Over the top

What a glorious day. Spent it at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, also known as the world's biggest motoring garden party. The garden in question is Lord March's front lawn at Goodwood House, near Chichester in West Sussex. The event has grown to a huge scale since it first started in 1993.

The theme for this year's FOS is 'Addicted to Winning – The Unbeatable Champions of Motor Sport.' There were plenty of them there today: Sir Stirling Moss, John Surtees, Paddy Hopkirk, Derek Bell, Emerson Fittipaldi, to name but a few.

There is always a magnificent structure immediately outside Goodwood House in celebration of a featured car marque. This time it was in honour of Mercedes, celebrating the company's 120 years of motorsport. For the first time, the structure arched right over the top of the house.

There was plenty of action in the air as well as on the ground. We had a lunchtime display by the magnificent Red Arrows, and a dramatic teatime one by a Eurofighter. The morning threatened rain, but it held off, and the afternoon was blue sky gorgeous. There was nowhere I would rather have been today.