O-G-X

4X4 & Off Road Adventures

4x4 Tours and Weekends

We’d be delighted to organize a trip for you or a small group of vehicles, or even tag along with you if we can make it. Either a local green lane trip or a long weekend away. Our local Greenlane trips, depending on location, will generally have an early start & will take in as many points of local interest & byways as possible. We'd be happy to discuss any plans or aspirations you have, for example greenlaning in North Wales taking in the Llanberis pass, or driving an old Roman Road in the hills.

Long weekends of camping & greenlaning away, for example in Wales, would start Thursday evening for a return either Sunday evening or Monday morning, depending on your requirements. Our general rule of thumb is that we understand how expensive, in fuel alone a long trip can be, especially in a V8, so what we ask for is a minimal contribution to a weekend away in terms of our time & fuel costs, if you have plans then we can discuss these...

Recce Trips Desk jobs aren't for me really, I found that out a few years ago but somthing has to pay the bills, so thats where I still am, but I'd rather be travelling the roads oif Britain or Europe, tasting local food and beer, camping, taking in stunning scenery, open spaces & shareing that with good people, if your interested in comming on a recce trip with me, let me know.

Airfield hunting & WW2 Airfield Tours… it's just a thing I do, ask the wife. As an amateur ww2 historian & military vehicle owner, I’m very keen to never forget those boys that did the business, there's somthing very nostalgic and magical about visiting these places. With several years of experience in ww2 site location & history research, especially in RAF & USAAF airfield sites, I'd welcome you to book me out for the day or the weekend, where maybe we can hear the ghosts of targets passed.

Why not visit the place where the Memphis Belle once flew, where her "little Friends" were once based, walk where B-17's, P51 Mustangs once taxied, visit the places where once mighty Lancaster's rolled down runways, or where so many young airmen learnt to fly Wellingtons, Spitfires and Mosquitoes, you can even visit the sites of where the original "James Bond's" left the UK, working for the SOE, OSS & later the CIA.

With the current governments plans to increase housing, the years passing are taking their toll, many of these sites are slowly being eaten away, several have already gone. We'd like to take you down memory lane, show you the place where maybe a distant Uncle served in the RAF.

Counties rich in sites and greenlanes:

• Northamptonshire
• Oxfordshire
• Cambridgeshire
• Suffolk
• Norfolk
• Lincolnshire

In one day several airfield sites can be taken in, with advance booking, it may be possible to drive along the old perry tracks & runways, we may even be able to provide detailed ground plans & histories, which will be & presented at the beginning of the day.

Due to the voluntary nature of some museums & private ownership of the majority of these sites, we may need to pre-book, certainly with so many old sites now on private land again permission needs to be gained, so as much advance warning from you to me would be great, it gives us more of a chance to spend some really good time on site.

First hand experiences… my Uncle Toby, Allen Lyster Bird or "Dickie", was VR Pilot Officer RAF, trained in Canada & served with 195 Squadron, based at Wratting Common (West Wickham) he was involved in many raids over Germany, being shot down once, making an emergency landing at Brussels airport, but he eventually made it back to drop food over Holland in “Operation Manna”. I spent 4 years on & off finding out what he did, visiting the National Archives in London, I even chatted to his old C/O.

One of the highlights of this journey, was attending the last official reunion & seeing, the Battle of Britain Lancaster fly over the base at 250 feet, which was probably the last time a Lanc will ever be seen there & that experience is one I shall never forget. My Grandfather, Harold Bird was RAF MU based at Meole Brace nr Shewsbury, so I clearly have a personal passion for airfield hunting & research. On a recent visit to Gransden Lodge, I bumped into an ex-mosquito Pilot with 142 Squadron, in the same day visiting Ridgewell, I found what was left of the airfield & a spent .50 cal shell, aswell as having a chat with the current landlord at the White Horse, as mentioned in “Combat Crew” by John Comer.

I’ve also been lucky enough to meet other veterans, who flew with my Uncle, Peter Francis of 195, Ken “Hammy” Hamilton Pilot 195, as well as Harry Shepard in Hertford. Harry was a Lancaster Ferry pilot, Ken, often flew with my Uncle and at the end of the war they did a world tour together in their borrowed Lancs! After several calls & chats Peter, as his health isn’t what it used to be, he and his wife very kindly invites us all to his house, we spent the day together talking about life at Wratting Common in 195 Squadron, he also very kindly gave me a framed photograph of his crew & his flight jacket whistle.