Immediately following the tasting tour, which was excellently organised by Alberto and Brigitta, we set off for the JDC National Day Weekend in the UK on Monday morning. As usual, the crossing was in two parts with an overnight stay in Belgium – this time it was Ghent where we spent the evening.
After reaching the island, we used the remaining days until the weekend to explore the Northamptonshire region, specifically Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick Castle, Oxford with the oldest botanical garden in Great Britain, Blenheim Palace and the Silverstone Circuit Museum.
But now to the main reason for our trip: on Saturday morning, 2 August, the JDC participants met at Whittlebury Hall, where they were given the documents for a trip planned by Mick Duffy (who, incidentally, looks much younger in person than the photo in the well-known JDC Magazine would suggest) with intermediate destinations that each ‘team’ could complete individually.
Together with a few others, we formed the first group of Jags to tackle the first part and arrived at the intermediate destination, the picturesque Fawlsley Hall Hotel (not to be confused with Fawlty Towers, for those familiar with the series).
After a long break filled with petrol talk, we returned to the hotel in the afternoon to dress up for the National Day Dinner.
After all, we had the honour of being invited to the Chairman’s Table, a wonderful opportunity to sit opposite Sir John Egan (Director of Jaguar Cars in the 1990s and ‘savior’ of the brand) and Bryan Mander, the club’s current chairman.
Here we had the opportunity to present exclusive (Oppitz) wine from Austria – and, of course, to get an autograph from Sir John in one of my Jaguar books.
Everyone was thrilled about our arrival, and we also had the opportunity to meet other interesting drivers/collectors, including Bill Heynes’ son.
This year’s dinner evening attracted a record number of participants; over 120 people gathered in the dining room of the Whittlebury Hall Golf Club, with its beautiful view of the court, to enjoy the menu and conversation.
Sunday morning began with the arrival at the reserved areas and the line-up of the Jags that had been registered for one of the two concours.
Of the approximately 80 vehicles in total, an estimated half were XJS models, and the majority of these were celebrating their 50th anniversary, including one participant with the registration number XJS 1, but also a 35 MKV with the matching model number!
Bryan Mander was represented in the main category with two Jags (MK II and E-Type) in incredibly perfect condition and was able to win a category with both of them.
In the early afternoon, the crowd began to thin out, and we finally headed back to our hotel, as we were due to return home the next day.
It was a truly wonderful gathering, well worth the visit and HIGHLY recommended – next year, on 11–12 July, the JDC will celebrate its 70th anniversary.
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