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Total Off-Road Magazine Article

Centre Report Nationwide 4x4 Centre
The Professional Approach
Words Bobby Cowling

As the Nationwide 4x4 is owned by the man behind the Baja GB and Macmillan Challenge, you may expect it to be a mud-pluggers haven, filled with endless water splashes and covered in deep, thick mud. However, as the school specialises almost entirely in professional driver training only sensible off-roading is encouraged, though visitors are still guaranteed a good time while also picking up plenty of new knowledge.

At the Nationwide 4x4 centre at Glynneath, South Wales, Managing Director Selwyn Kendrick is taking the TOR team through the pre-driving classroom session and illustrates his next point by projecting onto the wall an image of a Land Rover 90 semi-submerged in a thick brown slurry. Instinctively, I find myself murmuring in admiration though I’m cut short by Selwyn barking, ‘we don’t like that. This kind of driving is not what we’re all about.’ I surreptitiously try to turn the murmur into an unconvincing cough while Selwyn explains the negative impact this kind of off-roading has on the environment. A short while later he describes an occasion when he was asked if he would hold driving ‘play days’ at his site and how he instantly dismissed the idea feeling it would go against his whole ethos.

From this brief introductory account you may already have formed an image of Selwyn as one of the stiff, stuffy chaps that you occasionally find in off-road circles, though in fact nothing could be further from the truth. If you are not already familiar with his name, you ought to know that Selwyn is an off-road legend; not only does he organise the prestigious Baja GB described as the ‘ the biggest event in off-road motorsport in the UK’ he is also the man behind the Macmillan 4x4 Challenge, a popular navigational event that invariably raises more than £100,000 for charity each year. As such he is perfectly able to understand how a professional approach needs to differ from a recreational one, and while he remains a huge exponent of all things off-road, by carefully balancing the two approaches he is able to ensure his principles are never blurred or compromised.

Selwyn’s passion for off-roading actually dates back more than 25 years when, very different from Nationwide 4x4’s comfortable, modern premises, he was taught the theorectics of the hobby in a hill shed. Unlike his Land Rover loving contemporaries though, for a long time he opted to drive a 4x4 version of a Ford Transit van, and even attempted to enter the vehicle into competitive races though was prevented from doing so by MSA rules. After being made redundant from his career in chauffeur driving he began providing his own form of off-road instruction and in 1989 was approached by the Agriculture Training Board (now LANTRA) who asked him if he’d be willing to teach for an NVQ course.

Not long afterwards Nationwide 4x4 was born, an organisation that has quickly expanded to include five regional sites across Britain. In keeping with Selwyn’s maverick personality though, the company offers a very different form of training to your average off-road site, and it’s unlikely you’ll find any stag-parties or team-building groups mucking around here. This is mainly because Selwyn is likely to point them in the direction of other companies, as nowadays Nationwide 4x4 specialises almost exclusively in formal training.

Of course as a consequence of Britain’s prevalant ‘blame culture,’ the phrase ‘formal training’ has become something of a euphemism for companies covering their backs, with office workers being sent on five-day health and safety courses and accountants being forced to spend three hours learning how to correctly lift boxes. Fortunately, at Nationwide 4x4 the agenda may be rigorously to-the-book, but it is anything but dull.

One reason for this is that the instructors know their subject matter so well with Selwyn selecting his staff as much for their intelligence and outgoing personalities as their driving skills, and as such, even the most knowledgeable of motoring enthusiasts are likely to glean new information. Perhaps a two-hour introductory classroom lesson may sound fairly exhaustive, but when your gaining knowledge on how viscous coupling works, or how much weight a standard Land Rover 90’s roof will hold (72kg apparently!), it passes surprisingly quickly. It must be remembered too that Nationwide 4x4’s customers don’t visit the centre simply to have a good time, but instead to acquire potentially life-saving skills and knowledge, which can only be taught in great detail. That’s not to say they don’t have time to enjoy themselves either, as out of the expansive course there’s plenty of opportunity to get the adrenaline pumping and the heart racing.

Nationwide 4x4 differs from other organisations too in its range of vehicles, and instead of the typical Land Rover models you find elsewhere, the company currently uses two brand new 2.5 litre ford Rangers. Although this is partly a consequence of Selwyn’s good relations to the manufacturer, he also suggests that even in purely standard form these vehicles make very good off-roaders, with only their departure angles being a minor hindrance.

The undulating nature of the site, which covers an area that was once a large coal mine, is certainly capable of providing a challenge to these vehicles as I was soon to discover when Selwyn, detecting that I might have benefited from some previous off-road tuition, asked me to perform a failed hill climb on a worryingly steep slope. Fortunately, my nerve didn’t fail me and I was able to roll the vehicle safely to the bottom again before we went on to attempt the now familiar side-slope and hill descent tasks. From here though, Selwyn’s teaching strategy differed quite drastically and as well as setting me the challenge of driving around the course for as long as possible without touching the foot pedals, I was also asked to perform a steep descent while using the handbrake to control the vehicle. Although this was initially rather unnerving I soon got the hang of it and it was clear that the main approach to the Nationwide 4x4 is to allow customers to get to know their vehicle as well as possible. This is easily achieved too, particularly because Selwyn is such a skilled teacher, putting you instantly at ease with his easy-going nature and excellent sense of humour, while constantly informing you of everything the vehicle is doing.

Of course you can only learn as much as your teacher knows, which is why Nationwide 4x4 is so highly regarded among the industries that require it’s employees to drive off-road. Selwyn and his team have a deep understanding of all aspects of the off roading, including how fun and entertaining the activity can be, and while cynical recreationalists may dismiss the formal approach, if you’re intending to learn to drive off-road as part of your profession, it’s doubtful whether you’ll find a better institution in the entire country.

Questions
1. WHAT’S THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND NATIONWIDE 4X4?
It’s pretty much summarised by our slogan, ‘training the professionals’.

2. WHAT’S THE MAXIMUM GROUP SIZE?
16

3. WHO MAKE THE BEST DRIVERS?
The best drivers are the people that listen, though if they also understand the technicalities of the vehicle and want to learn, that helps too.

4. AND THE WORST?
People who think they know it all.

5. WHAT’S THE CENTRE’S UNIQUE SELLING POINT?
Our professionalism and high degree of expertise.

6. WHAT’S BEEN YOUR MOST FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE AS AN INSTRUCTOR?
When I was in Ireland teaching a group of botanists who were cultivating plants along the Dublin Canal, several members of the group were nuns, and for some reason I found the idea of teaching then quite terrifying!

7. WHAT THREE QUALITIES WOULD SOMEONE NEED TO BE A GOOD OFF-ROAD DRIVER?
Simply to understand the working principles of a vehicle, be able to plan ahead and respond accordingly.

8. HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUITION COST?
Between £200 - £1000 depending on what customers require
.
9. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DRIVING OFF-ROAD?
27 years.

10. WHAT DO YOU PARTICULARLY LIKE ABOUT YOUR HOBBY?
The whole idea of a person and a machine working in harmony.

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