Stowe School sits in beautiful Buckinghamshire parkland near Silverstone race track. Every year on Speech Day, the school likes to offer parents and pupils something extra and I was invited to bring a suitable car as part of a display of a classics. The rain did not dampen spirits and 70+ automobiles were assembled on the front lawn with strict instructions to bring a drip tray to catch any wayward oil. I borrowed the ex- Sir Malcolm Campbell 1938 Ford V8 Woodie and arrived dry.
‘ROBIN!’ I hear bellowing across the hallowed turf, and there stands Robert Simpson with the lovely Mrs Dixon climbing out of their pretty 1926 Fiat Spyder 509A. We hurry to the drivers’ marquee to find The Automobile’s entire editorial staff already deep in conversation with the most senior ‘Old Stoic’ present – Steady Barker. Wine flowed, coffee flowed, Barker jokes flowed. All too soon, the heavenly sound of the carillon bells rang out calling us to lunch and what a fine meal they gave us. When you see pine kernals in the salad, you know you are in good company.
Just as we finished the second helpings of pavlova Mrs Dixon relayed the news there was a Hurricane coming. By now the sun was shining so I doubted her meteorological accuracy, but I followed the rush for the door in case we needed to take shelter and was greeted by the unmistakable sound of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine blasting over the buildings at very low altitude. Pine kernals AND a Hurricane flypast – we were in very good company! Out on the lawn the pupils were escaping from parents and inspecting the cars. The Duke of Rutland was drinking champagne in his 1908 Renault tourer (in his family from new), a 1902 Curved Dash Oldsmobile rubbed shoulders with a 2014 McLaren P1. There was something for everybody – including the famous 1923 Aston Martin ‘Razor Blade’ and a gleaming 1932 Bugatti Type 51 whose Dunlop racing tyre Mrs Dixon found perfectly comfortable.
(Text and photos by Robin Batchelor)