Thursday 20 October 2011

The Lions go from Strength to Strength


Colchester's Castle Park is designated Grade II on the register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. The gently sloping Lower Castle Park offers the perfect venue for fairs, festivals, open air concerts and displays and even has a section of the town's roman wall running through it.

This year's classic vehicle show which is organised by Colchester Lions was by all accounts the best so far. We spent the day parked beside a lovely pre-war MG which had been brought to the show by the original owner's son. Owned by his father since new, the car had never been restored and had acquired a remarkably beautiful patina to its metallic grey paint. 

In the afternoon Neil was approached by one of the organisers to see if he would take me into the ring. As the only Bristol in the show Neil was happy to take the opportunity to show me off and take his turn on the PA to increase the awareness of Bristol cars. 

This prompted more people to come along and look at me once I was parked up again. It also produced the most touching moment of the day when a man came up to Neil to say that the Bristol, and the 410 in particular was his favourite ever car.  Neil offered him a seat behind the wheel but he declined and appeared quite overwhelmed with actually seeing one for real!