We were up early Sunday morning to go to Shelsley Walsh Breakfast Club. This is an event we have enjoyed many times in the past but their introduction of an entrance fee and a pre- booked ticket this year had rather put us off.
Nevertheless we had made up our minds to go with our friend Andy and when we woke we realised we had accidentally chosen the perfect day, bright and crisp with blue skies and a smattering of frost to start the day.
Beastie prepared the car and did his best to pre warm it. Then when Andy arrived we were off, roof down in the Opel GT, with hats and gloves at the ready. The drive from our house to Shelsley is a wonderful journey with the most stunning scenery along perfect windy roads.
Once there we were shown our places and we were lucky enough to get parked up with the posh boys just inside the gate. The opel GT was definitely fighting above his weight! First call was for breakfast and this time no queue but straight to the counter to get served – a very pleasant start as the queue in the past has been daunting and often out of the door.
Then we did a tour of the lovely cars on display including a Project 7 Jaguar which is one of only 250 built, and still the sun shone. We had hoped it would warm up but the wind was making us chilly so we stopped for a cup of tea in the cafe.
On reflection the charge for entry had the effect of making the whole morning more civilised although the downside was fewer cars to see. The charge was introduced to give the organisers more control over who came as they had some issues with noise upsetting the neighbours, but  I think the new scheme had more of an effect than was anticipated by the organisers
To be rational about the charge, it is only the cost of a cup of tea in Costas (not at Shelsley as its only £1.50) and the end result is a much more civilised outing. So although we had been quite aggrieved about the charge originally, once we had been we realised it was probably a good idea.

Click below for a slideshow from the day.