By Alex Davies

So a hen party is all L plates, strippers and tequila, right? No, no, no. Turning tradition on its head, a group of us donned our overalls with bride-to-be Sophie, for a day of muddy quad-biking fun

With a sat nav and some multi-map directions in hand, ten of us took to the road last weekend and ventured to Charlwood near Crawley. The itinerary seemed pretty simple – quad biking, archery and some off-road jeep driving to celebrate our friend‘s approaching nuptials. Naturally.

A quad of girls take on the traditional hen do - extreme style.

After being separated into groups by Rob, the lovely chap who runs the Crawley branch of Quad Nation, we began a round-robin of activities.

Surrounded by mud, horses and a whole lot of field, my group started with the jeeps. Now, reverse steer 4×4 jeeps do exactly what they say on the tin. If you steer right, you will go left. Cue a few near-misses, a crash into a lamppost, and a hairy encounter with a curious horse. Lack of power steering also makes this a pretty challenging sport to master, but good (and patient) guides meant it was absolutely hilarious and worth persisting with.

4x4 reverse steer jeeping

Next, we turned to the archery. My Mum actually does an archery course and I now appreciate how tired she is after each class. Although there’s not much movement involved, holding the weight of the bow combined with some strenuous pulling of the string gives you a pretty decent arm work-out.

Tips: stand side on, hold the bow so that you create a straight line with your arms, pull back the string as hard as you can (don’t touch the arrow), aim lower than you think, then let go. I was no Robin Hood but still managed to hit the target once or twice (which isn’t a given as some of the group will testify!)

Archery...a sport loosely associated with love, in a way

And then finally, we came to the quad bikes. The most fun part of the day, I am now obsessed with owning a quad bike (you can ride them around Croydon, can’t you?) They’re not too difficult to drive once you’re in gear, as there’s only really a brake and accelerator to think about. The centre has open fields and rougher woodland for you to test out the vehicles, so you can fuel your adrenalin rush with a good degree of speed while still staying safe in a marshalled group. Happy days.

Bride on the run?

Fun and challenging, the day was pretty amazing albeit bloody exhausting. The friendly and trained staff make sure that you’re safe but offer a great experience.

Quad Nation has venues throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Prices start from £40 per person, and vary depending on group numbers, activities, etc.