Last Sunday there was an exclusive photo shoot arranged by Grace & Gears two great guys, Henry and Matthew. The event is organised to allow photographers and content creators full access to vehicles without anybody getting in the way of their photography. The venue was at Hedingham Castle which is located between Sudbury and Colchester. There was twenty or so cars which were hand picked and invited by Matthew and Henry for the few hours four till eight in the evening. It was a hot day so a few hours in the evening was a welcome change to the all day event. The cars we positioned all around the grounds in strategic positions for space and aesthetically pleasing backgrounds. I ended up taking over two hundred photos many of my own car of course, but also the other cars. I was able to play around with my phones camera settings for the changing light conditions. They looked great on the phone, but when I uploaded them onto my PC they didn’t look so great, many were unceremoniously dumped. The guys kindly arranged for some food and drink trailers as well for us all too which was appreciated.
The Venue, Hedingham Castle.
I arrived a bit early, but this is where I parked up for allocated space on the Castle’s field before some of the other cars arrived.
The lower field by the picturesque lake had a few cars in lots of open space, which is where I started my photos collection of these lovely cars.
Walking back up to the main driveway as the booked in cars had already arrived, they parked them on the main driveway up to the house and the castle. Three black cars, the ever stunning Lambo, a Ferrari and an Audi.
To the left of the field was a couple of white cars.
Up at the main house was a modified photogenic beast.
Under the bridge we went back to the future
Walking back to the Castle this Ferrari was parking up, but later moved to the side of the Castle.
The little group where I was parked, we did spread out to give ourselves a bit more room. There was three blue cars this time flanked by a Prowler.
A couple of behind the scenes photos:
Then to finish of I took a few shots of my car, at various lighting conditions, I was trying to be artistic and sure it worked. Some of these images are large files and look so, so much better when opened up by clicking on them.
I will add some of these photos, not just of mine but also of the other cars and a couple of scenery shoots added to the ‘Screen Downloads’ menu in their full size resolution so you can manipulate them as you wish. The images are free to download and use, you never know you may find something you like.
Under the top menu heading ‘Screen Downloads’ where there will be two options:
‘Desktop Wallpaper Downloads’ click here for the link.
‘Mobile Wallpaper Downloads’ click here for the link.
Special thanks to Matthew, Henry, all the photographers and content creators who took part to make a great evening.
This is the first of two posts this weekend as I had two shows in one week. Last Thursday 18th June 2026 my wife sent me a couple of messages with classic cars in them. I asked what it was all about, she didn’t know, so I thought no more about it. She got home about an hour later and started to tell me that she took a detour home because of traffic and spotted a number of cars turning up on the next village to us in Tostock. I knew nothing about the show, (so I blame ‘Frosty’ for that). I did a quick online search to find there was indeed a car show just a few miles from us which started at five in the evening. I wanted to go as it was a nice evening and would only be a for three scheduled hours. For the first time my wife actually agreed to come with me in the Mustang to a car show for an evening out.
We arrived a little after five thirty and it was already busy. There was a lot of people walking around with cold beers in their hands which they had just gotten from the pub which was adjacent to he green itself. I wanted to have a cold drink too, but as the wife didn’t want to drive us home, which is understandable, I certainly won’t risk it. Cars were still turning up after my fashionably late arrival and were just parking up where there wasn’t spaces, just like me. The cars started to arriving at four in the afternoon, hence why the wife spotted them on her way home.
I was greeted by my friend John on the way in trying to find a space, he directed me into a space that wasn’t supposed to be a space. I was considerate enough to leave space should anybody want to leave before me. There was few regular cars that I recognised, and a few new ones to me too.
We decided to wander from one end of the green to the other and in no particular order I (we) just wandered up and down the lines.
There was a little section of military vehicles which was quite cool.
Apart from my car these were other Mustangs that had got parked up for the show, I managed to catch up with David who I hadn’t seen for a while which was great and the banter started immediately. The others I missed, but I will catch them next time out I’m sure.
The biggest vehicle there by a long way was this monstrous CAT that trundled down the road. Used for ‘heavy earth moving tasks’ according to Google, but now had seats in the back and brought a few people along with it. The wheels were a little under six feet tall.
That leaves Mart’s Car Of The Show. This amazing 1940/1 pick up. My wife also liked it and said that one like it would be a good candidate for another project. I think she wants me out the house, again!
After a couple of hours we left as I didn’t want to push my luck and make her regret coming out with me to a show. Will there be another show with the wife? I hope so, it’s only taken her fifteen years since I have owned my car to turn up to a show with me. Saying that, I do like my occasional nap at the odd car show, needless to say that wouldn’t happen if the wife is with me! 😀
Last weekend was new venue some sixteen miles away at Whitton Football Club’s training field. The show wasn’t that well advertised, but it was worth a go to support a new venture. The show was advertised as 10am, was that for cars to turn up or public to enter? It was for public to attend, I think. I knew where this field was, but not actually gone in there. I arrived just after 9am and couldn’t see the entrance which was marked up by a single A4 ‘sign’ pegged into the ground pointing to a narrow lane between a row of gardens on each side. I took this picture at the bottom in the ‘car park’ looking up to the top once I had parked up in the field. There was only one way in, and the same way out. If this was to be a busy show I can imagine this would be a real pain to exit or even queue to get in.
Forgive the quality of the pictures, this was my backup phone camera’s efforts and struggled a bit with the colours.
I was shown where to park passing through the gravel public car park which I reckon could hold around forty cars max. There was a big field which was fairly flat and would be great for a show. There was one side of the field with around a dozen club members, and on the other side near the entrance to the field about ten cars where I parked.
I parked next to newer Mustang just for the old vs new look, just as I was taking the photo a Ford Escort Mk 4 Cabriolet parked on the other side of me.
Wandering up the row and back down the other side of the field took all of about twenty minutes at the most.
Then the other side of the field.
I got back to my car got the chair out and waited for the public and the other cars to arrive. I waited, then waited even more, nothing. At the very most I counted twenty seven cars, a couple left at around eleven and couple came in. The entrance fee was £20 for a family ticket which was well steep. You couldn’t see the cars from where the payment was made until you walked around the corner of a hedge to see the field. If it was me; I would have wanted my money back! There was supposed to be a live band, it turned out that the live band was a couple of speakers playing 50’s & 60’s music.
The wide variety of stalls was a hot dog stall, a bloke selling hats, another selling metal plates, a race car simulator, a van selling Hot Wheels cars with a few cheap plastic Marvel figures, oh and an ice cream van.
It was a dire situation – first time I was bored at a show. The guy who owned the S197 Mustang next to me was the only person I spoke to about cars. There wasn’t many cars to chose from for my favourite.
Mart’s Car Of The Show:
The Ford Escort Mark IV Cabriolet, the irony is that this guy turned up only to fix the ice cream van that wasn’t working, technically this wasn’t part of the show. I’m just glad he was there to prop the numbers up.
A little after one I decided to go home, what a waste of time to sit in the field. Next time I may take my tablet with me to write up car show report to pass the time. But, I enjoyed the drive there and back, so it wasn’t all bad. However, this venue had potential to host a lot of cars. They needed to get their act together and get the event out there to get attendance up and more cars. The people that paid for their pitches to sell their goods would have made a loss, the guys selling the toys started to pack up at twelve and was ready to leave about the same time as me.
I wanted to leave before the big rush to leave the venue, while I was waiting in a massive long queue to get out (as it was that busy), I took a final picture before my twenty minute drive home.
On a serious note, it was a shame and I hope the organisers return next year where the event should be better supported if there was a bit more effort. The afternoon nap made up for the lost Sunday morning lie-in. The wife was pleased that I as home early though, waking from my forty winks she had found a load of ‘jobs’ for me in the garden. Of course I would, but only after I cleaned the car in the garage, which took much longer than I had expected so I was only able to do a few of the jobs 😉
Perhaps the closest car show to me is at Rougham Airfield, well what’s left of it. The control tower is the only remaining part of the airfield which is now a museum to the airfield and the squadron stationed here. There are volunteers who keep the place tidy and provide a glimpse of the WWII era with some period correct clothing. The location is a short six miles away from my house hardly time to warm the car up. The show is called “Buff The Ruff” organised by my car club ‘Bury Retro Car Club‘ and all vehicles are welcome. The show said 10am, I wasn’t sure if that was public time or time to arrive with the car. It turned out it was turn up time, to be on the safe side I arrived at a little after nine, I could of had an extra hour in bed. There was three of us there when i turned up with the same thought, when does it start. We drove onto a bit of land behind the control tower in a good position. In a line there was six of us as we were parking up now, a MK3 Escort, a MK1 Capri, First Gen Mustang (me) a Mustang II Cobra and then a white MK3 Capri, and a Model A hot rod, we got talking and promptly called it the Ford field! It didn’t stay a Ford field for long though.
By the time I finished wiping down the car it was getting on towards ten and quite a few more cars were starting to park up. The weather was overcast, warm with a light breeze and no rain was forecast.
This Ford Anglia was just like the one my Grandfather had, but it didn’t have this fancy engine.
I took a trip up the tower onto the roof to get some high angle photos just as some more cars rolled in which gave me an unusual angle to take some great shots.
This blue Charger nearly got my car of the show, a real nice car that sounded as good as it looked when it rolled in.
I took a few pics inside the tower to a couple of rooms that I hadn’t seen before. The Jeep outside had a few grenades in the back and I think a grenade launcher? I assume they were deactivated!
Marts Car Of The Show, this really nice 1984 VW Golf GTI MK II. Such a clean well loved nice tidy car. A great engine in the 1.8ltr Bosh K Jetronic, 112bhp. For it’s day this was a quick car and was the original pocket rocket with a scarce rag top. Often copied and the boy racer’s dream.
At around two thirty I made a move home as a number of other had also started to leave. I got home within minutes and for a change the fuel gauge didn’t move (much). A good show with some really nice cars and some and some nice chats with a few mates who turned up to support the show.
The background to my car is that it was brought over to the UK and stationed in RAF Lakenheath by a USAF pilot all the way from Virginia USA some three thousand eight hundred miles away. My excitement was high to see that Lakenheath Classic Car Show 2026 was back on this year. I was hoping it was going to be at the airbase itself, sadly that wasn’t case. The show itself was held in a playing field about a mile away from the base. My car was almost home, so near yet so far.
The UK is having a bit of a heatwave at the moment which makes a real nice change. But, sitting in an open field where there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky with a temperature up in the high thirties, it was hot for us Brits. My wife got up with me early and said “I have packed the cool bag, add anything extra that you may want”. I looked inside to find three bottles of water and a dog bowl!
I asked ‘What’s that all about?’ She replied with “just in caser there are any dogs there that need a drink, make sure you give them a drink”. Never mind me, she was more worried about the dogs over heating. I got my own drinks and lunch and packed it into the cool bag, and into the trunk of the car.
The show was to start at ten with drive which was about fifty minutes away. The order for today was a steady drive along the back roads scenic route to keep moving and not get stuck in any traffic. The marshals were super efficient and guided the cars straight onto the field and parked us up in turn. I got out the car and started to wipe the car down from the road dust accumulated by the trip in and set up the show board. By the time I had completed the quick wipe down it was approaching noon and I was starting to boil. I slapped on the factor fifty and drank a nicely chilled one litre bottle of water. Luckily and common sense prevailing for the day, I didn’t see any dogs being dragged around, so that meant I was now going to drink the water that was put aside for them. I had underestimated how thirsty I would get during the day.
There was a round hundred and fifty cars being hosted by the show. Some were the usual Walmart wagons, like three year old BMWs with stickers on them, a few newer Mercs and of course the boy racer specials, the Ford Focus STs, I didn’t bother with most of them. While making my way around the show, a first for me was that my phone (Samsung S26 Ultra) flashed up a warning of overheating which then stopped me taking photos. To allow the phone to cool down I went to seek out some shade and sit inside a little building for half an hour or so that was doing a roaring trade in cold beers. That’s two shows on the trot now where I was tempted, but I still resisted.
With the phone recovered, I quickly completed the rest of the lines of cars. Being so close to the air base there was a heavy bias to American iron and muscle.
There was quite a few modified cars there as well, the first two here followed me for part of the way to the show. Me doing a steady fifty five wasn’t fast enough for them, so I moved over to let them past on the country roads.
A popular car was this Skyline.
There was a few bikes and trikes too, but many didn’t stay that long.
There was a heavy Mustang contingent as I expected, so I grouped them all together here.
That leaves me with Marts Car Of The Show; which was this huge 1977 FORD LTD that looked like it had just come out of a showroom. It was like a land yacht in a great colour that continued inside. I’m not sure what garage would house this beast, I suspect it would have to be more like an aircraft hanger.
I got back to my car got the chair out, and sat down with a more cold drinks and little light lunch. The factor fifty was applied generously over the next couple of hours. I got into some great conversation with a couple behind me who had just purchased their new toy, 1947 Bentley and their story around how they got it.
The seatbelts which I do up and place on the seats just to make them look neat were so hot I couldn’t hold them and I was worried the metal buckles were going to melt the seats, literally they were that hot I had to use a couple of cloths to unclip them. At around three in the afternoon I admitted defeat – I couldn’t take the heat anymore and decided to go home. I had all the windows down while taking the scenic route home, longer by about five miles but much more enjoyable.
A great day out, in fact it was the hottest May Bank holiday since records had begun, so I was informed by the weather lady in the evening news. It was a shame I didn’t get to go on the base with the car it would have been awesome, but I know for a fact that my car was driven around these very roads in the late 1990’s.
Last weekend’s car show was on a Saturday and not a Sunday which made a pleasant change. It meant that I could write up about the show in my own time on the Sunday. Especially useful excuse when the wife wants me to cut the grass or do some DIY, I can’t keep my readers waiting now can I? The show was in the next county from from me, about a fifty minutes drive through some beautiful countryside of Thetford Forest. The show is listed as Anglo American Feltwell Classic Car Show which is always well attended. I managed to get to this show a couple of years ago and was surprised by the heavy American classics there. Feltwell is surrounded by some US airbases, two of the big bases are Mildenhall and Lakenheath, the smaller one is Feltwell itself. I like driving round this part of the country as the American cars from the bases are used on a daily basis and seen out and about. It always feels like home around Lakenheath as its where the serviceman was stationed that owned my car bought when he brought it to the UK with him. I was expecting plenty of American muscle and I wasn’t wrong.
I arrived at the location an hour or so after setting off with a couple mishaps on the way. The first being a water mains was leaking and running down an incline of a road. My nice clean car was now getting splattered with dirty water. To those behind me, it must have looked as though I was intoxicated trying to drive around the little streams trying to mitigate the dirt sticking to the car. The second issue was me missing the entrance to the show. It was ‘sign posted’ (I use that in the loosest of terms), by the odd bit of A4 paper stuck on the odd lamp post. I saw a few cars pulling into the turning in my mirrors and pulled over into into a layby. When there was a gap in the traffic I started the six point turn in the middle of the road. No sooner had I started my manoeuvres a dozen cars or so in each direction came into view, I couldn’t write it. Yep, I was that person who held everybody up! Once I turned around in what seemed like minutes, I pulled into the narrow lane and was directed onto the field. The marshal told me that they were going to keep all the Mustangs together, that was the theory but it didn’t work out that way.
The weather was holding out, with periods of sunshine and the odd cloud. I got straight to work on cleaning the car, when a couple of friends caught up with me (also fellow Mustang owners), and asked me if I needed therapy as my car had gotten dirty. I did say that I needed to lay down in a darkened room to get over the trauma though.
By the time I had finished cleaning, the show which started at ten was getting busy. Time for my wander round for the photo’s and started at the back of the field and worked my way up and down the lines.
At the end of the first line there was a nice Ford truck with a Mustang on a trailer. It didn’t get moved off the trailer, so I don’t know if it had been picked up or being delivered, but it made for a few nice shots.
Moving onto the second row of cars, many more were still coming into the show, even though it had now opened to the public.
This slammed Lincoln was getting some interest from the younger public.
The guy who owned this Thunderbird also owned a couple of other cars, namely the white Studebaker from the first batch of photos of this post.
The next row was where the Mustangs started, they were also scattered around the field, but I collated all the Mustangs here. The first one I think has an identity crisis and was trying to identify as number of Mustangs according to the grill. The limited edition Bullitt Mustangs were out in force and was parked either side of me.
Lot’s of great newer American muscle cars here too but they didn’t look out of place with the classics.
There was bunch of trucks together, I’m not sure if it was by organisation or not, but it was interesting to see how they have grown in size up to the massive orange Dodge Ram (which was also for sale at £120,000).
The rest of the cars from the lines in no particular order.
There was a number of motorbikes coming in and out throughout the day, mostly Harley Davdisons.
After my wandering up and down the lines I took a well earned break for a spot of lunch and got the chair out for some serious people watching. I was going to get a burger, but when I saw the price of £8 and heard the not so pleasant comments about them, I decided against it.
Although it has to be said the beer tent did look tempting for an ice cold beer, but I won’t drink and drive.
During my rest up watching the world go by, then I spotted them, two plod. They were wandering around the car show looking at the cars.
I heard one of them ask one guy about his number plate to which the guy said “no it’s just my show plate”. I can’t say for sure why they were there, perhaps they wanted to look at the lovely cars, or was it something more sinister? Surely they had better things to do? Everybody was on best behaviour, no revving up engines or leaving the show sideways. The plod walked past the front of my car and looked at my reg plate, I was expecting some sort of comment, although I’m allowed black plates with silver numbers. Perhaps they thought my plate was a show plate as well and didn’t bother. Regardless of what they were up to, I wouldn’t have engaged with them.
Marts Car of The Show:
This was it, a beautiful Oldsmobile Holiday. It caught my eye from a distance where I initially thought it was Chevy Bel Air. I was hoping to chat with the owner, but I didn’t catch them sadly. The car was immaculate and a seriously loved car by the looks of it.
The show was due to finish at four, but a number of cars started to leave around lunch. I got talking to few nice people and with a guy who was telling me about buying his Mustang from new in the ’60s, I love those stories. At two in the afternoon I made the decision to leave as the sun was coming out less frequently and the clouds were getting darker.
The journey home was amazing and peaceful, apart from my exhaust note through the forest on the way home. The water leak I drove through on the way here had stopped and dried up on the road where it had previously been running down. I arrived home and wiped the car down straight away to put it away. The house was quiet apart from the energetic greetings of the dogs. I plonked myself on the sofa and looked at the photo’s I had taken for this post to do a bit of quality control. Before I knew it, I had nodded off for an hour, I was only woken up by the sound of the dogs having a mental at the wife as she returned home from her hair appointment. What a great way to end the day after a great show.
I have been in conversation with magazine publishers called ‘STANG Magazine’, and sent them a few photos of my car. They have added my car to their Special Edition, Editor’s Choice November 2026 latest publication of the magazine which is available online now.
The front and back covers of their magazine.
They sent me the article they was going to publish which I have added here with their permission.
I wanted to help the guys out, so I asked them for some details about their STANG Magazine and they responded with a few paragraphs for me:
“ The new King of Mustang Magazines: How STANG just made history.
For decades, the legendary Mustang Monthly held the ultimate crown in automotive publishing. Between 1978 and 2020, they produced a staggering 502 issues over 42 years of solid Mustang content. That record was considered unbeatable as there is a new record holder.
STANG Magazine has officially broken the record for the most issues ever published by any Mustang magazine in history.
While it took the previous record-holder 42 years to reach their milestone, STANG Magazine smashed past their milestone in just 12 years. With the release of Issue #503, the crown has officially changed hands. We give a massive nod of respect to the former king, but the throne now belongs to a new era.
Fun Facts: STANG Magazine by the Numbers
1,000,000+ monthly global readers.
503+ issues published and counting.
12 years to break a 42-year-old record.
$0 spent on paid advertising.
100% free to read online.
Built For the People, By the People
STANG Magazine was built on a simple promise: to give Mustang enthusiasts exactly what they asked for. Founder and Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ramey launched the publication to break the traditional media mold.
The philosophy is straightforward:
No Ads: Zero sales pitches or corporate fluff.
No Fillers: Just pure Mustang pictures and stories.
Real Rides: Focused on daily drivers, not just “trailer queens.”
Community First: Created by Mustang owners, for Mustang owners.
A Global Grassroots Phenomenon
STANG Magazine didn’t reach the top through massive corporate backing. It grew purely through grassroots, word-of-mouth popularity. What started with passionate owners using their phones and cameras to share adventures has evolved into a global powerhouse. Today, it stands as the first Mustang publication to be available worldwide in both print and digital formats. It has reached readers in almost every single country on Earth.
The Mustang legacy is alive, well, and officially rewritten. As Daniel Ramey says: “Enjoy the ride, and who you ride with!” “
I was previously unaware of STANG magazine to be honest, but found their home page online here:
I’m not being paid for this post, I just wanted to give them a shout out and they deserve a little free exposure. After seeing the proposed article I wanted a hard copy of the magazine if it was possible and asked them for details how to go about getting one. They replied with, ‘Yes you can order one, we print them to order’, so I did two in fact. I paid via PayPal and they shipped it right to my door in just over a week. I was really impressed with the quality of the magazine, it wasn’t printed on flimsy paper, it wasn’t full of ads or random fluffiness, just high quality colour spreads front to back.
The inside cover and first leaf.
A random opening of the magazine to another article;
Towards the back a model posed with a Mustang.
The inside of the back over.
A little background from me; I used to be a printer. I served a four year apprenticeship in the city of London when I left school mid term to take the job when it came up. Once my apprenticeship was completed and signed off officially, I could be known as a ‘Master Craftsman’ for my trade. Unfortunately that trade died with the onslaught of Adobe Photoshop 3.0 (on floppy discs, remember those?) and the relentless progression of Cromalin proofing. My roots are still with the print and I still miss that job, I loved it. To this day I still enjoy printed material of books and magazines and collect special editions where I can. I don’t care what people say, nothing beats reading and holding a book, turning the pages and the smell for the experience of a good read.
Although I’m sad about Mustang Monthly no longer being in print, I can understand why. The internet has a lot to answer for with the death of many printed publications turning to online. Then on the other hand, no trees are being cut down for paper unnecessarily. I even had copies of Mustang Monthly shipped over to me in the UK and enjoyed reading them while learning a few things as well. Of course I can now read all that information online and STANG Magazine is now part of that revolution. It has to be noted that producing printed material was, and still is expensive and the printed publications (no mater what the subject) relied on advertising to make their money. Due to editing, proofing and press lead in times many publications were monthly, hence why it took so long to get the lofty numbers of Mustang Monthly, compared to online publications, which can be up for the world to see in a matter of hours. That being said, it takes nothing away from STANG Magazine and I’m personally pleased that they offer the option to have a printed copy if you wanted one. It wasn’t a cheap publication by the time it was shipped to me the UK, that isn’t STANG Magazine’s fault by any means, but when it comes to my car – it was worth it.
Last Sunday was the first booked car show for me at Kersey Mill a short trip fifteen miles away about thirty minutes away. This year the plan was to go the back route for a relaxing scenic drive with no pressure of the main roads. Before I had even got out of my little village or off choke at eight thirty on a Sunday morning, some idiot nearly took me out being on my side of the road coming round a corner. If I had of been doing thirty miles an hour it would have been a head on crash, best of it was he had a young kid in the front seat as well. I think I may have woken a few people up as my window was down as I expressed my displeasure in a raised tone, nothing from the driver he just carried on.
The rest of the drive was serene and enjoyable, many of the little villages that I passed through had speed limits in place so the car was just running on tick over through them, hence the longer time to get there. The marshal on the gate asked me if I was with a club which I wasn’t and directed me to field four. The trouble was I missed the entrance to the area and carried on round the corner. The marshal here was the opposite, a little bit of power had gone to his head and wouldn’t allow me to go back to the other field, about five seconds round the corner, even though nothing was coming up the path. Instead he ‘told’ me to park next to a red Alpha under a row of trees, err no! In my defiance I parked in the middle of the hard standing to keep away from tree sap and potential bird deposits. He didn’t look to impressed, I didn’t care to be honest, within a minute or so I was being surrounded with other cars with the same thoughts as me. I was next to cherry blossom tree which smelt amazing.
This is a great show with lots of different cars on display, from steam driven oldies to the less attractive couple of year old Tesco car park specials, I don’t bother taking photos of those, even with that in mind, I still ended up taking over two hundred pics.
I started taking photos in the hard standing area which was near the near the food, the smell of bacon rolls added to the lovely morning fresh air. Speaking of air this Chevy Bel Air (see what I did there) was pristine.
Walking through the end of the hard standing there was another field with lots more cars and a couple of car clubs, mainly Mini and Lotus.
My runner up car of the show is this glorious Model A, a rust patina special. This is about as original as it will ever get. Credit to the guy who drove it in.
This Mustang is modified with a wide body kit and Lambo doors, you either like the doors or you don’t. For me I can appreciate the work involved, but it’s not my thing I’m afraid.
Moving back to towards the mill itself there were some great oldies parked in prime positions at the front.
Around the side of the house were some super cars where I caught up with my Mate Craig, who has shared some of his photos with me for this post.
Either side of the main path into the mill itself there are display areas either side.
I used to play a game ‘Need for Speed Underground’ and my son used to customise this car to the max, the legendary Toyota Supra. Not seen one of these spec cars for a while.
This 1966 Plymouth Barracuda fastback was amazing, the rear glass section on this car is a work of art, I wouldn’t want to try and source one of them if it broke!
Mart’s Car of the Show
I haven’t seen an original untouched BMW M3 E30 (the proper M3) for such a long time, then this beauty parked up just behind me. A modern classic that dominated touring car racing late 80’s and early 90’s. He didn’t stay that long, but I’m glad I caught some pics of it.
Early afternoon a few cars started to leave, Craig and Lee decided to bring their cars into the show and parked up next to me and we had our own mini car show. After some lunch and a chat they went of for more car spotting and photos while I desperately tried to keep myself from falling asleep due to the early start, busy pretending to keep an eye on the cars.
Thanks to Lee, for this artistic pic. You can find him on Instagram @s2kathome
A little while later I decided to leave around three to miss the traffic as the show closed at four. Craig stood in a strategic place and caught some cars leaving.
He even managed to grab a couple of me leaving too. Thanks Craig for the pics.
I absolutely love this picture.
The drive home was just as leisurely as the drive there. What is better than a scenic route home, window open and a V8 rumble in your ears? A great day out with mates and looking forward to more. Hopefully I will catch up with Craig and Lee at more shows this year with our cars together.
After the quick detail to remove the road dust and put the car away, I plonked myself on the sofa and feel asleep for an hour (or so) cuddled up with my little dog. What a great way to end the day.
Since I had gotten my car back on the road some eleven years ago now, I still try to keep it as original as possible. Keeping the original parts where I can, replacing the parts that can’t be seen with modern reliable alternatives such as the wire loom, LED bulbs, electronic ignition etc. I have collected many things relating to the 1966 Mustang, original printed media, magazines, memorabilia all from that mid sixties era. I like things in my car to look and appear correct for the period the car was on the road first time around. With that in mind I have various eBay saved searches to look for these gems. One such search a few days ago popped up with a Tax Disc holder which I had to buy. A little more on that later after a little history lesson on what I’m talking about regarding the UK ‘Road Tax’, ‘Vehicle Excise Duty’ what ever it’s now called or will be called.
The fist motor vehicles hit the roads in the mid 1880s, by the early 1900s automobiles had increased significantly, where the current UK road infrastructure couldn’t cope. In the 1921 the UK government decided to raise funds which would be ring fenced to improve the roads. They applied a “Road Tax” to each vehicle to fund the much needed expansion. In 1934 the revenue raised from motorists has now gone into a much larger pot of revenue which is used for other things such as housing or welfare.
Since then virtually every year the motorist is targeted by successive governments to raise more money, thus the UK motorist is often seen as the cash cow of the UK. Not only can a road tax, or vehicle excise duty cost be stupid amounts, but a fuel levy is imposed as well so you pay every fill-up. To show just how much that is, if we take it that a litre of fuel costs £1.50, a fuel duty of £0.53p is applied per litre. Then on top of that there is VAT (Value Added Tax) which is in effect a tax on the tax, so that means a litre of fuel costs around £1.875 a litre. The road tax, vehicle excise duty or whatever ever name it’s given now, the way it’s calculated changes to squeeze even more out of you, now it’s based on the CO2 emissions, along with a new showroom tax for a new car. It’s no wonder the UK motorist feels a little hard done by.
As of October 2025 these are the vehicle tax costs and how it ramps up which is now based on the “CO2” emissions the vehicle produces. I can sort of see it because of the environment impacts, but the money raised will more often than not be allocated or wasted elsewhere on other ’causes’.
Anyway, rant over – back to the ‘Road Tax’ disc; to show this duty had been paid by the vehicle’s owner, there was a requirement to place a 75mm round disc in the vehicle’s windscreen to be clearly seen. The tax disc would hold the discs unique ID number, vehicle’s registration mark, the amount paid, class of vehicle and the expiration of the tax either on a rolling six-month or annual basis, the annual cost being slightly discounted. To prevent fraud of these discs there were many changes made over the decades in colour, perforations, watermarks, embossing, holograms and stamped from the issuing location.
The original on the left and the final iterations on the right.
All well and good for most people, but they were hated and not really liked. With the evolution of technologies, the requirement to display a physical tax disc in the vehicle’s windscreen was removed effective from 1st October 2014 as the tax information is now stored on a government database. Ironically many people now miss these little discs for nostalgic reasons. There is even a following where the study and collection of these tax discs is called “Velology”. The term was created by combining the initials VED (for Vehicle Excise Duty) with the commonly used “ology” suffix. There is even a little niche market to provide replica discs, exact copies would be seen as fraudulent. Some of the rare older discs can go for high values.
Finally onto my point, these tax discs need to be held onto the glass. Early days there was suction, metal displays, sticky foam or plastic as time moved on, even sticky tape or glue. Motorbikes had a metal fitting which encased the disc from the elements, also on some vintage cars too. There were many fancy designs for holders such as polished chrome, sticky with removable magnetic backs etc. The earlier plastic iterations had a mild glue around the outside (like this one) and were a one time application. Then later on a plastic vinyl-like formula which when moistened would stick on the screen and reusable. As I mentioned earlier, my eBay saved search came up with an original 60’s tax disc, once I saw it, I had to put a bid in for it, which I eventually won some six days later. What made me want this? Apart from the fact it’s period correct, but it’s also a product I have used in the past on my car.
These tax disc holders became good sources of advertising and were often given away, or information such as emergency numbers for an insurance company, car dealer’s information or a breakdown service details on the back of them. My new purchase was simple advertising and also useful information, “Duckhams” oil and the weight of oil 20w50 specified for my car, it all ties together.
I currently had a larger holder in my car given to me by Mustang Maniac, which has been on the screen for the best part of ten years. It has been faultless, but this Duckhams purchase on eBay is the only reason to change it.
I carefully pealed the old holder away from the screen, and placed it on top of my toolbox. Comparison of the old Mustang Maniac holder and the new Duckhams one. The Mustang Maniac holder also had a place to hold their (or any other) business card on the back.
The replica Tax Disc I use is also from Mustang Maniac who have a large selection of discs for many various years and different styles of stamp on the disc, click here for the link.
The design of the Duckhams holder is a simple slightly larger disc with a sticky outside to hold it on the screen. Before I peeled the backing paper off I checked it for size. Normally I would have put this with my other collectibles, but in this case I was sure it should be used.
Making sure the disc and the Duckhams text were aligned front and back I offered up the holder to the screen.
It was surprising just how sticky the outside was, but I still made sure the holder was evenly pressed onto the screen all the way around.
From the outside the holder isn’t really seen, just the tax disc itself as a minimalist look now.
With the older holder removed I used some Isopropyl Alcohol and a glass cloth to remove the slight residue on the glass which I arrowed below. This also gave a good clean surface for the new holder to adhere to.
Something like this is pretty non-de-script and over looked to be honest, and who really cares? But for me, it just adds a little something extra for the car’s originality. Also in the package there was a sticker from Duckhams which would have been stuck under the hood during a service near the oil filter.
I’m not sure if I should stick this under the hood or not, I’m not a great lover for lots of stickers apart from the factory ones of course. What do you think, should I stick it under there? Currently, I’m using Millers Semi-synthetic 20w50 oil, so technically it’s not actually correct, there again neither is the tax disc holder holder with a replica tax disc. I wonder what else awaits me on eBay to spend my money on which nobody will ever notice!
Last weekend is perhaps the closest show to my home that I attend. There is one in my little village but its not that great to be honest. The show was at Rougham Air Tower on the site of an old air base. Last time out at the show there was plenty of WW2 period costumes to be seen, unfortunately not this year. The car show was due to start at 10am within the tower’s fields. I had a rough night before and had little sleep and woke up an hour earlier than I needed to, so I decided to get there early and make use of the additional time in hand. Thinking that I would be the only one there I was surprised to see two other vehicles already parked up, I found a place that I liked the look of and parked up which would be seen down the side of the tower’s line of sight as you drive in to the event.
There was no need to clean the car as I hadn’t travelled far enough and the car was just getting warmed up. We had a bit of a chat and I got my chair early and planted myself down to watch the world go by with a bottle of chilled water. The weather was predicted to be good all day with the outside chance of rain and maybe a thunderstorm in the evening. The field started to fill up a little before the official start. There was expected to be around hundred cars supporting the club Bury Retro Car Club which I’m a member of.
With most of the cars now parked up I had a wander round to take some pics. There timings for the day were relaxed so you could come and go as you pleased, that meant that there was a turn over of cars throughout the few hours of the show while we were there.
The control tower was open which I have already covered in full in a previous post for this event and a few new exhibits.
After climbing the tower I took an above view of the cars in my field, then I noticed that I was in a Ford Capri sandwich. Not only that, that there was a theme – the line of cars was were various shades of blue.
About half an hour before I left the show this monster Chevy Silverado rolled in and parked in the space next to me, it instantly became by car of the show which absolutely dwarfed everything in the field.
Although it wasn’t supposed to rain until later in the evening there was a light sprinkling for about ten minutes which stressed me some what, but the breeze soon dried off the car once the light shower stopped. The darker clouds were looking ominous and starting to close in with the air felling heavy with rain, so the decision was made to make the dash home. Within a few minutes I was home after covering the handful of miles. As is the norm, the car got a quick wipe over to remove the road dust and I put her away.
About half an hour later there was more rain, but nothing to heavy, certainly not a thunderstorm. The decision to leave was a correct one and pleased to leave when I did. It was a shame there wasn’t many more cars throughout the day as had been reserved for the day.
Not a bad day out and the best part, it was just a few minutes from home.
