My first job after graduating was at Pace in Shipley, Bradford. At Pace there were a couple of other Land Rover drivers in the engineering dept. one with a SIII Air Portable and another with an SII 88inch pickup. One morning it began to snow, by lunch time there was a good 3 or 4inch covering…so we had to go out to play in it. (Oh no you didn't) Shipley sits below Balidon Moor which runs into its more famous neighbour llkley moor so of course this is where we headed. 3 landies, each with a selection of engineers along for the ride, headed off up the hill in search of adventure. Passers by looked on in amusement (I think?)(It was probably bewilderment) as one Landy’s occupants threw snow balls out the back at its following companion. On to the moor we went, up and down lumps and bumps and then followed a track across the moor with the snow coming across the moor at 45 degrees. Our lunch hour was fast disappearing, so we turned for home. I was now at the rear of the convoy, the Air Portable at the front with the pickup in the middle. I deduced that the 88" pickup must have looked a lot like the local farmers Landy from what happened next……

Picture it…….The moor is full of sheep…..in a flash a flock of some 50 plus of the woolly mammals were following the Pickup. Where should I go? - I now couldn’t follow in the pickup's wheel tracks. The moor at this point was flat, so I swung over to the right to drive around the flock, seemed like a good idea at the time….but under the snow I found a drainage channel. I hit it square on, the front axle bounced through, the rear didn’t…I ended up sitting squarely in it with the chassis touching the bank of the channel (why didn't he tell me about his stupidity before I married him?). The others came back to see what the problem was, I wish I had a camera at that point… the image of around 8 or 9 engineers all dressed for the office in shirt, tie, ordinary shoes etc scratching our heads wondering how to release the trapped 90 would have made a great one for the album. We first tried a straight tow, but the Air Portable, even with aggressive off road military tyres couldn’t get any traction. Then we tried snatching it out - broke the recovery rope with that one. Then we tried towing it at an angle. By pulling the nose round, the rear axle was forced into the walls of the drainage channel allowing the wheels to get some purchase, this was enough for my 90 to pop out of the hole. We made it back to work, some what later that scheduled, looking a bit sheepish!!(HA HA..not funny)

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