A short season

Little did I know when I drafted my post about Studley that this was likely to be the first and last road trip of the year. At that time, our diary was full of car events and road trips. However, the best laid plans of mice and men and all that and here we are 7 weeks into lockdown and no end in sight while the country, and indeed the world, tries to eradicate Covid 19 disease.

One by one, our events have been crossed out of the diary:

5th April NSRA Drive Out around Northamptonshire
18th April MK Classic Tour which included a lap of Millbrook  proving ground
25th April Sally and Jason Woolner's 10th anniversary party in Yaxley
1st May Pre 49 weekend to Derbyshire (rescheduled for next year)
Others have been postponed even though we are not there yet including
NSRA Fun Run
Holmfirth Motor Festival
and of course all the Santa Pod fixtures, which we had planned to miss this anyway but weren't expecting 30000 other people to join us too! Other things we had planned, like the Changing of the Guard have gone too. We are left with the Supernats in August and Isle of Man in September but we won't be too disappointed if they don't go ahead. We have written the year off and are making the most of it at home. Dave has been doing some work on his van, I have sorned the Beetle and the Astra just gets a weekly trip out to the supermarket.

The Phaeton has had two trips out from the shed though- one on my birthday when Dave washed and polished it to chauffeur me down the garden for my 60th birthday meal, which was a lot of fun and then on VE Day, 8th May to commemorate the 75th anniversary, it was parked in our front garden where we enjoyed a nice afternoon tea and received a number of appreciative comments from people walking by.

Warwickshire in January

Studley Castle

Studley Castle Spa

Our first road trip of the year, only 10 days in was to Warner’s Studley Castle in Warwickshire, just over an hour and a half away in the Astra, to celebrate our 30^th Wedding Anniversary. My latest Trip Advisor review:

The new jewel in Warner's crown!

Review of Studley Castle Hotel

Our 3 day weekend break was superb. The hotel and grounds are impressive and the money spent on it has taken into consideration everything a Warner's customer may want. The staff were mostly young, local people and all were polite, hardworking and friendly. Our stables room was quiet and comfortable, near to the luxurious Spa which we made full use of. There were plenty of excellent activities - Pilates, cycle spin, quizzes, a cosy little cinema all of which I took part in plus archery, shooting, boules and table tennis which I didn't do. The dining/ entertainments room is well designed to give a clear view of the stage and we were well looked after by the entertainments team, who performed songs from the 60's up to today's music; Madness by Badness who really got the audience going and a funny comedian (the two words don't always go together!). The food was excellent: a combination of buffet style and cooking to order at a cooking station. In theory a nice touch was the a la carte restaurant which we could use once and was included in the price but on reflection I wish we hadn't. The tables were too close together in a regimented style and the lighting bright so it felt more like a canteen than a restaurant. The food and ambience in the main area was nicer (unless you are in a big group when you can take advantage of the fabulous private dining room). The age range was wider than we normally see at Warner's and none the worse for that. It now puts us in the middle age group instead of the youngest. There was plenty to keep the younger people happy but the traditional clientele were still well catered for. We will be back!

We usually explore the area but this time just relaxed and enjoyed the facilities on offer. 

Meanwhile Paul was just a few miles down the road at the NEC Autosport International. He was ferrying Emma Walsh from Made in Chelsea in the two seater dragster all weekend, doing burnouts in the Live Action Arena. It seemed to be well received and gave yet more kudos to the sport of drag racing.

 Photo by Callum Pudge