Husky Galore

On Sunday, Howard and I headed for Brooklands to look at cars, motorbikes and planes in the company a former colleague and his four-year-old daughter.

You can see sections of the old circuit, sometimes still used for a race or hillclimb. A new track with skid pan lets you try out Mercedes cars, for a price. We were there for the museum pieces, however.

For me, the cars, bicycles and motorbikes - plus three Sinclair C5s, surely the most you'll find anywhere other than a C5 convention - were just an appetiser before the aeroplane section, contained in a static park and the Wellington Hangar.

Concorde was closed for a wedding, but we could walk through the opulent VC10 kitted out for the Sultan of Oman (the world's only two-bedroom airliner? WANT) and a BAC 1-11. The Wellington Hangar was dominated by its namesake bomber, much of its frame spookily naked after several decades immersed in Loch Ness. There were also biplanes for me to coo at, a small display about Barnes Wallis, and a Harrier cockpit to sit in.

We headed in a one-car, two-bike convoy to Woking, where Former Colleague's partner had already commenced work on a delicious dinner and four-year-old Amélie, inspired by the sights of the afternoon, drew a picture of me captaining an orange aeroplane.