Vicky and Steve, proud owners of a 1929 Cadillac

We went to visit the school, where Woodpeckers works during the week, because the grounds were being used for a vintage car show in aid of St Rose's school. We have been to several vintage bus shows held locally, when you could take trips up the various valleys around Stroud in coaches built in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Despite being early today, there were still lots of people already milling about amongst a huge range of cars, motor cycles and a few vans.

The first exhibits we saw were the motorcycles which particularly interested me, as I have had a couple of old British bikes in my time. There were probably at least fifty bikes including a fleet of Harley-Davidson, a few Triumphs, BSAs, Velocettes, a Matchless, JAPs, Royal Enfields, Sunbeams and a racing trim Norton Commando. But my favourites were an HRD Series 'A' Rapide from about 1936, and a later Vincent Black Lightning, from this famous marque which produced only very small numbers of machines.

I took quite a few pictures, as I wanted to send them to my friend John W., who couldn't attend today. He had once been the proud owner of a Vincent many years ago, amongst about fifteen other bikes over a number of years. Helena was getting bored, so we moved a short distance to where the first cars were parked. In a prime location I saw two old Fleetwood Cadillacs in pristine condition. I saw an immaculately dressed woman with a big hat climbing into the rear seating area, with a young child, so I went up to them and asked if I could poke my head into the cabin.

It was beautifully upholstered with fine wooden frames around the doors and windows. I would love to have sat inside. It turned out that the woman's husband owned the car and she pointed out to me an elegant gentleman in a dark suit, large hat and wonderful two-tone black and white dress shoes. He soon popped over to join us and kindly told me the history of their Cadillac, which was built in 1929 in Detroit, with bodywork by the Fleetwood company, and arrived in the UK in the 1970s. He could trace the six owners it has had since new, one of whom was the owner of the paint company that supplied the paints to the Fleetwood factory.

I couldn't resist asking them if they would pose for me, which they seemed very happy to do. I changed my lens rapidly and took them to stand by the bonnet of the car, and had to move back across the roadway. Luckily the other visitors cleared away and let me take a few pictures as it was very hard to get a clear wide shot. I am sorry now that I didn't get a side view of the car which would have shown the wonderful white wall tyres surrounding the wooden radial wheel spokes which looked stunning. But because of the pressure for space and the direction of the light I couldn't get a better shot.

The black car on the right is a similar Cadillac which is owned by Steve's friend and which first sparked his interest in buying a Cadillac. Steve and Vicky hire out the blue Cadillac for weddings, and I would like to hire it just to go for a drive. It would be fabulous. (Look at their website if you would like to hire it)

We then went to explore the hundreds of other cars, from Minis to Triumphs, MGs , Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, Lancias, Lotus Elans, Jaguars, Ford Cortinas as well as many Morris Minors and VW camper vans. There was even a 1949 Sunbeam-Talbot, like the one I bought as a runner from a scrap yard, aged 14, so that I could drive around the fields of our house in Surrey, until it died.