Incident 03

The site that I saw as I reached the Common

Incident 3 - Two women stuck on a common

I parked my 4x4 on the edge of a large piece of common land and set off for a walk with my dog. The area is grass covered and was quite wet, following a few weeks of snow and rain. It gradually slopes up towards a flatter area, where there is one house. This is reached by a lane that runs up to it from a country road, about a mile away. There is an area of tarmac outside the house, but there is nothing stopping anyone from driving straight onto the grass common land from this area.

I gradually made my way up the slope and when I got towards the top I saw a VW people carrier parked and apparently unattended on the grass fairly close to the end of the tarmac area by the house. As I got nearer I realised that the front wheels were down in ruts made in the grass, which were now quite muddy. It was obvious that the driver had tried to turn round at the end of the tarmac, had gone onto the grass and had then got stuck. There was no one close about, although there were a few other people scattered about at various points on the common, all walking their dogs.

I took a few photos and then walked back down the slope to my vehicle. I was keeping a look out for anyone coming back to the VW, but when I last saw it, it was still marooned in the mud.

I drove around the common and came up the track to the house. Luckily the VW was still there! I parked on the edge of the tarmac, facing towards the VW, but on a slight angle to it and in a position that I could have a clear view of its wheels, either side of my front door pillar i.e. the offside wheel through my windscreen and it nearside wheel through my drivers window. Anyone sat in the VW drivers seat would only see the door pillar between my drivers door and my windscreen. Clever!

I then sat and waited and hoped!

I had a couple of false starts, were people came towards the vehicle but either then carried on past down the track or turned off and went around the edge of the common land.

I was getting pretty close to giving up and it was starting to get dark, when I saw two figures walking from behind me over in my direction. I could not see them very clearly as it would have meant turning round in my seat. As my plan was to appear as though I was asleep in my car, I did not want them to see me moving about!

Luckily then came very close to my vehicle and as they were approaching from behind, they did not get to look directly at me. I was therefore able to look at them as soon as they had walked past me, heading for what was obviously their vehicle. I had been worried all afternoon that a man may have been driving, and that I would have wasted my time completely. My heart skipped a few beats as I realised that it was two women who were coming towards me. What was even better was that they were both aged in their early 30’s, not some old gals! One of the ladies was carrying a black refuse bag. They had a black collie dog with them that was running about ahead of them.

They both wore jeans, tucked into black boots. One had black jeans and one blue jeans. They had similar boots in that they both were leather and finished below their knees, with heels of about 2 to 3 inches. Both had their jeans tucked into their boots. The blonde lady was of quite slim build and was wearing a black hip length winter coat. The dark curly haired lady was slightly bigger build and was quite a bit taller, but not fat in the slightest. She was wearing a Barber coat that finished just above her knees.

They walked straight up to the VW and the blonde opened the tailgate. The dog jumped in and then whilst she was closing it, the dark tall lady bent down and started feeling in the black plastic bag. She pulled out what appeared to be small off cuts of carpet. She then walked to the front wheels and started placing them in the ruts in front of and behind the tyres. The blonde was in the meantime, standing by the now open drivers door, taking off her gloves. She got in and started the engine. I was expecting the tall lady to stand and watch to see if the blonde was able to drive out okay, so that she could push if she needed to.

I was surprised when she then went over to the passenger door and stood taking her coat off. She then got in, and for some reason she then opened her window. I think the blonde driver may have opened her window as well, but I could not tell for certain.

The driver then sat revving the engine for almost two minutes. I was starting to get worried that they were in fact waiting for someone, maybe a recovery truck or local farmer, to pull them out, and only had the engine on to keep warm.

Suddenly and without any warning the wheels of the VW started to spin. The blonde had obviously been warming up the engine, probably in the mistaken believe that it would help her to get out of the ruts if the engine was warm and giving her more power. My wife did this once when she got stuck, and was convinced that she would get on better if the engine had warmed up, as there would be more power to help her get out (she is blonde as well!).

As soon as the wheels started to spin, one of the pieces of carpet that the tall lady had placed behind the front nearside wheel, went flying out from underneath the car, and landed about three feet further back, under the passenger door.

I don’t know if the driver realised this, but in any case, she just carried on trying to drive out front wards. I could see that both of her front wheels were spinning, even though I could only see the inner part of the offside wheel. The nearside tyre was spinning round and round in the muddy rut. It was not racing at high speed, just a constant slow turning. After about 10 seconds (it seemed much longer!) she stopped and immediately went into reverse. The wheel quickly started to spin in the opposite direction and after a few seconds the carpet that had been in front of it flew out and landed about three or four feet in front of the car. I did not see anything come out from the offside wheel.

This time I heard the engine revs increase and the wheels started to spin round more quickly. The car hardly moved at all and it was obvious that their plan to use the carpet pieces had not worked. If only I could have heard what they were saying to each other!

Nothing happened for about 30 seconds and then the taller lady got out and looked at both of the front wheels in turn. She picked up the carpet from in front of the nearside wheel and again tried to shove them deep into the rut and against the tyre. She picked up both other pieces and replaced them as well. She took a lot longer placing them in the ruts this time, as she was obviously trying to force them into the dips, so that they would not fly out again.

She then stood back and waved at the blonde to try again. Suddenly she ran the couple of paces to the wheel and placed her foot on the edge of the piece of carpet, which she had put in front of the nearside wheel. She again waved at the driver to try again. This time the blonde seemed to let the clutch up very slowly. I could see the VW starting to move forwards an inch or two. However, the wheel suddenly lost traction again and started to slip round and round in the rut. The tall one beckoned to the driver to speed up and keep trying, whilst she was still stood on the edge of the piece of carpet with her right boot.

The tall lady then started making an up and down arm movement. She seemed to be indicating that she wanted the blonde to pump the accelerator up and down! I could not believe what I was seeing. It got even better when the blonde actually understood what she meant and started doing just that! I could hear the engine revs going up and down and the wheels started spinning quickly, then slowly, then quickly again. The car was rocking backwards and forwards slightly in the rut. However, it did not make a big enough difference to get the car out from it.

After about 20 seconds the blonde stopped trying. She must have selected reverse because she turned her head over her left shoulder and looked behind her, before letter up the clutch and really going for it. She was very aggressive and the wheels span round backwards at high speed. She did not let up and she did not pump. She just let them spin and spin. After what seemed like an age, but was actually probably only 15 seconds, she let the revs drop and then started pumping the accelerator again. The wheels went round quickly then slowly repeatedly. I think that she may have even been rocking a little in her chair, but it was difficult to see because of the sky reflecting on her windscreen.

She then stopped and her car door opened. She got and the tall lady walked round to meet her. They both stood looking at the front offside wheel. I could still see the front part of the section of carpet that she had placed in front of the tyre, but could not tell if the piece behind was still in situ.

If only I could have heard what they said!

Suddenly, one of them started walking way, in my direction. It was the blonde, and she seemed to be coming over to speak to me. I quickly closed my eyes and tried to give a good impression of someone being asleep. However, it was rather difficult, as I was really excited by what I had been watching and was a bit red in the face!

I heard her tap on the window. I waited for a second tap, so that she hopefully really did think I was asleep. I opened my eyes and got my first proper look at the blonde. She was lovely and was smiling broadly. I opened my car door and she said “I am so sorry to wake you up, but we were wondering if you might be able to help us. We are stuck” I tried to sound sleepy and so I slowly said “Stuck? What do you mean?” She replied “My car is stuck in the mud, you know, the wheels are spinning and I can’t get off the grass”. I said “Why did you drive on the grass, its all muddy?. She said “Yes, I know, but we were busy talking and I was not really concentrating and I needed to turn round at the end of the tarmac. I thought it would be okay, but obviously it wasn’t” I said “What happened then?”. She said “Well I almost made the turn, but I had to go up a slight incline. The car slowed and I was too busy talking and did not give it enough revs and stalled it. When I started up and tried to pull away the wheels just span round. It was so slippery” I said “Have you tried reverse?” She said “Oh yes, I tried that straight away, but I could only move a foot or so. Then I tried to go forwards again. I gradually got so that I could move forwards or backwards less and less. I am now in a rut and I can not get the wheels up over the edge of it. We were wondering if you could give us a push. My friend has tried but she is not strong enough. It needs a man”.

I thought to myself ‘Well there is a little lie, I did not see her trying to push’, but then I realised that she might have meant that she tried before they walked off with the dog and before I got there.

I said “We need to find something to put under the wheels, have you got any floor mats in you car? She said “Yes, but we have already tried that, we called at the farm to see if they had a tractor that could pull us out, but it has broken down and there was only the old farmers wife at home. She gave us some pieces of carpet to put under the wheels. We have done that but I still can’t get out of the ruts”

I said “I had better come and have a look” I walked over to the VW with her and asked her if she had been stuck like this before. She told me that once she had reversed into a gateway and had then got stuck when trying to get back out, but that was the only time.

I introduced myself to the tall lady when I got to the car. She said her name was Jane and the blonde told me her name was Ruth. I asked Ruth to show me what happened when she tried to drive. She got in and as she did so, Jane said “I put carpet under the wheels like my husband suggested, but they keep flying out as soon as she starts to drive. I even tried standing on one to hold it in place. Its quite scary when your foot is only about 4 inches away from a wheel that is spinning round at high speed”

Ruth started the car and tried to slowly pull away. I saw both her front wheels spin round and round in their respective ruts. There was no way she was going to be able to drive out. I went up to the passenger door and opened it. I asked Ruth to stop and wait until we were both ready to push. I asked her to then repeatedly raise and lower the clutch pedal, whilst at the same time doing the same with the accelerator, but at opposite times. She seemed to understand and so I asked Jane to push from the back, and told them that I would push on the passenger door pillar, so that I could see what was happening with the front wheel and therefore tell her which way to turn the steering wheel.

Once we were all ready she tried to pull away and as soon as her wheels started spinning, I coached her on how to pump her pedals. I had a nice view of her left leg, which was pumping the clutch pedal up and down. She did not seem to notice that I was paying far more attention to her legs, than I was to the front wheel! I did occasionally look at the wheel, just to show some concern! However seeing her leg going up and down whilst encased in a nice tight fitting pair of jeans, that were themselves tucked into the top of a pair of leather boots was almost too much for me! I could see that she was pivoting her right foot on the heel of her boot as she pressed the accelerator up and down. She had a really determined look on her face as she continually rocked her right foot on the pedal and lifted her leg up and down. The car rocked a few inches backwards and forwards as she tried desperately to get it up and out of the rut.

It was obvious that she had no hope trying like that. I told her to give it more power, which she did, making the wheels spin even more quickly, but still she did not move. Over the noise of the now racing engine, I called to her to rock in her seat. She gave me a strange look and so I explained how using her weight along with our pushing, we might be able to get up enough momentum to get her up over the hump at the end of the rut. Again she seemed to quickly grasp what I wanted her to do and went straight into trying to give it her best. I think she must have realised that this was probably her last chance to get out with only the three of us there. She gripped the steering wheel tightly and continually rocked her upper body in her seat, exactly in time with her letting the clutch up and down. I could not believe that she could be so good at it, having never done it before. I watched her straining to keep going, having been raising and lowering her leg for quite a long time She said “Can I stop soon, my leg is killing me, and I can’t get it out anyway, I really am stuck here”

I went over to my truck. I knew that I did have a rope and had to decide whether I told them I did or not. I could probably have got Jane to drive and us put car mats under the wheels or something. However, I decided that I had seen plenty and if I got them out now, they would be very grateful. I found the rope and came back with it. When they saw that I was carrying one, they both cheered up and were like little school girls, jumping up and down with excitement. I attached the rope to their car and went back to fetch my 4x4. I soon had it attached and gave them a pull. As soon as her wheels were out of the rut, Ruth was able to drive the last few feet to the tarmac without needing a pull. I undid the rope and was just about to shut the tailgate to then turn and say goodbye, when I realised that they were both stood right beside me, one on each side. Ruth put her arms up around my neck and gave me a great big kiss on the lips. Jane told me to turn the other way and face her, and then she did the same, but on my cheek. They were both really full of praise for me, saying that they would both have been there all night if it was not for me, and things like that. We said our goodbyes and off they went, as happy as could be.

I wonder if it ever dawned on them later on, that as I had the tow rope in my vehicle all the time, why had I not got it out right at the beginning, rather than wanting to see ‘what was happening’ and then getting involved in helping push. I hope they never come across this account, or become members of this site!