GO BACKWARDS IN TIME THROUGH ALL THE PREVIOUS NEWS ON THE SCOTTISH CENTRE WEBSITE
Previous News
Rogart ! What can you say, it's just 'magic' !
Do you know what makes it that way ? Well it's people.
The wonderful Grants who have been hosting us at their home for more years than
I care to remember. They enlist helpers from their scattered family and some of
the locals all to make our visit a pleasure and my are they successful !
This year we had four lads from the Chelmsford Centre who made the pilgrimage
north, Norman Archard, Rob Urand, Alan Morris and Bill Fag all on Velo's. Their
journey was not without it's 'excitement' ! A stripped ATD gear, quickly ( ? )
solved as Norman just happened to have one in his pocket ! ( I think it's called
experience ). and a burst oil return hose fixed by a bit of judicious re
routing. The black preserving fluid over the rear of the bike testimony to the
volume held in a Velo when spread thinly about. Hope the journey home was less
'exciting' and that 'iffy' front tyre stayed up.
Dave Ball and Roger Milns came up AGAIN from the wilds of northern England to
support the event and enjoy the craic. They did come on Honda's so I suppose
being spotted in the vicinity of the infamous Peterhead Prison is no surprise
!
Scottish support came from John Wheeler ( MSS ) who had 'wont start when it's
hot problems' but managed to find filling stations on hill's, Jim McKechnie on
his Pan., and Stuart Tod paid a brief visit on Saturday morning.
Locals who have become part of the Rogart scene were Michael Simpson ( Doc. ),
Davie Sim, John McDonald, Ron Wedge and Joan Whittingham plus our own Kenny
Fraser with his children.
On Saturday some went for a 'thrash' around the roads others to Mike Sheppard's
to play with Mikes trains. Despite being severely blinded by a bike accident and
unable to ride his MAC anymore Mike continues to be an enthusiast and drives a
'mean' train. Problems with steam pressure forced play to be moved onto a
'Baldwin' powered by a BSA Sheep Shearing Engine !! We were joined there by
locals Stacey / Laverda, Ian / Ducati and the Blounts / Sentinel .Thanks
Mike.
Saturday evening is the traditional 'eat n talk' event in the Grants home. Carol
marshalling the troops to supply oodles of food n drink amongst the talk and tom
foolery that make it great. She also ensured we ALL noticed her new fireplace by
lighting a roasting fire on an evening when even T shirts seemed too much. Nice
one Carol !
Too soon it was Sunday morning and the packing up and heading home, or go visit
the vintage rally at Dunrobin Castle, was upon us.
Was it a dry weekend ? Was it heck, how do you think we keep the place so green
!! Thanks everybody, see you next year if not sooner.
John
Previous News
Well the annual Haggis Gathering at Kildean is over.
Wet n windy but thankfully not as cold as past years.
I had a reasonable run down from Skye staying over at Colin Colliers in Comrie
on the way and dragging him and his brother, Gavin, along to the do.
John Wheeler came up with a car full of non Velo 'junk' plus some goodies,
tables n chairs and the centre banner.
This was proudly displayed and helped the 'faithful' find us.
About twelve members stopped by / were seen scouring the animal pens seeking
that elusive 'cammy for a fiver'.
Apart from John, Colin and myself no one made use of the bring n buy opportunity
all seemingly happy to spend the day browsing and socialising.
Remember the next 'event' will be the AGM in Doune on April 21st.
Please be there and be prepared to take on running the Centre or else it will
die.
The date for Rogart is confirmed as published, 16 - 18th August.
Cheers
P Stewart Duff
Previous News
With the Motorcycle Convention at Alford, this just about sees the end of
events for this year in the Scottish Centre.
Only the invitation by the other VOC to Kenmore to finish the year off.
For Alford I headed off on Saturday morning and after a cold n wet cross-country
200 miles I booked in at the excellent local campsite (I was in what was, at
sometime, a walled garden, nice n draft free!).
I was set up when John n Teena Wheeler arrived in their camper van soon followed
by Colin Colyer and Jackie on their Venom.
The evening was spent in the Wheelers van supping tea, chatting and eating
chockie biscuits !
Next morning I rode down to the event arena to organize a couple of extra
passes, which were given free to participants, and found the position of our
pitch.
Back to the campsite for a cuppa and a scrambled egg roll then back to the arena
to play 'putting up a Gazebo, interesting ! Following instructions from the
Wheelers we eventually succeeded and erected our club banner to 'guide them
in'.
Click HERE to see the result
After all the effort with the gazebo, banner, table etc. it was time for a brew
up !
As the day progressed ( sunshine n showers ) we had a wander around the bikes on
display and the car park plus the usual bargain hunting in dealers displays. (
none ! )
We had a few visitors, about 5 members dropped by with a few enquiries about
membership.
I thought we may have seen more section members as quite a high percentage stay
in the north east area.
Colin n Jackie headed home about 3 o'clock with John, Teena and myself packing
up about an hour or so later.
I hung around until the end as I was not heading home till Monday, which turned
out to be reasonably dry.
Later in the week I received a note from the organizers thanking us for
supporting the event. Nice.
I couldn't make Kenmore but understand the only 'camping' club member was Brian
Cook ( Oriental transport ) with a couple of day visitors and it was the driest
Kenmore for many a year!!
Having had a look at the support for section events this year I'm having to
question the effort being put in plus a work change might mean working weekends
at short notice. I'm only going to try and continue as Secretary for another
year and that at a reduced number of events. Hopefully I can hand over to
someone with less commitments. I'll contact all section members in the New Year
what 2002 has in store for the section.
Cheers
P.Stewart Duff
Postscript by John W.
Stewart was 'mad keen' for us to have a presence at Alford as there are quite a
lot of members in the north east area who we do not see. He was trying hard to
be 'inclusive' !
So to 'do it' we both 'sacrificed' our second favourite camping weekend,
Kenmore. Stewart 'lost' a days work ( self employed ) and a 400 mile round trip
adding to the effort / cost. I reschedule the start of my holiday, did 275 miles
in the opposite direction to which I was going, spent 36 pounds on diesel ( 3.5
Tonne of Camper Van does not move itself ) and had to 'soft soap' the wife that
it was all for a good cause ! I personally met one member ( Hi Rod ) so I must
have been in the loo when Stewart faced the 'rush'. Was it worth the effort ? No
! I don't think so. I / we enjoyed the day out but the purpose of being there
was not fulfilled.
Scottish Centre appointed to run Railtrack
Click HERE to see the management
practising for their new responsibilities whilst otherwise enjoying themselves
at the Rogart meeting this year.
In typical Rogart activity we have.....driving, Stacey / Laverda, Harry / LE - Vogue, Ballast ( Wheeler ) /
MSS
And if you are thinking of asking Santa for a complete set of stainless
fasteners for your Velocette, just click HERE
for a list of what you'll need.......
Previous News
Scottish Centre News
Full of good intentions I had hoped to travel across to Rogart on Friday
afternoon but my plans did not work out and I ended up heading off early
Saturday morning.
I had a good run via Achnasheen and Garve on what was a clear sunny morning with
virtually traffic free roads.
Good time was made and I arrived just as Stuart Tod was erecting his 'historic'
Vango tent ( You'd understand if you saw it ).
Those honorary Scottish members ( Dave and Roger ) were already on site with
some 'surgery' in progress on Rogers CX Honda.
A dodgy cylinder head gasket was being 'sorted' with a little help from a tube
of Loctite 'goo'.
A run up to Wick soon proved all was well. I went off with Bill Grant to view
some of the exquisite gardens he maintains ( his specialty ) trying to gain a
few tips to transform the 'bog' I left on Skye !
While I was enjoying the smell of the flowers others were away enjoying the
combined smell of steam, oil and coal smoke !
Yes, Mike Sheppard had his 'garden railway' in steam and John Wheeler, Stuart
Tod, and some of the local biking fraternity ( MZ, Kawasaki, Laverda ) were
enjoying getting smoke in their eyes and ash in their hair zooming around the
track to the bewilderment of the local sheep.
Back at the site Jim McKechnie and wife had the tent up and were quaffing the
old vino, very civilized ( good to see you again Jim ).
Stuart T. and John W. arrived back from the trains. Stuart with the 'need' for a
pint to wash away the coal dust, John muttering about the rattling his MSS makes
( don't they all rattle ? ).
Roddy Robertson from Elgin made a 'spectacular' entrance which ended with all
being well except for the Vipers broken h-bar mirror.
The evening was spent, as usual, at Rhumisaig, Carol Grants house where Carol
and the girls did an outstanding job of feeding us all whilst we ( macho
motorcyclists ) exchanged tales of daring deeds and epic rides. All too soon the
clock has raced on and it was time for bed.
Next morning it was raining heavily and packing up was a wet job, good-byes were
said and promises of 'see you next year' were made. We splashed our way's home
in what was the wettest I have been out in a long time. As I got nearer home it
dried out and found that it had been dry all weekend on Skye.
Thanks to all who supported us, hope you didn't shrink too much in the rain !
Cheers P.Stewart Duff
Due to Foot and Mouth ( NO, not me ) I did not make Peebles in May but we
were represented there with John Wheeler showing the flag ( well banner actually
).
Only four members 'signed in' so the rest were either put off by the F & M
or were busy blasting around the lanes on what was a gorgeous weekends
weather.
Applecross, the weather forecast for the weekend was 'terrible' but after a wet
n windy Friday night it turned out good ( by Scottish west coast standards
anyway )
A big bonus was the local festival of SeaFood and Music so the evenings were
interesting to say the least ! Lot's of good food and music in the village hall
being entertained by the local band, on Friday night. Saturday and a couple of
members arrived complete with 'musical weapons' and added to the
'entertainment', the 'session' lasting well into the 'wee sma ours o the morn' (
I slipped away to the tent about 01:30am and it was still in full flow ). There
was definite lack of Velo's., but to Stewart and Jim, The Thurso 'Mafia', of,
the Tod's complete with dog & Banjo, the Williams's complete with Fiddle
& Aston Martin, thanks for your support. I hope to my Velo on the road soon,
I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms.
A reminder of the other event dates:-
18 - 19 August Rogart 9th Sep Motorcycle day at Grampian Transport Museum,
Alford .
21 - 23 Sep Kenmore. Annual get together with Vincent and Sidecar Fed.
Hopefully the Foot & Mouth epidemic will not affect these events BUT if you are making a long journey I suggest you contact either myself or John Wheeler ( 01383 723006 ) for confirmation.
Cheers P.Stewart Duff
Our first event of the year, the Autojumble at Kildean, went off quite
well with all who brought bits to sell getting quite a lot of them sold.
Our new center banner was a great success, making it much easier for members to
find us and for 'others' to realize that we existed.
A few ghosts from the past stopped by. Jim McKechnie claimed the grey hairs were
from hauling the Velo out of the shed and nothing to do with the passage of time
!! We had about 20 center members stop by from as far afield as the Borders and
Aberdeen.
We passed out all the membership forms we had and took another half a dozen
requests so Mike Spink will be busy.
All in all a very successful day out and hopefully a good start to a good year
for the club in Scotland.
Cheers, Stewart.
Click Here for a list of
contacts offering useful engineering and other services to Scottish members
Our last meeting of the year at Powmill saw ten people turn out
on a very cold but sunny day.
This was a new kind weather experience, DRY !
Next year I hope our luck improves and we have better weather for our meetings
as they were mostly wet this year.
There was quite a mixture of bikes at the Milk Bar, Ducati, Laverda, MotoGuzzi,
BMW and a lone, well used, Velo from Edinburgh. It's rumored that a certain
member from Fife has sold his Harley to buy a MK 1 KTS, even more laid back
riding ?? ( It's true, never was any good at polishing. John W. )
It was the usual round of chat over a bite of lunch and we may even have a
couple of lapsed members rejoin the section, forms have been supplied ! (why
not, they always show up ! ).
I hope to have my MAC performing with four gears v the usual three now that I
have my workshop built, provided I can find my tools and spare bits after the
move to Skye.
See you all ( ? ) at Kildean, Sunday 11th Feb. May everybody's Velo wheels cover
lots of mile in 2001.
Not being able to make it on Friday , I left for Kenmore
on Saturday in the rain ( how unusual ! ) but after about
a hundred miles it actually dried up and ended up being
a much more pleasant run than expected.
Arriving late afternoon there was quite a good number of
people on site, with the other VOC and Sidecar Fed. swelling the numbers. After a bite to eat it was off to the
pub for a few beers. The entertainment was provided by
'Big Donald' from the local Section of the Vincent O.C.,
his tales and antics kept us well amused.
Next morning dawned rather dull and dreich encouraging all
the long distance people to start home early. Thanks to
Norman Archard, Roy Jarvis, Dave Ball & friends for their continued support of the Scottish events.
I was hoping we may have got a few extra people for our
AGM but it was the usual faces camping and the only Sunday visitor was Colin
Colyer. By the time you read this
you should have received a letter with the AGM notes and
the dates for events in early part of the coming year.
The dates will also be in Fishtail so no excuses.
Thanks to all who supported us and said 'Hello' in the
past year and hopefully we will see more of you soon.
All the events this year have proven useful in checking out
everybody's waterproofs for the forthcoming winter, don't
want to get caught out do you !
I'd also like to thank John Wheeler for covering for me as
my move to Skye was a bit hectic to say the least.
P.Stewart Duff
Leaving sunny Skye on Friday afternoon I headed east for Rogart.
After several encounters with VERY heavy rain I arrived mid evening
to find Dave Ball and friends in the pub ( where else ? ). After a quick
pint, and seeing it was dry, outside, I left to get the tent up, get a bite
to eat and then back to the pub for a pint or two in good company.
Saturday morning was bright but iffy, which soon turned to frequent
spells of rain. The campers soon had breakfast and headed off on various excursions around the damp but wonderful roads.
Meanwhile over at Invershin Mike Sheppard was getting his favorite
engine running with the aid of some firelighters and bits of coal ( ? ),
no, not his MAC, his amazing steam train engine. Despite the rain,
Mike simply donned his orange 'sailing suit', and drove around the track he has built in the woods near his home. The few midges that ventured
out were kept at bay by the engines smoke ably supported by Bill Grant's pipe ! Enjoying the spectacle was John Wheeler ( rode up
on the Friday, no rain ! ) and a local couple with the awesome project of rebuilding two Sentinel trucks. Later in the day Rod arrived from
New Elgin on his Viper, unpacking his tent he got a surprise, he'd
picked up the kids play tent, no fly sheet, luckily there was no rain
Saturday night, eh Rod !. Saturday evening was spent having supper
as guests of the Grant family at Rhumisaig. Stuart and Joanne Tod called in on their way home from holiday ( good to see you both )
and Dr.Michael Simpson arrived on his very nicely restored L.E.
This 'event' is what makes Rogart the experience it is, good food,
lots of craick, people brought together by a common interest in Velocettes from diverse and interesting lives sharing experiences,
chatting away well into the night. Magic.
The Vintage Rally at Dunrobin on the Sunday was mostly dry and
despite it being a mainly car 'do' the few bikes makes a visit worthwhile.
I hope everyone made it home safely and those visiting their birth place
on the way were not overcome with emotion.
Our thanks once again to the Grant family for their hospitality and for
providing such a wonderful excuse to visit this very pleasant corner
of the world.
Note:- If it rains at Kenmore that will be every meeting this year.
Cheers, from a rain rinsed, P. Stewart Duff
I've moved ! I'm now a full time resident of SKYE.
P. Stewart Duff, 14 Sconser, Isle of Skye IV48 8TD
Phone: 01478 650 342
If you're over, the house overlooks the Raasay Ferry, it's the one with the Lathe in the front garden !
That's event two of the Centre calendar over, the camping / visit to the Glamis Extravaganza.
If you didn't come along then you really missed out, on the rain, again !! The only bike / tent was Ron Martin
with John Wheeler and wife 'suffering' in their camper van.
Visitors were a couple of chaps from 'down south', Hounslow,
(sorry lads, I forget the names) with a pair of MAC's. One with many modifications to frame, engine, brakes, etc., looked
a very useable machine. Hope the stuff that keeps Scotland green
didn't ruin your holiday.
Now's the time to plan your trip to Rogart which is always
a very special weekend, August 18 / 20, be there !!
Cheers
Stewart.
The meeting at Lilliardsedge was a little damp.
We had four paid up members on Velo's
plus two other Velo's and a BMW, camping.
Day visitors were Stewart Winton on a very smart
Guzzi ( newish toy ! ) and a local Thruxton owner.
The Saturday was dry but a cold wind, on our exit from the pub that evening it had started raining.
And it rained, and it rained, and it .....
Sunday morning, what sounded like the Cook's hoovering their tents fully fitted carpet ( ! ) turned out to be the noise
from the water flowing ( mostly ) under my groundsheet !
Breakfast was eaten in the 'comfort' of the toilet / shower
block amid discussion on waters outstanding penetration properties.
Despite the wet we all had a good time, a wee bit craic,
a few medicinal drams and good company.
A new / additional date for your diaries is the annual camping
weekend with Vincent crew at Kenmore. That's in September, 22nd - 24th. The Center AGM will be held on the Sunday
in the site Clubhouse at 13.00.
I'm definitely moving to Skye, early July at the very
latest but probably before so until I have a new phone
number and address, if you want to know more / have something to say please contact John Wheeler on
01383 723 006
Cheers,
P. Stewart Duff
Our Autojumble gathering at Kildean went off quite well with around 16 members coming and going during the day.
The usual weel kent ones and some new faces, nice to see you folk.
Brian Cook's new career in selling prompted him to take his better half out for a meal on the
£3.75 ( ! ) he made.
As usual most of the buying and selling was between club members, for the Velo stuff, and the less desirable 'junk'
to the paying public. I sold more than I bought which is obviously a new trait for the millennium ( wife laughing in
the background ! ).
Remember Stewart will be sharing his time between home ( Fishcross ) and home ( Skye ) from late February on so if
you call him be patient.