Activities

Green laning

Green lanes are unsurfaced public rights of way — old roads the tarmac never reached. This is not off-roading: a lane is part of the public highway, so you need an MOT where your vehicle’s age requires one, ordinary road insurance and a sound vehicle.

Routes are picked with care. Modern Land Rovers — anything much after 2010 — are wider than the lanes were built for, which can mean not fitting between walls, or a scratch from an overhanging branch. We don’t run lanes where damage is likely, and where there is any risk we say so beforehand and offer a way round.

We run two or three days a year, sometimes more, usually within about a hundred miles of Birmingham — North Derbyshire, Shropshire and Warwickshire among them. Meet around nine, back around six, with plenty of stops for the view, lunch and a brew. Around £5 a driver covers the cost of checking the routes.

The club is a member of GLASS, which gives us their Trailwise database of which lanes are open and legal, and we follow the Countryside Code and keep group sizes down. Keen laners may want their own GLASS membership, around £45 a year. Email greenlaning@mroc.co.uk.

Camping & caravanning

Open to every member, in a tent, a motor camper or a caravan — and at the bigger events, often to non-members too.

The calendar is a mixture: rallies run alongside the club’s trials, the ALRC National and the Majors, steam fairs, and quieter weekends near a pub or somewhere worth seeing. Holiday rallies usually fall in May, August and October. Autumn, winter and spring rallies normally have showers and electric hook-up; the summer ones generally don’t.

The rally habit runs deep — over the years the club’s caravan rallies have reached Italy, Norway and Ireland. There is always room for a hand with organising a particular event; it is never onerous, as the jobs get split up. Bookings and questions to caravans@mroc.co.uk.

Socials

Typically one evening a month, often the first Saturday — a pub, a restaurant, beer and skittles, ten-pin bowling. Locations move around to suit as many members as possible.

Friends, family and non-members are welcome, and we can promise not all the conversation is Land Rover related. They are usually free unless we say otherwise, and they are a good way to meet the club before joining. Socials are announced on the events page and in the Facebook group. Ideas and requests to social@mroc.co.uk.

Driver training & open days

Once a year or so the club runs a driver training or open day — a more measured way to learn how your vehicle behaves off-road than a competitive trial.

Experienced drivers are on hand to talk you through it and the day is marshalled, so there is little chance of damage through over-enthusiasm. It usually falls mid-year when the weather is more dependable, and it is open to non-members and to 4x4s that aren’t Land Rovers. Bring the family.

Recovery

Members provide support vehicles and marshals — radio duties, recovery, transport — at motorsport, equestrian and other public events that need four-wheel drive on hand.

It costs the members involved their own time and fuel, so we would normally expect a donation to club funds, unless the event is for charity. Organisers who need this can get in touch through committee@mroc.co.uk.

4x4 Response

MROC 4x4 Response is the club’s volunteer group within the national Response UK network, supporting local authorities, communities and the emergency services when four-wheel drive is what’s needed — at any hour.

Members with a suitable vehicle can join free, subject to training. It has a site of its own at mroc4x4response.co.uk.

And trialling

The competitive side — Tyro for first-timers, RTV for road-legal vehicles, CCV for caged cars — has a page of its own. Spectating is free and always welcome.

What you need

A road-legal, taxed and insured 4x4, recovery points and a tow rope, and club membership — £30 a year, which also covers our trials and the ALRC family of clubs. No Land Rover yet? Associate members are just as welcome in the passenger seat.