here from late 1993 onwards. Except of course that it’s not, because

Shaun got down to work on turning it into something more besides. Actually, it was already something more before he bought it, as its previous owner had started modding it before putting it up for sale. Much of the kit on it was of the bolton variety but as Shaun set out to finish what matey had started, he found his creative skills being called upon. He had already done some fabrication on his previous Land Cruiser, making up a set of rock sliders to replace the sills. He didn’t need to do that this time, as they had already been replaced with rock-solid steel box and tube, but instead he got to work on the front bumper – a job that turned out to be ridiculously easy. ‘If you went out and bought one specifically for a Toyota,’ he says, ‘it would cost hundreds. Rather than fork out all this money, I’d rather build stuff like that to how I want it.’ In this case, a friend who buys and sells on eBay had just won a bumper which was freshly back from being powder-coated. ‘I thought “I’ll make that fit,” and I literally just lifted the body and slid it in. A couple of

the bolt holes in the bumper actually lined up with the ones in the chassis! I couldn’t believe it. I had to drill a couple of other holes and make a couple of brackets, just so it’s strong enough to take a winch, but it doesn’t look out of place at all.’ He mentioned a body lift there, and this too uses kit meant for a Land Rover. ‘I could have made it myself, but you go on eBay and you put in Toyota, and it’s 80 or 90 quid. Exactly the same thing for a Discovery, and I paid £20 for the set. Exactly the same thing.’

Bar talk

What his money bought was a set of eight aluminium spacers made from a bar chopped into 50mm sections. These are drilled down the centre to make way for the mounting bolts, two of which are even long enough on the original to be used again. ‘It doesn’t necessarily lift anything out of the mud,’ as Shaun admits. ‘But it leaves more space to let your axles articulate, and as one moves up the other moves down and stays on the ground.’ Helping them do this is a 2” Ironman suspension lift, which works on axles held

in place by radius arms that came out of the Toyota factory with cranks in them as standard. And Shaun has an interesting view on this. ‘I’ve discovered with a lot of Japanese vehicles, not just 4x4s but street cars as well, that they’re pre-modified to allow you to modify them. I know that in a lot of vehicles, they make them like that because they know what people are going to do to them, and they’re built ready to be modified at a later date. The Japanese have always been well ahead, and the way they’re put together is second to none.’ ‘They’re a great chassis to work from, too. Rock-solid, absolutely bomb-proof. After the Jeep Wrangler, in my opinion, they’re the next best.’ The axles themselves are both standard but each has a story to tell. Up front, it’s the same unit that left the factory, which means electric locking hubs. With regular dousings in mind, Shaun was already planning to replace them with earlier manual jobs when we took these pictures. At the back, by comparison, the axle really is completely standard. Except that it’s completely standard on another vehicle.

Left: Extended mounts lift the Cruiser’s body by 50mm. They’re made from sections of aluminium bar with a hole bored down the centre for the mounting bolts – two of which are even reusable from the factory-height set-up. There are eight mounts in total, for which Shaun paid the princely sum of £20 Centre: Suspension is lifted by a modest 2” using Ironman springs and shocks Top right: Cranked radius arms can only mean one thing: they’re non-standard. Except they can also mean another thing: it’s a Toyota Land Cruiser. Shaun knows a bit about Japanese cars of every kind, and reckons the manufacturers build in features like this to aid owners who’ll come to modify them in the future Above right: Back in the early nineties, Toyota’s 3.0 turbo-diesel engine came without an intercooler. The same basic engine gained one in later years, however, when it was used in the 90-Series Colorado model – which is where this one came from. Shaun says it boosts the Cruiser’s torque output nicely, and that it was a simple bolt-on job to fit November 2026 I Overlander 4x4

A long-wheelbase 78-Series Land Cruiser, to be exact, which means it comes fitted with disc brakes and an electric diff lock – both excellent reasons to swap it in. ‘It’s factory,’ Shaun says of the diff. ‘It’s a Toyota part. It’s not like fitting ARBs, where you need to fit a compressor too. It’s standard Toyota and it all looks like it came out of the factory that way.’ Also standard, albeit on a different Land Cruiser, is the intercooler that helps coax a bit more torque out of the engine. The 3.0 turbo-diesel didn’t have one in the early days; it arrived at the same time as the 90-Series Colorado model, which is where Shaun got his. ‘Being basically the same engine, it just bolts on,’ he says, though the intercooler itself is top-mounted and therefore needs a bonnet scoop. As you can see, the truck doesn’t have one here. As a temporary fix, Shaun put the bonnet hinges on blocks to give it enough clearance, which sounds a bit sketchy but as you can see, the truck remained as good looking as ever. ‘I know it’s an off-roader,’ he commented, ‘but I still like to keep it nice looking. I like to keep it clean, so it doesn’t look like a battered old nail. It gets well serviced and greased. You need to keep on top of it. If

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you’ve got something you love, you like using, look after it and it’s always going to stay well.’

Space race

Quite right too. That’s one reason why, having lifted its suspension and body alike and gone up to 35” Maxxis Bighorns, he widened the Cruiser’s track with a set of 40mm wheel spacers. It looks better with them on, and it’s a lot more stable. Taller tyres means messed-up gearing, so in went a set of lower-ratio diffs from an early 78-Series Land Cruiser. And wider tyres can mean a messed-up driving licence, so Shaun fitted a set of wheelarch extensions from … a three-door Discovery. ‘The front ones virtually just screw on with selftappers,’ he told us. ‘The back ones I had to chop, and on one side I had to heat it up and bend it to get the fuel filler cap to open, but a little bit of shaping and bending and we were there. It doesn’t look out of place.’ Anything else he’s planning to pilfer from the Land Rover accessories catalogue? A Defender ladder, oddly, so he can access his roof rack without ‘jumping on the back wheel and nearly breaking your neck!’ He’s also thinking about welding on a couple of recovery points when he builds that bumper,

and putting in a step. ‘To make it easier to get in the back and get my tow rope for dragging the Defenders out!’ Uh-oh… Before you get up in arms, Shaun’s regular off-roading mates all drive either Discos or Defenders, so it’s all just lighthearted banter. ‘I like to drag them out then drive through the bit they got stuck in to show them how it’s done!’ They all say Land Cruisers are rubbish because the parts are expensive, and yes indeed they are – but you don’t need any, because they just don’t break down. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I think Land Rovers are brilliant. They’re basic and they get the job done, the parts are really cheap and whatever you want, you can get it in under a day. And you can get loads to choose from to modify them. That’s where Land Cruisers are a little more difficult, but anything that I think will fit it, anything that was made for a Defender or Disco, I’ll have a go and I’ll try to make it fit.’ With that approach, he’s taken a mildly modified Land Cruiser and turned it into a vehicle that can hold its own on extreme terrain. It’ll get in there, get out again and keep coming back for more, too. And that, of course, is the benefit of starting with a truck that’s world-famous for its toughness.

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FOUR The Discovery 4 could be seen as the best example of what Land Rover’s modern tech can do. Whatever you think of that tech, this one is four-plus Words Tom Alderney Pictures Bradley Bailey

he Discovery 4 was the Discovery More. It looked quite a lot like the Discovery 3 but it had more technology, more luxury, more of everything that made that vehicle what it was. It was a class act and a hell of a workhorse. Nothing against the Disco 5, which is very nice too, but you could say the D4 was the last true Discovery they made. Until the Defender, obviously. It was already far more complex and less truck-like than the Disco 1 and 2, of course, but the Discovery 4 still had most of the right stuff built in. Actually, during the last three years of production you could get them without low range, so you could say that those ones had the right stuff built back out again, but despite this the D4 was a proper 4x4 at heart. You could use it for whatever you’d use a Defender for and

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mainly it would do the job just as well and a lot more comfortably. These jobs include overlanding. Obviously, the Disco 4 was a fearsomely complex machine compared to an old 110 from the Thatcher years, but said old 110 had long since turned into something pretty complex itself by then. Anyway, time has passed and these days we know what to be wary of in these vehicles and, to some extent at least, how to head it off before it happens. Which means that a used one could make a seriously nice way of getting out there and seeing the world. As proven here. This particular Disco 4 dates from 2015, which is into the era of low range jeopardy but it’s an SE Tech and we’re alright. It’s also a 3.0 SDV6 but go back to the previous paragraph and read it again a few times to calm yourself down before you

If you’re a regular on the lanes, you’ll know at a glance where these two pictures were taken. Bradley has done a lot of exploring in his Disco, using rights of way as well as land accessed by permission, and he’s not scared to push it to the limits of what it can do off-road – which are of course enhanced by a set of BFG All-Terrains, a winch and a raised air intake get into a panic. You can do stuff to stop the crankshaft thing from happening now, or at least to make it a lot less likely. You can also do things to turn a standard Disco into a cool one. Which is what Bradley Bailey has done here. He bought it in 2023 and set about turning it into what he describes as a ‘stealth camper’ by removing the rear seats to make way for flooring and a custom bed. That’s the stealthy bit but you can see just by looking at it that this is not your average D4.

company also supplied the matte black D4 decals on the bonnet. None of this will make a vehicle any better at what it does off-road, but Bradley thought of that too and fitted the Disco with a set of 265/60R18 BFGoodrich All-Terrain tyres on TuffAnt steel rims. Enough sidewall there to be worthwhile, enough tread to make a difference and enough plies in the carcass to shrug off most of the knocks and

scrapes a tyre will have to put up with in a life of off-road adventure. Should the adventures lead him somewhere dusty or, in extreme cases, wet, Bradley also fitted a raised air intake to protect the engine. Yes, the 3.0 SDV6 needs protecting from other things besides itself. The wheelarches and door mirrors, being the parts of the body most vulnerable to scratching, are painted in Raptor and behind

Local hero

Bradley is based up in Yorkshire and he stayed local for a great deal of what you see on the truck. The Aero front roof rack, light bar mount and rear ladder are all from ProSpeed (Falkn, as it has since become known), as are the mounts on the side of the rack for the traction ladders and shovel. The same company also made the jerry can holder up top, while the aforementioned light bar mount is home to a 40” Osram VX1000 LED combo. Further good stuff housed up top includes a Front Runner roof box, a Victron solar panel, left and right scene/flood lights, a Direct 4x4 180-degree awning and a Powerful UK molle plate. The same

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Local company ProSpeed supplied the roof rack, as well as mounts to go on it for jerry cans, traction ladders and a shovel. The rack is also home to a Front Runner storage box, Victron solar panel and Direct 4x4 awning. Inside, the floor and bed are made using wooden frames and finished with lino and a memory foam mattress respectively. The table next to the bed is actually the top of a dog crate, there are molle panels on both sides of the rear cabin, as well as a roof stowage shelf and a quartet of LED interior lights

the front bumper, a 5.6-tonne Terrafirma winch sits quietly tucked away on a hidden mount. Bradley has used the Disco for recovery as well as overlanding and there’s a full set of LED amber beacons (four at the front and another four at the rear) as well as twin reds at the rear. These, along with the left and right scene lights, are operated by an 8-gang digital relay controller in the cab. What else will you find if you have a root around in there? There’s a Victron SmartSolar charge controller running a full solar system from the panel up top, as well as a Hankook leisure battery, four internal LED baton lights and twin USB and 12-volt outlets. An aerial mounted jauntily on the left wing links in to a Thunderpole CB

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radio too – however that’s about it for the additions up front.

Back up

It’s at the back where the big differences have been made. We’ve mentioned the floor and bed; the former is made of wood covered with lino, while the latter uses a wooden frame and custom memory foam mattress. Next to it is a dog crate whose top doubles up nicely as a table, then for storage there’s a shelf in the roof, boxes under the bed and molle panels attached to the window blanking plates, as well as a small underfloor hatch. When Bradley’s camping in colder climates, the whole lot is kept warm by a diesel heater with selectable 2kW and 5kW outputs. It won’t surprise you to learn that while Bradley has done a lot of laning in the Disco, he chooses the sort of trails that give you a big adventure in the great outdoors rather than an hour of bashing and scratching your

way through clawing brambles and tree trunks. There’s a place for that kind of thing, and it’s the driver’s seat of a battered old 90. Not that he’s afraid to take on the technical stuff, and he does admit that the vehicle has picked up a few character marks from the terrain, but this ain’t the kind of lane wagon you’ll see jammed between the banks of a sunken holloway in darkest Devon. Between lanes, being an SE Tech means the Disco has heated leather seats, cruise control, sat-nav, Bluetooth, Meridian audio, automatic wipers and headlights and parking sensors front and rear. It rides on air suspension, too, which isn’t as terrifying a thing on a D4 as it would be if this was a story about a P38 Range Rover, and it has the version of Terrain Response that was current at the time it was made. You’re apt to roll your eyes at that if you’re the guy in the battered old 90, but it’s pretty rare to find someone who’s got used to using the new tech and wishes they hadn’t bothered.

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Having got used to it, however, Bradley is going to have to get unused to it again as an impending house move, combined with it being time for a new project, means the Disco is for sale. It was on 93,725 miles at the time of writing and wasn’t being used much any more, so that’s unlikely to change significantly, and if you don’t need the camping gubbins you could easily fetch it out and be left with a very usable van (or the space for a full-house expedition build with a slide-out fridge, cooker and all, while the roof rack becomes home to a tent). Blank canvas, and all that…

Interested? Thought so. Bradley’s looking for £17,500 for the vehicle and all the equipment you see on it here, plus a fair bit that you don’t. If you reckon it’s

a bit of you, drop us a line on editorial@ pistonpublications.co.uk and we’ll put you in touch. It’s a Discovery 4 – but if ever there was a Discovery More, it sure is that too.

November 2026 I Overlander 4x4

LAND ROVER CLUBS: Book a free stand and receive 1 free admission for every club vehicle attending

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08/07/2026 08:59

2026_

6 08:59

Land Rovers are returning to Stoneleigh this November! Exhibitors old and new will join us, selling everything from parts & accessories to tyres, clothing and toys. Talk to overland adventure specialists about your next trip, discuss modification options with companies with the know-how and other experienced Land Rover owners.

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08/07/2026 08:59

WE WILL WE WILL

YOU

ROCKIES

Mini is about to go off-road. In fact, it already has – and with the new Countryman Edition, it wants you to come too Words Olly Sack Pictures Mini 36

www.overlander4x4.co.uk

November 2026 I Overlander 4x4

e all know about the Mini Countryman, and we all know about Mini’s Dakar successes with a spaceframe buggy made to look like one. We also all know that a trend has grown up in the last few years towards RSUVs – ‘rugged’ SUVs or, as we called them before SUVs were ever thought of, 4x4. Put them all together and you have the forthcoming Mini Countryman Edition – a version of the high-selling family favourite that’s been enhanced for taking on tougher terrain than a Tesco car park. Terrain like the Rocky Mountains, for example. Mini has recently showcased the vehicle under testing there ahead of a full launch at this year’s Paris motor show, calling it the vehicle’s ‘final challenge in one of the world’s most demanding landscapes.’ It’s certainly one of the most inspiring. The trails at this kind of altitude are rough and unforgiving, as is the weather – crisp, clear and bright one moment, apocalyptic the next. The views are to die for, when you can see them, and the terrain is as steep as it is brutal. You’re a long way from anywhere and you’re in the company of moose, elk, mountain lions, black bears, coyotes and rattlesnakes. It’s a tough old place. That’s not why the Mini was done up in a pastiche of the camouflage manufacturers use when they want you to see that they

www.overlander4x4.co.uk

don’t want you to see their vehicles. But hey, it all adds to the image. This was an extended testing session in ‘demanding realworld conditions,’ according to Mini. ‘From gravel tracks and rocky terrain to remote mountain routes, the vehicle is being pushed beyond the ordinary, proving its resilience and adventurous spirit in the heart of the Rocky Mountains ahead of the next stage of its journey.’

The showroom must go on Said next stage of its journey will lead to a showroom near you. The Countryman Edition (we live in hope, even at this late stage, that they’re going to come up with a

“We’re not talking old-shape Defender levels of flex, but it’s not that far behind the new one” better name than that) is destined for full production and though the full details are still under wraps for now, there are plenty of clues in the pictures. These include the fitment of all-terrain General Grabber AT3 tyres, which are

A Mini is of course not going to flex like a purpose-built off-roader but as these photos show, it actually seems to articulate surprisingly well for something based on such a road-biased platform. It does appear to be riding slightly higher than standard, too, despite being on standard sized 225/55R18 tyres – however we’ll have to wait for the full information to know exactly what the engineers have done to turn it into a vehicle capable of wheeling in the Rockies. The Countryman Edition is due to be unveiled at the Paris motor show in October, at which point all will be revealed definitely not just for supermarkets. Their size is 225/55R18, which is the same as on the standard Countryman All4 – perhaps a bit of a disappointment, as you can get the vehicle on a 17” rim and even a slightly taller sidewall might have conveyed a bit more in the way of off-tarmac intent. Standard tyres tend to point to standard suspension, though the vehicle does appear to be riding a little higher than normal in the pictures – some of which also show it

flexing further than you might expect on a strictly road-going SUV. We’re not talking old-shape Defender territory, of course, though it’s not that far behind the new one. Why they would lift the vehicle without taking the chance to complement it with taller tyres is something we look forward to learning, though. Down below, matching camouflaged inserts in the sills and bumpers might suggest that these are stronger than on the

standard model. Up top, meanwhile, a set of pronounced cross-bars on the roof is home to what we take to be a tent, though its proportions are so comical it could be a levitation device. That certainly won’t be part of the vehicle’s spec in showroom trim.

I want it All4

Four-wheel drive already is, however, in the shape of the All4 system available on petrol and electric Countryman models

November 2026 I Overlander 4x4

alike. The vehicle shown in Mini’s pictures is the former, with a 2.0-litre, 48V mild hybrid unit putting out 218bhp; this seems like the logical choice of powertrain, given the logistic challenges of prolonged off-roading, but we’d bet on it being available in electric form too. The majority of buyers will, after all, be admiring these pictures of their chosen new adventure wagon strutting its stuff in the Rockies and imagining themselves driving it all the way to (here we go again) the Tesco car park.

www.overlander4x4.co.uk

Nonetheless, just as a hot Mini Cooper can scorch the Nurburgring but sells to people who want to buzz around town looking sporty, the Edition can conquer the Rockies but sell to people who want to buzz around town looking outdoorsy. Nothing wrong with that (it’s what the aforementioned new Defender does, too, after all). Nonetheless, Mini boss Jean-Philippe Parain is adamant that his new vehicle is the real thing. ‘Mini has always been about

turning every journey into an adventure,’ he says. ‘That spirit guided this project from the very beginning. True to the Mini spirit, it combines capability with character and will open up even more opportunities for unforgettable adventures.’ You can’t have too many off-roaders in the world, whatever level their abilities are pitched at, so while this is far from being farmer-spec it’s a welcome addition to the Mini range. How welcome, and how affordable, we’ll find out very soon.

16679 07 RJS Series Overlander FP 200x275+3mm Hi-res.pdf

CMY

19/02/2026

11:01

TRAVEL

THOUSANDS AND

MILLIONS

Thousands of people descended on the Kenyan bush for the 37th Rhino Charge, raising millions for conservation charities in the process – and putting themselves through one of the toughest one-day off-road challenges there is

f you had started in Nairobi and travelled to the 37th Rhino Charge at the end of May, it would have taken you a bit of planning and effort. The venue was more than 300 kilometres north of the capital on tarmac roads, followed by a further 83 kilometres on very dusty dirt roads in Samburu’s Ngilai Community Conservancy. This is a landscape of plains dotted with acacia trees, steep-sided valleys and rocky ridges split by mostly dry river beds. You go here to camp: there are assuredly no hotels! It’s not uninhabited but it’s very remote. Very remote and very, very harsh.

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So just getting there is a serious undertaking with a strong element of offroad adventure to it. But notwithstanding all of this, more than 4000 organisers, entrants, supporters and spectators made the journey – and were treated to one of the most spectacular locations in the Charge’s long and storied history. Here, 65 teams battled it out to visit 13 checkpoints within the allotted 10 hours while covering the shortest possible distance. It sounds simple but there are no roads here and if you do use any of the few tracks, you are penalised if the GPS trackers fitted to each vehicle detect that

November 2026 I Overlander 4x4

www.overlander4x4.co.uk

you have stayed on it for more than the permitted ten seconds! Crews are given the map references for the checkpoints the evening before the Charge, so there is no time for reconnaissance. Instead, they sit in their camps plotting the best route late in to the night with the aid of laptops, tablets and a basic map supplied by the organisers, while being aided by the flying insects attracted to their lamps and head torches. They head off to their allotted starting points before dawn and the true nature of the terrain starts to become apparent as the sun rises. This year had some spectacular hill climbs and descents as well as rocky river beds, some of which actually had water flowing through them thanks to recent heavy rains. The checkpoints are laid out with difficult terrain between them. There’s always a way to get around it, but of course that will add to the overall distance you’ve covered. The skill is in balancing the terrain you take on to keep your distance down with the extra time it will take you to cover it; there are no prizes for finishing first but if you don’t make it to all 13 checkpoints, you’re not in the running. Thus there is always a fine line to be chosen between going for a brave, direct course and erring

on the side of caution, common sense and self and car preservation.

Here be monsters

Competitors’ vehicles fall into three classes. The monster 4x4s in the Super Modified class, some of which would easily fit in to a Mad Max film, are allowed portal axles, 40” tyres, twin motor highspeed winches and pretty much anything else. Then there’s the Modified class, which bans portals and limits tyres to a maximum of 37” diameter but is otherwise unrestricted. Finally, Unmodified is more keenly regulated; vehicles must basically resemble their original form, with only smaller, sensible and mostly safety related modifications allowed. Each team can have up to four runners, who ride in the vehicle when they can and are always ready to jump out and run ahead to find the best possible route, secure winch cables and spot their drivers over the boulders. The runners communicate via short wave radios plus a lot of shouting; keen ones can cover a marathon’s worth of distance during the day, picking up scratches from vicious thorn bushes in the process, in addition to numerous other injuries, while gaining a liberal coating of dust and sweat along

November 2026 I Overlander 4x4

Back in the early days of the Rhino Charge, there was a guy who did it in a Model T Ford. Times have moved on since then and if you want to win it, you need to be in a Super Modified – a class of vehicle in which 40” tyres, portal axles, multiple twin-motor winches and pretty much anything else is permitted. Unlike in a typical winch challenge, the vehicles also have to be able to carry a crew of runners, the result being that some of the proto buggies built to compete in this class are outlandish looking to say the least. That doesn’t prevent them from being very effective indeed

the way. With the slopes and boulders, the Super Modified and Modified vehicles have a clear advantage over the Unmodifieds, so in this class teamwork and navigation become extra important.

other teams competing against them, including a variety of Defenders and Toyota Land Cruisers plus a lone Jeep. There were also a number of Range Rover Classics and even a Series I, but purists

“Keen runners can cover a marathon’s worth of distance during the day, picking up scratches from vicious thorn bushes in the process, in addition to numerous other injuries” The originally named Team Car 9, brought out from the UK by John Bowden back in 2000, arrived at this year’s Charge having won the Unmodified class five times in a row. This year, there were 13

www.overlander4x4.co.uk

had better look away now as these were definitely no show ponies! Team Car 9 set themselves an ambitious route, aiming for another win and a top ten placing amongst the big boys.

These big boys included the likes of Team Huzi in their mongrel of a home built Supermodified, a cross between a Unimog and a Land Cruiser, who blasted and winched their way round by brute force, often on only two or three wheels, and the Modified Team 57 in their battered and fearlessly driven Suzuki SJ based special, who bounced and rolled their way to the finish. The Unmodifieds like Team Car 9 had to tread a slightly more careful but still competitive path, giving their runners plenty of work to do.

Crunching blow

That said, this year’s driver, Van Ballard, gave the spectators a few exciting moments. Sadly, on the final section they had to climb over a massive boulder and crunched the nearside rear radius arm

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HERITAGE

HERITAGE LAND ROVER magazine is produced by Land Rover experts and enthusiasts and covers the era of the Series I, II and III as well as the original Range Rover, and more modern classics such as the early Discovery and Defender. Published 4 times a year, Heritage Land Rover is a premium magazine combining great stories with top-quality print and paper, making it a publication you’ll want to keep hold of and treasure.

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so hard that it snapped, allowing the rear axle to flip backwards, twisting the rear propshaft in two, dislocating the nearside rear spring and allowing the rear wheel to jam up under the rear of the wheelarch. They were doomed to struggle the last kilometre in front wheel drive. This was a disaster and by the time they had relocated the rear spring and ratchet-strapped the rear axle roughly back in place, they

ended up being too late to complete the section in time – despite the sporting efforts of Alasdair Keith and his Charging Hippos team, who assisted with a tow, as competitors are allowed to help one another if they so wish. This misfortune allowed the Bushbabes, the all-female team of Petra Somen and Sabine Kontos, who may have chosen a less ambitious route, to beat them and

come in 13th overall this year. This was not too galling, as a mechanical misfortune had robbed them of victory a couple of years before. Anthony Stow and his Kifaru Kwanza team also lost their Discovery’s rear propshaft but fortunately had a spare, which they fitted with only a couple of bolts before zipping past rally ace Ian Duncan – whose Land Cruiser had been

A snapped radius arm and rear prop put paid to Team Car 9’s chances on the final section – a small army of ratchet straps was able to keep them moving but only in front-wheel drive, the result being that they went over time November 2026 I Overlander 4x4

There are still plenty of classic Land Rovers working for their living in Africa and throughout the history of the Rhino Charge there have been Series Is making a plucky go at it in the brutal terrain. Girls in Pearls was the team campaigning this one – it held together to the end but struggled for power on the steep hills and only made it to two checkpoints

stuck in the super tough Gauntlet section for four hours. To finish first, first you have to finish, and if Car 9 had been able to do so they would probably have covered a short enough distance not just to top their class but to be in the top ten overall. In the end, though, they had to be content with second in class and 16th overall. The Defender 110 of Tim Carstens finished 19th and ensured that Land Rovers claimed all the top three Unmodified places, proving that if you prepare one with a few sensible mods it is amazing what you can do!

If you are wondering, this year the Series I entered by the Girls in Pearls struggled with the slopes and ended up driving 65.4km to reach just two checkpoints, while the winners, Team Huzi, used 29.1km to visit all 13. The second placed team of Gurmeet Mehta in their 110-like special were close behind and only covered 500 metres more ground on 30.4km. Third was Patrick Garner with 31.1km.

Head case

In all, more than 30 Land Rovers, Range Rovers and Discoverys entered, with the

second highest charity fundraiser Mark Glen in Team 48’s highly modified and battle hardened Range Rover Classic coming in 4th overall and just ahead of highest fund raiser Adil Khawaja in his extremely well equipped Super Modified 110. This beast was built and modified to order back in the UK by Off Road Armoury. Adil suffered a bang on his head, fortunately while wearing his helmet, and had to leave his car for the crew to drive while he had a medical assessment. But having been given the all-clear, he was able to rejoin them.

Planning ahead is crucial to success on the Rhino Charge. Teams are only given the checkpoints’ locations the night before; it’s up to them to plot a route visiting all 13 in 10 hours while covering the shortest possible distance. That’s the brilliant simplicity of a formula that has sustained the event through 37 years, during which time it has raised millions for conservancy projects 50

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Other entries included Toyotas, Nissan Patrols and the very novel Kenya-built EV Explorer which was entered for the second time. This vehicle is still in the development stages but having this vehicle in the event is a major first for the Charge and for Kenyan motorsport. The Rhino Charge is run annually, at a different venue each year, in aid of Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust, and this year it raised a magnificent 365 million Kenyan shillings – that’s the equivalent of £2.09 million ($2.8million). These funds will be used to further the charity’s work protecting Kenya’s critical water towers and ecosystems, as well as the local people, and enabling their motto of “Humans in Harmony with Habitat and Wildlife” to be fulfilled. Many teams have been competing for years; some, like Team Ole Choda and Graham McKittrick’s Team 5 have been in it from the beginning in 1989. Some have the same leaders, while others have passed the mantle on to the next generation – and now even have a third on board too.

Above all, as well as being a highly effective fundraiser, the Charge is an annual rendezvous for friends, colleagues and families in the middle of pretty much nowhere. In Kenya, it is held in such high regard that President Ruto actually flew in to speak at the prizegiving ceremony! Most crews who take part come from Kenya. However if anyone fancies shipping a vehicle in or borrowing one, they would be welcome to take up the challenge of what has to be one of the toughest one-day events anywhere in the world.

It’s clear that experience, a good team and a strong, reliable car are pretty essential for a good position. But the main thing about this event is that it is a magnificent adventure in a stunning part of the world, all in aid of a very effective charity. The team of volunteers who run it should be very proud of themselves. See rhinocharge.co.ke and www.rhinoark. org for more information on the event and the charity, or contact info@rhinocharge. or.ke if you fancy taking part.

November 2026 I Overlander 4x4

ROADBOOK

Northumberland & Cumbria

Glorious landscapes and great rights of way at the top of England

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ROADBOOK The soaring hills around the border between Cumbria and Northumberland make this one of the most breathtaking parts of the country, however you want to explore them. If your chosen method of doing so is on four wheels, the great news is that there’s an extensive network of superb green lanes that let you do exactly that. This route features a variety of them – and variety is the word, because while most are easy-going, a few are rough, rutted and liable to surface flooding. What all of them have is wild, untamed countryside all around them, as you make your way through a landscape that feels a million miles from anywhere

USING OUR ROADBOOKS Our roadbooks guide you through the countryside on a mixture of surfaced and unsurfaced roads. The tracks we use are public rights of way, either Byways Open to All Traffic or Unclassified County Roads, all commonly referred to as green lanes.

NAVIGATION We’ve deliberately made it as easy as possible to follow the route, using a mixture of instructions, tulip diagrams and grid references. We normally only include junctions at which you have to make a turning or don’t have right of way, so stay on the main road or continue straight ahead unless we tell you otherwise. You’ll find a guide to using grid references on the legend of any OS map. Our aim is for you to be able to do the route without maps, whether paper or online, but you should certainly take a set with you.

SAFETY The notes on thee pages advise you of how suitable the route is for your vehicle. These are just guidelines, however. We’ll warn you of any hazards or difficult sections, but the nature of any green lane can change quickly. Wet weather can make a huge difference to the conditions underfoot, and what’s wide open in winter can be tightly enclosed and scratchy in summer. The responsibility is yours! Our roadbooks are designed to be safe to drive in a solo vehicle. We do recommend travelling in tandem wherever possible, however. The risk of getting stuck can be greater than it appears – and even the most capable of vehicles can break down miles from anywhere.

RESPONSIBILITY Irresponsible driving is a big and serious issue on green lanes. In particular, you must always stay on the right of way. Never drive off it to ‘play’ on the verges or surrounding land, even if you can see that someone else has; doing so is illegal and can be tremendously damaging. This kind of illegal off-roading is a key reason why green lanes get closed. If you see others doing this, they are NOT your friends. They’re criminals, and you are their victim. If it’s safe to do so, film them in the act and pass it to the police.

Elsewhere, let common sense and courtesy prevail. Keep your speed down, be ready to pull over for others and show the world that we are decent people just like them.

ANTIS Anti-4x4 bigotry does exist, but it’s less common than you’d think. By and large, it’s limited to organisations which just want to get the countryside all to themselves. These organisations are beyond being reasoned with, but it’s rare to encounter real hostility even from their rank-and-file members. If you’re friendly towards the people with whom you share the countryside, the vast majority will respond in kind. There are always bad apples, but no more so than anywhere else. Likewise, most local residents will accept your presence if you’re driving sensibly. What suspicion you do encounter is likely to be from farmers worried that you’re there to steal from them, so be ready to offer a word of reassurance. Once satisfied that you’re not after their quad bikes, their mood will lighten.

DO… • Keep your speed right down • Pull over to let walkers, bikers and horse riders pass • Leave gates as you found them • Scrupulously obey all closure and voluntary restraint notices • Ensure you have a right to be there. We research the routes on our roadbooks very carefully, but the status of any route can change without notice • Be prepared to turn back if the route is blocked, even illegally • If you find an illegal obstruction, notify the local authority • Stick scrupulously to the right of way • Always remember that you are an ambassador for all 4x4 drivers

DON’T…

• Go in large convoys: instead, split into smaller groups • Drop litter. Why not carry a bin bag pick up other people’s instead? • Go back to drive the fun bits, such as mud or fords, again • Cause a noise nuisance, particularly after dark • Get riled up if someone challenges you. Be firm but polite, stay calm and don’t let them turn it into a fight

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ROUTE GUIDE

is it suitable?

START Westgate (NY 908 381) ROUTE GUIDE FINISH Melmerby (NY 615 373) START Westgate (NY 908 381) HOW LONG? 63.0 miles / 5-6 hours FINISH Melmerby (NY 615 373) TERRAIN Wide open hills and moorland miles / 5-6 hours HOW LONG? 63.0 HAZARDS hills; Loose, stony ground; Surface Wide open hills and moorland TERRAIN Steep Isolation; Other users; RoadSurface traﬃc, HAZARDS water; Steep hills; Loose, stony ground; potentially going atOther race users; speeds water; Isolation; Road traﬃc, Landranger (Haltwhistle & Brampton) OS MAPS potentially86 going at race speeds 8786 (Hexham & Haltwhistle) Landranger (Haltwhistle & Brampton) OS MAPS Landranger Landranger (Hexham Haltwhistle) Landranger 9187 (Appleby in & Westmorland)

TYRES is it suitable?

Step Step

TYRES

WEATHER LOW BOX WEATHER SOFT-ROADERS LOW BOX SCRATCHING SOFT-ROADERS DRIVING SCRATCHING DRIVING

DAMAGE

Should be fine on a road tread, but not if it’s a low-profile SUV size Should be fine on a road tread, but Avoid in deep snow or fog not if it’s a low-profile SUV size Strongly recommended Avoid in deep snow or fog Suitable for chunkier models Strongly recommended Shouldn’tforbechunkier a problem Suitable models Needs general ground reading and Shouldn’t be a problem sharp awareness of road hazards Needs general ground reading and Shouldn’t happenofif road you’re sensible sharp awareness hazards Shouldn’t happen if you’re sensible

Landranger 91 (Appleby in Westmorland)

908 381 NYNY 908 381 Start outside the Hare and Hounds, Start outside the Hare and Hounds, on Front Street in Westgate. Zero on your Fronttrip Street Westgate. Zero within the pub to your left your trip with pub to your and set off the heading west onleft the andmain set off heading west on the road main road

0.00.0

2.2 2.2

Step

6 6

Step

0.0

Rookhope

Step

NY 892 406

3.1

Step 4: The relict mining landscape of West Rigg Opencut is well worth a look just before you join the ﬁrst lane of the day

Step

Step 4: The relict mining landscape of West Rigg Opencut is well worth a look just before you join the ﬁrst lane of the day

0.5

Step

0.9

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NY 910 392

This is just after you’ve passed West Rigg Opencut (a series of

NYmine 910workings 392 with an info board

byisthe road) onyou’ve the right. It’s a This just after passed fascinating place (a to series pause and West Rigg Opencut of learn a bit about mine workings withthe an way info mankind board has road) shaped by the onthe thelandscape right. It’s aaround here fascinating place to pause and learn a bit about the way mankind has shaped the landscape around here

4x4

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17:47

Step 6: The turning is fairly easy to spot after you’ve passed Middlehope Lodge on the left. This lane is impressively good at collecting surface water (far left)…

Step

3.9

1.95

Step

13 Step

ZERO TRIP

4.4

2.0

Step

1.2

6.85

Step

10 11

Caution over the main road as you turn right then immediately left for Langdon Beck. Note that there’s a village shop in front of you, and public toilets to the right!

15 It’s a very narrow turning between the buildings. You’ll see a Ford sign as you turn

1.6 Step

Fork right towards the Lakes and Dales Co-op which you’ll see ahead of you

Step

Alston B6277

NY 813 350

It’s easier to spot than you expect – there’s a road sign in advance warning of a road on the right, and it’s on its own in otherwise clear ground

10.1 There are stepping stones to the right of the crossing It might still be too deep even if you can see them but if you can’t, it’s deﬁnitely a bad idea

Step 16: There’s a long section of road liaison before this junction, but it’s easy to spot. There’s nothing else around it – and it’s that rarest of things, a green lane that’s signposted in advance

1.7 Step

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HARTHOPE ROAD

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Step 18: As you go through the gate and see the descent stretching out ahead of you, you’re at the highest point in the entire English road network Step

Immediately after the gate, follow the main track up the hill

When you get to the gate, you’re at the highest point on the entire English road network

23 6.05

Step

12.7

9.55 Caution – traﬃc shouldn’t be moving fast as it’s in a village, but this is a busy A-road

ZERO TRIP

14.5 Step

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ZERO TRIP

Hexham Allendale Whitfield Carrshield

20 9 9 2

Step

25 2.1

When the road splits, stay on the main one – which, rather oddly, turns into a B-road here

Ropehaugh 34 Coalcleugh 412

Step

11.3

Step

This is in Allendale village – it’s a tight turning back over your shoulder

5.0

10.4 Step

Step

Whitfield 7 Ninebanks 4 Limestone Brae 112

Caution – it might not look like it as you approach the junction, but this is a major road

7.05 4x4 05/07/2022 17:47

Step

NY 775 549

7.2 Step

28 29 9.3

Caution– this is tight over your shoulder on to a major A-road

ZERO TRIP

9.75 When the main track swings hard right, follow ahead through the gate on to a less distinct stone track

7.3 Step

Step

31 1.95

The right of way way becomes becomes less less distinct as it crosses crosses the the moor moor – lookfor forthe thegrass grasstracks tracksdead dead - look ahead. ahead Watch out also for ruts on this section; they can be deep enough to catch out the unwary and may also be full of water

Step

SPRING LANE

Extreme caution – this is very tight back over your shoulder. Start indicating and slowing well in advance, and use the verge to your left to swing wide – while watching for traﬃc overtaking you as you do so Carrshield 5 Ninebanks 112 1 2 Ouston

NY 777 520

2.65 Step

33 2.95 Step

Mohope

NY 773 517

OX DROVE

The climb quickly becomes steep, rough and rocky, and stays that way for about half a mile

3.0 Step

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Step 41: Turn left through the gate into Clinty Brow Farm. It’s a rough road until you get to the top of the hill, then is turns into a track

Step

NY 736 498

Caution - this is a main road

5.6 Step

Step

39 6.2 Step

5.95

The surface gets and uneven gets steep steeper and towards the bottom the hill. rougher towards theof bottom ofIt’s the been by erosion recent hill – damaged basically it’s a sea ofinrubble years and was closed for a spell for emergency repairs. If in any doubt, it’s an easy cut – just turn left at Step 36 and the first crossroads you come to, in 1.1 miles, is Step 40. Turn left here for Nenthead on the B6294 and zero your trip, and you’re back in business

Step

This is immediately after Step 37

Step

37 38 5.95

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Caution – it doesn’t look as if you’re approaching a junction, but you are

ZERO TRIP

6.65

NY 740 474

Turn left through the gate into Clinty Brow Farm

2.3

4x4 05/07/2022 17:47

Step

At the top of the hill, the rough road turns into a track

Step

2.35

3.45

Step

3.0

3.5

43 Step

NY 748 465

This is immediately after Step 46. At the end of the bridge, turn hard right on to the track – a drop-off in front of you means there’s no room for swinging wide as you do so

Caution – the track gets steeper and rockier on the way down the hill

3.3 Step

Take it easy through the farmyard

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Step

Caution – this is a busy A-road

3.95 Step

Step

51 5.9

Turn right then follow the road through the centre of Alston

Step

5.55

6.1

Step

50 5.8

Fuel on the right

Penrith A686 Brampton (A689)

6.3

Brampton

1934

NY 712 463

Caution – traﬃc coming from the left has right of way as you turn across the road

THE WARDWAY

Step 58: The turning is opposite a big gravel layby on the right. It’s through a gate that’s so narrow, you need to swing wide to avoid hitting it

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4x4 05/07/2022 17:47

Step

6.7 Step

Caution – this is a major road

Step

58 3.0

Step

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ZERO TRIP

8.95

8.15

8.4

Extreme caution – this is a major road, and you’ll have to crane to see what’s coming from over your shoulder

OX DROVE

Renwick Gamblesby

7 11

NY 647 418

When you see the radio masts ahead of you, start looking out for a big gravel lay-by to the right. Your turning is opposite it, through a narrow gate – so narrow that you’ll have to swing wide. NB the gate itself is a rusty piece of scrap with sharp bits that are perfectly placed to rip your tyres open

Shortly after another narrow gate, it feels like you’re about to drop off the edge of the world. You’re not, but it’s still deﬁnitely a good idea to get into low range

3.95

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Step

It’s steep and rocky as you descend

4.0 Step

61 4.05

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Step

62 4.15

Caution round the right-hander at the bottom of the steep hill – there’s a big hole right in the middle of it

Step

63 4.45

NY 628 411

Turn left (not dead ahead through the gate opposite you) then immediately right on the road. Take care as you emerge – there’s little visibility to the left, and this is a busy A-road

4x4 05/07/2022 17:47

Step

This is very soon after the start of the track

Step

4.5

6.85

Step

5.7

7.6

Step

5.75

7.75

67 6.6

Look out for the skid risk warning sign as you approach. There’s a hard left-hander after this, then immediately you’re turning right on to the track in the middle of a hairpin. Safe to say any other traﬃc on the road will be ﬂummoxed by what you’re up to

66 Step

NY 626 393

70 Extreme caution – it’s a steep climb up as you reach the junction. Listen out for bikes approaching in max attack mode – visibility is okay to the right, but anyone coming round the corner to your left with their knee down is going to hit you amidships like a missile Penrith

10 A686

Step

71 7.9 Step

72 9.15 Step

Step 68: The track is almost impossible to spot, so you need to be watching for the landmarks that come before it. It drops away steeply to start with but soon levels out

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Appleby

Fork left off the main road for Ousby and Culgarth then immediately arrive at the Shepherds Inn for the end of the route

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