this is not the post for you,
which is a shame as we are only making one post to day, as it is bit large, with over 200 photographs, so off out of the park,
past the rhododendrons,
and one peony bush about to flower,
and one that is in flower,
when ever I see these they are normally red and have 'double' flowers, the first time I have seen 'single' white peonies in more years than I care to remember!
opposite the church I caught the 227,
to Crystal Place, where at the site where it once stood there was to be a motosport weekend, titled Motorsport at the Palace,
before entering the site there were already a few cars in the car park to look at, a 1960s Wolseley,
and a much newer Morgan Aero,
and a very unusual Alfa-Romeo,
I know a little about UK bikes and cars, but not a lot about American automobiles, I am guessing a Chevrolet,
at the top of the steps,
a quick look at some of the cars on display,
after paying to get in £12.00 for an adult, I started to have a look around at the stalls selling bits and pieces,
lots of items for man caves,
or in my case manattic,
all sorts of motoring memorabilia
and toys,
lots of toys,
and now I know what to do with unwanted oil drums,
make a suite of furniture from them,
so many things to buy,
also here the hog roast,
and a small fair with rides,
for when the ankle bitters got bored of looking at cars,
and bikes, and here they were, all of these in the enclosure are for the race track only,
and what a beauty this is,
a Vincent Black Shadow, or maybe the legendary Black Lightning,
either one, the motorcycle of my dreams,
a Scott Flying Squirrel, may years ago a friend of mine Rob had one of these, a 600cc water cooled two stroke twin made 1935, I asked what is the advantage of having the bike water cooled? here replied, 'it freezes, boils and leaks!',
these take me back,
where in the 1960s I would watch kneelers as they were called, roar around Brands Hatch,
Paul Dunstall will be remembered as one of the first to introduce the 'Cafe Racer', to the motorcycle world back in the 1960s, this one a 500cc model,
a real racer it it's day,
the Matchless G50, although not as powerful as the Norton's it competed against, it was much lighter, making it a formidable machine when it came to twisty circuits,
I made my way back past the stalls,
the television aerial in the distance,
as I passed the top of the circuit I had a quick look down as one of the cars screamed past,
nearing Big Tree Corner, number 11 had a bit of a moment,
the car was a 1964 Pandora Sport Racing Car,
these were just the practise laps, I should mention the cars are not racing against each other, it is a time trial over a set course, using what was once the racing circuit here,
I had a look at some of the cars on display,
these from Honda,
a couple of Morgans,
now this Nissan GT-R, I could fall in love with very easily!,
one of my many adolescent dream cars, the Lotus Cortina,
my attention was drawn to the track,
there was a parade for the racing motorcycles starting,
first the 'kneelers', that's the way to do it!
what memories were brought back,
as the aroma of Castrol R wafted across the track, note of warning, this highly efficient oil should never be mixed modern day mineral based or synthetic oils, it is one or the other,
the Vincent coughed and chugged past, it was seriously misfiring and woefully down on performance,
not so the others,
who came hurtling around at a blistering pace,
the kneelers came by again,
this was supposed to be a parade, but you know how it is, it soon became a race a between like sized motorcycles,
parade over back to looking at the parked cars,
one of these please,
a tribute to the Steve McQueen Mustang,
a nice Aston,
with its straight 6 engine,
if you area Harry Potter fan you will recognise this Ford Anglia,
an American,
with a flathead V8,
a nice and well presented Riley,
I am at a total loss as to what this car is,
but they certainly make a nice pair,
for some the shade of the trees made a pleasant break.
I continued my walk,
a very nicely presented Ford Escort,
I have to admit I am not up in the world of racing cars, but this one hit all the right buttons for being an out and out racer,
the Pandora in a quieter moment,
what a beauty,
it all looks so simple,
compared to today's engines,
another nice one for me,
time for a coffee,
and burger,
and yes I would like a McClaren!
or my one of these back!
I have not seen one of these for years, an Elva,
another Cobra,
with a real big block in it,
as I approached this car,
I thought it was an Alfa Romeo,
but I got it totally wrong, it was a Fiat,
a look across to some more cars,
I made my way to the start line,
where the McClaren was first off,
1930 Austin 7 Ulster,
who despite its size put on a cracking show,
the 1934 Riley TT Sprite,
was not slow either,
a 1936 Frazer Nash Emeryson,
passes the bales,
the first American,
and I do not know what it is,
but look out,
here come the Brits!
in minis,
and Cortinas,
the Brits rolled on with a 1960 Austin Healey Sprite MK1,
and a 1967 Aston Martin DB6 MK1,
then the Mustang,
by now the cars were upping the pace,
this 1971 Datsun 240z taking 47 seconds to complete the course,
the 1973 Jaguar E Type just 0.15 seconds faster,
1974 MG Midget, the sports car for many of my friends in the 1970s
going a tad faster,
the 1999 Subaru Impreza,
followed by the 1998 Mitsubishi Evo 5,
again just a fraction of a second slower,
a lot slower the Fiat, 1979 Autobianchi Abarth coming in at 50.46,
but still giving all that it had,
the only Ferrari at the meeting a 1977 308 GT4,
this is the favourite car of Mark who is in Cambodia, a MG,
and the car this track was built for, a Lotus,
a modern day mini, goes through its paces,
and is followed by another Lotus,
another Lotus Elise,
and another mini,
the Fiat,
that I saw parked up earlier,
a Lotus 7 made in 1963,
there were a number of Lotus and Caterham 7s here today,
in open cars like these,
you ca really see the drivers at work,
a newer Alfa Romeo,
and a Lotus,
the Cobra,
now passing the bales,
and a saloon not normally associated with motorsport,
a Volvo,
the 1961 Elva Courier I saw earlier,
1964 E type Jaguar,
another unusual car for me,
a 1962 GSM Delta,
back to Harry Potter,
and this Escort,
trying really hard!
as did his friends,
in the same class,
another Ford,
to the fray,
a 1986 BMW M3,
the place being hotly contested by a 1989 Ford Sierra XR4X4,
the Cobra replica,
driver applying the brakes with gusto,
a Triumph TR 7,
given a choice I would have preferred the TR 8,
some more Lotus,
and Caterham 7s,
took to the rack,
2015 Audi RS6 makes a blistering pace,
this Ford Escort,
pulled out all of its stops,
the driver of this 1962 Chaparral really going for it,
and he makes the perfect exit,
not so number 27,
the blue smoke a testament to his late breaking!
as the rain started I made a move for home,
a few of the food,
and drink stalls,
the rain on the lens getting worse,
but I just had to get the camera bit wetter when I saw this one,
and this one,
arriving home the rain had stopped,
so a couple of photographs,
of the roadside flower bed,
into the park,
and at home for a late Sunday roast,
lamb with gravy for Diana,
no gravy for myself,
and to round off the meal, apple crumble with ice cream and cream,
'cheers!',
as we were finishing the meal, the rain started again, and gave us a rainbow, we listened to music for the rest of the evening, and as the midnight hour approached we were off to bed.
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