File: 2017001-0056
The Roman Road, off Blackpool Brook, near the village of Blakeney, Gloucester, England, United Kingdom, in the afternoon of Monday 23rd March 2017.
About this photograph.
This is a 2005 registered Land Rover Freelander, it is a 2.0 Td4 SE model, with manual gearbox.
I bought her in 2017 after my first car, a Ford Focus was struggling to cope with uphill, mainly because the engine was so damaged. Also, another reason was because myself and my two teenager kids were tall people, and the Focus was rather cramped for us.
The reason why I chose the Freelander was because I wanted a 4x4 SUV, not for serious off-roading, but because sometimes when going out to do photography, I would need to go off the road, onto muddy tracks to reach a perfect location for photo-shoots. Also, I may need to go out when there is snow if I needed a winter type of photo-shoot, as well as the fact that my mother lived on an uphill street. (This Freelander is more effect at going downhill than my old Focus.)
Being British, I can’t help it if I prefer the Land Rover brand. The Freelander is a cheaper and entry-level Land Rover, which is good enough for me, as I’m not likely to afford nor needed the capacities of a Defender or a Discovery. Also, I’m not planning on extreme off-roading, just basic muddy tracks or snowed surfaces, and this Freelander serves me well for my needs.
When I bought her, she had three different tyres on her wheels. Two were of the same manufacturer and model, on the front wheels. On one of the rear wheels, one was the same manufacturer as the front ones, but of a different model. Of the other rear wheel and the spare wheel, they were of a different manufacturer and of same model.
I later changed them all for four brand new matching tyres.
In those photographs: I had invited my best friend to come with me, out to the Forest of Dean, on a test drive and also for some quick photo shoots. We had drove to different places around the Forest of Dean, and stopped there when I noticed an old disused railway bridge.
We walked up the bank, and onto the bridge, and that’s when I noticed my car down there, so decided to take some photos.
About the Freelander.
In the United Kingdom during the later 1980s, British Aerospace bought the Rover Group. The Rover cars team and the Land Rover team, each wanted to put forwards a new idea. Rover cars wanted to pitch for an idea of a MPV, inspired by the Renault Espace. Land Rover on the other hand, wanted to put forth an idea for a compact 4x4 lifestyle SUV, based on the Suzuki Vitara.
The Rover and the Land Rover teams worked on their ideas separately until they were co-housed together, and it became known as the Pathfinder Project. British Aerospace wanted a collaboration with other car makers to save on costs, and Hyundai joined as development partner. The project was then renamed as Oden, and it stumbled on for a while until 1993.
In October 1993, at the Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota showed off its new RAV-4 model. Inspired by the RAV-4, the Oden project team came up with a prototype, and it was given a codename of CB40.
By 1994, the German car maker BMW bought the Rover Group. BMW could see a potential in the CB40 project and encouraged Land Rover team to develop it further. Land Rover wanted CB40 to be the kind of Land Rover for new customers who never before thought about owning and driving a 4x4. It was to be developed into a compact SUV that feels like a car while on road, but can do light and simple off-roading, for the kind of drivers who don’t want to do extreme off-roading.
The CB40 had gone through various engine designs, mostly those build for Rover cars, like the K-Series and engines supplied by BMW, like the BMW M47. It was also designed to come in either a 3-door or 5-door variations, both with a side-opening tail door. The 3-door Sport models also came with either a hard top or a soft top.
The Freelander was originally going to be called Land Rover Highlander, but another company owns the trademarked name, so the production management had to think of another name, and thus the Freelander name was born, just in time for its launch in 1997.
About the location.
The photographs were taken from the top of an old disused railway bridge, called Blackpool Bridge, found in an area called Blackeney Hill Woods. It is located in approximately southeast part of Forest of Dean, and approximately northwest of the village of Blakeney.
That was part of the Forest of Dean Central Railway, and would run from various mines in the Forest of Dean area, transporting mineral goods, with the aim of taking them to a new docks at Brimspill on the River Severn.
There were serious money problems, and they struggled to build the railway, by the time it was opened in 1868, most of the collieries were closing down. The company was unable to finance the lines from Awre Junction to Brimspill.
Sections after sections closed down over a matter of years, until by 1949, it was completely closed. The bridge I stood on, was just one what’s left of the railway line.
