I hesitate to get my car stuck in mud to please my husband.

[honeystuckinheels]

Originally Posted by honeystuckinheels

I got a big disappointment today. One place by the local College very near where I used to live, had a long, wide strip of muddy grass on a gentle slope, and I got stuck there a lot. I looked it up today - and they've put bollards all the way along so you can't get onto it any more.

Rotten spoilsports!!

Posting this made me think that it would be a nice idea to show you guys (and gals) a few of the places I have been stuck over the years. It will come as no surprise to those who know me here, that most of them have been in thick mud.

Thanks to 'Google Earth' Panoramio View - I can show you the actual places - so here goes!

I’ll start with the grass verge mentioned in the quote above. It runs along the side of the Reading College Sports fields, and goes uphill from the bottom to the top of an unmade road.

The grass is fairly lush and the ground underneath is clay, so when it has been raining for a while, especially in the Winter, it’s like axle grease.

I first got stuck when I had stopped to take some photographs of the College buildings from the back of the Campus. I parked with my rear end pointing down to the fence - by the clump of trees - so - when I attempted to pull away, I was trying to go uphill on soaking wet muddy grass - and of course, I got nowhere. To add to the problem, I couldn’t go backwards to rock it, as my boot (trunk) was almost onto the fence. So I had to keep trying forwards….it took putting the floor mats under my tires to get me going.


Photo 1 shows the view from the top of the unmade road down to the bottom:





Photo2 is zoomed in to give you an idea of the width and slope of the verge, and shows the trees. You will also notice that the Council have now cut off all access to it (for obvious reasons) with bollards. Rotters!






The second location is out on the West side of Reading, along one of the back roads out towards Newbury. I found this place by accident when I took a wrong turn and had to find somewhere to turn around. I found this little enclosure just off the side of the road, and as you can see it’s pretty bad ground. The soil is thick, greasy clay and the first time I drove into into it, I knew I was in trouble immediately, as I instantly slowed to a crawl with my rear tires spinning….and it took me about 20 minutes to turn around.

I didn’t really appreciate the qualities of the place as I really needed to be some where else - however - my husband and I used it many times subsequently for our ‘fun’. The grass clearing at the back became a total bog in Winter…..


Photo 1 shows the entrance:




Photo 2 shows the area in closer detail. The only awkward thing is that it is directly opposite a junction, so anyone can see you struggling if you’re not right out on the grass at the back.




Having found that place, we toured about looking for other places to get stuck - and not ½ mile around the corner - we found the place shown in the third set of photos. A long lane, that led into the back woods around a farm. The entrance as you can see is a total quagmire in Winter, and the turn off under the trees just to the right, is impossible to get out of in a RWD car.


Photo 1 shows the turn in:




Photo 2 is the place where I got so stuck. We had to leave the car and come back with a friends Land Rover to get it out (luckily my husband had his car there too…):





Now - before I go any further - you may like to see my car of the time. We are talking about a period from around 1985 to 1996 when we lived near Reading. I drove a gooorgeous Beige BMW 528i - and here it is!!





Now, we move down South to the area that my husband originally comes from (before he moved up North, which is where I met him). In fact all my family except my Sister have moved South now. We are now in the New Forest which offers plenty of opportunities to get stuck. Nowhere near as many as it did when it was just a forest and not a National Park.

However, here’s a few good places to get stuck. The first two photos are of a long lane near our local Sainsbury’s which leads out to farm fields, and like all farms, the lanes are constantly chewed up and muddy.


Photo 1 shows how soft the verges are and how easy they are to move over onto and spin. It’s common to do this if another vehicle comes the other way:





Photo 2 shows the entrance to one of the fields which gets particularly slippery:





Photo 3 shows the place that I got stuck after going to visit some friends. I had to visit a friend who owns horses and keeps them in the field in the right of the picture. I parked on the verge in the centre - and it’s obvious isn’t it - it is NOT a good place to put a BMW!






The last 2 photos show 2 places in the New Forest where I have actually been really badly stuck.

The first is where I parked my car to go for a Sunday walk. You can see from the photo that it’s on a slope, and that the ground gets soaked and soft, with puddles. You will also notice the deep ruts from other peoples ‘incidents’. I parked right up to the gate, and I just couldn’t get it to go back. I spent at least an hour trying to turn around and spin out forwards. NO-one stopped as you can’t see the gate until you’re right at it on the main road - and it’s a 60mph carraigeway. One of my worst - and longest - stucks.





The final photograph shows a little place that I got stuck in at night. It’s right out in the middle of nowhere and I was totally lost. I was driving from the direction of the left of the photo, and had to turn around, so I reversed all the way into the spot by the metal bars…..and that is where I stayed!!

This was one of the rare times that I actually had to get a taxi home, and get a tow truck the following morning. I had spun my tires down to the back axles and I wasn’t going anywhere!





Just to finish off - most of the stucks down here in the New Forest have been in this beauty - my current daily driver - a BMW 535i…..which is covered in mud! I’m changing it soon for a Champagne one with cream leather upholstery later in the year. However, it won’t stay clean for long…outside that is!










Hope you enjoyed this trip down Memory Lane with me!