Friday, September 17, 2010

The Hornet

As I was saying

The Last Word on Goodwood Revival 2010

On Tuesday last we paid tribute to the most stylish British speed kings of all time. Check out the archive September 2010 or click HERE to read the piece.

Unfortunately we made one glaring omission: the most stylish of them ALL. This was very remiss of us and we apologise unreservedly. Hoping to make amends, we’ve given him his very own post on The Hornet. Gentlemen we present, by way of our final word on Goodwood Revival 2010, the one-and-only Mr Toad.

“They reached the carriage-drive of Toad Hall to find, as the Badger had anticipated, a shiny new motor-car, of great size, painted a bright red (Toad’s favourite colour), standing in front of the house. As they neared the door it was flung open, and Mr. Toad, arrayed in goggles, cap, gaiters, and enormous overcoat, came swaggering down the steps, drawing on his gauntleted gloves.”

Caps, gaiters and enormous overcoats. What style!

(You can buy The Wind in the Willows – illustrated here – direct from Penguin Books. Not only is Mr Toad a style icon, old Ratty parades a nice line in linen suits, too. We’ll head back to the riverbank for more of that next summer.)

Bill Hornets adds: “Have a grand Goodwood, all!”

Special Goodwood Revival 2010 Hours at Hornets: Friday and Saturday 17th & 18th September 9.00a.m – 7.00p.m, Sunday 19th 9.00a.m – 1.00p.m.

www.hornetskensington.co.uk


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    5 comments:

    James said...

    Do you remember the stop animation version from Thames that Disney aired about 20 some years ago? I have a vhs tape that my daughters just about wore out. I may pour a scotch, dust it off and spend a little time at Toad Hall tonight.

    Suburban Princess said...

    I will have to see if I can find a copy of this - I loved it when I was a child :O)

    Saw your comment today :O) You da best!

    Toad said...

    I haven't seen that one, but PBS Masterpiece did a version a few years ago, that I have worn out. There is also a version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride which is pretty well done as well.

    Mrs. Blandings said...

    I might have mentioned before that I have my childhood copy of Wind in the Willows. It was a gift from my grandparents when I was nine. It must have been the result of a suggestion from my mother as it seems an unlikely gift from her folks. I wonder if I would have been drawn in to the story without the wonderful illustrations of the animals in their Edwardian (yes?) ensembles. I was enchanted.

    Toad said...

    The sad fact of WITW's, Winnie, Paddington Bear,& Peter Pan is that they were in fact adult stories, accepted by children due to the magical skills of their illustrators.

    They are a tough sell to children raised on what passes for cartoons and current children's fare.