Apparently there’s a significant chance of rain during this British Grand Prix weekend – which, as we all know, could easily send the form book out of the window.
Well, what did they expect, scheduling it in the same week as Wimbledon?
To get the very latest on the state of play in Northamptonshire, visit the BBC weather site here for the five-day forecast covering the nearest town, Towcester. Or have a look at the map below – Silverstone is about half way between Northampton and Bicester.
Notes for our US visitors and other non-British natives: It is a curious fact that due to the eccentricities of English pronounciation Towcester, the nearest town to the circuit, is said out loud as ‘toaster’.
In the interests of strict accuracy we might say that, with a proper east Midlands accent, it might come out closer to ‘touw-ster’ with a distinct lift on the second syllable. But such an accent is far from universal so, for most people, ‘toaster’ it is.
Other similar examples you may have come across, all around the Midlands, are Leicester (pronounced ‘lester’), Worcester (pronounced ‘wooster’) and Bicester (pronounced ‘bister’).
Don’t blame us for this – we didn’t name it. But it does raise a smile on our faces every time we recall that it exists.