7 replies to this topic

[Les Dalton]

Some of the most enjoyable times I had in motorsport during the 1970s, was at the Apre rally gigs after every SCOTTISH International rally, the atmosphere up in Grantown or Avimore was second to none.
After the 1971 rally the party was in a huge marquee, and I remember some of the Swedish lads climbing up the tent pole (about 20') and throwing down the Youngers beers signs, the next night the organisers put grease on the pole to try and prevent a reoccurance, but they made a pyramid and the top guy must have been about 8' up when they left him clinging to the greasy pole and pulled his trousers down, his pubic hairs were flying everywhere as he slid back down.
We had some hilarious times at the "then" new Avimore centre, with much fun and frovility on the dry sky slopes, before being chased off by the POLLIS, it got better by the year with all the big names joining in, one year Timo organised the WORLD go karting championship, mind you he should have called it the world STOCK car championship, because he punted everyone out of his way, but it was super fun, one year somebody (the Swedes we heard) put a big box of washing powder into the fountain by the theatre in Avimore and because of all the soap foam nobody could get to the prize giving, I cover the antics in my book, Fly Army.
I doubt if this level of camerarderie will ever be seen again.
Did any of our TNF members every attend any of the hoolies???

Les Dalton

[RS2000]

Et tu Brute?
I carry the nylon burn scars on my hand from when I rolled our "4 man bobsleigh" on the Aviemore dry ski slope (an extra-long hardboard advertising hoarding that was quicker than the small one person advertising signs...).
Nick Wa from here and I have discussed by Email some of the happenings. I'm not repeating most in public!
The Scottish was absent from the Aviemore Centre after 73 until 77. None of the staff seemed to actually be Scottish. In the steakhouse in 77 I was just recounting to three first time competitors in our team stories from 73, when the very same Australian waitress from then appeared at our table to announce the same words in the same accent; "soup o' the day's asparagus".

Edited by RS2000, 19 December 2009 - 17:30.

[Derwent Motorsport]

We were there from 77 to perhaps mid eighties. Our clubs used to have a fair number of crews on the event so we all went up for about five days. Yes - dry ski slop of tea trays nicked from the hotels, Andrew Cowan taking the Finns on a whisky trail in the late afternoon, parties in the hotel where fans and drivers all mixed together, Tony Pond scoring with the ladies, a young Ari doing well in an Open that split down the middle, snow in early June, an ice autotest in the ice ring. An autotest on the car park prior to the awards presentation in the theatre.

[Les Dalton]

RS 2000 and Derwent,glad to see those fabulous days have stuck in your memories as well, the first night we used some canoes to hurtle down the ski slope, but on the Saturday night the managemant had locked them away, I think it was Hammie Hannah or Drew Gallegher that came up with the idea of using tea trays, and when the POLLIS arrived we all started throwing the trays at the torches (like 20 odd jobs from the James bond film).
Derwent, I remember Ari's first Scottish in the dark red OPEL ASCONA, which as you say, virtually disintergrated around them, on one stage the gearbox mounting broke and they pulled afence post up and wound it "and the wire" around the gearbox to get out of the stage,I seem to recall he finished about 10th overall as well.
I used to get quite ratarsed with Mick Jones, and had a fearfull session with Timo and Donald Osullivan after one rally.
Oh happy days
Regards from France,
Les

Edited by Les Dalton, 19 December 2009 - 21:53.

[RS2000]

76 in Ayr was the opposite of fun. Haven't got the list so not sure if you were there Les. The BAMA team were at Stalag 7 (sorry, Butlins) with us but had got in first in negotiating parking the service vehicles inside the wire perimeter. I had several long meetings with the Butlins management (a typical modern spin doctor before her time) to try to get others inside. They were incapable of grasping the concept that the rally was filling their prison (sorry, holiday) camp outside peak season and recognising our special needs regarding vehicles might have been warranted.
Meanwhile, we had formed an escape committee and were searching for a vaulting horse to disguise the digging of our tunnel. No one warned that towels were not provided, so expensive rubbish ones had to be bought in their shop. Someone was late back after curfew the first night and disappeared (presumably into the cooler - and we didn't have a baseball glove and ball to give him). The friendly Blackshirts (sorry, Redcoats) seemed unable to understand that the rally people needed early breakfasts and couldn't wait around until called by the loudspeaker system to second sitting for breakfast. The fence at the beach sides went into the sea so it would have been a question of wirecutters to get out that way. All the couples had been given chalets with twin beds and all the single sex rally crews seemed to have double beds, so much swapping of chalets went on, which upset the camp commandant greatly.

Do people actually pay for that when they have other options and are not grasping the only accommodation left available?

Did it go to Aviemore in 75? That's the only year in that era I wasn't there (74 was cancelled of course, probably unnecessarily to appease Esso).

Edited by RS2000, 20 December 2009 - 17:49.

[RS2000]

Parc ferme at Nairn in 72. Is that a half tonne air-transportable Rover in the background? BAMA entries were Ridler/Gray and Douglas/Copestake.


Nairn was too spread out hotel-wise to be up to Aviemore standards of misbehaviour.

Edited by RS2000, 20 December 2009 - 17:56.

[brakedisc]

Butlins.....

English invention to remind folk of how lucky they are.

The Ayr centre is now called Craig Tara and run by Haven Holidays. I went once with my four kids and their grannie so that the wife, who was on the nightshift for a week, could get some sleep. Best £99 I ever spent. Lots of the great unwashed there but no hooligans with their noisy rally cars.

[Les Dalton]

Hi RS2000,
Yes, I did compete in the 1976 Scottish, and I had forgotton about our INTERNMENT at Stalag 17, but you are right it was bloody awful.
I had a some chums in the East Ayr Car club, Brian and Helen Carlin and their daughters, and so we spent quite a lot of time with them.
It was also very sad for me, because it was the last time I saw my 2nd MUM, Sheila Alexander, who was Bob Tennant-Reids secretary, she died a few weeks after the rally from cancer.
I think I posted a picture of me somewhere in my Land Rover with the door flying open, that was on the 76 Scottish.
I did the 1975 Scottish with Colin Den-McKay co driving for me, and will post a page from the programme showing the Karting championship that I mentioned earlier, I shall also post the first lot of stages from the 1976 rally (I have brand new road books for 76/77) and the front cover of the 1974 Scottish, there wont be many of these around because as you said it was cancelled, i drove over for it from central Germany, only to be met at the RSAC HQ in Blythswood square by a distraught Bob T-R and Shiela, with the news that they had cancelled the day before because of the petrol tanker strike.
I competed in every Scottish from 1971-1981 less 72 when I transferred from the Armoured to the Logistic corps and could not get time off, and of course 74.
RS2000, can you remind me of your name, I know you were driving the Civil Service entered RS2000 in the 1982 RAC, in which case you would know John Parsons and Alan Thorburn and Robert Head and Marilyn Tricker??
Regards,
Les

1974 Scottish Programme




1975 Programme (Karting)




1976 1st half stages.

Edited by Les Dalton, 21 December 2009 - 22:57.