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greenlaning on topgear,
lee celtic:
Well why don't we invite them to bala for a proper greenlane day :D
It was private land and It wans't greenlaning so if we point that out and offer to show then properly :D you never know...
Disco Matt:
--- Quote from: lee celtic on July 20, 2008, 22:38:31 ---Well why don't we invite them to bala for a proper greenlane day :D
It was private land and It wans't greenlaning so if we point that out and offer to show then properly :D you never know...
--- End quote ---
I was talking about that idea with some friends recently, we came to the conclusion that it was a bad one for more or less the reasons that everyone else has mentioned - TG delight in destruction, damage, and generally being a bunch of overgrown kids and we somehow knew they wouldn't understand concepts such as "drive slowly" and "don't wreck the surface". It's a real pity as they could have helped our image enormously if they'd adhered to the rules and made it clear that the vast majority of laners do so. But that wouldn't be as "exciting" would it...
Funny how my scariest/most exciting moments in a car have been at about 4mph or less off tarmac!
The one chance this gives us - could it do some good with the lefty press which, while they don't like us, would surely love to see TG made to look stupid with a story about what laning is really like? This sounds like a perfect chance for the GLASS or CRAG approach of handing advisory leaflets to people seen doing silly things on lanes - how about someone high up in the groups turning up at TG HQ with a handful of leaflets and some press in tow?
tenpolequint:
When is this show repeated. I did not see it. As a new 4x4 owner but a member of this site for ages I have been shown the damage that can be done by irresponsible driving and have followed the guidelines and advice given by members of this forum and the guidelines set down.
I would not be surprised at Top Gears gung-ho attitude towards greenlaning. Same as there attitude towards driving safely on motorways in powerful sports cars.
MissMud08:
Try the BBC iPlayer... www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
Skibum346:
As with many of you (60% at the last count on the poll) I was horrifed with the nature of the Top Gear piece. I have chosen to comlain to both the BBC and top gear. Below is the mail I sent to the Top Gear team and it includes a copy of my complaint to the BBC.
I would encourage the remainder of the 60% of you who were disgusted, to do the same.
Kindest
Skibum
--- Quote ---Sir/Madam,
I have a message for Richard Hammond that I would ask you to pass on.
"How could you, of all people, do this to the greenlaning communbity?"
You are a Land Rover enthusiast, you must have at least heard of some of the political difficulties we face with ramblers and the like. Why did you allow the Top Gear production team, probably driven by Mr Clarkson, to create exactly what those who are set to see us banned from our pastime would hold up as an example of what we do?
I have been a fan of the new format Top Gear since it's inception, and fought to ensure it was not threatendd with closure after your minor scrape in the dragster and I feel betrayed by the piece that you were a key part of.
I hope that you all enjoyed the creation of this piece, and I hope that you will remember making it when those narrow minded people who want the counrtryside to themselves suceed in banning any kind of motorised access to greenlanes.
I have included for your information a copy of the complaint I have lodged with the BBC, not that Mr Clarkson will care.
Sir/Madam,
As a Land Rover enthusiast, GLASS & CRAG member I was excited to hear that a piece on "Greenlaning" was to be aired on Top Gear.
Greenlaning is the driving of public rights of way as recorded on the definitive map in county Rights Of Way offices or on council List of Streets documents.
Greenlaning, done by RESPONSIBLE 4x4 drivers, uses the tread lightly guidelines promoted by GLASS & CRAG.
Since the advent of the NERC legislation that reduced the number of drivable lanes by around 70-80%, the greenlaning community has been under fire from various lobbies, most noteably "Ramblers". Much of the coverage made of our community wrongly assumes that we tear round the countryside ripping up the ground at high revs, speeding past innocent ramblers.
Imagine my excitement then when the top gear team started their piece by making exactly this point... then imagine my horror when a Land Rover enthusiast, Richard Hammond, started spouting the kind of ridiculous descripotion of greenlaning that those set to ban us from our LEGAL pastime use.
I was horrified to then see a so called hunt through "the countryside" with Jeremy Claskson ripping through hedges, pulling doughnuts, tearing through sections of virgin woodland and genereally behaving like the most irresponsible kind of 4x4 driver.
I accept that the production team aimed for a certain degree of sarcasm and that the land was private (otherwise I'm sure the local police would be very interested in the illegal driving carried out). However, this piece placed a dagger at the heart of every responsible greenlaner who has to explain time and again to angry ramblers and the like that they are pursuing a legal pastime on a public right of way with motorised access rights. This piece will be held up as an example by these evangelists of what we allegedly do.
Those members of the public who had not been aware of greenlaning will now consider Top Gear's example as the definitive description of what those of us who drive in the countryside do.
I would ask that you investigate this piece with a view to requiring that a more balanced piece be produced to repair the damage done to Greenlaning (the proper kind) by the Top Gear team.
Yours
Frank McGoldrick
Disappointedly yours
Frank McGoldrick
--- End quote ---
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