1. By the House
For only the second time I was being driven to Goodwood, this time by John Sentinella. We had planned to leave at six o’clock, and I was completely ready from around five to six. Soon I heard John’s purring Jaguar approaching, and all my gear was already outside in the porch, so I quickly showed John a picture of a Le Mans Jaguar that I took the evening before when it pulled up outside the Pub on the far side of the road, in case he knew the owner, as I had learned that the owner lived locally. He did not. I popped it back inside and we put everything aboard and set off.
We took a slightly roundabout route going through the recently opened Liphook tunnels, and arrived just after our planned arrival time of seven-thirty in light drizzle, having been in blue sky for most of the journey down. We decided exactly what to take with us and set off from the car park. Our first port of call was the Super Car Paddock, uncrowded on arrival, though within minutes became packed. We strolled through the Style et Luxe and headed for the House, so that I could capture shots of the latest installation, before that was swamped by the public. This year's theme was in celebration of Lotus.
Having grabbed a few Installation shots from differing angles, I headed inside Goodwood House to say thank you for the tickets sent to me, and learned that earlier in the year Lord March had put on an exhibition of his private photography at the Bermondsey Gallery; his wife’s PR lady very kindly gave me a catalogue. Walking outside, who should be heading my way, but Charles, Lord March just finishing a video interview; I took a quick few shots for myself before approaching him and thanking him personally. I was amused that out of the corner of my eye, the cameraman moved to shoot our meeting! Later in the Style et Luxe area I spotted Brian Johnson of AC/DC being mobbed by fans.
Another highlight came with my visit to the Bloodhound stand where I was in conversation with some of the SSC staff and later the current Landspeed record holder, Andy Green. I also caught sight of Richard Noble who is due to pilot the craft. It is truly massive and involves considerable new technologies involving processes from Formula 1 for the nose section, and the aeronautical industries for the central section and naturally the propulsion. What I photographed was the tenth iteration of the craft; they are currently working with the eleventh and still need more funding in order to make it to the attempt on the record in South Africa.
A lone Typhoon performed in front of the house, but for much of the time, it was at a considerable distance, presumably for safety reasons, and some of that time was also somewhat cloudy which was a shame.
Because of several changes of routes and heavy traffic, my family arrived after an arduous three hour journey, that normally would have been just an hour. Trying to meet up proved fraught, due to overcrowded networks, but we did manage it, and either together or in groups we all thoroughly enjoyed the day.
I met several different and interesting people, and was able to pass on a few hints to some I met. The two vehicle-focussed meetings at Goodwood each year should not be missed as there is such a variety of activities, and so much to watch and learn, I cannot recommend it enough.
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