It is with regret that I heard of the death of Brian Culcheth at his home in Porlock. He passed away on Sunday 11th September 2022 with his family at his side. Brian took ill in June while he was at his home in Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula – a place where he spent a lot of time – and his son-in-law came up from down south and drove him back home. He was diagnosed with a brain tumour in June but did not let that get him down. For example he cycled 20 miles on 11th. August 2022.
Some of you will probably remember that Brian was our guest speaker at our 2019 Reunion Dinner at Dunblane Hydro. He was a very well respected rally driver who enjoyed a long and successful career with works drives with B.M.C. / BL. and Triumph. He competed in National and International events and his long-standing co-driver was the late Johnstone Syer who was also a member of our Association. He competed in the London to Sydney Marathon Rally and the Mexico World Cup Rally coming second. He also became the first non- Scandinavian to win the famous 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland.
He owned and ran a hardware shop and was a model train enthusiast. He also tried his hand at various other sports at which he was successful but he said that rallying allowed him to see the world.
He won the British Rally Championship in 1978 driving an Opel Rally Kadett GT/E. He said that he found it frustrating that after his 14 years or so with B.M.C. / B.L. that he won the Championship with an Opel.
Brian was a very open person and mixed well. He will be sadly missed by all who new him.
What a superb event this was for a first attempt. It was a huge undertaking and the work by the team from Thirlestane Castle made it an event for all the family and a tremendous credit to all involved and I understand the crowd was in excess of 20,000 over the 2 days. Most importantly the weather played ball and apart from the grass being wet when we arrived on Friday it was perfect conditions for getting a bit of a tan. Just ask Hugh McKinnon who did his impression of a beetroot both days!!
The selection of cars on display and taking part in the sprint was exceptional and Jackie’s collection of cars throughout his career included his very first racing car, the Marcos Xylon, originally owned by Barry Filer but now owned by an Italian who trailered it all the way over specially.
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The Veterans Association had plenty of space and we set up on Friday morning with Charlie Young and Mid Bruce doing the heavy lifting by bringing the gazebos, banner, table and some chairs. Hugh McKinnon appeared with 2 cars as his daughter drove his lovely 1965 Mk.1 Jaguar E-type from Houston and he peddled the tarmac rally-spec 1994 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS. My friend Neil Hunter came with me and between us we built the encampment!!
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On Saturday morning Chris Paton arrived with his precious wee Mini and along with Vernon Williamson’s 1951 Ecurie Ecosse Joe Potts Special F3 car we had 4 cars on display (photo on the front page header on the website).
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From the point of view of the association the weekend was a great success with many visitors and several new potential members given flyers and application forms. We had visits from Jimmy & Arlene McInnes, Nancy & Barry Crichton, Billy & Anne Cuthbertson who are regulars on the Spring & Autumn Runs as well as many other stalwarts including Hugh McCaig, Sandy Denham, Bruce Lyle, John Cleland (whose Volvo dealership display was next door to us), Willie & Marnie Crawford, Robin Liddell whose father Eric was a well known racer in the 60’s, Clive Reeves and Iain Nicolson who runs the Ingliston Circuit website.
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Our Honorary President was aware of our presence but he was a seriously busy man over the weekend hosting many guests and didn’t make it to our stand. A great shame but I’m sure the figure raised for the ‘Race Against Dementia’ will be substantial.
This was the first event of a 3 year plan by Jackie so it’ll be interesting to see where it goes next year but it will be 50 years since he retired in 1973 so that may be an indication.
All in all an outstanding success and looking forward to next year already.
This was the first of the Lothian Car Club’s 4 meeting held at Doune this season.
This meeting was a round of the Guyson Scottish Hill Climb Championship and also a round of the Filmtransco Lowland Speed Championship. Approx 90 entrants from 21 classes competed over the weekend with practice starting at 8.30am, timed runs starting at 13.00 on Sunday.
Weather was good on both days with no rain. The spectator entrance gate and event programme sales were handled by the Stirling and Trossachs District Scouts. Lothian Car Club was most grateful for their efforts over the weekend.
Reminder – Doune hosts a round of the British Hill Climb Championship on Saturday/Sunday 18th/19th Doune 2022. This is the only time the Championship cars will be seen in Scotland in 2022,an event not to be missed.
Report on Classic Car Show (Bridge of Allan) Sunday 8th May
By Barry Crichton
Stirling and District Classic Car Club organised this show, their first in 3 years because of Covid restrictions.
This was a continuation of the show they had held for the previous 10 years. It was an excellent show with 600+ classic cars attended through various car clubs (45 listed in the programme) and also many individual entries, military vehicles etc.
Nancy and I attended in her MBG Roadster as an individual entry and really enjoyed ourselves. The show attracted a huge number of spectators, the weather being warm and sunny.
We would thoroughly recommend this yearly event. The organising club have over the years given most of the proceeds to local charities.
A total of 22 attended the event. Around 7 other couples were unable to attend and had to pull out near to the event mainly due to illness.
The start was at Caulders Garden Centre, Cumbernauld on Friday morning. Breakfast roll, tea/coffee was provided as part of the entry fee.
A route book containing all the routes for the weekend was issued. The routes were drawn up by Nancy Crichton using the ball and arrow system.
The first section was between Caulders and Lundin Links approximately 90mls stopping at Sterling Mills for lunch. The route ran through Kilsyth, over the Tak-ma-doon road, through the Carron Valley to Fintry, onto Kippen , Callendar, Dunblane, Bridge of Allan and along the Ochil Hills to Sterling Mills.
After lunch the route wandered through Dollar, Yetts of Muchart, Milnathorp, Strathmilgo, passed Faulkland and onto the Old Manor Hotel.
The usual Drinks and Nibbles Reception was enjoyed by all as we looked over the Forth from our special event room which would be exclusively for us all weekend.
On Saturday we visited the Secret Bunker used during the Cold War a short journey of 13mls from the Hotel. It was a very interesting experience. This bunker was built in 1953 in response to the threat of nuclear war with the USSR. Government and Military commanders would have run the country from there if Nuclear War had broken out!!
We then journeyed on to Kellie Castle (a NTS property) which was very close by for lunch.
Kellie Castle is a Victorian style Castle the oldest parts dating back to the 14th Century, home at one time to the daughter of Robert the Bruce. The interior was refurbished in the late 19th Century by the Lorimer Family.
After an excellent lunch there was a tour of the Castle and Gardens.
On Sunday we made our way from the Hotel through St Andrews to the Discovery Centre and V&A Museum in Dundee, a journey of approximately 25mls. Entrants had time to visit the V&A exhibition before moving to the Discovery Centre for lunch (excellent soup and sandwiches). Lunch was taken on the 1st floor gallery which had an excellent view of the ship.
After lunch a tour of the discovery was available to us. The Discovery was built in Dundee because they had a great deal of experience in building whaling ships. The ship was used to travel to Antarctica to conduct scientific research and make magnetic surveys in Antarctica. After a five month journey Antarctica was reached in January 1902.
Pictures of the Discovery
After the Discovery we moved a short distance to tour Verdant Works, a restored mill which was used for Jute production, the original buildings dating back to 1833. Jute is a natural fibre obtained from plants and used during the 19th Century to manufacture among other things sacking, ropes, carpets and tents. The raw material came from Bangladesh and was processed in this mill from the 1860s to the end of the 1800s. The highlight of the tour was the 82yr old female volunteer who had worked on the sight following in footsteps of her parents and grandparents.
Sunday Evening
On Monday, after a most enjoyable few days the entrants made their way home a few pounds heavier due to the excellent food they had had at the Hotel. All entrants were most complementary about the runs and the accommodation which had been arranged for them by Secretary, Nancy and Chairman, Bob.
It was agreed to provisionally book the Hotel for the Spring Run 2023.
The VSMA Autumn Run will be held on Sunday 9th October 2022. The event will start from the Carmichael Bistro & Tearoom and will finish at the Moffat House Hotel. Food, hot and cold is available to buy at the start. The entry fee will include a light afternoon tea at the finish venue.
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