The peace of Cholmondeley Castle was broken once again by the delicious din of finely-tuned engines as the crowds flocked for the Pageant of Power.
Roaring or chugging their way around the roads of the Cholmondeley estate for our delectation went a bevy of Bentleys, an assembly of Aston Martins – the marque celebrating its centenary this year - and all manner of wheeled transport from Supermoto motorcycles through spanking new Lamborghinis to cars made while the First World War still raged.
Meanwhile, hovercraft, jet skis and ribs zipped around the mere, and stunt planes howled overhead.
The event is annual testament to our long love affair with the internal combustion engine, and those of us who enjoy Cholmondeley will have our particular favourites. Mine were the oddities, for instance the Brutus experimental vehicle, a 47-litre behemoth producing a peak 750bhp. Or the 1956 Messerschmitt bubble car with an aero engine and propeller bolted to its rear. Or the Böhmerland motorcycle, built from 1925 to 1939, with a stretched, four-person variant which, at 3.2metres, is considered the longest motorcycle in the world.
Best of all was seeing a vast 1930 42-litre Packard Bentley, and parked beside it in the paddock, a tiny 1930 Austin Blackburn 1100, looking like the car world’s version of mother and child.
