Tractions in Tartan

The 27^th TOC Annual Rally   -   20^th, 21^st & 22^nd June 2003

 We have just had another great annual rally.  This year it was held in the beautiful Tayside region of Scotland.  We were based at the airfield just north of Perth and finished on the Sunday with 47 tractions lined up at the spectacular Castle of Glamis.  The event was brilliantly organised by Kenny and Julie Cocker.  Everyone who was there will join in saying thank you to Kenny, Julie and their friends and helpers for a making it a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

Most people arrived on Friday, the majority having stopped somewhere en route the previous night.  Two members had tyre blowouts and one a broken driveshaft, but all were fixed.  The longest journeys were made by our visitors from Norway, and one of the shortest by our new member Walter Callens from Belgium who used the new Zeebrugge to Rosyth fast ferry.  That evening there was a splendid barbecue at the campsite on the airfield.  Skipper the spaniel’s new best friend is the nice Steve Reed who fed him on steak.

On Saturday morning we drove from Perth, through Bridge of Earn, Dunning and Auchterarder to the Glenturret Distillery for a long lunchtime stop.  In the afternoon we returned to Perth through Amulree, Strathtay, Dunkeld and Birnam.  There was a little rain, but no one got their knees too wet.  Early evening we had an exciting aerobatic display by Dai Heather-Hayes in his bright red Pits Special – and no, the engine would not fit in a traction.

130 members and friends attended the buffet and ceilidh in the Stormont Hall at the airport. 

It must rate as one of the best evenings the rally has had.  The food was delicious, the music was great and the company was excellent.  One of the canapés was Haggis Bites.  Apparently there are two types of haggis – the haggis sinister has short left legs and can only run round mountains anti-clockwise, whereas the haggis dexter has short right legs and goes round clockwise.  The laird of Collace has his own pedigree herd which are trained to go round everything twice – hence the family motto  “one good turn deserves another”.  Music was by The Gallivanters, and they made sure everybody got up and danced – well nearly everybody.  The interval gave us time to get our breath back, and to hold the raffle.  There were lots of prizes, but the star prize was a pair of traction tyres kindly donated by Longstone Tyres.  The first tune after the break was the ballad of Lonigan’s Ball – a high spirited gaelic jig.  Richard Sheil from Dublin (pronounced Dubelin) knew the words and wrote them down on a napkin.  Unfortunately what with the excitement of the evening, the lines did not come out in the right order, so they had to be annotated with numbers.  Luckily Daniël De Spiegelaere from Belgium realised that they were in fact in the firing order for a traction.  By now readers will be aware that this was a memorable evening – which is why the next day was called “sair heid day”.

For those brave enough a wet Sunday morning brought the Driving Tests.   There weren’t that many entries, so Bernie Shaw and Alec Bilney swapped cars and entered again.  As usual (apart from last year) Bernie won, although it is rumoured that he had received specialist advice on tyres.  And as usual Robin Dyke came last – he tried to claim that Skipper sat the wrong side allowing a rear wheel to lift and lose traction, but Skipper thinks he doesn’t know his avant from his derriere.  Everybody assembled in the late morning for a convoy drive past Dunsinane Hill (site of Macbeth’s castle), through Collace, Burrelton, Coupar Angus and Meigle to reform the convoy and to arrive at Glamis Castle in style (welcomed by a piper).  The castle and its grounds are truly magnificent, and the guided tour was very worthwhile.  The weather had improved and the cars were judged.  Andy Burnett took three prizes with his Big 15, and was runner up with his Light 15.  The judges were impressed with all the overseas entries, particularly Bernt Christian Bowitz’ roadster.

Happy members finally set off on their long journeys home, or extended holidays, or for an evening on the town (traditional Scottish Chinese and Mexican) – all expressing their thanks to Kenny and Julie for such a well organised and delightful rally.