[Mike Dodman]

One of my favourite B/W photos was taken at Prescott in 1970 of Sir Nick absolutely "inch perfect" at the apex of the Esses, which in those days had quite a substantial raised kerb. Some time in the 1990s I realised that the specialist my wife and I were taking our daughter to see was fairly near to where he lived. I contacted him in advance to ask if he would be kind enough to autograph an 18x12" enlargement if we called in. He agreed.

We swung off the road and drove along a tree-lined drive and after, seemingly, several hundred yards, arrived at the front of a rather large country house. I got out and looked around, not immediately able to see exactly where the front door was.

"Hello, can I help you?" came a voice from the front garden and a man, who I assumed to be the gardener, appeared from behind a shrub, secateurs in hand, wellies on his feet.
"Yes," I said. "I've come to see Sir Nicholas. He's agreed to autograph a photograph."
"You've found him; that's me, I'm Nick," he said beaming, hand thrust out in greeting. "Come on, follow me," he said, his gaze having now taken in my wife and daughter who had got out of the car.

Apologising for the fact that he was taking us in the kitchen door, he went on to explain that it was his housekeeper's day off but that he could probably manage to make a pot of tea and some toast, and that with him in his old gardening clothes, it would be more comfortable in the kitchen (which was bigger than our lounge!) and less formal than going into the "sitting room". The ice was well and truly broken and we felt very much at ease.

What I had initially assumed would be a brief conversation as he signed the print turned into the best part of an hour as he talked about his motor sport career.
And the toast…..., that was presented, naturally, in a silver toast rack!
A real gentleman, in the nicest sense of the word.

MikeD