IT begins with a soft humming noise. Then the mudguards swing out and click into wing position as the radiator grille parts to allow the fan-belt propeller and petrol-pump fly-wheel to slide out from the bonnet. A green light on the dashboard blinks PULL DOWN. As Cmdr Pott gingerly pulls the lever down and presses the accelerator pedal, the car tilts up her shining green-and-silver nose and takes off.
'Don't worry! She'll look after us!' he shouts to spell-bound Mimsie and the twins as they soar over the weekend traffic jam. After circling Canterbury Cathedral, they take a short cut over Dover Castle and fly up the Kent coast looking for a place to land for a picnic.
In the hands of 'James Bond' author Ian Fleming, the crime-busting exploits of ChittyChitty-Bang-Bang cannot fail to thrill. 'Never say no to adventures... Otherwise you'll lead a very dull life,' says Cmdr Caractacus Pott RN (Rtd), the eccentric inventor who saves the 12-cylinder, eight-litre, supercharged Paragon Panther from wreckage. 'You never get real adventures without a bit of risk somewhere.' And so the Potts set off in their splendidly restored car, which does 100mph in top gear and has a mind of its own.
When they get marooned on a sandbank, stumble upon a cache of weapons in a French cave, encounter a band of gangsters who kidnap the twins and get embroiled in a heist on a Parisian sweet shop, Chitty-ChittyBang-Bang transmogrifies into an aerocar or a speed-boat and gets them out of trouble.
Named after the sneezes and explosions that erupt from her exhaust pipes and with a cryptic GEN II on her numberplates, the magical car was inspired by the 1920s aero-engined racing models built by Count Zborowski on his Kent estate, Higham Park.
Denne historien er fra October 02,2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra October 02,2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
