plainmilitary Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 (edited) After the last Salisbury Plain cancellation, we have now decided to find an alternative camp site. Let me begin, basicly what we have got is a 10 achre grass paddock for camping, right next to the paddock is a 100 achre field and a small farm. we have been told that we can use the workshop if we should need it. At the bottom of the 100 achre field is a pub and a beer garden. The camp site will have a very small camping fee, nothing like what the MoD used to charge. We will be about 10 miles from Salisbury Plain maybe a bit more. The dates Due to the amount of excersises on Salisbury Plain we have had to move our dates to later in the year. The best we have found is the last bank holiday in August 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th. Sorry for this but it's the only way we can get out on the ranges without any interference form west down. The plan. We have added the Friday for those of you that would like to come down early. Saturday morning is open for the rest of you to come. If everyone is in by midday then we could do our first visit to either Middle Wallop http://www.flying-museum.org.uk/ or pop across the road to the Hawk concervancy http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/Your_visit/TimesPrices.asp One other thing we are planning is, if the 100 achre field is cut and baled by then we could possibly set up a driving corse military style. We have spoken to Mark and he seems very much up for this. This will only happen weather permitting. Saturday evening will be up to you, stay on site and have a beer or two or walk down to the local pub. Sunday we thought we would go for a drive over to Salisbury Plain. I have spoken to Judy and there is nothing wrong with this as long as we stay on the PRoW. Imber should still be open on these dates so the plan is to drive to Warminster via road and jump on the ranges at Harman lines. We then track back to the East via Imber, West Down, Larkhill, Tidworth. If everyone is happy with this then we will get to work, if you just want to do a short run then we will just go to the East and play in the valley, it's up to you. This is just a very brief outline and more will be posted as and when we get it. So if you fancy a get together with no public involvment then give it a go. Like we have said before, this is a weekend for you the vehilce owners. A place to relax with like minded freinds and talk shop. Kids are more than welcome to come and get involved, there is enough room for them to run wild. All the best and hope to see some of you soon. Tony. Plain Military. Edited February 24, 2010 by plainmilitary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ives Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 tony as said over the phone the cookhouse will be there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rambo1969 Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Sounds good to me, just wondering what else is on august bank holiday..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabre Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 that weekend, I would certainly be up for it! Piet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plainmilitary Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 Sounds good to me, just wondering what else is on august bank holiday..... Hello Rich, this is one of our main worries mate, I have been told that so far there seems to be very little going on on this weekend. I'm sure things will change as the months roll by. At the moment it's just a case of taking the bull by the horns and running with what ever we can get. Good man Dave, great to have you on board mate. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plainmilitary Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 Good man Piet, would be great to see you here with us.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisg Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Got verbal permission just need to get it in writing now :-D:-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philb Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Sounds good to me too, count me in. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plainmilitary Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Great stuff guys, have been told that Imber village will be open over the bank holiday. Any of you that has never been to Imber have a read, http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/imber/imber.htm Just West of the village you will see old Cheiftain tanks being used as range targets. Some of these are so close to the road you are bound to get some very nice photos of them. On the way back over to the East we will be popping into the usual places, Greenlands, Charlie crossing, Beachs barn and last but not least, THE VALLEY RUN. This part of the drive will only be for people that want to do it, you will not be pushed into anything you don't want to do. Because of the SPTA run out, we are going to have to say wheeled vehicles only at the moment. If the harvest is in and the field has been baled, it has been mentioned that we could have tracked out on Pipershill ie 100 achres of stubble. I have a very good feeling about this new site, The land owner is a very nice guy and is as excited about this weekend as we are. Thank you again to all that have put there names down so far. Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabre Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 10/10 :banana: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
younggun Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 i tell u wot boys i am very tempted wots the situation with more heavy vehicals like my explorer ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plainmilitary Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Sounds just the ticket mate, more than welcome to bring any heavy trucks Younggun. Going to be working with Mark tomorow, will see what he says about having tracked vehicles on site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoggyDriver Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 What's the situation with the road run on the Sunday, is it all on public roads through the plain (ie tarmacked) or is there to be green lanes included? I don't mind soft off roading, but the Bedfords too top heavy for anything more than field driving! I might be interested and might be able to get my mate in his M109A2 REO interested too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plainmilitary Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 What's the situation with the road run on the Sunday, is it all on public roads through the plain (ie tarmacked) or is there to be green lanes included? I don't mind soft off roading, but the Bedfords too top heavy for anything more than field driving! I might be interested and might be able to get my mate in his M109A2 REO interested too. Hello Loggy, The road run will consist of normal roads for the first part, then onto tracks for the rest mate. The tracks are pretty much pothole free but in some places there might be the odd one or two. We regularly drive the whole of Salisbury Plain in cars for our phptography. Apart from the valley run which is a bit more damanding everything else is pretty much straight forward. The valley run will only be done if we are happy with the conditions, and will only be done by people that want to give it a shot. Anyone that doesn't want to run the valley will be escorted to a VCP furthur up the route. Hope this settles any concerns, and hope you come along with your mate. All the best. Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoggyDriver Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Hello Loggy, The road run will consist of normal roads for the first part, then onto tracks for the rest mate. The tracks are pretty much pothole free but in some places there might be the odd one or two. We regularly drive the whole of Salisbury Plain in cars for our phptography. Apart from the valley run which is a bit more damanding everything else is pretty much straight forward. The valley run will only be done if we are happy with the conditions, and will only be done by people that want to give it a shot. Anyone that doesn't want to run the valley will be escorted to a VCP furthur up the route.Hope this settles any concerns, and hope you come along with your mate. All the best. Tony. Tony, What are the tree's, shrubs and hedges etc like on the route mate? Are they likely to brush against the side of the truck (I know, what a tart, but it's got a pretty new paint job and I don't want it shredded!:red:) Also how long is the route do you reckon? Will there be an on line application or will it be done through you on here? Thanks for your time mate. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plainmilitary Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 Tony, What are the tree's, shrubs and hedges etc like on the route mate? Are they likely to brush against the side of the truck (I know, what a tart, but it's got a pretty new paint job and I don't want it shredded!:red:) Also how long is the route do you reckon? Will there be an on line application or will it be done through you on here? Thanks for your time mate. Andy No problem Andy,nothing wrong about worrying about your vehicles. You shouldn't have any problems with hedges mate,there are non. Plenty of tree's but they are OOB for us unless they are on a PRoW which I don't think they are. No application forms mate, just stick your name down if you want to come and I will add it to the list when I get around to starting it. All the best. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveP Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Tony,the valley run,isnt that the bit where you got a bit damp:rofl::rofl::rofl:,inside the vehicle!!! Must try and plug those few gaps:red::red: DaveP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisg Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Tony,the valley run,isnt that the bit where you got a bit damp:rofl::rofl::rofl:,inside the vehicle!!!Must try and plug those few gaps:red::red: DaveP Don't do that Dave It'll be more fun :cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashley Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Bit of a let down here as i may only be able to make the sunday {and possiblymonday} if i can get a pass from the boss {here in doors} Ashley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plainmilitary Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 That is a big shame Ash cos I think you will like this new campsite mate. according to Mark the landowner there is a horse in the paddock next door that needs tameing Can't think of anyone better for the job, or is it Jack that has the dobbins? Dave, don't listen to that man, you carry on mate, plug all them holes up and make the old girl water tight. A chilled one will be waiting for you when you get here I have now been given the green light to use the paddock next door to the campsite. So after god knows how many cups of tea, Mark, Graham, Yogi and myself have come up with some idea's for this very large area. One will be a Military time trials course, this will be set up with help from Pete at the Austin Champ club so exspect it to be challenging. Again this will be down to you if you wish to do it. There will be two groups, Light wheeled and heavy wheeled. sadly, at this moment in time we will not allow tracked vehicles on site but if this changes, trust me you will know ASAP. I will start the list for the vehicles very soon, so watch this space. ATB. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plainmilitary Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 Tony,the valley run,isnt that the bit where you got a bit damp:rofl::rofl::rofl:,inside the vehicle!!!Must try and plug those few gaps:red::red: DaveP Yes mate you know the one, hell never seen water come into a vehicle like that before Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ives Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 well i will be up at checkpoint with brew as last year got told off for comming out the valley run to clean so truck will be going other route as otherwise everything will be falling off the shelves:cheesy::cheesy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rambo1969 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Spoke to tony today and he has some great things lined up for the weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plainmilitary Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 (edited) Spoke to tony today and he has some great things lined up for the weekend. Great to have you back with us Rich and gang. Raptors Claw weekend 2010 Just to refresh the thread, This event is for you guys and not a public event. Some of the ideas we have planned so far; now we have the other 10 acre field next to the camp site we are going to have a Military style time trials course, it has been mentioned that drivers will have to be blind folded with the co-pilot shouting out the directions, Rich you are a bad boy. You can use your own vehicle or a vehicle of our choice can be supplied. The course will basically be an out the vehicle start, a slalom around cones, reversing into bays, 3 point turns, shooting, an off road bit where a bucket of water will be placed on your bonnet, and all this done against the clock. You will need two people in your vehicle, driver/co-pilot. The day for the times trial will probably be Saturday afternoon running into saturday evening. Saturday morning if everyone is happy with it we can go over to the Weyhill Hawk conservancy and veiw the many birds of prey they have on show and watch the displays, this is a great place for the kiddies to visit so please if you have kids, bring them along. Saturday night can either be a walk to the local boozer or if everything goes to plan we will have a camp site bar available. If the weather is good a BBQ will also be fired up for the afternoon and night, this will take a bit of pressure off Dave. We have been given the green light to have a fire, nothing too big guys.... Sunday will be our road run, we will be going to Salisbury Plain. One idea we have come up with is to drive to Warminster by road and come in on the ranges at Harmann lines. This route will allow you all to have a gander at the wrecks on the West impact area. Just a mile or so from the wrecks you will then move into Imber village, at the moment we are planning a stopping point/tea break and stretch the old legs here, but this will only come about if we can find a parking area big enough to hold all the vehicles. We will then move out and head towards Gore cross, again this is tarmac and straight forward driving. Gore cross will be our first road crossing point so a team will need to be sorted prior to the drive. The next part of the run will then go onto stone tracks. The Northen Transit Route (NTR) is mostly hardcore scalpins, there will be some potholes but nothing we can't handle. We will drive the NTR to Lavington and then turn right and head towards West down, this again will be stone tracks with the odd pothole. Once we hit Waltons wood and West down we will jump onto the Southern trasit route (STR). WE will then drive East, if we can, we will visit the Bombard area again. This will be another tea break and STOLs time. From there we will head out across the ranges to Bravo 1 crossing, another road crossing point so road crosser will need to be there first. There are no plans to stop at the river, all that tea and then running water, not a good mix. Road crossing three will be just up from the river, boy you road crossing teams are going to be busy. At this point we are now on the East of the ranges and the first part of the East side run drive. If we can, a visit to Beeches barn will be our first stop. Some of you that came on the first run will remember Beeches barn, it's the place we went and did the group shot and Chris and Hongkong Dave tried their best to get their vehicles airbourne.... We then move back to Zulu where we meet-up with the RTV back in 2008. At this point we will be heading to the valley run, this will not be for the faint hearted. Anyone not fancying this will be escorted to a VCP at the top of Dunch wood where Dave will have a brew on the go. Hopefully everyone will meet up at this VCP, a quick check of the vehicles, a cuppa and STOLs and then we move of for the last and shortest part of the range run. We will move out from the Dunch wood area and head around Sidbury hill and then down to Pennings. We cross at the bottom of Tidworth hill and head up the Engineers track, this part is stone and then tarmac. Once we hit tarmac that all folks, a VCP will be set up at the bottom of the road, we will need to check the vehicles, remove mud if there is any from lights and VRNs. We then get back onto public roads. The first village we come to will be Ludgershall, there will be shops for provisions if you need them. We will sort this before we move out. Anyone stopping at the shops will have to drive through the village and meet up with the rest of us at the top in the layby. Just down from the layby is a garage, so anyone wanting fuel, this would be the best time. We then move out and head towards Andover via Weyhill. When we reach 100 acre round about we cross the 303 and slip back onto it heading West. about three miles down the 303 you will see the turning for the Hawk conservancy and base camp. On a serious note Salisbury Plain is open to the public and we will come across them at some stage of the drive. So with that in mind....All of the drive will be conducted in a responsible manner, at NO stage will anyone leave the tarmac or stone track unless they have a really good reason to do so. While on the ranges, all the bylaws will be followed by the book. All vehicles must be Taxed, MOTed, and insured, all drivers must have a full driving licence. If we are told to move from an area from any range staff, we will do so at a moments notice. This route will be driven by myself and Yogi closer to the time, if we feel there is parts of this route that may cause damage to you, your vehicle or the ranges we will then look for alternative routes. Sadly, if tracked vehicles are allowed onto the camp site, they will not be on the SPTA drive. Sorry thems the rules. All the driving will be carried out at the speed limit laid down by West down, this is 30mph. The ranges are patrolled not just by range staff but by the local Police. Anyone found to be speeding or breaking the range laws will be past onto them and dealt with accordingly. This is out of our hands, we don't make the rules, we just follow them. The whole drive will be a team drive and not a free for all. If anyone breaks down we try to help them on the spot, if nothing can be done then we need to tow them the rest of the way. Any guys out there with towing vehicles fancy coming along please join us... All vehicles will need to carry, spare fuel, towing gear if posible, tools and a first aid kit. You will not need winches, stropps or anything to recover vehicles from deep water or holes, there are non on the route. If we get a fair few vehicles on the run we might have to break into groups. Each group will need a leader and a tail-end charlie. Flags will need to be sorted, if anyone has such things can we borrow then please??? I think thats about it for Sunday. After driving that lot you won't want to party all night, but this can be sorted at short notice. Monday will be a sort out of the camping area, making sure you have everything and then head home at your own leisure. Being bank holiday Monday I recommend you don't leave it too late. There will be more activities added as and when so watch this space. Like I said at the top of the page, this is a weekend for vehicle owners, not the public. I'm sure we will see some over the weekend but they will be informed that they enter at their own risk and under no circumstances will any of you guys be held responsible for any injuries sustained while on site. Disclaimers will be posted around the camp site and entry points. A £10 fee will be asked for. This is camping fees and toilets. Water will be on site and situated in easy reach areas. I think we can get some electricity on site but this is still to be sorted. I am going to need your vehicle type so we can work out the best places for any big trucks and possably tracks to park. If we do get the green light on tracked vehicle, we will get something sorted for you guys to play. One idea is, if the 100 acre field next to the camp site is cut and baled you can go out there and drive to your hearts content. This should give all the photogs a chance to get some stunning photos of you and your kit. Just a quick warning to all vehicles that will be arriving via low loaders, there is a bridge just down the road from the camp site. This has a 13.5 height restriction so please be careful when driving down. There are no turning areas along this road, but they are wide enough for articulated trucks. I will be posting a site contact number on here nearer the time. If anyone should get lost or needs directions, we are just a call away. Hope this has answered any questions you might have about this weekend. I would like to think what we have here is something a bit different for you guys. This is a brand new camp site with some new ideas thrown in to boot. All I ask is you come along, give it a go and see if it's for you. I know this isn't for everyone, but for you guys that want to drive your vehicles on Europes largest training ground then this is right up your street. All the best and hope to hear from you soon. Tony. Plain Military Edited January 26, 2010 by plainmilitary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rambo1969 Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 I am soooo looking foward to this......, I will even bake loads of cakes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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