County Gathering

A vintage day at the races for Victorian gentleman - and a few ladies

On a busy day at the racecourse, crowds assemble in anticipation of the sporting action to come, and the camera pans from left to right just to show us how well-attended the event is. The date is 1901, which explains the bowler hats, flat caps, moustaches and pipes, as well as that imposing red-brick grandstand. Apart from these touches though, the bustle of the race-day crowd is redolent of the buzz of big-ticket racing events well over a century later.