A Very English Afternoon

Well I haven't been able to keep quiet about the fact that I had the chance to go out for a spin in a 1935 Aston Martin Ulster. We were lucky enough to be able to borrow this fabulous vintage car from the Aston Martin Heritage Trust and we actually drove it straight out of the Aston Martin Heritage Museum!

I can tell you a little about this lovely model, created from the race car which had much success in Goodwood and the Ulster TT (where it gained the name) there was interest in creating a road version and 21 were made (all of which are still running!). Of course as was very much done in the good old days, many road cars were entered into races & this model was apparently very successful. We managed about 60 mph which was pretty exhilarating & the race drivers of the time must have had more guts than me achieving speeds of over 100mph!

If you have been kind enough to be viewing my blog, you will recognise this fabulous early 1960's dress that I wore for the occasion. It has a matching cropped jacket which had to come off due to the lovely weather that was not forecast - someone was smiling on us!

I should apologise for the flattened & windswept hair, I should have taken more photos before we went out. Plus I had a (vintage of course) headscarf tightly tied under my chin to avoid the birds nest look - ok so I failed but at least I could still comb my hair that evening!!

You may be able to guess how silly I felt having my photo taken (I really don't like it) but I had promised a few friends that I would do so.

I had looked much more authentic earlier - honest but I did feel that effort had to be made to pop out in such a gorgeous car.

Now you would think that this would be the perfect opportunity to go for lunch or afternoon tea somewhere .... by the time we had stopped driving everywhere & though about food, everywhere was closed ha ha.

We did find this lovely looking pub which suited the occasion and so we popped back for dinner that evening. The Nelson was perfect, excellent food & service in a lovely setting.

Anyway if you happen to be in the Benson / Wallingford area of Oxfordshire & you love vintage cars then you should pop down to the Aston Martin Heritage trust Museum, it's really interesting & the people there are so friendly & helpful with loads of great stories and ideas of where to pop to for lunch afterwards!

Anyway it was sooo much fun & we giggled around the countryside waving and parping at everyone like Toad in Wind in the Willows ha ha. Definitely a day to remember!