Rupert Toovey’s Articles – Page 43

Wilding at Knepp

Longhorn Cattle at Knepp © Charlie Burrell 2019

Few books have been so influential in engaging the public in the evolving conversation about farming and the environment as Isabella Tree’s Wilding.
It provides a vocabulary and snapshot of our understanding of humanity’s impact on nature and the environment. It gives voice to the importance of working in concert with nature not against it.

Isabella’s book Wilding invites us to celebrate the majestic and the infinite as it charts the re-wilding at Knepp from the role of the Tamworth pig and Longhorn cattle in restoring the natural landscape to the beauty of the network of underground mycorrhizal fungi which nourish plants and even allow them to communicate with one another if left undisturbed in the soil.

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to be invited on a bird safari at Knepp. As dawn came, with the frost thick on the ground, we walked out into the estate with our expert guide. Amongst the scrub and woodland we were greeted by the songs of Nightingales and Turtle Doves which despite a huge decline in numbers are breeding at Knepp.

I was fortunate to catch up with Isabella Tree at Knepp a few days later. It is difficult to find the vocabulary to adequately describe the profound sense of communion with the landscape and nature which I experienced that morning, it was something of an epiphany.

Isabella speaks passionately about how important it is for our emotional and spiritual well-being for all of us to be re-connected with the land, and the unexpected blessings which they have witnessed through re-wilding at Knepp with the rapid return of rare plant, insect and bird life. She explains that since the war and Dig for Victory successive governments and policy makers have prioritised food production without fully understanding the consequences for the long-term fertility of the land and its soils. Isabella explains how quickly the land recovers if it is allowed to re-wild even in the short-term.

These views chime with the public’s growing concerns about climate change and the environment. The Wilding project at Knepp provides some answers and insights as to how the poorest land might be repurposed. However, as we seek to feed an ever growing nation at a price that people and the environment can afford wilding in its purest form will not be able to be replicated everywhere. But its ethos resonates with the existing diverse approaches and best practice of the majority of our county’s mixed farms which are employing traditional methods like seven year crop rotations, maintaining ancient chalk grasslands, scrub, hedging, woodland, cover crops and grazing livestock as well as cutting edge technology to maintain and improve our soils and countryside. Balance and sustainability are the two words I most often hear spoken by this cohort of contemporary farmers who seek to produce food for the nation whilst creating a patchwork quilt of nature corridors and giving poor and unproductive land back to nature, with the inevitable benefits that conservation and wilding brings.

As I leave Knepp a herd of Longhorn cattle cross the drive and wander off into the estate. I feel like I am witnessing a scene out of Africa and I am once again humbled by the experience.

If you haven’t read Wilding by Isabella Tree yet it really should be top of your book list. To find out more about the Wilding experiment at Knepp, its work and safaris visit www.knepp.co.uk.

Review of the Year 2019

Bishop Richard Jackson and Hon Sec. Rowan Allan of H. J. Burt at The 2019 West Grinstead Agricultural and Ploughing Match Show

I have long been a passionate advocate and supporter of building communities through Arts, Heritage and Culture in West Sussex and there was much to celebrate in 2019.

A collaboration between Jeremy Knight of The Horsham Museum & Art Gallery and Laura Kidner of the Christ’s Hospital Museum brought us an exceptional retrospective of the important artist Frank Brangwyn which centred on a selection of cartoons produced by Brangwyn for Christ’s Hospital. They had last been exhibited in London in 1924.

Jeremy Knight’s book The Horsham District in 100 Objects distils thirty years of his knowledge and understanding into a concise and accessible format. The book provides a superb companion and guide to a journey of discovery around the district and its rich heritage.

The Horsham Museum & Art Gallery and the Shipley Arts Festival are central to Horsham and her district’s identity, heritage and culture, and this was highlighted by the Council’s 2019 Year of Heritage and Culture.

The Shipley Arts Festival went from strength to strength under the leadership of its founder and long-term Artistic Director, Andrew Bernardi. New music was once again commissioned for the 2019 season with sell out concerts.

I was proud to be President of the West Grinstead and District Ploughing Match & Agricultural Society which celebrates best practice through its awards and bursaries.

Visiting farms across the district I have been humbled and excited to see long-term stewardship of the land combining the best of traditional methods with the modern. I am impressed how farms are striving to achieve a balance between maintaining the fertility of the land and producing food for the nation with close attention to the preservation of nature. Thanks to this work rare species like Turtle Doves and native fritillaries are flourishing in our countryside on farms which remain profitable and productive. Our farming community is deserving of our thanks.

At the heart of the Society is its Honorary Secretary Rowan Allan of H. J. Burt. This year Rowan and I were blessed to be joined at the ploughing match by Bishop Richard Jackson who worked as an agronomist before being ordained.
I am delighted that through Toovey’s I have been able to play a part in bridging these artistic and heritage communities together, adding weight to their vision and work, whilst also offering financial support and professional advice.
The Duke of Richmond, too, continues to give us a unique and exemplary window into our motoring and motor racing heritage as well as the future at the Goodwood race track.

Rupert Toovey at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

These individuals along with so many others are deserving of our thanks. They enrich the quality of our lives whilst contributing enormously to our economy through the visitors and businesses they draw to our county.
I am looking forward to celebrating with you the best artistic, cultural and heritage events our county has to offer in 2020, and wish you all a very happy and peaceful New Year.

Motoring – Uniting Passionate Collectors

A pre-war Dinky Toys No. 44 AA hut, motorcycle patrol and guides, with original diorama box

Last week I celebrated motorsport at Goodwood and it is often a passion for motoring which unites collectors and their specialist areas of interest.
The pre-war Dinky Toys No. 44 AA hut, motorcycle patrol and guides, boxed with diorama, sold at Toovey’s for £220. It’s a scene which would not have look out of place at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Frank Hornby found that accessories for his pre-war O gauge model railways were in great demand. By 1935 these accessories were called Dinky Toys. The earliest vehicles were inspired by the motorcycles and cars of the period rather than the accurate models they would become later.

A photographic postcard titled ‘Nutbourne’ published by Walter Drewett, from the early 1900s

Postcards are also a booming collectors’ market. The postcard seen here made £170. It depicts an earlier period of motoring outside the garage at Nutbourne in West Sussex opposite the Rising Sun pub. Two young children pretend to be driving the Model T Ford with the postman in the foreground. The postcard was published in the early 1900s by Walter James Drewett.

Drewett was born at Steyning in 1869. He specialised in photographing landscapes and outdoor events including parades and garden parties. He also photographed individuals outside their homes and places of work. Drewett began his postcard publishing career in Steyning in 1903 but by 1904 he had opened a newsagent shop in Storrington on the east side of Church Street.

A collection of pre-war enamel motoring signs

Enamel signs are another field of collecting which are enjoying a renaissance and not least motoring examples. The four signs illustrated are reminiscent of those you can just see on the front of the garage at Nutbourne. The Morris Authorised Dealer two sided enamel sign, like so many of the enamel motoring signs, dates from the 1920s or 1930s and was made for Morris dealers to display. The Shell and Castrol signs are particularly rare and fine. These four signs totalled more than £4000 at Toovey’s.

Motoring related collectors’ items and automobilia have such appeal. They connect the motor car enthusiast with the vehicles themselves. Very few of us have the space or the funds to acquire the cars but by comparison toys, postcards and automobilia can be collected on a much more modest budget. These pieces of motoring history are great value and delight the eye.

Entries are already being invited for Toovey’s first 2020 specialist auctions of toys, automobilia, postcards and paper collectables. Whether you are releasing or building your collections Toovey’s specialists are always delighted to share their passion for motoring related collectors’ items and automobilia and offer advice. To find out more check out forthcoming auctions at www.tooveys.com.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

A Sussex Celebration of Motorsport on and off the Track at Goodwood

The start of the 2019 Goodwood Revival Kinrara Trophy © GRRC/Chrislson.

I am really excited, I’ve just booked my tickets for the 2020 Goodwood motor racing season 78th GRRC Members’ Meeting, Festival of Speed and Revival. Goodwood’s quintessential British motorsport events celebrate not only the best of historic racing but also the cutting edge and contemporary in the automotive world. It’s a winning combination here in heart of Sussex.

For me the highlight of this year’s Goodwood Revival was the Kinrara Trophy for pre-1963 GT cars with closed-cockpits. Dubbed ‘the most expensive motor race in the world’ the line up on the grid included Ferrari 250 GTs Aston Martin DB4s, AC Cobras and Austin-Healeys promising some very special racing.

The race lasts an hour. As dusk approached the first race of the 2019 Revival got underway. By the time the leading cars had reached Fordwater on the opening lap the Ferrari 250 GT of Andrew Smith and Gary Pearson was being closely followed by the navy blue Aston Martin DB4GT driven by Darren Turner and Simon Hadfield. The racing was close and the pit-lane siren wailed as the cars came in for their compulsory pit-stop and to change drivers. As the race progressed the safety car joined the track after Jack Young went off in his Jaguar E-type. The safety car came in with just 10 laps to go with the leaders closely bunched up. The sun began to set as the drivers battled towards the finish their headlights blazing. It was Pearson and Smith’s Ferrari which took the trophy setting a new Kinrara Trophy lap record of 1 minute 28.825 seconds. They were closely pursued by Turner and Hadfield’s Aston Martin DB4GT in second place as they had been from the beginning.

This evocative race captured the spirit and excitement of the Goodwood Revival bringing together the marques which raced there back in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Sussex historic racing season will open with the 78th GRRC Member’s Meeting on the weekend of 28th and 29th March 2020. The spring Members’ Meeting is a celebration of motor racing exclusively for members of the Goodwood Road Racing Club (GRRC), and the ever growing GRRC Fellowship. It has its own unique atmosphere. This member only event allows enthusiasts, drivers and the car owners to mingle in the paddocks.

The 2019 Festival of Speed saw the UK launch of the much anticipated new Land Rover Defender alongside a spectacular celebration of Aston Martin 70 years after they first raced at Goodwood in 1949 and 60 years after their triumph in the 1959 World Sports Car Championship. The 2020 Festival of Speed will be held from 9th – 12th July.

September’s Goodwood Revival has a unique and special quality with the atmosphere of a motorsport party with vintage outfits, cars and racing. The 2020 event will be held from the 11th – 13th September.
To find out more about the benefits of membership of the GRRC and GRRC

Fellowship, how to join, as well news about this year’s Festival of Speed, Goodwood Revival, and to book tickets go to www.goodwood.com/sports/motorsport. Tickets for the Goodwood motoring season sell as fast as a speeding Aston Martin so be quick off the start and be sure to get yours!

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

Rolex – Design Icons and Superlative Timepieces

Rolex Watches at Toovey's — A selection of Rolex gentlemen’s wristwatches which totalled £23,000 at Toovey’s

For more than 100 years Rolex have produced superlative timepieces which today are considered design classics.

Rolex is one of the world’s strongest brands representing more than a century of precision watch making, creativity and aspiration. Many may be surprised to learn that the company we know today as Rolex was founded in London by Alfred Davis and his brother in law Hans Wilsdorf in 1905. It traded as Wilsdorf and Davis. Hans Wilsdorf wanted his watches to bear a name that was memorable, short and easy to say in any language. In 1908 he registered the trademark ‘Rolex’. In the same year he opened an office in Switzerland.
In 1914 the Kew Observatory awarded a Rolex watch a Class A precision certificate for accuracy, a distinction usually reserved for marine chronometers. Heavy tax duties in the UK after the Great War on luxury imports and exported precious metals used in watch cases caused Wilsdorf to move the company to Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1927 Rolex developed the first waterproof and dust-proof watch named the ‘Oyster’. In 1931 this was complimented by Rolex inventing the world’s first self-winding mechanism.

As a fine art auctioneer in Sussex I have spent some thirty-five years journeying with people sharing the stories of their lives told through objects. I have often reflected that the most precious objects in our lives are those that allow us to tell these stories – the prompts to fond memories. I refer to them as the patchwork quilt of our lives. Rolex has always understood this and today its ambassadors are drawn from leading figures in the arts and sport whose lives are reflected in the these remarkable timepieces.

Rolex diving watches have been design icons since their introduction in 1953. They were the first diving watches to be waterproof to 330 feet. The ‘Submariner’ illustrated, with its leather strap, was made in 1965. The 1986 GMT- Master is similarly inspired. Introduced in 1955 the mechanism was able to simultaneously show the time in two zones allowing it to be used for navigation by those crossing the globe. The movement was improved in 1982 making it easier to use.
The two Rolex Oyster Perpetual wristwatches from 1958 and 1959 in their restrained stainless steel cases with simple dials are beautifully conceived. In contrast the 18ct gold Day Date wristwatch and the two colour Datejust appeal to those with more glamorous tastes.

New or old a Rolex combines the status of a design icon with superlative time-keeping. This combination delights connoisseurs and collectors. The selection of Rolex wristwatches illustrated have just sold at Toovey’s for £23,000.

Perhaps it’s time to change your wristwatch. Toovey’s Director, Tom Rowsell, is preparing his next specialist auction of fine watches which will be held on Thursday 23rd January 2020. Entries are still being invited. Tom and his team of specialists are always delighted to share their passion for watches and offer advice. They can be contacted on 01903 891955.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.