Buckie rally.

An email came through a while back saying that there was a new classic rally up in Buckie. That's only about 40mins up the road from Cubbie Towers. I imagined that seeing as the mail from from the Garioch vintage rally organisers, a rally that is mainly cars, that the Buckie rally would be mainly cars. But as it was a new rally, I thought it would be good to try and get some of the Grumpyones to go up there with me to support it. So in the end, there were 3 of us. The Man from Muckle Flugga was on his '81 Yammy XJ650, The Man With No Name (you'll understand the reason for this later) was on his modern BMW after a hiccup involving a wet grassy slope and his Honda 400/4, and I was on my MZ Skorpion. A 1994 model, so nearly a classic.
We had a good run up there, in the dry but chilly conditions, on damp roads, and once in the vicinity of Buckie, the organisers had thoughtfully put up some very clear signage. Just as well, 'cos I didn't have a clue where Linzee Gordon Park was. We pulled in, parked up, and waited for the hoardes of bikes to turn up, cherishing our free tea tickets that had been given to us at the gate. Thoughtfully, again, the organisers had provided bits of wood for the bike stands. Another Grumpy member arrived soon after, with his two Yamahas on a trailer, well, you can only ride one at a time - more about his bikes later (in the Alford report, which will follow soon), and we met a chap and his wife who'd brough their little Raleigh along for show. Another couple of club members turned up later on but were bikeless, but at least they made the effort to pop in, as did a couple of Hinkley Triumph riders. Oh, and then there was the guy who rode in on the BSA but I didn't get a chance to speak to him. And then there was Fido, an ex-Grumpy member who is moving to Hungary. Not much in the way of Brit bikes out there, he reports.
The free tea and butteries with jam (yep, go on, what's a buttery? It's a chewy solid kinda thing that's made in this neck of the woods, traditionally using lard I believe. Yum) were doubly nice cos they were free, and instead of tea I managed to wangle a glass of squash. After wandering round the rows of cars on show several times, I somehow managed to secure a ride in the smart red 1933 Alvis. But not til 3pm.



So as it was only about midday, the Man With No Name decided to wander off home while we other two decided to go Chocolate Hunting. 3pm took a heck of a long time to come around, well, about 3hours I suppose, but soon it was time to squeeze into the Alvis whilst wearing my full biking kit, minus the helmet of course, and owner Hal fired the engine up. Boy what a sound. Verrrrry nice. Twiggy the dog sat on my lap and hung her head out of the window (so did I, to be truthful) while we joined in the parade lap of the town, to show the public the wonderful old cars. Hal obviously enjoyed driving his motor as we listened to the roar of the 2511cc, 6 cylinder beastie, accompanied by the 4 speed crash box.

Upon returning to the field, the rest of the exhibitors were setting off home, so after thanking Hal and Twiggy, it was time to tog up and head back to Cubbie Towers. But first, a word on the rally. The men to thank were Brian Reid, Charles MacKintosh, Ian Ross and the boss himself, John Ferguson. These guys only decided very recently to put on a classic gathering, and in the space of a few weeks, secured the use of the local sports pitch and pavilion, provided free refreshments and sorted all the admin and advertising out, and they arranged for a rain-free day. If only classic bikers would turn out in numbers like the car enthusiasts, we'd be ok for impromptu rallies! Thanks for the show guys.

Oh, I nearly forgot, out of all the classic cars, these ones were my favourites alongside the Alvis, for reasons that are probably obvious...

And as for the Man With No Name, a short post connecting him and Terry the Terrier, will also follow shortly...if it doesn't, you'd better nag me!