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FIRST OVERLAND NEWSLETTER 16The latest news of the 'First Overland' DVD, based on Antony Barrington-Brown's original film footage of the 1955 Oxford & Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition from London to Singapore. |
After Newsletter 14, Richard Lewellyn contacted me from Camberley in Surrey. He said:
I read 'First Overland' as a boy at School (book club selection) in the early 60s and attribute blame/credit to it for a great deal that I have done since.
At the age of 21 I drove 'Overland' expedition holidays in North Africa for three years or so in Bedford 3 tonners, double decker buses, Ford transits and Long Wheelbase Land Rovers. I have since spent over 30 years in oil and gas exploration using Land Rovers (and many other vehicles) in many parts of the world. More recently I spent the larger part of two years in Siberia and then about 18 months in China.
In between those two projects my second son and I took part in the Plymouth to Banjul Motor rally driving a 26-year-old Renault 4. We re-visited some places that I am fond of on the way which I was able to share with him. We took very few essential tools, a pocket full of repair bits and camping equipment. If it did not easily fit inside the car, it did not go. Before we set off we installed a new clutch (the one in there looked original!). During the journey we had to have two punctures fixed and we adjusted the throttle cable once.
I am currently the proud owner of a Discovery TD5 and my original paperback copy of 'First Overland' is still on the bookshelf in our study today.
Richard also said that he's been a Scout Master for many years.
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I have hopefully passed on to many boys the spirit of 'First Overland'. Of specific interest is a bridge that our Scouts built at an area camp to take a Land Rover (which it did). The bridge has a striking resemblance to photos in the book. If you look closely to the right hand side of the photo, the bridge was not completed to the other side due to allocated time (three days start to finish — cut timber, prepare, construct, test, dismantle and leave site as you found it + plus cooking and normal domestic chores in camp under canvas). [Pics from B-P News] |
In view of the current news from Burma, this story from Tony Cantor has some resonance. His order for 'First Overland' was addressed care of The Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London, so I guessed it was going somewhere exotic. Later an email told me that there was a new country to be added to the list of places where the DVD had gone — Armenia.
From Yerevan, His Excellency explained how he came across the Oxford & Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition:
I acquired my first copy of Tim Slessor's book in late 1968. We had just arrived at the British Embassy in Rangoon, on our first overseas posting. The Burmese authorities had recently had a bit of a 'tiff' with the British Council and had closed them down, and we had the pick of the books in the library.
At that time it was much harder than it is now to visit Burma, and only those working there could stay for any length of time. Permission was needed to travel outside Rangoon and never given to areas north of Mandalay or east of Maymyo or Taunggyi. We regularly applied to visit Mogok, of ruby mine fame, but were just as regularly turned down. We did not even dream of applying to go to such exotic places as Myitkyina, Lashio or Kengtung.
We did however get about quite a lot within the permitted areas. At that time the Embassy had a couple of LWB Land Rovers and one SWB. With one or other of these we were ferried over the Irrawaddy on craft not dissimilar to the one that took the First Overlanders across the Ganges, and then drove over the Arakan Yoma mountain range to the Bay of Bengal. We also drove up to and crossed the River Chindwin, which in WWII formed the front line between the Japanese and allied forces.
During our three years in Burma we made a number of journeys to Mandalay, Maymyo, Kalaw and Taunggyi and 'cruised' Inle Lake several times to see the leg-rowers. Most of these journeys however were possible in my Ford Cortina.
Of incidental interest possibly, but in early 2004 I held a launch party on the lawn of the Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay, for the new Range Rover. Despite its hefty price tag, potential buyers and general green-blooded enthusiasts turned up, not only from within Paraguay but from Argentina and Brazil as well. One well-heeled visitor told me he had a different Range Rover for every day of the week!
I have long wanted a Land Rover of my own and used to keep a very small model of one on my desk. Last year I did finally acquire my own 4x4, but a 1994 Mitsubishi Montero, which does at least get me up the hill to the house in the ice and snow of the Armenian winter. Rover sadly are not yet represented here and without some assurance of servicing and spare parts, it will be some time before we see as many Land Rovers as we do BMWs and Mercedes, and the ubiquitous Russian Lada Nivas.
Yours sincerely
Tony Cantor
British Ambassador to Armenia
I wonder what Tony is thinking of the current news from Rangoon.
Fido (SXF870) is my wife's white Series 1 that appears in the 'extra' about the making of the DVD, and also provided the authentic 1997cc engine noise for the 'transition wipe' graphics between scenes. In fact, that recording session was the last time that Fido* ran, because she was in desperate need of some Tender Loving Care. Now she's getting it, from a specialist restorer in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
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In fact she started being rebuilt in Dewsbury, but when the chassis and axle work had been done she had to be transferred the few miles to Leeds for the bodywork. You'd be surprised how much room a Land-Rover can take up when it's in bits, and it was quite a job to get everything tied down on the back of the truck. I followed behind in the Freelander, ready to pick up any vital bits if they fell off! |
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But the journey was without incident, and now her body is being reassembled onto the refurbished (and galvanised) chassis. There's still quite a way to go yet, but I hope before long I'll be able to use her to take the 'First Overland Roadshow' out to rallies and club meets. Don't forget, if you know of a club within easy reach of the North Yorkshire Coast that would like the illustrated story of 'First Overland', and how the DVD was made, then contact me. *She's called 'Fido', because 'Rover' would be silly. For those beyond our shores who might be puzzled by this, 'Rover' and 'Fido' were popular names for pet dogs in England 60-70 years ago. Sorry — English humour! |
In the next Newsletter (which should be towards the end of October) I'll be revealing what happened when 1950s American TV presenter Jack Douglas said "From Cambridge, England, our true-story adventure series is proud to welcome a young man who has just completed a remarkable adventure — Mr A.C Barrington-Brown...."
And as Christmas rushes towards us, a chance for existing 'First Overland' customers to make a saving on presents for their Land-Rover enthusiast friends — a special Christmas discount on repeat orders.
GRAEME ALDOUS
Previous Newsletters are available here
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