Tag Archives: Vintage Cars

At Home in Woodmancote, Cars, cars, cars, cars cars!

Coffee and Classics

Today (Sunday) we spent a really enjoyable morning at The Classic Motor Hub which we’ve just discovered tucked away in the depths of the Cotswold countryside, about 10 miles up the road at Ablington near Bibury.  As it was a warm and sunny day we took the TR3A;  fortunately I’d given it a bit of a ‘spruce up’  in preparation because the general standard of the cars there was fantastic.  We joined perhaps two hundred visitors, most of whom arrived in or on classic vehicles – everything from Massey Ferguson tractors to vintage Bugattis – and spent a couple of hours wandering around oggling the  carson display as well as those in the car park. 

 
Nineteen sixties Ferraris at several million pounds a go, Italian boy racers at extravagant prices, quirky French veterans, monstrous Americans, stately Bentleys, fabulous Aston Martins and even a canary yellow Rolls Royce fit for any pop star!  You name it and it was probably there.  Well worth a return visit on the first Sunday of the month.

At Home in Woodmancote

Home again, and getting down to the serious business of retirement

Well, in truth I’ve decided that I’m not going to use the ‘R’ word; the reality is of course that I’m going to be just a busy as I was when I was in paid employment- probably more so!  The difference is that now that I don’t have to toddle off to work every weekday morning I can actually get on with all those jobs that have been stacking up for the past several years, plus a thousand and one new adventures/challenges, without the pressure of having to get everything done during the weekends.  It’s early days, but so far I think I like it!

There have been two big excitements in our lives since we returned home.  First of all, just to make sure that I’m not going to get bored with all this ‘free’ time that I’m going to have available, we’ve decided to buy ourselves a little bit of motoring history.  I’ve always been a bit of a petrolhead, and having owned and largely rebuilt a 1969 MGB over a period of nearly thirty years, for a number of years now I’ve nursed a hankering for something a little bit more unusual.    A 1929 Austin 12/4 ‘Heavy’ Tourer may not be everyone’s idea of exotic motoring, but I reckon its going to give us a lot of fun over the years to come.  ‘Bertie’, as we’ve decided to christen it, will arrive from Yorkshire towards the end of the month.

PENT5090

The other bit of excellent news is that Jennifer and Nathan have taken the plunge and got themselves engaged (to each other!).  Fantastic news and great excitement  all round.  We’re all delighted to welcome Nathan to the family and are happy in the knowledge that they’re very much in love with each other.   The really good news, of course, is that the wedding car is already sorted!