The great and the good descended on York yesterday for the start of the biggest sporting festival ever held in the North - Royal Ascot. Mark Foster joined them

'You mean there's racing as well?" exclaimed Anne Lawton from under her bright and wide-brimmed hat - and she was only half-joking.

She and five pals were still in the car-park for Royal Ascot in York but already they were well into the spirit of the day.

Their picnic table was groaning with goodies from sushi to champagne and a grey and dismal drizzle was definitely not going to dampen their mood.

They had dressed up to the nines, left their husbands at home and had travelled from Newcastle, determined to enjoy the first day of the historic meeting.

And like tens of thousands of others that's just what they were doing - whatever the conditions.

"The weather's been a right inconvenience," admitted Anne's sister, Eleanor Derry, from under her own striking headgear.

"But we're here to have fun - and we think we are setting the standard."

The sisters and their friends are first-day regulars at Ascot, in Berkshire, and like hordes of others they had followed the glamour trail to York.

The sprawling Knavesmire, long regarded as the Ascot of the North, has been transformed to cater for the Royal event's first move north in nearly 300 years. And while the first day is not, traditionally, the busiest of the five-day meeting, the gleaming grandstands and marquees were packed to overflowing.

The going on the course was officially good to firm, but along with the racegoers who care about such things there were just as many who were there to see and be seen or simply savour the carnival-like atmosphere.

Inhibitions quickly disappeared as the bubbly, Pimms and beer flowed and at one point middle-aged couples were dancing by the stands as an oompah-band played for all it was worth.

Extra trains had brought many Ascot regulars north - along with an armada of helicopters for the well-heeled - but others had come from across the north to play their part in racing history.

Many were delayed by the expected road congestion, with reports of eight-mile tailbacks on the A64.

But for the royals themselves there were no such problems, with the Count and Countess of Wessex the first to arrive, in a car flanked by motorcycle outriders.

Remarkably, even the weather seemed to accept that this was a special occasion and the skies began to clear for the Royal procession.

The first of the four open-top carriages was greeted with a roar of approval from the assembled masses with both the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh beaming happily.

The applause continued for the following coach, where the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall acknowledged the support of the crowd.

It was only the bookies who seemed unaffected by all the fuss - but then they had seen it all before.

The usual smattering of celebrities mingled with the jostling crowds and just short of 36,000 people had been through the turnstiles by the end of the day.

Some of them had covered huge distances to be there, including one group who had travelled half-way round the world.

Milliner Maya Kalan and model Chintha Panditaratne had made the journey from Melbourne, Australia, to show off some spectacular headgear made from peacock feathers.

Fellow hat-designer Tracey Rose and her husband, Russell, had only had to make the trip from London, for their 26th Ascot meeting, but her multi-coloured satin creation was just as eye-catching.

"We always come to Ascot and having it here in York is just beautiful. We've never been here before but there's just so much to see," said Tracy.

Although there were some flat caps and overcoats around - this was Yorkshire after all - most people had clearly decided to put style before comfort.

For the women that meant a huge variety of headgear, and the occasional skirt- clutching chase when hats were caught by the wind, while the gents in the Royal Enclosure sported top hats and tails.

Security was clearly being taken very seriously and was tight but not obtrusive. Even North Yorkshire Chief Constable Della Cannings was on duty for the occasion, wearing a yellow fluorescent jacket on top of her uniform.

For the second day of the meeting, some tweaks will be made to the traffic management plan, with car-park entrances being widened and extra signage put in place. But, despite the worst fears of local people, the city itself did not grind to a standstill with race traffic remaining isolated from the everyday motorists.

However, for the rest of the week race goers are being urged to arrive early. Car-park gates open at 9.30am and a two-way shuttle service operates with the city centre.