Musing today - well, pipe dreaming really - on future plans. Retirement still a way to go, just hit 50 so 5 years minimum but the way the economy is going that looks more likely to be 10 
Mrs F's Great, great Uncle was a chauffeur and we have a rather marvellous photo album that was given to him by his employer as a present for Christmas 1906, to show their European tour that year. It's proper pioneer motoring stuff - cars being craned on and off ships, then travelling down through France and Italy on little more than dirt roads, spare tyres and fuel cans strapped to the sides, the "Lord & Lady" sat in the back in their Edwardian finery with Bert (the chauffeur) up front. The cars had to be re-registered in each country as well by the look of it, the number plates change.
I was playing about on the computer a few years back, and idly put the car registration numbers of the cars featured into the DVLA tax checker, not expecting to get anything. I got a shock, one came straight back as referring to a 1906 Daimler - could the car still be in existence?
After contacting the Daimler club, they told me the car belonged to the Jaguar-Daimler heritage trust, based at the factory! Long story short, they invited me down but when one of their experts compared the album to the car in the museum he came to the conclusion that it was in fact a different car - it wasn't unusual for registrations to be re-allocated back then. A great shame, but nonetheless, they were very excited about the album. It did mean that I got a very privileged tour of their collection, being free to sit in and explore what I like - so the first E-type off the production line, the last E-type off the production line, the Queen Mother's limousine, and many other fabulous, rare cars. Their historian, though now retired, has been in touch with me a few times since to check things from the album and publish articles about it.
We've even got Bert's French driving licence which he had to obtain - he was only 17. This sparked an interesting theory from the historian - that it was such new technology that maybe it was thought of as being a young person's preserve to drive - a bit like when computers first went "mainstream". The car's owner was clearly a technology enthusiast, there are loose pictures with the albums of him with steam cars. He later became a Tory MP (though I won't hold that against him too much
) with - with hindsight - some rather questionable views, he was quite a fan of Mussolini by all accounts! Anyway, it looked like he treated his chauffeur well, letting Bert and his wife borrow cars to take to their parent's houses for holidays.
So, getting to the point - finally - is I thought trying to retrace their steps in a motorhome could be a rather fun retirement project, see if we can find the photo locations. We'll struggle in France, not much is labelled, but in Italy there are some labels in the album for the names of mountain passes, hotels shown etc.
You'll all have to wait a long time for this - as will I - but here's a few pictures from the album to wet the appetite. Apologies for the rotation! There are about 70 pictures in total, so I guess that back then this would have been quite an expensive gift.
Mrs F's Great, great Uncle was a chauffeur and we have a rather marvellous photo album that was given to him by his employer as a present for Christmas 1906, to show their European tour that year. It's proper pioneer motoring stuff - cars being craned on and off ships, then travelling down through France and Italy on little more than dirt roads, spare tyres and fuel cans strapped to the sides, the "Lord & Lady" sat in the back in their Edwardian finery with Bert (the chauffeur) up front. The cars had to be re-registered in each country as well by the look of it, the number plates change.
I was playing about on the computer a few years back, and idly put the car registration numbers of the cars featured into the DVLA tax checker, not expecting to get anything. I got a shock, one came straight back as referring to a 1906 Daimler - could the car still be in existence?
After contacting the Daimler club, they told me the car belonged to the Jaguar-Daimler heritage trust, based at the factory! Long story short, they invited me down but when one of their experts compared the album to the car in the museum he came to the conclusion that it was in fact a different car - it wasn't unusual for registrations to be re-allocated back then. A great shame, but nonetheless, they were very excited about the album. It did mean that I got a very privileged tour of their collection, being free to sit in and explore what I like - so the first E-type off the production line, the last E-type off the production line, the Queen Mother's limousine, and many other fabulous, rare cars. Their historian, though now retired, has been in touch with me a few times since to check things from the album and publish articles about it.
We've even got Bert's French driving licence which he had to obtain - he was only 17. This sparked an interesting theory from the historian - that it was such new technology that maybe it was thought of as being a young person's preserve to drive - a bit like when computers first went "mainstream". The car's owner was clearly a technology enthusiast, there are loose pictures with the albums of him with steam cars. He later became a Tory MP (though I won't hold that against him too much
) with - with hindsight - some rather questionable views, he was quite a fan of Mussolini by all accounts! Anyway, it looked like he treated his chauffeur well, letting Bert and his wife borrow cars to take to their parent's houses for holidays.So, getting to the point - finally - is I thought trying to retrace their steps in a motorhome could be a rather fun retirement project, see if we can find the photo locations. We'll struggle in France, not much is labelled, but in Italy there are some labels in the album for the names of mountain passes, hotels shown etc.
You'll all have to wait a long time for this - as will I - but here's a few pictures from the album to wet the appetite. Apologies for the rotation! There are about 70 pictures in total, so I guess that back then this would have been quite an expensive gift.
