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Author Topic: 44th Glamis Transport Extravaganza  (Read 196 times)

banquo

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44th Glamis Transport Extravaganza
« on: July 12, 2018, 05:43:00 pm »
OK, so it's not a great ride, and only an hour from home, but the Mighty Falcone was on display at this, the premier historic transport event in Scotland, with everything from steam, to tractors, cars, trucks, stationary engines, bicycles and of course motorcycles. Took the opportunity for a rare helmetless ride around the ring, although missed most of it helping a mate to get his beautiful Desmo started. Never abandon a friend in need. The sun shone all weekend, as it's done for the past few weeks, in an unparalleled summer in Scotland, and banquo got burnt, because he's stubborn and stupid in equal measure. We Scots don't see the sun that often, so we like to make the best and worst of it....
I'd planned to sleep in the club's gazebo for the night, after a noisy and sleepless night last year in the camp site. Unfortunately, the guy who was bringing the gazebo forgot to bring the sides, and although he'd headed back for them, he was stuck on the other side of the river, as the bridge was closed following someone choosing to take a dive from it...  :'(

Fraser's Anglia Rod by bancquo, on Flickr

I decided not to unload, just in case...

Fraser's Anglia rod is fitted with a Rover V8 and sounds great; almost as good as an NF....  :o

Glamis 2 by bancquo, on Flickr

There seemed no alternative to heading for the bar, to find it not only closed, but not even set up. However, some gentle persuasion saw me leave with a couple of pints of Belhaven Best, as they have to draw a few pints thorough to clear the lines, right? And then another couple later, just to be sure.

Friday night by bancquo, on Flickr

The gazebo sides finally arrived, and my abode for the night was complete:

Glamis 2 by bancquo, on Flickr

We took a walk around the autojumble, most of which was covered up (I was looking for a mirror to replace the one that fell off last weekend - only 16 years old: can't get the quality these days) and the few vehicles that, like us, had actually turned up for the Friday night:

Ford Stepside by bancquo, on Flickr

Nice '46 Chevrolet

Glamis 2 by bancquo, on Flickr

Glamis 2 by bancquo, on Flickr

Glamis 2 by bancquo, on Flickr

In amongst these engines, I found a Barr & Stroud engine, from Anniesland in Glasgow. On later investigation, the next day without camera, I managed to identify it as an early sleeve valve engine, as fitted to motorcycles in the early 20s. It was missing the lower crankcase and all the externals, so just crank, barrel, head, piston and valve gear, and they wanted £250 for it. I was stupid enough to tell the stallholders what it was (they thought it was a conventional 2 stroke) and by the next day it had a 'not for sale' sticker on it. Should have offered them fifty quid for it...



Lots of rusting mopeds for sale, including this Ducati 50cc, which looked too far gone for restoration.

Glamis 2 by bancquo, on Flickr

It doesn't really get dark at this time of year in Scotland, and this was midnight:

Anglia by bancquo, on Flickr

There being no food available on site (nothing opens until Saturday I discovered) I begged tomorrow's lunch from Fraser, in exchange for buying him breakfast....

friday dinner by bancquo, on Flickr

That clear sky was a killer though; I'd left home on a hot summer's day (rare in these parts, and it hadn't rained for weeks) but with a clear sky, then temperature dropped like a stone, and I was frozen all night. My tent retains at least some body heat, but the gazebo is huge, and not at all well sealed, so it was early when I made my first trip to the Portaloo, and there was no point at all in taking my shivering body back onto the cold sleeping bag...

David Cosby by bancquo, on Flickr

The grass was soaking with a heavy dew, and so were my feet, but the sun already had some heat in it, and was a lot warmer than inside the gazebo...

David Cosby by bancquo, on Flickr

After an hour or so, my companions were up, and provided a welcoming and warming cup of tea

David Cosby by bancquo, on Flickr

That kept us going until the Scout Tent opened, and we shared our breakfast with a gentleman who bears a striking resemblance (to me anyway) to David Crosby.... I found out later it's a guy called Willie Martin, who's something to do with Indian Motorcycles.

David Cosby by bancquo, on Flickr

We had a glorious sunny day, seasoned with sunburn and dehydration, although it was disappointing that most of the club stands remained empty all of Saturday, when the public was paying to get in. Historically, Saturday was members' day, and no public entry, but now they're charging people to come of Saturday, they could at least insist that all the stands are complete...

Sat Morning by bancquo, on Flickr

Saturday Morning by bancquo, on Flickr

Of course when the show closed at 5:00, things got silly. I bought a pair of Arbroath Smokies (local smoked haddock) for dinner, and we headed for the bar (also the show dance, if you like dancing on the grass amongst the tables). The band was awful, and it was loud, and it was my round, so that led to some confusion when I ordered a pint of cider for someone who wanted a pint of Tennent's Lager. Of course I was forced to drink the extra pint, and wash it down with a few more, resulting in much silliness, bad singing and a lot of laughs...

Drink was involved by bancquo, on Flickr

We staggered back to camp late, but not so late that we couldn't have something else to eat, and break open the remains of the beer and wine.

Glamis 2018 by bancquo, on Flickr

And take another midnight shot:

Glamis 2018 by bancquo, on Flickr

This time, I slept in my base layer, with two tee-shirts, and felt the better for it, although it wasn't nearly as cold as the previous night

Things started filling up Sunday morning, following a light shower, that's the first rain we've seen since the beginning of June, and we had a few extra bikes arrive on Saturday night, with Cath's NATO V50 finally arriving Sunday morning, hot and bothered having broken the points return spring on one cylinder (one month old from Gutsibits) and had them close up for some reason on the other pot... Still we made up the Moto-Guzzi Militare contingent...  ;)

The Moto-Guzzi contingent by bancquo, on Flickr

The Mighty Falcone by bancquo, on Flickr

Sunday 2 by bancquo, on Flickr

Sunday by bancquo, on Flickr

All the entrants can do a few parade laps in the ring for the public's enjoyment, and as it's a rare opportunity to ride helmetless, we take that chance, and shamelessly screenshot pix from someone's video of the event...

Unfortunately, we get there before it's time to go in, and as the compere says it's going to be 8 minutes, we switch off, only to have him give the go-ahead after about a minute. The Mighty Falcone of course starts first kick, but my companion on a beautiful Ducati Desmo isn't so lucky, and I miss most of the parade getting him started with much bumping and cursing.

Waiting for parade by bancquo, on Flickr

Mighty Falcone on Parade by bancquo, on Flickr

Mighty Falcone on Parade by bancquo, on Flickr

And that's about it; back to the stand, and before we know it, it's time to pack up and go home.

SCMC Gazebo by bancquo, on Flickr

The Mighty Falcone clearly wuld prefer to stay, and shows its displeasure by dying at anything over 80 kph, which is a bit limiting. I diagnose dirt in the carburettor, and decide it's better fixed at home, so we limp slowly back to base, and wait to fight another day.

Leaving time by bancquo, on Flickr

And that's it for another year...  ;D
« Last Edit: July 12, 2018, 05:45:54 pm by banquo »

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nick949

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Re: 44th Glamis Transport Extravaganza
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2018, 09:02:34 pm »
Great report Jake. Looks like fun (especially the beer part)  ;D

Nick

banquo

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Re: 44th Glamis Transport Extravaganza
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2018, 09:08:06 pm »
Maybe it's just me Nick, but I find that beer's always fun....  8)