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I was at Downton only a short while, and the reason is simple: I wasn't much good. I made silly errors, the final and worst being when I failed to replace the radiator cap on a Mini I had been working on. Daniel Richmond took it for a road test and came back in a rather less happy mood than when he set out, for the engine had seriously overheated and had to be stripped down.

I was summoned to his office. But he was very kind: 'I like you,' he said. 'I don't want you to go, but I really can't keep you. You do understand, don't you?' He looked so upset that I didn't know who to feel more sorry for - him or me.

Bunty Richmond gave me my P45. She was very sweet and wished me well. It was the end of my three months - but those three months will forever remain some of the happiest and most memorable of my life.

Downton Engineering was a very dynamic environment with a rich mix of personalities with everyone taking pride in their work. Both Daniel and Bunty were extraordinary people, true eccentrics, the like of whom we will not see again. Barry's description of Daniel when things were going wrong made me smile, for I remember it well. It was as though he was walking almost sideways into a galeforce wind. This was usually preceded by some strong words between him and Bunty, which we could hear through the workshop walls.

Bunty herself was a remarkable woman. With hair that at times resembled lank bindertwine, you couldn't really call her attractive, nor was she the kind of person with whom you would care to cross swords - but she had a warmth and grace about her that I will always remember. I liked her very much and I was sad to hear of her death, albeit one that was so meticulously planned.

There were other tragedies. David Miller, who was works foreman when I was there. David was about 28 years old and had a sense of humour that had shades of the Kenneth Williams about it. He could be very amusing and he and his wife Jo became friends of mine - but I think not everybody liked him.

I recall an occasion when he took a modified Mini on road test and didn't return for a long time. When he did he had two black eyes and some other bruising on his face. Apparently he had encountered a herd of cows crossing the road and took evasive action by crashing into a ditch. I think he may have collected a cow on the way.

David was a good club racer and took several number one spots. He was also keen on flying, having done some time in the RAF, and always talked about one day getting himself his own aircraft. In the early '70's, after I had lost touch with him, he acquired an Auster and I was shocked to hear that he, Jo and their little daughter Zoe were killed when they crashed on the Isle of Wight.

I recall most of the names Barry mentions - not least that of Paddy Heaney, which reminds me of the time a whole bunch of us drove our raucous highly-tuned Minis down to the beach at Mudeford near Christchurch one summer evening. The car park was deserted, so we decided this was a good spot for a race...

Three of us lined up our Minis at one end of the car park, engines revving, while someone acted as starter. We dropped the clutch and, wheels spinning madly, engines screaming, shot down to the other end of the park, did a handbrake turn and hurtled back. Then a new face appeared on the scene: the car park attendant. He was a guy of about our age and he went absolutely mental - shouting, yelling, arms flailing wildly. We gathered he was going to lock us in and call the police, and when we saw him padlock a chain across the entrance we sort of lost our high spirits for a moment.

However, one of us - it might have been Sean Wiles - managed to unhook the chain from the posts and we made a wheel-spinning exit, only to meet a police car coming the other way. He turned round and chased us. We drove like madmen and I recall that Paddy Heaney lost it somewhere near Ringwood and went off into a field. yes, he really was a madman. But the police never caught us. I guess we were totally irresponsible, but those were more innocent times and there was a lot less traffic. Anyway, it was an evening to remember.

BH Ads: What you may not have know was that the next day, Bunty had me in the office to meet a policeman asking about the incident ( he had recognized the lightning Z all along the side of Mad Freddy Heaney's Mini) but Bunty got us off.

Another name was Pete Heppenstall (I think that's correct) who was always singing snatches from Handel's 'Messiah' and coined the nickname 'Baldylocks' for Ian Bentley. But he was a good mechanic with a dry sense of humour.

I had a wonderful time there, but by the time my marriage broke up in 1974 I had lost touch with everyone, so it has been especially pleasing to see Barry's name again after all these years.

As for me, after a couple more stints in garages I decided that maybe I wasn't cut out for this line of work and went back to being a journalist, finally ending up as editor of The Andover Advertiser in the early '80's. In 1987 I went for a mid-life change of course and set up The Pinewood Music Company with my partner Alison Holmes, selling high end hi-fi, which we still do successfully from our home in Somerset.

Cars? Always loved them and have owned a Sierra and Escort Cosworth - both of which got stolen. But nothing, I think, will ever compare to the love affair with my Downton Mini Cooper all those years ago.