Petrolhead Grandma
On her ninetieth birthday - enroute to her celebration lunch - Grandma famously patted our new car, glanced at the engine size, and crowed: "mine is faster than this." I like to think her utter glee was my birthday gift to her... In the past she has also sniffily declared Bentleys to be 'draughty' and to have boasted that she can drive 'damn near anything'.
As a child she was my hero for reducing travel sickness by perfecting a driving style which, (in her words) 'smoothed out the corners' of the Devon lanes. As an adult I realised that this driving style could also be called 'brushing with death, driving a car at 40-50 mph in the middle of narrow lanes with many blind turns.' It has been a while since I have agreed to be her passenger.*
With a driving career spanning eight decades, and including stints in sports cars, driving ambulances in the blackout and managing a three tonne tea wagon in North Africa, she has been driving for longer than the driving test, which turned 75 this year. So, in honour of her grit, and because I knew she'd make a darned fine interviewee... I took my recorder to Devon, crossed myself, kissed the children goodbye and buckled up.
She bought her first car at 15, a Morris and hasn't been without wheels since - taking the official test as a sixteen year old in 1935. Her preference is for fast, sporty and big. Her favourite was a two seater Armstrong Sidley Hurricane which she bought in 1948 after her stint with the . Along the way she has had trusty Fords, station wagons and Peugeots (one which used to make regular trips into Amboseli Game Park in Kenya to have breakfast and see the rhino..) She was once even given a car - (and a dog and a gun, but that is a different story) - by a surrendering German soldier. She bought the dog back home. Not the car.
Since I can remember she has driven Lancias and Hondas. Wide and comfortable, tarmac- hugging and FAST. And, you would think (if you have had a hip replacement), pretty tricky to climb in and out of. But she copes. For the sake of style, I think.
So how was the journey? Admittedly we only went to the village to drop off the empties at the bottle-bank, but that involved a 5 point turn, a 1:4 hill and some pretty twisty roads. Was I scared? No. Did I think she was safe? Yes. Do I think she should still be driving? Absolutely.
She's just written off for her eighth three-year licence. She drives with glasses, in the daytime, and often to pursue her other passion: golf. Without her wheels, her life would be unrecogniseable. When I asked her when she will give up, she simply said: "When I have to." I really hope that's not for a while yet.
*For the record, she has never caused a crash. She has been driven into, whilst stationary, twice.
Click here to listen to Catherine's interview with her grandma, broadcast on the You and Yours programme on Friday 25th June.
Catherine Carr is a reporter on You and Yours
You & Yours is on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 4 at 1200 weekdays. Listen to today's episode on the Radio 4 web site.
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