Well, what an experience that was! Taking a positive stance, it was a testimony to the stoicism of the British Midlands Classic Car enthusiasts, nothing daunts their desire to show off or to admire these works of art. What am I referring to? you might guess, that meteorological element that perversely dampens (pun intended!) to many events, of all types, held in this fair land – rain!
To set the scene – earlier in the day I had exchanged texts with my son, who was going to accompany me on the trip to the September ‘Gaydon Gathering’, concerning the weather. It was forecast to rain in the afternoon early evening so we decided that if at, say, 4.30 pm it was “throwing it down” and it look set to remain that way for some time, we would abandon our trip; on the other hand if it was only a light drizzle we would go. I should say that we were only spectators, we do not possess exotic machines that we wanted to display. I looked out of the widow at 4.30 pm and saw that there was a very light drizzle, so, I set out to pick my son up on the way to Gaydon. By the time I had got to his house the drizzle had become light rain, still not heavy enough to deter us so off we set.
By the time we joined the M40 at junction 15, it was raining pretty heavily, to the extent that had it been at that level before we set out we would have abandoned the plan. Too late now, let’s hope it doesn’t last, at this level for too long. The five miles travelled down the motorway was as bad as I have ever experienced in driving rain, with low visibility and heavy traffic, “scary!”. As we approached Gaydon we told ourselves that we were probably the only people mad enough to come to the Gathering on an evening like this. But as we approached the car park a young steward approached us and cheerily gave instructions on where to park. Even his cheery manner lifted our spirits, they were lifted further when we saw that there were other intrepid participants in this watery lark. Interesting cars were displayed, as is normally the case on these monthly (except winter months) Gaydon Gatherings and there were a number of cars in the visitors car park where I parked my car. We erected our golf umbrellas and strode forth into the wind and rain to look at the cars. The sad thing is that some of the exhibitors left early because of the weather.
The star turn of the evening was the Jaguar 220 storming up the hill opposite the Museum entrance made even more spectacular by the rear wheels spinning on the wet tarmac.
A final tribute to all who turned up on such a wet evening, especially to those of you who put your “pride and joy” on display. Here are some of the cars that I was able to capture, through the rain, starting with cars from the Museum’s Jaguar collection –
An enjoyable event, despite the rain, as the ‘Gaydon Gatherings’ always are.
Nick
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