The clocks ‘go back’ this weekend which marks the official end of British Summer Time. It was Germany that first introduced daylight saving in 1915 and Britain followed in 1916. It is New Zealand who can take credit for the idea thanks to George Vernon Hudson who proposed it in 1895, but his native country waited until 1927 before introducing it.
So with time being on my mind, I dug out my slowest car – a 1925 Trojan Utility with top speed of 35 mph – and went to visit Dina. Timing is very important in her job as a concert pianist – just listen to her playing Prokovief’s Sonata No. 2.(click), and you can watch her here. Or do you prefer a Scarlatti sonata? She started playing the piano age 5 in her home country of Kazakhstan and has won numerous awards whilst performing all over the world. Her next concert is at The Royal College of Music in London on November 13th in their Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, named after the accomplished cellist who was author Ian Fleming’s half-sister and Augustus John’s illegitimate daughter.
As the setting sun heralded the end of another Autumn day, Dina decided to try out the hood in case it rained – she has spent enough time in England to understand our strange weather. And now she understands a bit more about our strange cars.
(Text & pictures Robin Batchelor)