This year, he and his dad took a smaller car (a Toyota Starlet) out and both drove the same car, in a different class to Steve’s subaru. They’ve also only done Sundays, so halving the time and cost commitment, which was good I think Steve has missed the competitive edge; on a couple of occasions when Russ couldn’t make it Steve took the Scooby instead, but otherwise he’s quite enjoyed the slightly more leisurely approach to the sport. They are now talking about ‘what we can do to the Starlet’ though

On Sunday we went up to Mamhead House, which has long been my personal favourite hillclimb venue, simply because it is so beautiful. They also have the best catering by a mile, and the central ’roundabout’ area with marquee at the start line just gives it a wonderful feel. However, sadly, the current owner is putting the estate on the market, and so it’s uncertain whether Torbay Motor Club will be able to use the venue again as it will depend on the buyer.

Anyway, it was an early start, and a long day – but the sun eventually came out and I had a lovely time sitting around, chatting with acquaintances, reading my book, and watching the motorsport. I’ve only made it to one other event this season so it was really nice to be there. We left the children at home for the day, because none of them wanted to come, but Grandma kindly took them out for a picnic lunch so they weren’t too bored. Because Mamhead is so close to us, Russ and Steve both took their own cars, so there was plenty for me to watch. It was Russ’s first time at the venue and he did well to improve his time throughout the day. Steve came second in his class, leaving first place to one of his rivals

We decided it was fitting to have a photo, anyway … one of the nicest photos of Steve and I in recent years was also taken at Mamhead in its first year … and we’ve had a few nice days there over the years.

If only we could afford to buy the house … !!

(There, Steve, was that good enough? )

Abbie got ready with two of her best friends, which was lovely, and they all looked beautiful
For the first time in years it was actually *not raining* on prom night, so there was a big crowd watching all the arrivals.

Today was the shoe shop stop; trainers x 2, school shoes x 2, and shoes to go to the prom in (and therefore totally unsuitable for much else). Very Expensive. Still, everyone was happy and if I’m lucky they will last into the autumn term too.

Anna has now reached the same shoe size as me; I’ve been waiting for this for ages! Now at least every pair of shoes I buy for her, I can borrow back if I ask nicely!

Visited DVLA to get tax (oh, and a quick geocache), then I delivered a car to my parents in the afternoon, so drove up to Gordano to meet them half way. I like a good drive, especially on my own, so didn’t mind. The kids sat around watching iPlayer and playing games while I was gone.

Once back I made a quick veggie lasagne for more friends who came for dinner. We tried to watch Heston’s Feasts on replay but it wasn’t working; had to resort to watching it on the laptop after they’d gone (amazing, wish I had been a dinner guest!).

Very relieved on behalf of home educators that the proposals for changes to home ed legislation have been dropped tonight – had a drink alongside many of my friends this evening (any excuse!). On the other hand I’m still praying for the best outcome for a good friend’s baby at the moment; seems odd and slightly wrong to be blogging about normal stuff when life hangs in the balance.

So, while the children were busy playing in the ECO Autumn Concert (which I was gutted to miss!), Steve and I spent the evening at Wiscombe House. Actually seeing inside the house was fantastic, I love looking around houses like that, it was amazing.

We were there for a presentation evening following the 2009 season of motorsport at Wiscombe Hill; Steve managed a respectable third place in what was only his first full year of hillclimbing, so he really should be suitably proud of himself.

However, the real tear-jerking moment was when the main sponsor of these awards, who is also a competitor in Steve’s class, made his speech and mentioned how this year had been a real highlight for him (having been involved since the 1970s!) because of the camaraderie, competition, and friendship that they have built up. And this, I suspect, is why Steve will race again next season. I have been trying to suggest that he do a season of marshalling instead but I don’t think it’s going to work …

Steve was out racing, and our friend Neil went to spectate. Now, a rare treat. Not only can you see some photos on Neil’s blog, but from there you can also download a podcast featuring Neil’s commentary on the day, including an interview with Steve. I have asked Neil if he’ll do this every hillclimb, as listening to a quick podcast instead of going myself (with children in tow of course!) could save me a lot of time, effort and money!

If you listen to the podcast you’ll hear that Steve had a camera on top of his car for some of the runs today – and if you want to know what it would be like to be strapped on top of an Impreza during a hillclimb, you can see the footage here.

Still, once we got to the site for Steve’s hillclimb (arrived in their lunchbreak so perfect timing despite delays on the A30) we did have quite a nice day. The event was particularly well organised to fit three timed runs in, which was an added bonus. I let the children have the camera to keep them occupied so ended up with some particularly random shots (and not very many good ones of cars!).

In the morning, the class record for Steve’s group was 27.20 … and Steve was doing times of 27.6ish. During the afternoon he managed to get his time down to 27.25 but the Cosworth was on good form and got the class record down to 27.11! Steve’s staying down there for the weekend; they are racing again on Sunday so there will hopefully be some more good competition

After the hillclimb we set off to find the nearby Helman Tor, as I knew there was an earthcache as well as a geocache there. A very *interesting* drive down tiny lanes which aren’t on Googlemaps (the only map I had available, ok?!), but got there in the end and very glad we did, it was fantastic. Had a nice walk looking for the geocache, and then set to work on the earthcache, for which we were meant to find the ‘Logan’ or rocking stone – a stone which actually moves. Well, for some people. We couldn’t make it move an inch! So couldn’t gather all the info required for the earthcache, but I’m hoping the owner will consider our efforts to have been worthy of a log anyway! It was an excellent location with stunning views, and I have at least logged the trig pillar Gutted to have only had the small camera, but there we go.

The children have been wanting to go ‘fun’ swimming for a while, and I’d said we could go over the holidays; today was so successful that we will more than likely repeat the trip I expect! We went down to Torquay’s Riviera Centre, which, believe it or not, is the nearest pool with a chute and wave machine. The children swam (on their own – hurrah for them all being over 8!) and I sat in the cafe drinking coffee.

When they finally got out we walked across to Torre Abbey (didn’t go in though, will save that for our next visit) and had a picnic, then followed it up by visiting Antony Gormley’s ‘Field for the British Isles’ exhibition in the Abbey’s Spanish Barn. Abbie reckons she might have made some of the figures, at the Craft Fair in Bovey Tracey back in June – I don’t know, it’s possible that figures made there were used here, but she couldn’t recognise hers among the crowds anyway The kids fancied playing mini-golf too but that’s something to save for another visit as well. I did a little geocache instead!

We came home after that and Anna baked white chocolate brownies – it’s good, this enthusiasm for cooking! Abbie’s banana bread from yesterday is still my favourite this week though.

Steve turned up at home too, having won his class at Mamhead today, so he was happy as well. Topped off the good results with Joe’s phonecall to his violin teacher!

Torbay Motor Club, who run the hillclimb events at Mamhead, have a now traditional hog roast on the Saturday night, so Steve and I went back out to that this evening. Any extra money raised from this is donated to the church of St. Thomas which is on the Mamhead estate, and tonight they’d opened it up for us to look around. Sadly I only had my iphone camera with me, so these will have to do – but it was fab. I love looking around church buildings anyway, I must admit. This was a tiny church really, quaint, and very pretty – especially with the amazing view over the Exe estuary as well. We were able to climb right up into the tower to see the bells and the view from the top – the stairs to get there were a bit hairy but it was worth it!

Left fairly promptly as I fancied watching the Proms tonight, as they’re playing lots of classic MGM musical film themes. Really enjoying the whole thing, but especially Kim Criswell (stunning!) and the big band style of the orchestra, it’s fabulous! Even more incredible when I read on the RT site that in fact the original MGM orchestrations were ‘lost’ at some point, so the conductor of the orchestra has actually re-written the music from the films. Wow. Anyway, a nice evening vegging out with Steve and Saturday night tv (perhaps with some added ice cream) is a perfect end to a lovely day

Anyway, we went down to the reservoir on Saturday afternoon so that the guys could drop their trailers and cars off, and walk the course. The friends we were with have been coming to Llys-y-Fran for this hillclimb for the past 10 years, but it was Steve’s first time. After walking the course, I dragged everyone a mile round the reservoir in search of a geocache. We weren’t really dressed for walking and I began to feel a bit guilty about taking our friends (a couple in their late 50s/early 60s) on such a long walk over terrain which wasn’t that easy, but they didn’t want to be left behind! The cache wasn’t an easy find as it had obviously moved from its correct hiding position, but Steve spotted the container out in the open. Having found it, our friends were impressed, thank goodness! I even showed them a couple of trackable geocoins which added to the excitement

At least having been out for a good walk meant we felt justified in eating a huge meal at the pub later; we managed to meet some other hillclimbers (also old enough to be our parents!) so had dinner with them as well – pleasant company – although I have said to Steve that if we’re still doing this when we’re that age, well, just ARGH, really!

Sunday itself dawned with brooding skies that looked threatening, and in fact most of the day was scattered with long, heavy downpours. Rain is good for Steve, as his car is ok in the wet, while some of the single seater racing cars that are usually faster than him, simply can’t grip, so if it had carried on raining he might have managed a fastest time of the day – but that wasn’t to be.

The track did dry up, so one racing car beat Steve’s time, but to be honest a lot of the single seaters were still slower than him! I am glad that Steve is good at this, I don’t think I could bear it if he was spending all this time and money on it and just being average!! My competitive streak is being satisfied by proxy which is brilliant, as far as I’m concerned. I am very proud of him!!

Unfortunately, just before the end of the timed runs one of the cars went off the track, and the driver knocked himself out, apparently. He took a turn for the worse while waiting for the ambulance that they called, so the medical officer onsite decided not to wait any longer and took him in the ambulance that was onsite. Of course, then without a medical officer the racing couldn’t continue. There were 12 cars who didn’t even get a timed run, and so without a complete set of times, the whole event had to be aborted, everyone simply loaded up and went home. A bit of a shame really, but that’s motor racing. No-one is bothered, as everyone knows that if they had been the one with a need to get to hospital, they would want the same call to be made. No news about the driver I’m afraid, perhaps Steve will find out on forums over the next couple of days.

Anyway, despite the disappointment of the end of the day, it was a lovely weekend. Nice to go away with Steve and make new friends along the way. Llys-y-Fran seemed like a challenging hill to drive but it was also a great place for spectators, as there is a proper cafe in the visitors’ centre which stays open for us, so we didn’t mind the rain! I read chick-lit from the library and chatted to my companion, and when it was dry we went out to watch the racing. My feet did get soaked though – I should have thought to take wellies! I’m sure we will go back next year, tempted to take the kids too. Beginning to build up a bank of memories at this place now, I will still think of Violet Portico’s brave mountain biking every time we go there!

Back down to earth with a bump for the last few days of term here, kids are coming back from Grandma & Grandpa’s around 7.30am … I may blog again later!