Festival of Motoring at Stoneleigh Park

Festival of Motoring at Stoneleigh Park - 25^th and 26^th August

The Festival of Motoring last weekend seemed to be a great success.  Even those that were not ardent classic car enthusiasts must have enjoyed the spectacular range of cars that were displayed by their proud owners. The clubs each had their designated area where you could browse at your leisure; of particular interest to myself were the Triumph Spitfires, as I owned a Mark III many years ago, and I was surprised at how many there were and looking so well preserved, although sadly most were the later Mark IV.  A lot of cars were from the 60s and 70s so the time flew by as we enjoyed reminiscing about the ‘good old days’ and the cars that were around when we were young.
Mid-morning, many of the cars set off for a historic run around Warwickshire, first passing through the arena where a very knowledgeable commentator provided an informative background to many of the makes and models.

As well as cars there were other vehicles and a great collection of motorcycles, as well as regular shows in the Wall of Death, and in the arena amazing displays by the Bolddog motorbike display team with some very hairy stunts.

Hall 2 housed concept vehicles and the future of transport and something less static was the Range Rover 4x4 experience where people could feel what it is like to ride in a 4x4 over an obstacle course that literally lifted the wheels off the ground.

The Sporting Bears Dream Rides provided rides in their members’ classic cars for a modest donation to charity.

For those that wanted a break from the automobilia there was also a craft fair and stalls selling non-motoring items in hall 1 and fairground rides while the Jaguar Band provided the musical distraction.

By mid-afternoon the cars were back in their club areas to welcome more inspections and praise. It is clear how much work and care has gone into presenting these motor cars and bikes and I was pleased that the rain kept away so that their efforts were not spoiled.

Just after 3:30 on the Sunday, a different type of Spitfire provided a fly past, this one being a Mk 2, and one of the few remaining from WWII. It circled several times before heading back, giving everyone the chance to see this marvellous sight, which I always appreciate.

Thanks to the Coventry Transport Museum for putting it on; well worth visiting it again next time it's on.

www.festival-of-motoring,co.uk

 

 

 

 

An Alpaca Day Out

Alpapca Day, Dunchurch

Open day at Toft Alpaca Farm and Studio, Dunchurch

Yesterday was an Open Day at Toft Alpacas and a chance to get up close to these lovely, placid animals.  There are 250 alpacas and one Llama at Toft’s, which also has a shop and a studio where they hold workshops in a variety of alpaca-related crafts.

For open day, the workshops and tours were free and included wet felting, crochet, knitting and talks on how the alpaca’s fibre is used.  Some events needed to be booked and a ‘booking booth’ had been set up in the studio while outside bails of straw made some effective seating.  Drinks, cakes and scones with jam and cream were available and there was a good crowd attending throughout the day.

Unlike the llama, which is used as a pack animal in Peru, the alpaca is a herd animal, bred at Tofts for their fine fibre; they also sell them on – they make good guard animals apparently, as well as being used at petting farms and for stud. 

For me, the highlight was Halter Training, which involved taking an alpaca for a walk around an obstacle course. The staff have an interesting way of herding them using a length of rope; the alpacas interpret the horizontal rope as a solid object and naturally walk away from it towards their pens without any bother or need for a sheep dog. The obstacle course was not too grueling and our alpaca seemed happy to be led around with his friends in a slow procession between fences, over tubes and around buckets.  The session ended with a very informative talk on the introduction of the alpaca to the UK and their characteristics which was enormously interesting.

The farm tour was slightly blighted by this year’s usual showers but took us out to see some of the farm’s fields and more alpaca, including cria, (baby alpacas), with their mothers. The tour included lovely views of Draycote water and the surrounding Warwickshire countryside despite the greying clouds.

The alpaca are sheared annually, leaving a tuft on the top of their head for cuteness, and the resulting fibre that contains hardly any oils only needs one wash during its processing.  Unfortunately, alpacas don’t produce vast quantities of their best ‘wool’ which accounts for its cost but after carding and spinning the resulting yarn is very fine and silky. The shop has a range of items for sale as well as craft kits and patterns.

Tofts are open six days a week and run workshops and tours. There is a wealth of information about alpacas plus Tofts and events and on their web site: www.toft-alpacas.co.uk  and their shop and studio website: www.thetoftalpacashop.co.uk

 Tofts Alpacas – Dunchurch, North Warwickshire, nr Rugby. CV22 6NR