One evening in the spring of 1967 we received a phone call from Peter Rowe, who owned a motorboat, which he moored on the River Severn near Tewkesbury. There had been a period of exceptionally heavy rain that had caused severe flooding. Peter was concerned about the security of his boat, he asked that I take him to see his boat; to make sure that it had not broke from its mooring, in one of the Diesel Land Rovers that we owned at the time.

“Hail Mary full of grace…..”

As was the way, always being prepared and willing to oblige, we met and set off on what was to be a very scary adventure. All was well, but as we approached to within a mile or so of the mooring, we could see the flooded fields the waters were deep. We had to travel along country lanes, then we saw the flood waters on the road ahead, I was very concerned at what I saw, I was even more concerned when Peter calmly said “just stay in the centre of the hedge rows” I stopped and engaged low range on the Land Rover, being pleased that it was diesel powered, wondering what I had let myself in for! Carefully following Peters instructions, I stayed in the centre of the road, the water getting deeper the further we travelled, when I could not see the road anymore. I asked Peter about turning around and heading back, when he told me that there was nowhere to turn, I began to pray, the deep water was now lapping onto the bonnet, I prayed even harder. Driving the Land Rover hard low gear, high revs, concentrating on the hedgerows, I was relieved to see the river bridge parapets ahead. However, little did I realise that there was worse to come, to reach the crown of the bridge then higher ground we had to travel through the fast flowing water, water that could not go under the bridge. As main current hit us side on, I thought that we were going to lose the vehicle with us inside, the Land Rover leant heavily to the offside but continued to safety, a big sigh relief from me was met with Peter saying “thanks Dave, the boat is O.K. did you see it? The warps (ropes) are holding no problem, right, we can head back now!” he seemed oblivious to the concerns that I had by asking me if had seen his beloved craft. We went on a massive detour to return home safely always on dry land, we often laugh as we recall the adventure. When Peter bought his next vehicle it was a Land Rover, he has owned Land Rover Discovery ever since that time.