"I'm Not One For Giving Cars Names - Car Is A Car"

In her weekly column, Maddie Grigg shares tales from her life in rural Dorset . . .

- Maddie Grigg

ABOUT ten years ago, I fulfilled a long-held dream and bought a vintage VW Beetle.

I used to drive one years ago, when I was in my early twenties, but I’d always wanted a convertible.

So I saved up my money and found one on eBay. It had a full service history and was being sold by a district nurse who didn’t feel comfortable using it on her rounds.

She had been given it by her parents for her twenty-first birthday. I suppose she had grown out of it.

I, on the other hand, was forty-five and in my second childhood. So, accompanied by Mr Grigg, his daughter and my two-year-old granddaughter, we drove all the way up from Dorset to Bedford to view the vehicle.

I was smitten as soon as I saw it. I wasn’t really worried about the condition. It looked all right on the surface and I knew it was the car for me. And besides, it was bright yellow. A deal was struck and the