Goodwood

: The Grand Account :

Goodwood is what happens when one family pursues its enthusiasms for three centuries with perfect seriousness. The Dukes of Richmond have kept this corner of the Sussex Downs since 1697, and the estate now holds England's sporting calendar in miniature: the Festival of Speed, the Revival's costumed time-travel, and the Qatar Goodwood Festival, 'Glorious Goodwood', on what is fairly called the world's most beautiful racecourse. Yet the estate's character is private rather than promotional: a working home, a flying school, an organic farm. The elite return because Goodwood manages a rare thing, genuine glamour grown from genuine substance, with the downs rolling towards the sea beyond.

The route runs south-west on the A3 past Guildford and the Devil's Punch Bowl, then through the South Downs on the A286 via Midhurst, polo country, before the estate opens out beneath the Trundle; allow a little under two hours. For event days we favour the Range Rover LWB, at ease on grass paddocks and gravel drives alike; the Rolls-Royce Cullinan suits the Revival, where the car park is part of the show. Your chauffeur holds the estate access plan, navigates event traffic by routes agreed in advance, and positions the car so that your departure is as effortless as your arrival.

Choose your moment by temperament: the Festival of Speed in July for the hillclimb and the scent of racing fuel, the Revival in September, period dress required, and worn properly, or a summer evening race meeting when the downs turn gold. Stay at The Goodwood Hotel on the estate; dine at Farmer, Butcher, Chef, where the menu comes from the home farm a mile away. Members and their guests take lunch at The Kennels, James Wyatt's clubhouse of 1787. Walk up the Trundle before leaving, the racecourse, the Solent and the Isle of Wight lie below. Few estates send you home this content.