The Little Easton Manor in Great Dunmow, Essex was the chosen location for this particular Porsche meet and was clearly the inspiration for the name of the event: ‘Porsches by the Lake’. This grand country ‘Essex Pink’ house is a Grade II listed property set in 66 (!!) acres of beautiful grounds and lakes. The manor can trace its history back to the 11th century.

Car meets no longer excite me as they once did, but the theme of this car meet intrigued me. I also knew the organisers and expect great things from them. You’ve got to support your ‘Porsche friends’ eh? So early one Saturday morning in May, I jumped into a gleaming ‘Hellboy’, my Lava Orange 911 GT3 RS and joined ‘Mr. White’, another 911 GT3 RS for the boring early-morning drive to Essex via the A406 (sigh) and the M11. Following Mr. White actually made the drive far more palatable as the RS does look very mean and purposeful. Mr. White’s stance was further enhanced by its Manthey Racing suspension geometry.

You’ve got to support your Porsche friends eh?

Seventy minutes after leaving West London, we left the M11 for the short cross-country hop to Great Dunmow and the Little Easton Manor. As we pulled up to the gates, we were met by a couple of our ‘Porsche friends’ who directed us to the parking area along the driveway to the house. We parked, jumped out, and exchanged pleasantries with the boys and girls.

These RS’ do look very mean and purposeful

Where was this lake? I asked. I was promised a lake AND Porsches and I must satisfy the cravings of my Canon 5D MK IV. I was directed towards the lake and my slight initial disappointment on arrival was more than wiped away when I clapped my eyes on the scene just beyond the house. There was a lake complete with anglers and I could see cars parking on the far side of the lake.

I must satisfy the cravings of my Canon 5D MK IV

I hurriedly walked to the far side of the lake to see the cars coming in and parking along the lakeside. 964, 993, 996, 997, 991, 992, 718, 981, 944, GTS, GT3, GT3 RS, GT4, C4S, C2S, and more filed in and parked. I did not know where to look and my camera finger cried ‘enough!’ well before lunchtime. I had not seen everything though. As I walked back to the house to look for food I came across the pièce de résistance casually parked in front of the manor: a 911 R, TWO Carrera GTs and the mighty 918 Spyder. I almost missed the 992 GT3 and GT3 Touring parked not far away. They were completely overshadowed by the quartet of cars I just mentioned.

My camera finger cried ‘enough!’ well before lunchtime

This is supposed to be a pictorial, where the pictures in the galleries above do the talking and here I am rabbitting on about ‘Porsches by the Lake’. I’ll finish by saying It was a good day, a friendly, well-organised event with a cool vibe. Low key, but very high quality. I saw many, many additions to my imaginary Porsche collection.
I’m glad I attended ‘Porsches by the Lake’. It has rekindled my waning love of car meets. I was able to ogle and take photos of some serious machinery in a stunning location, catch up with old friends and make new ones and have a good time.
That is the point, isn’t it?
’til the next time.