Lunch in the Peaks

Maseratis and Gourmet food at Bradley Hall, Birchover, Derbyshire

When an invitation arrived from the 'Maserati Club', in association with 'Graypaul Sheffield Maserati', to an informal gathering at Bradley Hall, Derbyshire that listed 'Gourmet' food as one of the main attractions, the others being the 3200GT and the Quattroporte IV, my wife and I were happy to attend.
When the Sunday arrived we were not blessed with the fine weather that was forecast. A grey day down South quickly changed to a sunny day with the odd cloud here and there as we approached Derbyshire. The journey was a pleasant if uneventful one - yes I was driving my Biturbo! - and we arrived in good time.

The road from junction 28 of the M1 via Matlock to Birchover gave me the opportunity to put the Ghibli through its paces until we came to an area infested with that strange hill dweller - The Protected Rambler! A specimen peculiar to the English countryside - nobody else wants them! Having parked our car in a nearby field we made our way gingerly to the main house where we were warmly welcomed by our hosts Rachel and Glynn Szadura and Tony Mitchell, the Graypaul Maserati Specialist. We were each given the latest copy of the Maserati Rivista, some sales literature on the 3200GT and souvenir key-rings, some of which were provided by Martin Brundle Maserati. Thank you Martin! It was hoped he would be there but unfortunately his 'Formula One' commitments got in the way.

As we sipped some fine wines, supplied courtesy of Graypaul, in the charming company of our hosts my eyes wandered over to the superb display of food. Thai crab cakes, Blenis with cream cheese and smoked salmon, chicken tikka samosas, sheeh kebabs and miniature Yorkshire puddings with roast beef and horseradish. These appetisers were followed by some delicious prawn bhuna and chicken sagwalla with pilau rice. It was that good I can still taste it now! Did I mention the Strawberry Pavlova? Well I jolly well ought to have. All the food was expertly prepared by Rachel Szadura.

All this lovely food inside and some very nice cars outside too, as you can see from the photos. Fellow members and customers of Graypaul soon mixed and chatted away as always happens at these Club events and everyone was having a good time. I continued to drink the mineral water, as I was driving home, but my wife was lucky enough to continue sampling the wine. My consolation - I WAS DRIVING THE MASERATI HOME!

Rachel's father who is a very accomplished painter had some of his fine work on display inside and outside the house. One of his paintings was of an Italian stonemason sculpturing a Ferrari F40 out of a huge block of marble. Had it been a Ghibli II, I would have bought it!
Having chatted and eaten well, we then wandered around the grounds looking at and photographing some of the fine Maseratis on display which included Edwin Faulkner's Bora, a Ghibli Spyder, Marios Kriticos's Shamal and John Jackson's award winning 3500GT - not surprisingly this car won the Concourse!
I would like to thank Edwin Faulkner for kindly allowing me to photograph the interior and engine bay of his fine Bora - which is now for sale! (see photos below).
We left early to avoid any traffic, targeting Ramblers on the way - Only Joking!. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable day. We had made new friends, had seen some very nice machines and I had got my photographs!
I sincerely hope that the Club decides to organise another event at Bradley Hall and when they do my wife and I will be amongst the first to book and I'll starve for a week before we go.
While I took this photo (below left) I was thinking of a suitable caption: "Now I know that Maseratis are an expensive car to run and every little bit helps, but this is ridiculous!"
Footnote: By the way the bowl was still empty when I left!

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When an invitation arrived from the 'Maserati Club', in association with 'Graypaul Sheffield Maserati', to an informal gathering at Bradley Hall, Derbyshire that listed 'Gourmet' food as one of the main attractions, the others being the 3200GT and the Quattroporte IV, my wife and I were happy to attend. When the Sunday arrived we were not blessed with the fine weather that was forecast. A grey day down South quickly changed to a sunny day with the odd cloud here and there as we approached Derbyshire. The journey was a pleasant if uneventful one - yes I was driving my Biturbo! - and we arrived in good time. The road from junction 28 of the M1 via Matlock to Birchover gave me the opportunity to put the Ghibli through its paces until we came to an area infested with that strange hill dweller - The Protected Rambler! A specimen peculiar to the English countryside - nobody else wants them! Having parked our car in a nearby field we made our way gingerly to the main house where we were warmly welcomed by our hosts Rachel and Glynn Szadura and Tony Mitchell, the Graypaul Maserati Specialist. We were each given the latest copy of the Maserati Rivista, some sales literature on the 3200GT and souvenir key-rings, some of which were provided by Martin Brundle Maserati. Thank you Martin! It was hoped he would be there but unfortunately his 'Formula One' commitments got in the way. As we sipped some fine wines, supplied courtesy of Graypaul, in the charming company of our hosts my eyes wandered over to the superb display of food. Thai crab cakes, Blenis with cream cheese and smoked salmon, chicken tikka samosas, sheeh kebabs and miniature Yorkshire puddings with roast beef and horseradish. These appetisers were followed by some delicious prawn bhuna and chicken sagwalla with pilau rice. It was that good I can still taste it now! Did I mention the Strawberry Pavlova? Well I jolly well ought to have. All the food was expertly prepared by Rachel Szadura. All this lovely food inside and some very nice cars outside too, as you can see from the photos. Fellow members and customers of Graypaul soon mixed and chatted away as always happens at these Club events and everyone was having a good time. I continued to drink the mineral water, as I was driving home, but my wife was lucky enough to continue sampling the wine. My consolation - I WAS DRIVING THE MASERATI HOME! Rachel's father who is a very accomplished painter had some of his fine work on display inside and outside the house. One of his paintings was of an Italian stonemason sculpturing a Ferrari F40 out of a huge block of marble. Had it been a Ghibli II, I would have bought it! Having chatted and eaten well, we then wandered around the grounds looking at and photographing some of the fine Maseratis on display which included Edwin Faulkner's Bora, a Ghibli Spyder, Marios Kriticos's Shamal and John Jackson's award winning 3500GT - not surprisingly this car won the Concourse! I would like to thank Edwin Faulkner for kindly allowing me to photograph the interior and engine bay of his fine Bora - which is now for sale! (see photos below). We left early to avoid any traffic, targeting Ramblers on the way - Only Joking!. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable day. We had made new friends, had seen some very nice machines and I had got my photographs! I sincerely hope that the Club decides to organise another event at Bradley Hall and when they do my wife and I will be amongst the first to book and I'll starve for a week before we go. While I took this photo (below left) I was thinking of a suitable caption: "Now I know that Maseratis are an expensive car to run and every little bit helps, but this is ridiculous!" Footnote: By the way the bowl was still empty when I left!