Balado 9th May - Our first rally of the season was the Festival of Steam at Balado, Kinross. The weather was a little cold but it was dry and the sum paid a visit several times. Some members met at Kincardine Bridge Services with the rest meeting at the rally. We had a good turn out with 9 cars in total. David Brown and Tam Boyd had new cars to show off. David's is a lovely bright yellow 1976 MkIII Ford Cortina and Tam's is a Beautiful 1972 Ford Zephyr. Although predominantly steam engines there were a good lot of cars to look at. The only things we could really complain about were the fact that the car clubs were all packed in like sardines (it would have been very difficult if someone had wanted to leave early) and the horrible black reek that came off all the steam engines that was choking everyone. A good autojumble at this one so you could spend a while wandering around. A good rally to start the season off.
Kelso 16th May - This is the second year we have attended this rally. The weather looked promising as it wasn't raining and the sun was trying to come out. We met up with some members at Dreghorn and the rest at Fordel. 8 cars in total today. In the rally field they parked us the same way as last year, round the outside in a massive square with a large area of grass in the middle. this was good as it gave us enough space to put up our two gazebos. The sun shone for most of the day which made for a good day walking round the jumble and the rest of the exhibitors. Another good rally helped by a lovely day.
Thirlestane 6th June - As with Kelso we met up with some members at Dreghorn and the rest at Fordel. The weather wasn't as promising today. Very cloudy with a threat of rain and also cold. Pat and Kenny Reid spent the night down at the caravan park next to the rally field in their camper van and met us at the rally. The field wasn't that great to park in this year. We parked on a slope, the grass hadn't been cut and there was sheep dung everywhere. Never the less we managed to get our gazebos up and sheltered from the cold while having our breakfast. There were a few empty spaces at the rally today and we didn't think there were so many autojumble stalls as previously. But there was still enough to keep us busy for a couple of hours. Many bargains were had today in the shape of model cars. I don't think my display cabinet can take much more! Again this year the Ferraris took centre stage at the front of the castle along with the Sporting Bears who were selling rides in cars ranging from bubble cars to Aston Martins in aid of charity. It wasn't long before it started to rain. It didn't put us off much as we didn't pack up until just after 4pm. No problems exiting from the park this year.
Errol 13th June - We met some members at Stirling Services. The sun was shining and the weather looked promising. The rally is at Errol airfield which is between Perth and Dundee. We met the rest of the members at the rally. 9 cars in total this week. Welcome to new member Ross Thomson and his lovely red Rover Montego. This is one of the better rallies because in the next field is a large car boot sale. A walk round this takes a good couple of hours and makes the day go quicker. Apart from a few showers the rest of the day was sunny and warm. Robert Thomson's car had ben in for an MOT the previous week and came out fitted with a brand new Lucas eight track stereo. So one of our aims today was to source some tapes for it. This mission was successful as Mum and Dad Thomson found and bought a box of 149 tapes for it along with a spare stereo. Sorted !!
Another successful rally and the good weather held out until the drive home when the heavens opened up!
Lathalmond 20th June - Lovely and sunny today. We met some members at Kincardine Bridge and the rest at the rally. 8 cars in total today. Great to see Wullie and Isa Thomson here today. We've missed Wullie's flask of home-made soup. Our new gazebo got it's first airing today. It's extra large and bright red. We were set up in the same place as last year. Wullie's car had a problem with a leaking fuel line. So the mission today was to find a part to fix it. Eventually the men managed to do a temporary permanent repair using a bit of rubber tubing and two jubilee clips. Sorted!!
This was a great day topped off by an announcement that the Scottish BMC Car Club had won the prize for 'Best Club Stand'. WooooHoooo!! We attended the prize giving and received a trophy from Lady Elgin. Watch next year's Lathalmond Rally DVD for the whole ceremony. Needless to say we had a photo-shoot with all the cars and extremely proud members. Check the website for photos. Brilliant day, brilliant weather and topped off with a prize. Magic!!
Moffat 27th June - We met Mary and Jim Willis at Abington and headed to Moffat where we met up with others in the car park on the way into town and the rest in the rally field. 7 cars in total. Same place in the rally field as last year. Sunny but cold. We put up our new Club banner today. Check the photos on the website. It was a mixture of sun, wind and rain today but it stayed mostly dry. Dry enough anyway for a walk round the jumble and exhibits. Some of us took a walk into town where there is a large Edinburgh Woolen Mill and several coffee shops. We couldn't get into these because they were busy so we went back to the rally field and had a cuppa at the cars. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Gordon Bissett, organiser of this rally, on his London Marathon run and his Ben Nevis climb the week after, to raise funds for Maggie's Cancer Care. Well done Gordon!! A nice day was had by all and we were also lucky with the weather.
Bridge of Allan 4th July (Pre '67 Ford Day) - Oh my gosh!! What can we say about Bridge of Allan - it always seems to rain there! This Sunday was no exception. It railned, rained a bit heavier and then rained torrentially. We met up with members at Stirling Services and by that time our car had sprung leaks everywhere. We had cloths bunging up all the holes! We needed a boat, not a classic car. Anyway, we made our way to the rally and put up the gazebo in double quick time so as to shelter from the rain. We had something to eat and a cuppa while waiting for the rain to subside. It eventually did and we ventured out. However 10 minutes later it was on again so we headed back to the gazebo. There were a few traders who gave up and left after only a couple of hours. There were massive gaps on the rally field due to exhibitors not venturing out in the rain and who can blame them? We were joined today by another new member Ian Parker and his wife Bernadette in their Austin A40 Farina. This car is a welcome return to the club as it once belonged to the late Hugh Mathie who was our previous Events Co-ordinator. I'm should that he'd have been pleased to see it back in the club. It was about lunchtime and the rain came down with a vengeance. Ut was so heavy it was coming through the sides of the gazebo. Elaine Boyd, ever the optomist, assured us it was to clear up by 1pm which it duly did and gave us the oppotunity to wander round and to collect our attendance award, a new mug. But alas it wasn't to last as the black clouds gathered once again. So we took the gazebo down while it was still dry, got packed up and by the time we were leavingat 2.30pm the heavens had opened and the thunder and lightning had started. On the way home we popped into see Wullie Thomson after his big op last week. Pleased to report he looks great. Here's to a speedy recovery Wullie!!
Biggar 15th August - A very misty start to the day, which was hopeful.We met up with some members on the way to the rally and the rest we met in the rally field.We had an early start today which proved to be a good idea as we managed to get into the rally field and get parked up withh no hold ups. However, within half an hour of us getting there the traffic was queued for miles on both sides of the rally entrance and it was taking ages for everyone to get in and get parked. The mist had burned away by this time although the grass was very wet with dew. However this soon dried in the lovely sunshine. 7 cars in total today. This is the first time in 3 years that we have attended the Biggar Rally do to vehicle age restrictions. This has now been changed to pre '80 which means that the majority of the club can now attend. The weather stayed nice throughout the day which resulted in a good turn out of exhibitors and spectators. There is always a good autojumble at this rally and there were no shortages of bargains to be had. Bruce Allan waited till the end to procure a couple of vintage fire extinguishers for 50p each. Mary Thomson managed to beat down the price of a pair of Japanese vases that she had fancied and Mary Willis as always had several bags full of bargains to take home. At about 3pm people started to head home and by about 4pm it was gridlock trying to get out of the park so we decided to relax and have another cuppa. We waited until the field was a little emptier and we managed to get out with no problem. A good rally helped by the lovely sunshine.
Ladybank 22nd August - Met up with some members at Kincardine Services and members from the east met us at the rally field. An excellent turn out of 10 cars today. Lovely to see Wullie Thomson back - and bigger than ever! That's your personality Wullie not your size!! Mary Willis came along with her everyday car and we managed to squeeze her in with the rest of us. The rally field had been pegged out for all the exhibits and when we eventually found out where we were to go we quickly realised that no way were we going to fit into the space allocated. Three other car clubs were also supposed to be in the same area, one being the pre '67 Ford Club who usually attend with 20+ cars. It's a good job we were there first and managed to set the club up in 2 rows of 5. We left the others clubs to fight it out amongst themselves. Although the sun was shining it was very breezy. The gazebo was bending in on itself until Robert Thomson stole (borrowed) some rope from the rally marshals and used it to doubly reinforce the existing guy ropes. This worked a treat. The club was invited to parade our cars around the ring so several members took this opportunity to show their cars off. Jim, Wullie, Robert. Steven, Ross, Chris and David all took part. The autojumble is ok at this rally and seems to be getting bigger every year. There was also an impressive display of birds of prey. Most of us bought raffle tickets and some even won some unusual prizes. All in good fun. Again we had a really good day made better by the sunshine. Long may it continue.
Scone 12th September - Nine cars in total today. Some members met at Stirling services and the rest met on the rally field. Some of us hadn't attended this rally for a couple of years, and now we remember why. The traffic both in and out of the rally is absolutely horrendous. We arrived in Perth a little after 9am. It then took us until 10.30am to travel the 3 miles to the rally field. This is not go for a classic car and a couple of members had car trouble on the way in. Wullie Thomson's car overheated so he had to pull in for several minutes to let the car cool down before rejoining the queue again. Bruce Allan's car also started playing up but this was cured on the rally field by fitting a replacement set of points. This caused a bit of interest for the many spectators who stopped for a wee nosey at what was being done. The lack of marshals at this rally makes it very difficult for anyone navigating their way around the very large field to find their stand. After being directed up to the left we ended up driving through the autojumble! Eventually we had to park the cars and wander around until we found our allocated spot. The weather was similar to Ladybank. It was sunny but a little breezy. As long as it's dry we don't mind! Once the gazebo is up and all the chairs and tables are in place we can get ourselves comfy and cosy. Nice to Gordon Leith and his family today. Gordon has not been keeping too well and this was the first rally he had attended this year. The autojumble at this rally is the best of the season and a good reason for attending. It's huge with something for everyone. A personal favourite? The stand that sells Arbroath Smokies. We bought a couple of these and had them for lunch. Delicious! There was a great display of exhibits at this rally. Everything from agricultural to commercial to saloon cars and sports cars. Something for all enthusiasts. One stand out exhibit was a superb Austin 3 Litre in Damask Red, complete with red leather interior and walnut dash. The 3 litre is a stretched version of the 1800 and is now a very rare car. Jim Willis couldn't bring his MG Midget today as it had failed it's MOT on the emissions test. Strangely it passed the test the following week when he took it to another garage. Jim came with his Nissan X-Trail today. As the weather was good we stayed a little longer to try to avoid the traffic leaving the rally but we still encountered a lengthy wait. A good rally spoiled by long queues in and out of the rally and a distinct lack of marshals for the size of the event. Hopefully both problems will be resolved by next year.
Selkirk 19th September - 7 cars in total today for the last rally of the season. Another dry day although it was a little cool. We met Pat and Kenny Reid at Newmains and the rest of our members at the rally. Jim had his Midget back with its shiny new MOT. We arrived at this rally a little early which meant we didn't have to queue to get in, as in previous years. We found our allocated space and put the gazebo up. There are over 1000 exhibits on display at this rally. After a cuppa and something to eat we had a walk around the autojumble. The jumble is huge and you can spend several hours at it looking for bargains. One of the stalls was selling Christmas cards and wrapping papaer so a few of us stocked up for the coming Festive Season. Mary Thomson once again brought her dolls along, and at this rally it seemed to annoy husband Robert as both dolls seemed to be getting more attention than his car. One gentleman believed that they were real babies and neither Mary or Robert made him any the wiser!
Like Scone this rally can be difficult to get out of due to the volume of cars. We stayed at the rally a little longer than most but still had to queue for a while to get out.
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This year we were lucky with the weather. It was a lot better than last year. We look forward to next year's rally season and live in hope that the weather will be good again.
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Thanks to Mary and Robert Thomson for these rally reports.
Please note : Reports are dependant on volunteers and will be posted on the website throughout 2011 when available. If you would like to write an interesting and amusing rally report please contact Mary Thomson - Events Co-ordinator - 01698 386103 auldbetsy@blueyonder.co.uk .
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