Goodwood The Season

Spring / Summer 2011

Telegraph magazine

THE SEASON

CONTENTS

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11/g o o d n e ws The latest developments from around the estate 12/saddle up Hermès’ heritage of equine craftsmanship {fig.2} 14/equine aesthetics There’s a special exhibition at Goodwood this year 18/sky high If you’re learning to fly, train with the best 20/classic, defined A celebration of Jaguar’s iconic E-Type 22/touch of genius Meet Apple’s prodigal designer, Jonathan Ive

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24/golf to the fore Golf at Goodwood tops the leaderboard 27/cut ting a dash Goodwood’s new glamorous event on Ladies’ Day 32/hit the gas High adrenalin with Goodwood Action Sports 34/time capsule Buckminster Fuller’s extraordinary Dymaxion car 37/fiat luxe The Fiat 500 gets the Gucci treatment 40/the art of food A tour around Goodwood’s artisan farm shop 42/look back in style Where to find your perfect revival outfit 4 4/flight paths Why the Spitfire’s popularity endures {fig.3} 46/drive time The historic link between cars and watches 48/summer breeze Radiant summer dresses in chiffon and lace {fig.1} 58/a racing pulse Profile of motoring legend Lord Freddie March

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07 / goodwood THE SEASoN

EDITOR’S LETTER

Goodwood has been my family’s home for more than 300 years and we are immensely proud and delighted to be able to share it with all those who visit the numerous events we hold throughout the year.

The 2011 Season promises to be a very exciting one, with a host of first-class experiences to fuel a variety of passions.

This year’s Festival of Speed, 30 June to 3 July, will once again bring together the greatest cars and stars of the automotive world, with our 2011 theme ‘Racing Revolutions’ celebrating the ceaseless quest for increased power, greater efficiency and more speed.

At the end of July, the Racecourse hosts Glorious Goodwood, always a highlight of the summer sporting and social calendar. The five-day festival attracts thousands with its wonderful mix of world-class racing and English summer glamour.

In September, I will be hosting the 14th Goodwood Revival, and the passion to recreate the golden age of motor sport is just as strong now as ever, with the Revival uniquely bringing together the exhilarating thrill of highly competitive racing (in the world’s most valuable cars) and the fashions, feel and fun of the Forties, Fifties and Sixties.

I do hope you enjoy these pages and we look forward to welcoming you all to Goodwood very soon.

EDITORIAL Executive editor Earl of March Editor-in-chief Peter Howarth Deputy editor Sarah Deeks Chief copy editor Chris Madigan Copy editors Sarah Evans, Steven East, Tanya Jackson Editorial director Joanne Glasbey DESIGN Senior art director Ciara Walshe Picture editor Juliette Hedoin Designer Hillary Jayne Creative director Ian Pendleton MARKETING Marketing director Tracey Greaves COMMERCIAL Executive director Dave King Publishing director Toby Moore SHOW MEDIA 020 3222 0101 Ground Floor, 1-2 Ravey Street, London EC2A 4QP info@showmedia.net www.showmedia.net

Goodwood The Se aSon / daTeS for your dia ry 30 JuNE: MOvING MOTOR SHOW A dynamic motor show where you can see the very latest new car models – and maybe even drive some of them 1–3 JuLy: FESTIvAL OF SPEED The largest motoring garden party in the world. A true celebration of all things automotive 26–30 JuLy: GLORIOuS GOODWOOD The world’s most beautiful horse race meeting, hosted over five glamorous days on the Goodwood estate 16–18 SEPTEMbER: GOODWOOD REvIvAL A unique opportunity to experience motor racing as it was in the golden era. The biggest and best historic motor racing party of the year

08 / goodwood THE SEASoN

Printed by Wyndeham Peterborough (wyndeham.co.uk) Colour reproduction by fmg (wearefmg.com) Goodwood - The Season is designed and produced by SHOW MEDIA LTD for the Telegraph Media Group. All material © Show Media Ltd and Telegraph Media Group.

Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is strictly prohibited. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions. The information contained in this publication is correct at the time of going to press.

GOOD NEWS fig.1

1.Open-air gallery Twenty-six acres of estate grounds play host to a varied and constantly evolving collection of sculptures, commissioned by the Cass Sculpture Foundation. Committed to advancing both established and emerging talent, the foundation funds 20 to 30 new works each year, all of which can be bought, with the proceeds going directly to the artists. Open to the public until the end of October 2011. goodwood.com/sculpture

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Rex FeatuRes

2 . sTay sT y l i s h The Goodwood Hotel is situated at the heart of the Sussex Downs estate, surrounded by 12,000 acres of spectacular English countryside.

It’s an ideal spot to retreat to after a day at the races, with an on-site health club, with leisure and spa facilities including an extensive list of facials and body treatments. There are 25 rooms and suites recently refurbished by interior designer Cindy Leveson, so you can kick back in style. goodwood.com/hotel

3.Take a h i ke The best way to enjoy the beauty of the West Sussex countryside is by foot, and there are some attractive walks through the fields and woodland of the Goodwood Estate. Take a trip up to the Iron Age hill fort known as ‘the Trundle’ on St. Roche’s Hill, from which point you can see for miles. Guests of Goodwood can obtain a GoodWalks map that marks out several routes across the estate; dogs are welcome. goodwood.com/goodwood-estate/walking

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4.Making Tracks Three new jockeys will take to Goodwood’s racecourse in June, but you won’t catch them on horseback. DJs Boy George, Chris Evans and Mark Ronson will be spinning the decks from the centre of the parade ring for three Friday nights in June, in an explosive concoction of music, racing and dancing. Boy George kicks off on 3 June, Chris Evans is on 10 June, with a grand finale from Mark Ronson on 17 June. goodwood.com/horse-racing/three-friday-nights

11 / goodwood THE SEASoN

SADDLE UP P H O T O G R A P H Y M AT T H E W D O N A L D S O N

Hermès may be one of the most revered names in fashion but, when it was founded in 1837, it was a saddlery. Today, craftspeople at the Rue Faubourg St-Honoré atelier still painstakingly produce a limited number of beautiful equestrian pieces in the finest leathers, such as this ‘Brasilia’ showjumping saddle in Sokoa tan buffalo hide, £3,910. hermes.com

12 / goodwood the season

equine aesthetics the horse has provided inspiration to artists for millennia and, this summer, Goodwood celebrates its collection of rare equestrian paintings W o r d s lo u i s A b u c k

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F r o m p r e h i s t o r i c times to our current digital age, the image of the horse has occupied a central role in art history. Horses dominate the Paleolithic wall paintings at Lascaux, they animate the Parthenon and have been used by artists throughout the centuries to echo and to amplify the spirit of the monarchs, nobles and generals they carry. In Van Dyck’s equestrian portrait of the self-effacing Charles I, it is the muscular magnificence of the mount rather than the monarch’s demeanor that communicates kingly grandeur, while Jacques-Louis David depicted Napoleon as a triumphant tornado storming across Europe, his ferocious energy accentuated courtesy of his rearing, snarling steed, Marengo.

A more sedate form of power is conveyed by the portrayal of handsome hunters and horses owned by 18th-century English gentry, immortalised in the work of artists such as John Wootten and, most notably, George Stubbs {fig.1, ‘Racehorses Exercising at Goodwood’}. The lure of racing continues in the work of Degas, Sir Alfred Munnings and John Skeaping, to name but a few.

For even as the developed world has ceased to run on horsepower, equestrian images have continued to exert a strong presence in the world

of art. It was through the form of a grotesquely twisted horse that Pablo Picasso chose to convey the agony of human suffering in his 1937 ‘Guernica’, while more recently Richard Prince in his ‘Cowboy’ and ‘Marlboro Men’ series of the Eighties employed the iconography of man and horse to critique the advertising industry’s appropriation of heroic symbolism for less lofty ends. The horse as signifier has also fascinated Turner Prizewinning artist and racing enthusiast Mark Wallinger, whose equine explorations have included a photographic light box which transforms Stubbs’ iconic painting of Whistlejacket into a unicorn; a series of life-sized paintings of thoroughbred stallions entitled ‘Race Class Sex’, and, most provocatively, his acquisition of a thoroughbred mare which he then registered and ran in the 1994 flat season under the name of ‘A Real Work of Art’. Artistic horsepower, indeed.

The Horse, an exhibition of rare equestrian paintings from Goodwood’s private collection, runs throughout the summer. goodwood.com/whatson/events/the-horse Louisa Buck is contemporary art correspondent for the Art Newspaper

14 / goodwood the season

Our world-leading Hybrid technology is often copied. Even by us.

7 seat Prius+ Coming 2012

Yaris Hybrid Concept

Prius

Coming 2012

Funny thing, starting something new. It can be daunting at first, but it only takes a few followers to make you realise you’re doing something right. It’s the same with us and hybrid technology. First came the Prius, arriving on the streets of Tokyo in 1997. Then came the Auris Hybrid, pushing our fuel efficiency ambitions even further and delivering up to 74 mpg. And next year the story continues, with the launch of the 7-seat Prius+ and the Yaris Hybrid. Leading by example, you might say. To learn more, visit toyota.co.uk/hybrid Models shown Auris Hybrid T Spirit 1.8 and Prius T Spirit 1.8. 5 year/100,000 mile manufacturer’s warranty is subject to terms and conditions, including requirement for servicing of the vehicle in accordance with the standard Toyota service schedule for the full 5 year period. Terms and conditions apply.

Official Fuel Consumption Figures in mpg (l/100km): Auris Hybrid range, Combined 70.6 (4.0) - 74.3 (3.8), Extra Urban 70.6 (4.0) - 74.3 (3.8), Urban

Auris Hybrid

70.6 (4.0) - 74.3 (3.8). C02 Emissions 89g/km – 93g/km; Prius range, Combined 70.6 (4.0) - 72.4 (3.9), Extra Urban 74.3 (3.8) - 76.4 (3.7), Urban 70.6 (4.0) - 72.4 (3.9). C02 Emissions 89g/km-92g/km.

SKY HIGH

Piloting an aeroplane is a thrill like no other, which is why future aviators should learn with the best pilots in state-of-the-art planes W o r d s S I M O N D E B U R TO N / I L L U s T r AT I o N R YA N TO D D

I t I s o f t e n the most fleeting of experiences that stick indelibly in the memory, which is probably why I’ll never forget taking off from Goodwood airfield a few years ago in the back seat of a North American Harvard, the aeroplane in which countless wartime pilots cut their teeth.

The flight was short – it lasted less than 20 minutes – but bumping along the grass airstrip and climbing into the light mist that draped Goodwood House before heading out across Chichester towards the Solent was spine-tinglingly evocative. Just for a few seconds, I believe I had an inkling of what those WWII fly boys must have felt like every time they set off on a mission.

Although it was an important relief base for RAF Tangmere and served five fighter squadrons, Goodwood is not just about wartime nostalgia. It has a 21st-century role as the home of one of the most highly regarded flying schools in the country.

Enrolling on a training course to secure a private pilot’s licence (PPL) has never been more popular than at the moment, but many pupils are unwittingly hampered from the outset by mediocre instruction and out-of-date aircraft – rather like learning to drive in a clapped-out car with dodgy brakes and a crunchy gearbox.

‘Not only are old aircraft potentially unreliable and expensive to maintain,’ says Goodwood airfield’s general manager, Rob Wildeboer, ‘they can reduce the enjoyment of learning to fly and therefore make it more difficult to achieve the aim of obtaining a PPL. It’s for that reason we decided to make the significant investment

It is legal to obtain a private pilot’s licence and fly solo at 16, and even log flying time aged 14 required to buy five new Cessnas – the 172 SP is the most popular light aircraft ever built and the fact that it is stable, rugged, reliable and predictable makes it the perfect trainer plane,’ adds Wildeboer.

The Cessna 172 SP aircraft are so-called ‘glass cockpit’ aeroplanes. That means instead of a bank of old-fashioned analogue instruments, you’ll find state-of-the-art flat screens housing Garmin 1000 avionics, with autopilots and collision avoidance systems.

Before taking the plunge and enrolling for lessons, it is worth taking a ‘familiarisation’ flight to see if you really do have the flying bug.

At Goodwood, this costs £122 for half an hour in the air, or £245 for one hour.

The next step is to pass the required PPL medical before committing to a full course of lessons that will enable you to build up to the 18 / goodwood the season

45 hours of logged flying time that is required before taking the final tests and examinations.

‘In the early stages, learning to fly is all about continuity,’ explains Wildeboer. ‘Here in the UK we are rather at the mercy of the weather, so most people start lessons in the spring in the hope that they can log their hours by the autumn. Some learn intensively and do the whole thing in a couple of months. It all depends on availability and, of course, finances.’

Goodwood flying school offers a full PPL ‘package’ for £9,865, including the joining fee for the thriving aero club that currently has 800 members, around 250 of whom are active fliers.

The package takes pupils to the point where they can take the ground exams, plus the flying elements, including take-off, landing and dealing with a stall. In addition, the pupil must prove his or her navigational skills by completing a solo cross-country flight (landing at different airfields).

Although you need to be 17 years of age to drive in the UK, it is legal to obtain a PPL and go solo at just 16 – and to log flying time towards a PPL from the even more tender age of 14.

‘We have pupils of just about all ages,’ says Wildboer. ‘The oldest is an 84-year-old who has just converted from a tail-dragger plane to one with a nose wheel. It really is true when people say that almost anyone can learn to fly.’ goodwood.co.uk/aviation Simon de Burton writes about motoring and aviation for the Daily Telegraph and GQ magazine

BEING

100 YEARS OLD HASN’T SLOWED

US DOWN ONE BIT.

CELEBRATE 100 YEARS OF CHEVROLET AT THE GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED.

Join us between 1st and 3rd July at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to celebrate our centenary.

2010

2010

drivers’ championship winners

drivers’ and manufacturers’ championship winners

Models shown are not all UK specification and therefore not currently available in the UK, except for the Chevrolet Spark For more information visit www.chevrolet.co.uk

Official Government Environment Data. Fuel consumption figures mpg (litres/100km) and CO2 emissions (g/km). Chevrolet range: Urban: 31.7 (8.9) – 42.8 (6.6), Extra-urban: 42.8 (6.6) – 67.3 (4.2), Combined: 38.2 (7.4) – 55.4 (5.1). CO2 emissions 197 – 159g/km.

classic, defined Fifty years after the feline E-Type first prowled on to the street, it is still for many people the archetypal classic car. Jaguar’s current design director Ian Callum celebrates an icon

fig.1

I t ’ s n o t for nothing that the E-Type { fig.1} holds a permanent place in New York’s museum of Modern Art. The design’s enduring appeal and iconic status are a result of its dramatic proportion and the total purity in its execution. Aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer employed a uniquely scientific method of design, which involved the use of slide rules and logarithmic tables to plot the complex curves and straight lines that gelled so harmoniously to create not just the E-Type but its C-Type and D-Type racing predecessors. Sayer wasn’t driven by aesthetics for the sake

of it, he was trying to build something that was shaped by mathematics. The thrill and aesthetic of the car were almost created as a by-product. You’ve got beauty derived from its scientific purity of surface and excitement from its proportions. And the E-Type has come to not only symbolise that beauty and excitement, but also the pure pleasure of driving.

Ian Callum has been Design Director of Jaguar since 1999, and is responsible for the XF – which has garnered over 80 industry awards – as well as the S-Type, XJ and others. Prior to this, he also designed the Aston Martin DB7 and Vanquish

20 / goodwood the season

TOUCH OF GENIUS What does Jonathan Ive – Apple maverick and one of this year’s judges of Cartier’s

concours d’elegance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed – believe makes good design?

W o r d s S T E P H E n B AY L E Y

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J o n a t h a n I v e turned a base MP3 player into industrial gold. Jony, as his friends know him, was born in Chingford, Essex, in 1967. He is polite, enthusiastic, self-deprecating, articulate and very smart. And he is perhaps Apple’s greatest asset.

Ive moved to California in 1992 and toiled in a struggling business. Five years later Steve Jobs returned to the company he had founded and was desperate for invigorating novelty. Jobs interviewed the celebrity designers of the day: Ettore Sottsass, Giorgetto Giugiaro and Richard Sapper. Instead, he found Ive {fig.1} in-house and kept him there.

Slowly at first, but then ever more quickly, Ive oversaw the introduction of new products that redefined consumer expectations. Jobs says you know a design is good if you want to lick it and, one assumes, a great deal of licking takes place at Apple headquarters in Cupertino.

But what’s interesting is the way Ive achieves this. He does not start out to make a slick package.

Instead, he wants to understand the expressive limits of materials. He understands coatings, milling, forging, moulding and bonding.

Ive believes if you know how something is made, you understand everything about it: ‘I’ve always been fascinated by the old-school approach to making things. Take stainless steel: you can

We control fuel injection with an accelerator pedal.

That’s similar to the designer’s role transform it from a modest material to a thing of beauty by a process. I find that inspiring.’

This is what the consumer intuits: an Apple product is, at least until its successor, the ultimate expression of contemporary possibilities. Perfection may be difficult, but Ive says: ‘You can reach a point where you cannot use resources any better.’

I asked Jony if there was such a subject as design and he said: ‘The problem with the word “design” is that it means so much and it means so little. I always struggle to define it. It’s an activity more than an end result.’

22 / goodwood the season

I also wondered how he reconciles a personal passion for extravagant cars with his disciplined aesthetic? Ive explained: ‘Cars of the Fifties and Sixties had a fluency about how materials should best be used. Look at a Jaguar and you’ll see the dashboard was a flat wooden plank. Look inside a typical modern car and ask yourself, why is it like that? To say “I like it” is just not good enough.’

Cars provide another creative metaphor: ‘We control fuel injection by the use of an accelerator pedal. That’s similar to the designer’s role. It’s the responsibility of the designer to make things simple and comprehensible.’

A billion happy Apple consumers in thrall to Ive demonstrate what aesthetes and ideologues have struggled to prove: beautiful, intelligent products sell. The consumer is not a moron, after all.

Arthur C. Clarke said that any technology, sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic. According to Ive, ‘When we were developing the iPad, we spoke in exactly those terms!’

Still, not everything in Jony’s world is perfect. After this conversation I sent him a thank-you message from my iPad and the infuriating autocorrect system made him I’ve.

Writer and broadcaster Stephen Bayley was the founding director of the Design Museum, London

Golf to the fore Golf at Goodwood’s Eddie Bullock has been appointed captain of the PGA, and in both roles he has big plans to make the game more accessible W o r d s DAN DAVI ES

A s o n e o f the first club professionals to make the transition from the pro shop to full-time club management, Eddie Bullock is acknowledged as a pioneer. A non-executive director of golf at Goodwood since 2009, his 40-year career has included a decade as managing director of Woburn Golf Club, where he oversaw the construction of the highly rated Marquess Course and helped to run major tournaments such as the British Masters.

Earlier this year, Eddie, who runs his own golf management consultancy, was appointed captain of the Professional Golfers Association, the highest accolade for a British pro.

Previous captains of the PGA have included Open Championship winners such as James Braid, Harry Vardon and Henry Cotton. You must feel very proud…

EB: I feel very flattered and proud, and to be included in that bracket is a huge privilege. For the next two years, I will be representing the PGA’s 7,500 members in the UK and in an ambassadorial role overseas. We need to grow the interest in the game at home, improve the education of our members and increase opportunities for their personal development. We are in competition with other sports and other facilities. We need to start making golf fun.

How are you going about that at Goodwood?

EB: We’ve got to open ourselves up as a game.

At Goodwood, we have changed the pricing structure so that more people have an opportunity to enjoy the game. A credit system

has been introduced to encourage people to enjoy our five-star environment at a fairly low cost. You can join the club for just under £400, then the value of your credits is based on when you play. So if you play at a peak time it’s going to cost more, which means you can play golf to suit your lifestyle. What we also offer at Goodwood is unbeatable customer service.

The recently renovated Downs Course is described as one of the best downland courses in the UK. What makes it so special?

EB: I’m a great believer that the golf course is your theatre, and we have two high-quality courses here at Goodwood. The design of the Downs Course { fig.1} blends in perfectly with the surrounding scenery, with valleys framed by the rolling hills of the South Downs. It is also designed for players of all abilities. Howard Swan

From the dog-leg 7th hole on the Downs Course, you can look across to the Isle of Wight

has redesigned seven holes, but the rest of the course is more or less the same as the original James Braid layout from 1914.

And the Park Course, designed by another renowned golf course architect, Donald Steel?

EB: That was opened in 1989 and, although less challenging than the Downs, it’s an excellent test of golf. It’s a classic tree-lined parkland course.

There are some wonderful holes too, including the long 5th with a beautiful old oak tree on the right-hand side as you approach the green.

Do you have a favourite hole on either course?

EB: The 7th on The Downs Course is one of Braid’s originals, one of his classic dog-legs, but with wonderful scenery that means on a clear day you can look across the Solent towards the Isle of White. On The Park Course, the 8th is a wonderful par three. The green is elevated and can be very deceptive, because it plays at least 20 yards longer than it says on the card.

So, does your role as Captain of the PGA take you to the big events?

EB: I attended this year’s Masters and will be also at the other majors. When Charl Schwartzel made his winner’s speech at Augusta, he thanked all those who had encouraged him: his father, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Gary Player. It was a simple message: everybody in the game has a responsibility to get more people involved.

Dan Davies is a contributing editor to Esquire and writes a regular style column for Mr Porter

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Cutting a dash

Ladies’ Day has long been a highlight of Glorious Goodwood. This year, a very special and ultra-feminine race is set to raise money for an excellent cause

DaviD SLijper/Trunk archive

Words Belinda Morris

I S I t p o S S I b L E for Glorious Goodwood to attain any more kudos than it already enjoys? In particular, could Ladies’ Day – famed among the cognoscenti for being the day to see and be seen – become any more chic? Well, yes, apparently it can, because this year’s internationally feted, five-day horse-racing event will stage a new and, let’s face it, exceptionally glamorous Ladies’ Race.

This surprise bonus on Goodwood’s regular race card aims to raise close to £400,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital and will feature an impressive posse of high-profile women. Some of them will be occupied behind the scenes as silk designers, trainers and grooms, while others

will be jockeys. To keep to the feminine theme, even the horses will be fillies and mares. The unique race, which will run over six furlongs on the flat and straight, will dovetail nicely after the third race, the Artemis Goodwood Cup, and the fourth, which is the Moët Hennessy Fillies’ Stakes.

Fingers crossed for clear heads and gathered wits, because the night before the big race will see Goodwood House playing host to a charity Race Week Ball to honour the commitment (and, some might add, courage) of these exceptional ladies.

Before the flag goes up, we speak to three of the ladies who will play an important part in the race to find out what made them say ‘yes’.

27 / goodwood the season

Da n i e l l a i s sa H e l ay e l Who better to design

l au r a B ec H to l s H e i m e r When she received

the silks for the Ladies’ Race jockeys than designer and founder of the couture house Issa London, Daniella Issa Helayel, whose midnight blue Issa dress was worn by Catherine Middleton to announce her engagement to Prince William?

While Daniella and her team are used to working with silk jersey and silk twill for her own collections, this project was never likely to be within their comfort zone. ‘Issa collections are filled with bright colours and strong prints, but working on these silks was definitely a fresh challenge,’ she explains. ‘We opted for patterns that are more extravagant and exaggerated than our usual collections, generally seen parading a catwalk, restaurant or nightclub on the Issa woman rather than racing past at 40mph!’

Clearly, the purpose of jockey silks is not the same as the dresses Issa usually creates for its A-list clients. Brazilian-born Daniella’s approach in the print design had to focus on the required shape and therefore where to place the design.

‘I wanted to use strong, bright colours and prints to steal the show during the race,’ she says. ‘I feel sometimes that we live in a greyish-toned world; I like my world to be colourful, uplifting and joyful, and that’s the effect my prints have.

I hope to bring even more colour and thrill to what promises to be a very exciting day.

‘Great Ormond Street Hospital is also such a truly great cause, so I was delighted to be a part of it and to offer the help of Issa however we could,’ adds Daniella. She is also thrilled to be involved with the Ladies’ Race: ‘It’s all about women and the philosophy of Issa dresses has always been to enhance a woman’s figure so that she can embrace her femininity and enjoy being a woman.’

a letter from Lord March asking whether she would like to be involved in the Ladies’ Race, Laura Bechtolsheimer, leading British dressage rider, didn’t hesitate. ‘It’s a really great idea, so I rang his office straight away and agreed,’ she says.

Is this the reaction of a girl who knows a thing or two about the sport of kings and is up for a challenge? Well, right on the second point, but pretty wide of the mark on the first. ‘I know absolutely nothing about racing,’ she laughs.

‘I have friends in the racing world who will be able to give me a few tips, but that’s about it.

I’m going to have to do a lot of homework.’

Laura is hoping for a few pointers from her father, who is also a dressage rider but used to race when he was younger. ‘When I told my dad what I had agreed to do, all he said was to make sure that I got the fastest horse.’

With her own season having just started, Laura will struggle to find any time at all to train in what will be a completely different discipline for her.

‘Racehorses are a lot finer and shorter than dressage horses, although they do have the same frisky temperament,’ she explains. ‘The tack, such as the shorter stirrups and very different saddle, will also take some getting used to. It’s all quite a new experience, a huge shock to the system, and I probably won’t be able to walk the next day.’

Nevertheless, Laura is up for the challenge.

‘It’s an opportunity to do something different in the equine world,’ she says. ‘At the same time, I can get involved in a worthwhile cause. All I hope is that I don’t make a fool of myself and fall off!’

The silks for this race are by Issa, who designed the engagement dress for Catherine Middleton K at e s i lv e r to n Without pausing to consider

what she might be asked to do, BBC One news anchor and presenter Kate Silverton immediately replied ‘of course’ to Lord March’s request for her to be involved with the Ladies’ Race. ‘I love horseracing and being around horses. Given that Glorious Goodwood is a wonderful event in the sporting calendar – with astonishingly good racing, in such beautiful surroundings – I was thrilled to be asked,’ she says.

She also has a personal reason for wanting to participate in the charity event: ‘The daughter of one of my close friends was treated for cancer at Great Ormond Street, and this is a perfect way to raise money for such a good cause,’ she adds.

A regular race-goer – as much for the peoplewatching as the action on the track – Kate, who recently announced her pregnancy, is fascinated by all that goes into the sport. ‘I’ve been getting tips on lots of different aspects of racing from people in the know: Clare Balding for one. I want to ensure that I do Great Ormond Street proud.’

Kate is no stranger to the odd challenging assignment for a deserving charity – singing her heart out while in fancy dress for Children in Need comes up pretty high on the ‘over-the-top’ gauge. Although Kate would love to be riding in the Ladies’ Race, she will be putting her trademark enthusiasm and cheer into whatever role she is asked to fulfil on the day.

28 / goodwood the season

The Ladies’ Race, will take place on Glorious Goodwood’s Ladies’ Day, Thursday 28 July Belinda Morris is a freelance fashion and beauty writer and editor

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Join us this summer

A season of stylish and spectacular events that should not be missed Goodwood House, sitting at the foot of the South Downs in acres of rolling English meadows, is a place that combines the glamour of a great English country house with the warmth of a family home. It is almost universally believed that Goodwood is the most picturesque racecourse in the world. It can also be the noisiest when, in late June, Lord March’s grand estate is the venue for the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed. A must for any motoring enthusiast, the four-day event sees the genteel and elegant grounds of this stately home transformed by the roar of engines and the shimmer of immaculately kept bodywork.

This motoring garden party attracts classic-car owners, racing drivers and motorcyclists from around the world and is a uniquely grand setting in which to enjoy the finest of motors. It would be hard to imagine a venue more suited to the new BMW 6 Series Convertible and the forthcoming Coupé.

As grand as the Goodwood Festival of Speed is, it’s just one of several stylish celebrations which make up The 6 Season of British summer events.

Although the competitions for both the BMW PGA Championship golf Pro-Am at Wentworth (plus tickets to the captivating main tournament), and early June’s Motorexpo at London’s rejuvenated Canary Wharf, which promises to be just as intoxicating, are now closed for entry, there are still four spectacular events to come. You too can be a part of this exclusive calendar by entering our competition in conjunction with BMW (go to telegraph.co.uk/bmw6season for details and terms and conditions).

From motor racing and culinary festivals to open-air theatre and a sophisticated garden party, The 6 Season offers elegance, style and exclusivity, wherever your interests lie.

More at home with a fork in your hand than a spanner? Take a trip to culinary heaven in Edinburgh, and its annual Foodies Festival. Watch leading chefs demonstrate signature dishes at Holyrood Park; sample fine cuisine in cooking masterclasses and cocktail tastings; shop for gourmet ingredients; and relax to some live entertainment.

Culture vultures might prefer to take a seat in the atmospheric open-air theatre in London’s Regent’s Park. The magical outdoor setting – watching the theatrical world’s leading lights as the stars come out – makes for an unforgettable evening. This summer’s productions include George Gershwin’s musical, Crazy for You, featuring such all-time classics as Embraceable You and I Got Rhythm.

If you have a passion for cars that are classics, then Salon Privé might be for you. Held at historic, elegant Syon Park – barely 10 miles west of London, home to the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, and set in its own parkland – this glamorous event attracts the world’s most sought-after historic motors and supercars. It’s also great for people-watching.

All the events in The 6 Season have one thing in common: style. Each offers, or has offered, a relaxing, fun experience in breathtaking surroundings. So which one will you choose? Or are you ensuring you will have a truly memorable summer by attending them all?

Win your 6 Season ticket and enjoy a summer of indulgence, style and elegance. From London’s Regent’s Park, The 6 Season promises a summer of exclusivity and joy. To

Fine style: Goodwood Festival of Speed, far left; Holyrood for the Foodies Festival, second left; Regent’s Park and the magical open-air theatre, above

The new BMW 6 Series Coupé and Convertible Inspired by the power and beauty of water in motion, the new BMW 6 Series Coupé and Convertible represent the ultimate in elegance, luxury and style. Powerful exterior lines establish the sporting credentials of the cars, complemented further by the sleek, luxurious interior.

The BMW 6 Series Convertible was launched on March 26, and it will be joined by the 6 Series Coupé, launching on October 15. Visit bmw.co.uk/new6series to find out more.

The BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and Motorexpo at Canary Wharf in London are just the fanfare for a great season. Here are the details of the other four events that make up The 6 Season.

Salon Privé, June 22-24 Garden party, cocktail party, and fabulous cars. At Syon Park (www.salonprivelondon.com). Win two tickets including overnight at the Syon Park Waldorf Astoria. See telegraph.co.uk/bmw6season by June 10.

Goodwood Festival of Speed, June 30-July 3 Goodwood House throbs to the roar of powerful engines as racing cars, classics, motorcycles and today’s finest vehicles race and growl (www. goodwood.co.uk/festival-of-speed). Visit telegraph.co.uk/bmw6season by June 24 to find out about this great prize, including an overnight stay at Goodwood Park Hotel and BMW hospitality.

Edinburgh Foodies Festival, August 12-14 Great chefs demonstrate their craft in the grounds of Holyrood Park, where there will also be opportunities to take part in cooking masterclasses, enjoy cocktails and shop for the finest ingredients (www.foodiesfestival.com/edinburgh). For a chance to win two tickets, overnight stay at Radisson Blu and hospitality, see telegraph.co.uk/ bmw6season by July 29.

Regent’s Park Open-Air Theatre, August 22-28 A magical evening out watching some of the theatrical world’s leading lights. This year’s productions include the fabulous Gershwin musical comedy Crazy For You (www.openairtheatre.org).

There are two tickets to be won to see the show on August 27, plus an overnight stay at Danubius Hotel and a superb BMW hamper. To enter, visit telegraph.co.uk/bmw6season. The closing date is August 12.

the hot cars of Goodwood and gourmet’s delights in Edinburgh to theatrical wonders in win an all-expenses-paid trip to one of the events, visit telegraph.co.uk/bmw6season

MaIn PICTure: PhOTOgraPher, DIrk SPaTh; STylIST, MarCella MarTInellI; MODelS, alex Beer, kIrSTy MCDOnalD @ neVS; lOCaTIOn, WaDDeSDOn ManOr

Brought to you by the new BMW 6 Series

HIT THE GAS This year welcomes the first ever Goodwood Action Sports (GAS) to the Festival of Speed and it’s promising to take adrenalin on two wheels to a whole new level W o r d s GAVI N B R ET T

fig.1

With a receipt for brandy given to the players back in 1702, Goodwood’s legendary cricket ground can support its claim to be the second oldest in England. It’s near enough a priceless antique, lovingly tended to day-in, day-out by expert groundskeepers who brave all weathers to protect its legacy. But for a few days this summer, those groundskeepers will be off nervously swigging stiff drinks, looking the other way and praying hard. That’s because this year’s Festival of Speed welcomes the first ever Goodwood Action Sports event, presented by SEAT and taking place right on top of that famous outfield, which will be transformed into a play pen for the planet’s finest two-wheeled action sportsmen, including BMX riders and freestyle motocross (FMX) performers.

‘With both the main festival and the Junior Festival of Speed, we’ve always done a lot for adults and young children,’ explains Goodwood’s Gary Axon. ‘For 2011 we wanted to pull out all the stops for teenagers, too, which is what led us to create GAS.’ GAS runs throughout the festival, with an hour-long event each morning and afternoon.

Obstacles, jumps, rails and ramps will host harebrained action as pro riders attempt to out-trick one

‘We’ll have the very best guys from all the events, BMX, FMX etc, in mid-air at the same time another without breaking their necks. The daily finale will be a breathtaking (and as yet unproven) spectacle: ‘We’ll have the very best guys from all the events in mid-air at the same time,’ says Axon. ‘It’ll be a bit like The Red Arrows… on acid.’

With support from Red Bull, Goodwood is delivering a stellar cast of riders to ensure GAS’s inaugural year is a success. Among them, Australian FMX rider, daredevil and record-breaker Robbie Maddison will be throttling his bike into airborne ballet across giant jumps, along with Brit FMX star, Jamie Squibb. YouTube sensation and Scottish 32 / goodwood the season

street trials pro mountain bike rider Danny MacAskill { fig.1} promises to rewrite the rules of pedal-powered stunts; also in BMX, British brothers Kye and Leo Forte are aiming to show why grown men really can ride tiny bikes, while Goodwood favourite and world champion trials rider Dougie Lampkin returns to defy gravity, and belief, clambering up, down, under and over obstacles that might otherwise seem impossible.

Alongside all the extreme action happening outside, there’s also the SEAT Clubhouse at GAS, with console gaming, DJs and more, as well as the opportunity for teenagers (even those without a licence) to get behind the wheel of a SEAT Ibiza under supervision at the Goodwood racecourse.

GAS looks set to deliver the ultimate in extreme two-wheel action for the FoS crowds.

Still, you can’t help but wonder: does the owner of this glorious estate, the Duke of Richmond, really know the full extent of what’s being done to his beloved cricket pitch this year?

GAS is at the Goodwood Cricket Ground during the FoS, 30 June to 3 July. Tickets for those aged 13 to 18 are half price; goodwood.co.uk Gavin Brett is a men’s magazine journalist who specialises in motoring and technology

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Time capsule The Dymaxion concept car, invented by the remarkable Buckminster Fuller, would have been fast and green but a beast to steer. Now Norman Foster has recreated his mentor’s design

t h e d y m a x i o n has to be the weirdest car you will ever see. An utterly faithful, fully functional recreation of the original has been commissioned by world-famous architect Lord Foster, and built by Crosthwaite & Gardiner, the leading specialists in this line of work. It will be a participant in the Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ automobile concours d’elegance at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed this year.

If a car designer built a house, what would it be like? I envisage a huge, luxurious garage with just a small flat above to live in. The Dymaxion { fig.1}, on the other hand, is a car designed by an architect. Its creator was the eccentric but visionary American architect, Buckminster Fuller (aka ‘Bucky’), who turned his mind to motoring 80 years ago. The result is a sci-fi fantasy from a different age. But don’t laugh – the Dymaxion car is no joke and it has a message of powerful relevance today.

In 1933, when no one else had thought about ‘green’ issues, Bucky sought to champion sustainability: his famous geodesic dome was created as a housing solution that minimised heat loss and materials. He introduced the highly influential school of thought known as ‘synergetics’ – a process by which parts interact both independently and with each other. Bucky set out to build the world’s most fuel-efficient motor car and created the Dymaxion, which could go at least twice as far on a gallon of petrol as any other car with a similar engine.

It also a great deal faster, despite having a huge and very comfortable interior.

The secret was in the aerodynamics. The shape he came up with resembled an aircraft fuselage without wings. Although the Dymaxion was powered by a large, side-valve V8 engine, it delivered a remarkable 35mpg. As for performance, Fuller’s claims were extravagant but it’s definitely quick enough to cruise comfortably with the faster traffic on motorways today.

It was a remarkable technical achievement but Fuller aimed yet higher. He built a series of three prototypes and planned an even more advanced model, which would lift its rear wheel off the road at speed. Setting off, it would be steered normally but, as the speed built up, the rear would rise up into the air and steering would be by a rudder on the tail, like a light aircraft.

That model was never built. Lord Foster’s Dymaxion is a recreation of an earlier prototype

A more advanced model, never built, would have used a tail rudder, like an aircraft, at speed

fig.1

34 / goodwood THE SEASoN

but the technical details are still utterly astonishing. It’s a rear-engined three-wheeler with front-wheel drive and rear-wheel steering.

It’s 20 feet long and can turn round in its own length. Driving this bizarre machine is very different from driving any other car, of any age.

The pedals, steering wheel and dashboard instruments are all familiar but you need to retrain your mind before taking a spin in a Dymaxion.

For one thing, there is no steering feel whatsoever in the cable-driven system and there are 12 turns from lock to lock. At speed, The Dymaxion is surprisingly stable and very little steering input is required but, to repeat Fuller’s favourite party trick and turn round in a narrow street, you must slow right down before twirling the wheel, rather like a boat – and round it goes in the most amazing way. The driver must pay great attention to which way the rear wheel is pointing before setting off, otherwise the tail could swing out instantly, with disastrous results.

By modern standards, there are serious flaws in basic safety and the average motorist would probably get into deep trouble. A sudden cross-wind at speed is not a happy thought but Fuller’s astonishing automotive vision from 1933 still has the power to make us think.

As a young man, Norman Foster collaborated with Buckminster Fuller on bold designs for highly innovative buildings. His reproduction Dymaxion car represents a personal tribute to his extraordinary mentor.

Tony Dron is a motoring author and journalist who has frequently competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Fiat luxe

the lovechild of two of italy’s cultural luminaries, the new 500 by Gucci infuses Fiat’s beloved retro car with cool, Florentine glamour, debuting at this year’s Festival of speed W o r d s M a n s e l F l e tc h e r / P H oTo G r A P H Y c h r i s F loy d

fig.1

The original Fiat 500 is the car that everyone loved, and its contemporary counterpart, which went on sale in 2007, is similarly appealing. It’s this emotional appeal that allows the 500 to cut across the usual social stratification that’s implied by a person’s choice of car. Everyone likes Fiat 500s, which is why they are popular even in areas where people could easily afford to drive something much more expensive.

London’s Notting Hill is just such an area, and there was recently a unique Fiat 500, with a matte-finished olive-green paint job, parked on the chi-chi Kensington Park Road. The car, which has an Italian number plate, belongs to Lapo Elkann {fig.1, with Gucci’s creative director, Frida Giannini} who, along with his brother John and sister Ginevra, represent the

current generation of the Agnelli family, who founded Fiat at the end of the 19th century. Elkann could drive any car he wanted, not least because his family owns a considerable stake in Ferrari, but he chooses to drive a Fiat 500 (as well as a babyblue Ferrari 599 and an army-green Jeep Grand Cherokee).

Speaking at the launch of the new 500 by Gucci, Elkann – whose creative agency Independent Ideas also works with fashion houses such as as Diane Von Furstenberg, Diesel, Levi’s and Swatch – said, ‘This is a car that I feel affection for personally and nationally. This car, to me, is like a girlfriend.

The 500 is my favourite car ever, and when I was manager of the Fiat group it was a car I always wanted to come out. It’s the cherry on the Fiat cake. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from,

37 / goodwood the season

it’s a car that puts a smile on your face. There are very few cars like this in the world.’

One of the draws of the 500 is the degree to which customers can make it their own – it’s possible to specify all the available options in half a million different combinations. However, the newest version of the car, the 500 by Gucci, is only available in one of two glossy finishes: white or black. Both have a green and red stripe running the length of the car just under the window line. The green and red are the Gucci colours, and, not coincidentally, also the colours of the Italian flag.

Italy’s pre-eminent luxury fashion house, Gucci, is currently enjoying unprecedented success under the aegis of its Roman creative director, Frida Giannini. Much of her success is down to her canny understanding of the need to balance fashion’s eternal pursuit of the future with some strong echoes of a more glamorousseeming past. The clothes that Giannini designs are contemporary versions of dresses and suits from the Sixties and Seventies, and so the allure of the new Fiat 500, itself a recreation of a motoring icon from an appealing era, must have been very clear to her.

This spring, the 500 by Gucci was unveiled at a party at Milan fashion week. Earlier the same day Giannini, sitting alongside Lapo Elkann, explained how the car came about.

‘This product was born out of a wonderful bowl of spaghetti with tomato and basil in the Rome residence of Lapo, so it’s very Italian,’ smiled Giannini. She and Elkann are clearly good friends, as they paid each other extravagant compliments, but it’s notable that she said, ‘I trust him. If he has something in mind it’ll come true, it’s not just a conversation over lunch.’

So it was that the 500 by Gucci went from a conversation over pasta to a project that saw Fiat’s Centro Stile design studio collaborate with Giannini’s creative team. Elkann recalled, ‘Frida and her team came up with millions of ideas.

When you see the car you see 100 of the concepts deployed on the product – of the countless ideas only 100 came true, but the team showed an energy, verve and passion towards the product that you can feel and taste.’ Giannini explained, ‘We didn’t want to create a new shape, because it’s so right, we wanted to customise it as if with make-up – it’s full of rich details. Of course the price isn’t the base price for the 500 – it is

‘The team showed an energy, verve and passion towards the product that you can feel and taste’

slightly higher – but it’s not impossible. It’s still affordable.’

The car, while mechanically identical to a regular 500, is extravagantly different in its details. The exterior is decorated with the red and green stripe, exclusive 16-inch wheels with Gucci’s interlocking ‘G’ logo on the hubcaps (which also have diamanté-studded spokes), a different Gucci logo on the boot and door frames as well as those specially developed paint finishes, sparkling black or pearlescent white.

On cars fitted with 100HP engines the brake calipers are in Gucci’s deep green, but the inside of the car has received the most attention. The seats are finished in leather and stamped with a repeating Gucci logo, the belts are in green and red, and the logo on the gear stick is a further sign of the Florentine fashion house.

Just as the Fiat 500 makes sense to Giannini, so Elkann is familiar with fashion.

‘I’m a suit freak,’ he says. ‘I’ve tested all the tailors from Savile Row to Milan and Naples.’

As a man who regularly appears at the very top of the best-dressed lists, and who was named by fashion designer Tom Ford as the contemporary male icon, he understands the power of image.

On the day of the 500 by Gucci unveiling, Elkann wore a tan-coloured suit with wide peak lapels made by Savile Row tailors Huntsman over a chunky roll-neck sweater, with the collar of his shirt peeking above the neckline. However, the thing that makes him an icon isn’t just the outfit, but the ease with which he wears it. Elkann couldn’t look more comfortable if he was in a pair of pyjamas and a dressing gown. By contrast Giannini, sitting next to him, is the epitome of starched chic, her model physique all the more sensational given the demands of her job.

Elkann, an Italian patriot despite having been born in New York, adores the Italianness of the Gucci-designed 500 and is pleased it’s arriving in 2011 as his country celebrates 150 years of unification. ‘Gucci and Fiat are two global Italian brands, but they didn’t forget where they came from, Gucci from Florence, and Fiat from Turin.’ Then he adds, ‘I’m very proud to be Italian. Italy has a potential that many other countries would dream of having.’ It’s certainly a potential fully realised in the new 500 by Gucci, which will be launched this year at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed.

Mansel Fletcher is Style Editor of British Esquire

38 / goodwood THE SEASoN

the art of food Handmade cheeses are among the exceptional quality artisan produce to be found at the goodwood farm shop

W o r d s D o u g l a s B ly D e / P H o T o G r A P H M a T T H e W D o N a l D s o N

40 / goodwood THE SEASoN

‘We started small, like Chatsworth’s farm shop’ says farm shop manager, Lizzie Vinnicombe. ‘Five years ago, we opened only on Saturdays, recorded sales in pen and took money in a tin. If we made £50 that was mad busy. Now we’re open all week.’

Originally used to store farm equipment, the site is all bare bricks and rugged beams. Every surface brims with estate produce, wicker hampers and glossy greetings cards showing pasture animals.

The operation has undertones of the early days of Chatsworth’s farm shop, which opened in a converted tack room in the late Seventies and this year scooped Farm Retailer of the Year.

‘Our USP is organic Goodwood meat,’ says Vinnicombe, ‘which echoes the pure ethos on which the Earl of March was raised.’ Stirring tea, she cradles a milk carton. ‘We’ve got a dairy herd for non-homogenised milk. See the cream cap?

We also produce raw milk. People travel for miles to get hold of milk the way it used to taste.’

Vinnicombe is keen to underline the importance of looking beyond the shelves of her shop to the lay of farmland. Soon, farm manager Tim Hassell is at the helm of his Land Rover. ‘Goodwood started on the organic path in 1996 and we became fully certified in 2006,’ he says. ‘Of 12,000 acres, 13 of us including a pigman, shepherd, cowman, milk processors and a tractor man farm 3,300 acres.’

He prowls past a pebbled cottage. ‘Ten of us live on the estate.’

As we approach the farm’s pig pen, 27 sows snuffle towards Hassell. Their coarse coats are testament to their hardiness. A large white boar keeps its distance then trots towards a teasing chicken. ‘Happy – that’s how pigs should be,’ comments Hassell. ‘We feed them once a day with home-grown food nourished by manure. No fertilisers.’ Hassell points to the good back line of a bright pink pig in profile, essential for the ‘tastiest’ bacon and loin chops. The roll call of customers include BBC Two Great British Menu chef contender Johnnie Mountain, who takes weekly deliveries for the signature 21-hour roast belly served at his restaurant in London’s

Barbican, The English Pig. Of Goodwood farm, Mountain comments: ‘what is there not to say about the quality? They have fantastic farming methods, an abundance of land and some of the most knowledgeable, caring people in the business.’

Lush pastures woven with clover and natural wormer, bird’s foot trefoil, await the rotation of 200 cows. Further on, Hassell locates two herds, temporarily housed during cold winter months, but otherwise grazing outdoors. Above the bellows of the youngest, Hassell boasts about the quality and popularity of the farm’s beef burgers. ‘We sell 70,000 yearly, many from a trailer at the pre-1966 motor circuit.’

In addition, dispatched from the farm is the three-strong fleet of mobile farm shops. The cows seem rather plump. ‘Our meat is hung for 28 days so it needs fat to stay moist,’ explains Hassell, nonetheless conceding that one bovine is ‘a bit of a big lady.’

We pass the Richmond Arms, the hotel restaurant recently reacquired by Goodwood, the golf course and the grounds of Goodwood House, where the Earl and Countess of March occupy a wing. Some of the estate’s 1,000 sheep, including black-faced Suffolks born last week, shade under cedars. ‘I’d take the depth of flavour of hogget [year-old sheep] over new-season lamb any day,’ says Hassell, misty eyed.

It is smoother progress for the Land Rover over Tarmac. Bodywork gleaming, a Silver Phantom glides past (Rolls-Royce leases part of the estate).

‘I see at least one every day’ says Hassell, before halting to inspect sauntering pheasants. He gives his verdict: ‘Survivors of the shoot!’ Although they are popular with celebrity guests such as Eric Clapton, Hassell doesn’t himself shoot, to the mild frustration of Goodwood’s gamekeeper, who feels that if he did he would be more sympathetic to their needs.

On southerly slopes are another type of shoot – malt and barley, sown for beer crafted at the large microbrewery, Hepworth & Co. ‘We’ve also been talking about going into a vineyard partnership,’ Hassell says.

Inside an anonymous wooden-boarded shed is one of the farm’s most promising projects. In here, wheels of Cheddar slumber in their traditional muslin and lard covering. Taking the name of a nearby village, vintage Charlton suffuses aromas of damp linen.

Next to them, a verdigris bloom begins to envelop a row of just-made cheeses.

Back at the shop, Hassell offers a tasting. At five months old, with a canary yellow centre, the mild is supple, buttery and long lived, while the 10-months mature is stronger in flavour but with a brittle texture and hint of ginger on the palate.

Goodwood’s inaugural extra mature will be ready for Christmas.

‘We want more Goodwood on the shelves,’ urges Vinnicombe between nibbles. ‘In fact, I’m throwing a Goodwood dinner party.’ She points

out ruddy steaks, gammon joints, rose veal, frozen turkeys and beef pies, then announces her plan to create a line of pork pies for picnickers.

‘There’s no point in filling the shop without integrity,’ says Vinnicombe. But isn’t that Spanish chorizo nudging the apple juice? ‘Leave it to the Spaniards. They do it better than Brits. Although I’m interested in air-dried ham,’ Hassell nods.

Formerly working front-of-house in restaurants, Vinnicombe’s assistant manager Sam Newton says that working here inspired him to ‘fall in love with food again’. He even persuaded his vegetarian sister, iron-deficient after pregnancy, to try estate sirloin. ‘She loved the taste,’ he said.

Newton is keen to share his passion for cooking, and encourages customers to cook by offering advice, recipes and complementary herbs.

Vinnicombe interjects: ‘Customers even email photos of their dishes!’

But cheating is an option, too. Giggling, she mentions that in her own time, an estate housekeeper has been known to pass off Goodwood farm shop pie filling as her own…

‘What is there not to say about the quality? They have fantastic methods…’

41 / goodwood THE SEASoN

Douglas Blyde is a freelance food and drink journalist who writes for Fork, The Spectator, Harpers Wine & Spirit and Spear’s

OPPOSITE: The shape of things to come – a wheel of organic vintage Charlton, named after a nearby village, is a work of art

Look back in styLe Retro fashion is as much a part of the Goodwood Revival as the classic cars. Secure your vintage look with this essential decade-by-decade guide

Words Clare Coulson

Two decades ago, when vintage mania first struck, no one could have imagined the extent to which old clothes would impact our modern wardrobes. Since then the trend – which kicked off with a fondness for pretty floral tea dresses and customised vintage cashmere – has splintered in myriad directions. There are recyclers and upcyclers, customisers and collectors through to the vast majority of us who occasionally dabble in a bit of vintage here and there – a Pucci scarf picked up in a market on holiday, a Céline shoulder bag from the Seventies or a vintage Chanel jacket inherited by the lucky few from chic mothers and grandmothers. The passion for dressing up in vintage, whether in precious heirlooms or thrifty second-hand, has had incredible longevity and the success of the Goodwood Revival speaks volumes about our enthusiasm for times – and wardrobes – gone by.

—

conde nast archive/corbis; john springer collection/corbis; norman parkinson/sygma/corbis

thirties

Super elegant and ultra feminine, pretty pieces from chintzy floral tea dresses to sequined evening jackets and capelets from the Thirties are always among the most coveted – and treasured – vintage pieces. But their delicacy also makes them among the most hard to find – especially in good condition. Virginia Bates has been dealing in antique clothes for 40 years from her stunning store tucked away in a peaceful corner of Notting Hill. Every surface here is covered in incredible heirlooms and Virginia is the go-to dealer for ‘inspiration’ pieces for designers from Ralph Lauren to Donna Karan. Bates has always maintained an incredible selection of languid dresses from the Thirties, which have won her fans from Kate Moss to Nicole Kidman. The fluidity of this era – along with the often-svelte sizing – means that this is a look that is perfect for willowy, tall girls.

Virginia Antiques, 98 Portland Road, London W11 4LQ; 020 7727 9908

decade for next autumn. For a masterclass of this style, take a look at Miu Miu’s autumn collection with its pretty floral-print crêpe de Chine dresses with their wide shoulders and voluminous sleeves along with fur stoles, capacious clutches and wonderful chunky heeled sandals. It’s a look personified by Wallis Simpson, who dressed in strong-shouldered dresses by Chanel and her arch rival Schiaparelli. Circa Vintage, which is in Fulham, is a favourite with fashion editors and savvy collectors and more of an insider secret than London’s best-known vintage stores, such as Rokit.

They have a good selection of Forties pieces here, including gorgeous black crêpe floral dresses that are supremely elegant and chic. This decade’s look is also all about the accessories, too, and here there are great examples of the kind of statement jewels (some vintage and some vintage-inspired) that were worn in the era including stunning brooches and beautiful cuffs.

Circa Vintage, 64 Fulham High Street, SW6 3LQ; 020 7736 5038; circavintage.com

— FiFties

The look of the Fifties is unmistakeable even to someone who knows absolutely nothing about fashion history. Once Christian Dior popularised voluminous shirts and nipped-in waists with his era-defining New Look in 1947, the following decade was dominated by full, swooshy skirts, fitted tops and heaving bosoms. And unlike preceding decades, it’s incredible easy to find pieces in great condition from this era. The Real McCoy in Exeter will get you into a vintage mood before you’ve even started to shop – there is a Fifties’ Americana cafe here in which to steel yourself before delving in to the clothes. You can hire or buy and there are plenty of the rock’n’roll dresses that define this era, as well as a selection of spivvy suits for the boys too.

The Real McCoy, 21 McCoy’s Arcade, Fore St, Exeter EX4 3AN; 01392 410481; therealmccoy.co.uk

Forties

The war years are about to have a major fashion revival as designers from Gucci’s Frida Giannini to Miuccia Prada are reviving the glamour of this

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Wool separates by Greta Plattry, 1951; actress Kay Aldridge in the 1941 film You're In The Army Now; a Herbert Sondheim design, 1948; Bianca Jagger in the Seventies

— seventies

Although they’re not strictly part of the classic revival era (1948-1966), the Seventies are currently providing fashion houses with a never-ending stream of ideas – including Marc Jacobs’s recent ode to Studio 54, and Pucci’s richly bohemian take on the era’s jet-set lifestyle. The plush, luxe top end of the market is super-glamorous and Atelier Mayer has some of the most incredible pieces for sale. Former fashion PR Carmen Haid set up the site to provide a place where women could buy luxury vintage and has stuck faithfully to her mission, showcasing the best of the classics such as Yves Saint Laurent’s ‘Le Smoking’ and bohemian peasant dresses from 1976, alongside the decadent Givenchy dinner dresses and sleek Halston jersey halter-dresses. atelier-mayer.com

The success of the Goodwood Revival says much about our love of the past

— sixties

—

mini-dresses over skinny trousers or try out an early Sixties style that is inspired by the cool lines of Céline: pair a polo-neck or retro knit over straight-legged black trousers.

Pop Boutique, 58 Whitechapel, Liverpool L1 6EG; 0151 709 7858; pop-boutique.com

As the name suggests, the Pop Boutique in Liverpool is a hub for all things Sixties (although it also sells pieces from the Seventies and Eighties).

The first branch opened in 1994 in Manchester at the height of the craze for all things retro and it’s now a chain with stores from London to Liverpool.

You will find the bright swingy shifts, kinky knee-high boots, mini-skirts and skinny rib knits that are typical of this era – a look epitomised by the youthquake silhouettes of Mary Quant and Foale and Tuffin. This may be a leggy, youthful look – from a era that revelled in freedom – but the clean-cut aesthetic of the decade makes it an easy look for many women to wear. Layer short 43 / goodwood THE SEASoN

— UniForms

Vintage lovers fall in to two camps – those who use vintage to put together very contemporary looks, and the enthusiasts who live and breathe a bygone era. For the latter, Armstrong’s is stocked to the brim with amazing antique uniforms and vintage fancy dress. It also stocks Scottish Highland wear and beautiful Scottish tweed and cashmere.

Armstrongs, 83 The Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2HJ; 0131 220 5557; armstrongsvintage.co.uk Clare Coulson is Fashion Features Director of Harper’s Bazaar

flighT paThs Seventy-five years after the aircraft’s inaugural test flight, a squadron of Spitfires will once again take off from westhampnett during this year’s goodwood Revival. So how did this celebrated aeroplane earn such a special place in British history?

W o r d s R O B R YA N

44 / goodwood THE SEASoN

A few years ago I was at a party for both established and newly published authors at Hatchards, the Piccadilly booksellers. I was the latter. Although I recognised many guests, I knew none of them to speak to. I soon realised that the gentleman standing next to me was in a similar position, so I introduced myself. He asked me what I had written and I told him it was a novel about WWII; I enquired about his book. ‘It’s just a memoir,’ he said modestly. I pressed him. About? ‘Flying Spitfires in the Battle of Britain.’

This was Geoffrey Wellum, who had just published First Light, his enthralling account of his wartime exploits, and, despite being surrounded by the likes of Paxman, Bragg and Faulks, we huddled in our corner like naughty schoolboys behind the bike sheds and spent the next hour hymning an aeroplane that he had piloted almost 60 years previously. ‘I was very lucky,’ he said to me. ‘It was the time of my life in many ways. Nothing since has come close to the thrill of flying a Spitfire. I loved that plane.’

He is not alone. Many pilots have spoken of their ‘love affair’ (in those very words) with this sweet, graceful, yet tough fighter, and it is hard to think of another aircraft of any generation that has inspired such widespread devotion from the non-flying public. Part of this is undoubtedly symbolic, because the Spitfire is an integral part of the whole mythology of a handful of brave and impossibly young pilots defending these islands over the course of long, hot and bloody summer. The Battle of Britain is as powerful a legend as that of Camelot, and nothing quite captures its spirit like the Supermarine Spitfire.

But its appeal transcends the summer of 1940; even hardened pacifists are enthralled by this machine, for it exudes an undeniable charisma that is in part down to the Spit’s civilian roots. The Hawker Hurricane, although reasonably radical for the RAF in the mid-Thirties (and which actually shot down more enemy planes in the Battle of Britain, thanks to its greater numbers), was clearly an evolution from biplane fighters such as the Hawker Fury. The Spitfire’s antecedents were not military aircraft at all, but the streamlined, innovative floatplanes that RJ Mitchell, the genius of the design, had created to win the Schneider Cup in the Twenties.

Look at the Supermarine S6 of 1929 and you can see a strong familial resemblance to the iconic single-seater.

No lumpen warhorse this – the Spitfire was born of a thoroughbred racing pedigree and it shows. As Geoffrey Wellum puts it: ‘When I first saw it, I was struck by the line. The beauty of line. It looked – it was – wonderful.’

And of course it sounds wonderful, too: the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine produces what one ace called ‘the song of power’.

Yet the fact we even have in our heritage such a handsome yet aggressive-sounding plane is close to miraculous – time and again it was almost scrapped or passed over.

You could script the Spitfire’s turbulent genesis just like a Hollywood film. In Act One, a prickly but supremely gifted individual (Mitchell) creates a beautiful plane in the face of government indifference. Several times, the project is on the brink of cancellation as the powers-that-be vacillate. In Act Two, struggling with bungling Air Ministry bureaucracy to deliver a working prototype, the genius learns he has the cancer that will kill him before he sees the aeroplane save the country. For Act Three, plucky workers make a gargantuan effort to deliver the game-winning planes to the RAF just in the nick of time, as, across the Channel, Dorniers, Heinkels and Messerschmitts warm up their engines.

Well, in fact, it’s not that far from the truth, although it might come as a surprise to learn that appeaser-inchief Neville Chamberlain was one of the Spitfire’s champions (many in the cabinet thought the RAF should be building bombers), or that it was Supermarine itself which caused many of the initial delays because of its chaotic management style and the designer’s lack of organisational skills.

Tragically, Mitchell did die in June 1937, aged 42, and it would be another year before Spitfires would be seen in action, just 13 months before war was declared.

At that point, the Goodwood Estate’s Westhampnett Farm was being hastily transformed into RAF Westhampnett, initially for the Hurricanes of 145 Squadron, then, in August 1940, the Spitfires of 602 Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force arrived, starting a long association with the marque. Famous amputee pilot Douglas Bader flew Spitfires from Westhampnett – including his last sortie when he bailed out over France and became a POW – as did Poles, Czechs, Canadians and even the USAAF, which based the Spits of 31st Group there.

REX; coRbis

The Spitfire was born of a thoroughbred racing pedigree and it shows

MAIN PICTURE: Spitfire pilots scramble during the Battle of Britain, 1940; Spitfire takes part in the Battle of Britain.

TOP RIGHT: A Spitfire banks during a dogfight

Although RAF Westhampnett closed in 1946, the bond between the Spitfire and Goodwood remains strong and unbroken to this day. At the Goodwood Revival this year, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first test flight of this wonderful aeroplane, a group of the machines will perform a flypast, taking off from the aerodrome at Westhampnett. Just watch the skies. Listen closely.

And fall in love all over again.

The Goodwood Revival is from 16 to 18 September Robert Ryan's novel Early One Morning is about Bugatti drivers who fought for the French Resistance 45 / goodwood THE SEASoN

Drive time Dependent on precision measurement, the evolution of motor racing helped propel the advancement of watchmaking, as this exploration of an age-old relationship between fast cars and classic timepieces reveals

Words KEN KES SLER / PHoToGrAPHY MAT THEW DONALDSON

C a r s a n d w a t C h e s : the mutual attraction is irresistible. The reasons are myriad, from the need for the timing of races and for establishing performance figures such as 0–60mph times, while the most glib, prosaic and obvious is that both are, categorically, ‘boys’ toys’.

It goes back to the very earliest days of the motor car, at the end of the 19th century. The first automotive events, especially speed trials, needed to be timed to show who was the victor.

Races on circuits usually produced an unequivocal winner unless two cars abreast reached the finish line; such occasions created a need for stopwatches with ultra-precise, split-second timing.

Concurrent with the arrival of the first automobiles was the evolution of the watch from pocket to wrist. It was at the behest of adventurer and early aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont in 1904 that his friend Louis Cartier devised a watch that could be worn on the wrist – not the first-ever wrist-worn watch, but arguably the first to reach serial production. You know it as the immortal Cartier Santos, which is still in production, and which has sired a continual flow of exemplary watches, the most robust being the rugged Santos 100 – particularly rakish in the black-and-stainless-steel combination.

Cartier was also inspired by automobiles when it needed a name for a decidedly sleek and sporty model. The Cartier Roadster uses design details that recall automotive motifs, with a winder that resembles the bullet-shaped tail lights of a Fifties Cadillac. The chronograph features a tachymeter, enabling the wearer to use the watch to calculate speeds when road markers are present, such as the mile indicators on US turnpikes, against which to use the scale.

Enhancing the usefulness of the watch was the addition of chronograph capability. In simple terms, it means adding stopwatch functions to a watch that shows the ‘normal’ hours, minutes

and seconds. Heuer (more than a century before the ‘TAG’ prefix was added), was one of the pioneers in chronograph development, and certainly the first to embrace motorsport with a great big ol’ bear hug. In the late Sixties, Jack Heuer, a hardcore racing aficionado, outfitted the top F1 drivers of the day. It was a case of: if one had a Heuer, the next had to have one, too.

Cannily, Heuer’s named several models after races and race circuits, including Silverstone, Monza, Carrera and Monaco, the latter appended to the world’s first automatic chronograph in a square case… as worn by Steve McQueen in the 1971 film Le Mans. So highly sought after are these that a black 1974 edition set a new world record for its kind last December of £48,000 in an auction at Bonhams in London, and Steve McQueen’s own sold for around £56,000 in 2009.

If you covet one of these models, named after your favourite race or circuit, worry not about paying collectors’ prices, for most have been reintroduced by TAG Heuer in updated versions.

Particularly cool is the Silverstone, with rounded

corners, while classicists should look to the forthcoming reissue of the Monza to celebrate the brand’s 150th year in motor racing in 2011.

Perhaps the most famous watch associated with a race is Rolex’s Cosmograph Daytona, a superb chronograph that will forever be associated with another cinema/racing icon, Paul Newman. Along with McQueen, Newman was one of Hollywood’s consummate car nuts, eventually running his own racing team.

In the 1969 motor-racing film Winning Newman wore his own Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, a version with a rare and distinctive dial. That model caught the eye of the Rolex hardcore, especially Italian collectors, whose lust for said model turned it into one of the most coveted collectors’ pieces of them all. And ever since it emerged as the Holy Grail of Rolexes, it has been known simply as ‘The Paul Newman’.

Rolex has never let the Cosmograph Daytona go out of production. It even fitted it with a new, in-house movement in 2000, adding to its desirability. As for its motorsport credibility, well, it’s good enough for Sir Jackie Stewart, who promised one to Rubens Barrichello when he was driving for Stewart Racing. Legend has it that the promise was based on Rubens earning a podium spot for the fledgling team in the Nineties. Rubens rose to the challenge. Which begs the observation: what some will do to earn a Rolex Daytona…

With the arrival of the first cars was the evolution of watch from pocket to wrist

46 / goodwood the season

Ken Kessler writes about watches for the Wall Street Journal, ST Watches & Jewellery and Men’s Health

GUTTER CREDIT

FRoM LEFT: TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre 11 Chronograph, £4,600, tagheuer.com, 0800 037 9658; Cartier Santos 100 in steel, large model, £4,875, cartier.com, 020 3147 4850; 1997 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona with Zenith movement in stainless steel, £8,950, Watch Club, watchclub.com Props Andy Tomlinson

47 / goodwood the season

summer breeze Lose yourself in a meadow of tall grasses and wildflowers, in a shimmer of floaty frocks in the finest chiffons and lace for an unforgettable season of romance and fantasy PHOTOGRAPHY NICK DOREY / STYLING

RIGHT: Pink neon lace dress, £1,795, Christopher Kane

MICHELLE DUGUID

ABOVE: Red dotted chiffon dress with black bows, £7,155, Meadham Kirchhoff RIGHT: Grey silk pleated mousseline dress, £4,680, Chloé. Gold ankle boots, £308, Pierre Hardy. Straw boater (customised with ribbon by stylist), £125, James Lock & Co

LEFT: Pink knit dress with fringe, ÂŁ1,890, Mark Fast ABOVE: Yellow petal dress, ÂŁ9,853 (made to order), Giambattista Valli

THIS PAGE: White lace ‘Wendy’ shirt, £895, and white lace skirt, £950, both Erdem. Straw hat with tulle trim, £200, Miss Jones by Stephen Jones RIGHT: Turquoise drape slip dress with lace detail top, price on application, and cream tattoo-print trousers, POA, both Marios Schwab

HaIr Halley Brisker at David Coffin Management using Bumble and bumble MaKe-up Janeen Witherspoon at Julian Watson agency using Dior Summer Look STYLIST’S aSSISTaNT Debbie Lerner MODeL Julija Step at Storm reTOuCHING postmen

STOCKISTS Chloé chloe.com Christopher Kane at liberty.co.uk Erdem at net-a-porter.com Giambattista Valli at doverstreetmarket.com Mark Fast at Browns Focus, brownsfashion.com Marios Schwab at harrods.com Meadham Kirchhoff at harveynichols.com Pierre Hardy at net-a-porter.com Stephen Jones stephenjonesmillinery.com Valentino valentino.com Yves Saint Laurent ysl.com

OPPOSITE PAGE: Green silk chiffon blouse with black fingerprint motif, £1,085, and green silk chiffon ruffled skirt with black fingerprint motif, £1,655, both Yves Saint Laurent THIS PAGE: Black mesh flower ruffle top, price on application, Valentino

A rAcing pulse Present Goodwood owner Lord March remembers the grandfather who instilled a passion for motoring into the family blood

fig.1

I t ’ s 8 0 y e a r s since my grandfather, the ninth Duke of Richmond, won the famous Double Twelve race at Brooklands in an MG C-Type. It was an important race and, in a great photo taken on that day in 1931 { fig.1}, you can see how excited everyone was, literally throwing their hats in the air.

My grandfather, who everyone knew as Freddie March { fig.2}, is really responsible for my lifelong love of cars and machines. When he left Oxford, he took the very unusual step for a man of his background of going on to the shop floor at Bentley to get an apprenticeship, working for the founder, the great WO Bentley. Soon he started racing. My great-grandparents hated it. There’s even a story that when he was actually winning the Double Twelve, the race was on the wireless (as it was called in those days); the butler brought the radio into the Egyptian dining room where Freddie’s parents were sitting, at either end of a 30ft table. They told him to take it away.

Freddie didn’t race very much. He probably competed in no more than seven big races but he won a lot of them – his success rate was very high. His other big triumph was in an Austin 7 as part of the 1930 Austin team that won the Brooklands 500 Miles. He was interested in high-tech, light, small cars. In those days races were handicapped: he’d get a head start in his

fig.2

My grandfather competed in no more than seven big races but he won a lot of them small MG or Austin and the big Bentleys would then chase him. He even managed his own fleet of MG Midgets. After the war, in 1948, he converted the perimeter track of the Battle of Britain airfield, which was on the Estate, into a race circuit.

It’s still there today and we brought it back to life in 1998. It is the setting for the annual Goodwood Revival, which is the most famous historic race meeting in the world and the only major sporting event to be set to a period theme.

As a child I would visit Goodwood for the horse racing in July and the motor racing at Easter, which was the highlight of my year. My grandmother would give us fabulous presents 58 / goodwood the season

spread out across our beds when we arrived. My grandfather would take me round the race track and the pits and send me car books and magazines at school. When I was about ten, he gave me The Automobile Book by Ralph Stein, which was, I believe, the very first big colour car book. I’ve still got it, and I used to endlessly draw Bugattis from its pages.

In the end, Freddie concentrated on car design and styling. He designed some really lovely cars, one of which was a slightly rakish 16/80 AC in the mid-Thirties. I’ve got the original two-seater prototype; it looks like a small SS Jaguar, very chic.

Back then, at those Easter race meetings, the drivers would stay in Goodwood House. There’d be a big drinks party on Saturday night because, rather brilliantly, they didn’t race on Sunday, only on Easter Monday. I remember the drivers – they were nothing less than gods to a 10-yearold boy. You get inspired by that sort of thing as a child. I suppose cars and motor racing are just part of my make-up; they are part of who I am and I guess I have Freddie to thank for that.

Goodwood Revival will mark the 80th anniversary of Freddie March’s 1931 race win with an authentic recreation of the MG team’s Brooklands paddock, including a line-up of supercharged racing MGs from the early Thirties