It has been a while since I
posted here, Summer raced by and what a nasty wet one it was. Now it is
shocking to see the mince pies on the supermarket shelves and a pleasure to see
the leaves change colour; Autumn is my favourite season.
The stand out event of the last
month was for me the Goodwood Revival. I haven’t been before, I am not a ‘petrol
head’ and have always been more drawn to the horseracing. This year however
things came together, I was able to join the Chap Magazine Olympiad crowd who
had been invited to display their sporting prowess at the event. Additionally a kind friend was prepared to put
me up in Lewes which is one of my favourite English towns. I knew it would be a
good weekend when I arrived and a cosy drink in the Lewes Arms was followed by
a delicious meal prepared by my friend’s parents.
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| Fleur de Guerre (photo), Bethan and myself on the flying chair thingy. |
I knew that the Goodwood Revival
was the ‘vintage’ inclined event and that Goodwood had dabbled with the scene
by holding with Wayne Hemingway a Goodwood Vintage event a couple of years ago
which had spawned various controversies. At the same time I was aware this was
a serious three day weekend of motor racing, motorbike racing and aeroplane fly
bys and displays. I was not sure how I
would find this, I don’t even drive. In fact I did actually have to stop one
friend mid eulogy about some automobile engine and say ‘I am very sorry but I
don’t have the faintest idea what you are talking about’. Basically for me a
car is pretty, glamorous or suits my outfit. I care rather more about the
person driving it and whether I can have a ride in it than any technical
specifications. But I do have to say there were a great many very very pretty
cars. There is also pleasure to be derived from being around enthusiasts having
a great time in nearly all environments ( although some things, like dogging,
or EDL demos are best avoided).
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| Gustav lighting the Olympic Pipe. |
There was a great deal to keep
the vintage/retro/history fiend busy. The roar of racing engines is a fine
backdrop to pootling around in your finery, even better were the aeroplanes
whizzing around the skies, wellington bombers, spitfires and on one evening a
plane with a brightly lit propeller were constantly whizzing through the skies distracting
you from the shopping, drinking, eating and automobile porn all around.
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| My 40's housewife look. |
Retro wise there was something
for everyone. There were various high
points. I loved the jolly faux fight between mods and rockers outside the retro
Tescos, just typing that makes me smile. The Dad’s Army re-enactors were fun,
and whilst in forties civvy street clothing on the Sunday I found myself
flanked by Lance Corporal Jones trying to give me some sausages and Private Joe
Walker trying to sell me black market nylons. Shortly after this we had a very
civilised cup of tea with Harry and Edna in their CC21 display area. Nearby there were also live camels, party of
a Lawrence of Arabia themed exhibit. The
Chap Olympiad fitted extremely well into all this, providing an extra dose of
surreal nonsense and particularly delighting families, after all what child is
not entertained by men in hats battering each other with umbrellas? We were ‘on’three
times a day, the audience were happy to participate and groups of people came
back to watch it again. There was a
diverse range of entertainment available, including Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer
in the Speckled Hen Tent and Black Elvis in the Butlins tent. There was also
dancing, lots to drink and eat and of course, the racing.
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| Chap Olympiad participants. |
This is an expensive event, but
unlike some others I won’t be churlish enough to mention it was good value. The
sheer number of vehicles, the racing, the vintage events, the shopping and the
atmosphere were excellent. Lord March and his team seem to be pitching it very
well to appeal to a wide range of visitors whilst, despite the crowds still
maintaining an element of glamour. I
would love to obtain access to some of the ‘clubs’ and private pavilions but
was very happy to meander around generally. The cold war theme adopted this
year was applied with humour, I particularly liked the Sputnik satellite that
had crashed by the entrance. This event
is great fun and I am looking forward to next year. I could even grow to like
the smell of petrol and the roar of engines..