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HMVF, Salisbury Plain invation


yogi

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David Ives has asked me to mention he is (temporally) internet-less, after the fun :whistle: of his recent move.

Anyone who needs to contact him, please phone 07780613037.

 

Wanted this posting in this thread, as I believe he is/was watching replies, etc.

 

 

Andy

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Hi all

 

Fired off the begging email to the MOD tonight. I am hopeing to hear from them within the next two weeks about the camp site. I have asked if we can have the wooded area, car park and grass area for next year. This should give use loads of room for more vehicles if you are thinking on coming to next years HMVF Plain invasion. I should be getting the offical notice from BLESMA this week.

Should we ask one of the Military mags along for a right up or just leave it to Jack for another excellent article like this year.

All the best Tony

 

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The Dorset Boys will have Hardyferret on the team :-D - at the last match each time it was his 'go' the guys doing the putting up took cover behind a barricade of tables!!!! :shake:

 

No Probs that is Dave`s task (putting up) and he was pretty good at `lane dodging` last year must be the coach driver in him :whistle: :whistle:

 

Ashley

 

 

 

next year i think we will have to have teams to make it even for the lads who havn't played before and also find someone to volunteer to set up the skittles with a crash helmet :whistle:and get supplied with booze as danger money

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Hello Dave good to see you back on line

 

We could put one of the youngsters down there they will love it. They are alway up for a bit of dangerous stuff. I will sort out my tin hat for them. You still coming down to Andover this weekend? if so see you there.

Tony

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  • 2 weeks later...

Jack this is the Bridge I mentioned to you during our phone conversation. This is the one down at 22 REGs training ground. What do you think? if you like then I will go and see the CO in the week and find out how we go about getting a few hours down there.

 

width=640 height=451http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/BB1.jpg[/img]

 

width=640 height=451http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/BB2.jpg[/img]

 

width=640 height=469http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/BB4.jpg[/img]

 

width=640 height=468http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/BB3.jpg[/img]

 

width=640 height=444http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/BB7.jpg[/img]

 

width=640 height=449http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/BB9.jpg[/img]

 

width=600 height=800http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/BB8.jpg[/img]

 

Sorry for the second to last picture but Yogi has a habbit of jumping out of bushs and flashing folk with camaras :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:.

Tony

 

 

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Great work Tone and looks a perfect setting for a great photoshoot. Any news on billeting in one of the villages :-D

 

With regards to Yogi - I was under the impression that he wasn't due for release until Jan 2009 :dunno: :? :whistle: What happened? Was it an EU directive?

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Human rights got involved, They releasted him early cos he was corrupting the rest of the inmates. He should be OK as long as he keeps taking his pills.

The only probs with the bridge is it only has a 40 tonne weight limit, unlike Charlie which is a 80 tonne but we will be doing Charlie crossing as well so everyone will get a chance to get there pictures on either one.

Not heard back from West down yet so no news is good new in my book.

 

Wheres the best place to fine re-enacters? would like to get a few for the river crossing photos Yanky and German if poss.

Will give the heads up on any news we get.

Tony

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Jack just a few more pictures from the DTA ( driver training area). We are trying to get this area for a few hours as well as the bridge. As you can see the puddle may be a bit big for the smaller vehicles but all are welcome to have a go if thay want.

There are plenty of other puddles not so big, but this is a challenge for anyone on HMVF who wants to take it up. Please don't think that by bringing a tracked vehicle will make it any easyer for you, I have seen Challenger2 MBTs stuck in this puddle :rofl:

So that is one of the challenges for you all, Jack are you man enought. If you get through it without stalling and having to be towed out, I will wade through it myself on foot. :help:

 

width=640 height=444http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/CLY1.jpg[/img]

width=640 height=446http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/CLY2.jpg[/img]

width=640 height=444http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/CLY4.jpg[/img]

width=640 height=434http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/CLY3.jpg[/img]

width=640 height=443http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/CLY5.jpg[/img]

width=640 height=432http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/CLY6.jpg[/img]

width=640 height=426http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/Baily%20bridge/CLY7.jpg[/img]

 

All the best

Tony

PS I will get my wellys out just incase. Picture 3, 4, 5 were taken in the shallow end.

 

 

 

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The dates for the HMVF Plain invasion will be the first bank holiday in May 4th 5th 6th 7th. The plans for the bridge and DTA will be subject to availability, IE if the Army are not using them. I know it will be a bank holiday but they still train on the ranges as we found out when we got to Westdown Camp this year. I will find out a bit nearer the time whether we will be on the ranges with the Army. Hopfully the ramblers will not be there next year cos they slow thing down. Still makes me laugh when I see the pic of that women jogger :rofl:

 

width=600 height=419http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r183/plainmilitary/HMFV%20SALISBURY%20PLAIN%20VISIT/SP10.jpg[/img]

 

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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Great pics Tone!

 

I will only do it if Ashley goes first - with his caravan!

 

 

No problems Jack,

but i do not have a 50mm ball hitch on the jeep otherwise i would take up the challenge :pfrt: :pfrt:.

 

But for the honour of the Dorset branch i think you should at least have a go in the Jimmy, i do not mind being your co- pilot (just to show solidarity brother) ....Primus in Puddlus dorsetus old chap

 

Ashley

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Hi guys got sent this today from Bob at Westdown camp. I thought this may be of interest for all that are coming to the HMVF Plain invasion. This notification is normal and anyone organising an event such as ours will recieve such information. This covers just about everthing, please don't feel intimadated about the prison part this only stands for persisent abusers of the laws. Myself and the rest of the Plain Military team follow these rules to the book. Its the old chestnut, you scratch there back and they'l scratch ours thats how it works with the MOD. Sorry to be the bringer of doom and gloom but I have to post this so we are all upto date with the rules. I am in the last throws of nailing down the camp site for the visit. The next few days I will be working on the routes we will be takeing while out on the SPTA and passing them on to DTE-SP.

 

Much of the route is across SSSI, SPA or SAC, which are statuary designations under the umbrella of Natural England – damage to any part of these can result in an unlimited fine and up to 2 years in prison. As part of their Duty of Care the MOD, as tenants of Defence Estates who are the landowners, have to follow very strict guidelines for all aspects of military training. Anything involving disruption to the ground in any way, either by troops undergoing training, or Landmarc staff undertaking maintenance, has to be approved by the Environmental Support Team at Defence Estates – they have the power to restrict or even prevent all military access to certain areas, for example, in wet weather certain areas may be placed out of bounds, or movement restricted solely to stone tracks; and if more than 1% of an area is shown on satellite imagery to be bare earth all training has to cease until it recovers…

 

 

 

Many of the original bare earth or chalk tracks have this been upgraded over the years to stone surfaced tracks, and we thus encourage all traffic to stay on these, and not to parallel track onto the grass, even if it appears that there is another track running next to it. The two exceptions to this are the track from Q crossing to Copehill Down, and the northern transit route to the north of areas 15/16 where the parallel track is retained as the route for tracked vehicles, so I guess in these two areas if the MOD run tracked vehicles over them, a few 4x4s are not going to cause undue problems (but you may wish to check with the Land Wardens, as they are the knowledgeable persons in respect to the actual lines of the Byways and the interpretation of the RTA and the local Bylaws – I just deal with any licensing issues…). Elsewhere if there is a stone surfaced track you must remain on that as this is the line of the byway or BOAT…

 

 

 

Note that Natural England are giving us grief over the width of the tracks as it is – most byways would have been no more than 3 or 4 metres wide (they were just cart tracks) – our stone tracks should be a maximum of 5 metres wide, but over the years the high volume of military traffic has pushed the stone sideways, and it gets worse everywhere there is a run of potholes as everyone (apart from armour) tries to go around them and pushes the track still wider. Where parallel tracking has taken place, either by military, farmers or 4x4 (and each group blames the others) we have to carry out a programme or ground restoration – placing ‘knife rest’ barriers across all access points, getting our agricultural team to level and loosen the soil and then reseed with an appropriate grass/wild flower mix and allow to grow (which can take up to a year). All this work can be undone in a single weekend by unthinking and uncaring 4x4 users who are just out for a ‘good time’ – the legitimate 4 x4 clubs thus suffer because of the cowboys…..

 

(see http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART16691.html )

 

 

 

Additionally under the recent amendments to the Habitats Directive the exemptions for accidental damage have been removed – disruption to any protected breeding species, whether it be ground nesting bird, mammal, amphibian or insect during the breeding season (generally from March to October) is thus liable to lead to prosecution. DTE SP is home to a number of protected species, including the ground nesting Stone Curlew:

 

 

 

This site qualifies under Article 4.1 of the Directive (79/409/EEC) by supporting populations of European importance of the following species listed on Annex I of the Directive:

 

 

 

During the breeding season;

 

 

 

Stone Curlew Burhinus oedicnemus, 22 pairs representing at least 11.6% of the breeding population in Great Britain (Count as at 1998)

 

 

 

(from: http://www.jncc.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=2040 )

 

 

 

Additionally, in certain areas, especially the central area (areas 15/16) there remains the possibility of EOD lying on, or just below the surface, that could be detonated – only the stone and tarmac tracks are routinely cleared.

 

 

 

There are also over 2300 archaeological sites on DTE SP, 550 of which are protected as ancient monuments – what appears to be a track may in fact be a Bronze Age boundary ditch or a Roman field boundary.

 

 

 

Finally, there are the restrictions regarding Foot and Mouth disease. Currently, despite the low level of threat in Wiltshire, all Landmarc vehicles carry disinfectant spray to be used when ever entering or exiting any Schedule 1 farm land. It may thus be prudent to follow similar precautions prior to the start of each route, and when leaving or entering the MOD boundary.

 

 

 

I would thus ask you to brief all club members on the particular problems on DTE SP, and to keep to the stone surfaced tracks wherever possible.

 

 

 

Hopefully this will allow you to see where we come from when we are imposing restrictions on access..

 

 

 

Have a look at possible routes, and we can submit to the new OC

 

 

 

Bob

 

 

 

Bob Burgess

 

Service Coordinator (Administration)

 

So its down to use to keep on there side and not stray of the tracks,. If we get a green light and they allow use to drive down to some of the more exclusive parts I will let you all know closer to the time. Jack I will be contacting you again very soon old bean, just to keep you upto date with more boring things. This is not a Sabre rattle but the MODs way of keeping everyone upto date with the SPTA rules and regs. We had not one complaint this year which has gone in our favour. Plus Chris, Bob and Steve at Landmark have been a great help to me. They want you here next year as much as the Plain Military team do. I will be contacting some local farmers this week to see if we can get hold of some disinfectant and straw so to lay down decontamination areas for vehicles entering and exiting the camp site. This will only come into play if the Foot and Mouth persists.

All the best and hope to see you all very soon.

Tony :wave:

 

 

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