After being safely tucked away in the shed for Winter, a bright sunshiny day recently prompted me to throw the cover off Flossie and get her ready for Summer. She’s a 1954 Vauxhall Utility, the same as my grandfather used on the farm at Lartunga. He had one that worked and worked until it stopped, then I played in it as a paddock rust bucket growing up. My Flossie was restored and maintained by a Vauxhall enthusiast before she came to me.

Anyway it turns out Flossie needs to visit the mechanic before we go on any Summer Sunday cruises, on a test lap around the vineyard it quickly became apparent on the downhill stretch that the brakes are not functioning. Happily for me, and the bottom fence, the handbrake is.