'Highland Chief is an unknown quantity and it's an open year, so who knows?'

On the face of it, very little has changed at Whatcombe over the last 30 years.

The same electric gate ushers visitors down the long drive. The hedgerows are immaculately trimmed. The grass surrounds could easily pass for a well-appointed cricket pitch, while the large clock above the entrance to the stable block is bang on the minute.

This is Whatcombe as Paul Cole envisaged it when he took up residence in 1987. It attests to his fastidious attention to detail that has punctuated his career, yet one thing is palpably different.