The Club`s History

If you have any information which should appear here, please contact the webmaster. The latest addition to this page was made on 09/03/2010. See the story about Murray Grierson and his funniest memory, further down the page.

Our Honorary President

We were extremely fortunate that up to the date of his death, September 4th 2007, one of the founder members of the club, His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry KT, was our Honorary President and still actively supporting the club, kindly allowing us access to the many roads around the Drumlanrig Castle estate, particularly to celebrate the club`s 50th anniversary in the form of a special stage rally in 2005.

The natural successor to the late Duke was his son, Richard, who early in 2008 willingly agreed to take over the role of Honorary President from his father, because in his words, he `believed in continuing on with traditions`.

The event in 2005 to celebrate the 50th anniversary was named the `Autumn Stages`, the traditional name for the club`s annual stage rally, (even though in 2005 the event ran out of season in May) having originally been scheduled for September 2004, but initially postponed, due to a lack of entries.

Undaunted, the committee pressed on and ran the event in 2005 instead, admittedly a few months late but fittingly this time, running with exactly 50 starters, to mark this historic occasion. The event has since run again in September 2007 and September 2008. More about this event later.

Our Honorary Vice President

This, as you will see from this website`s Home Page, is John Bogie.

To read more about John, please scroll down the page to the Alphabetical section, where you will find a short story about some of our more `experienced` past and present members.

The Beginnings.

According to archive evidence, the founder members of the South of Scotland Car Club originally got together in 1947 and began running various small events for their own amusement. After a few years, they began stringing these events together in the form of championships, the trophies for which mostly date back to 1954.

However, one of the original trophies, the `Denham Cookes Challenge Trophy`, was originally awarded in 1951, so clearly, there was life in the club before 1954 which was the year the club`s board members (at least, those who were in office in 2003) decided that the club commenced in earnest, as this was when the `Queensberry Trophy` was first awarded to the Club Champion and founder member, Dr Watson of Thornhill.

The Birth of the South of Scotland Car Club.

In his speech to the crowd assembled at the front of Drumlanrig Castle at the end of the highly successful `Autumn Stages` in May 2005, our Honorary President at that time, His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, who sadly died two years later, recalled the precise moment when the South of Scotland Car Club was first mooted. Apparently, Doctor Watson from Thornhill, a town only a handful of miles away from the castle, had just been administering an injection to His Grace and was in the process of extracting the needle, when in a moment of inspiration, he suggested, "why dont we start a car club for the South of Scotland?". The rest is - literally, history.

Notable early members were His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, Doctor Watson, (the man with the idea and the first club champion), Francis (Frank) Dundas and Hector Munro, who later became `Sir Hector Monro` the local tory member of parliament for many years. There is an enormous amount of information relating to the club and it`s members over the years and in time, that information will continue to be added to this page, with the help of archive information and stories from those former members who live to tell the tale.

12 Car Rally. March 1973.

Here`s a rally report taken from a cutting from the Dumfries & Galloway Standard, dated March 7th 1973.

"Local rally drivers open the new season.".

"The South of Scotland Car Club have promoted their first rally of the new season. The event started at Birdsalls Garage in Lockerbie and turned out to be one of the best events run in recent years. Several club members from the Lockerbie area had put their heads together to plan a route on a format which is bound to be used in the future. The navigation was neither hard nor time-wasting and the course turned out to be very sporting , using several white roads around Lockerbie. Although the rally was for novice crews only, several cars tuned up at the start with rather unusual crews - Richard Stewart for instance, in the navigatores seat and Roy McCourt driving his Escort TC.

Victory eventually went to the Cortina GT of Mark Stewart and Walter McDonald and it is a credit to the organisers that even they lost over 1000 penalties.

The route to TC1 started almost immediately with a rough white past Dryfesdale House Hotel: it caused some cars a little bother and the results could be seen at the control, when several cars turned up without exhausts and with rather green looking navigators. The route varied through TC2 and on to TC3, 4 and 5. The section to TC6 had two possible routes but only one fitted into the mileage allowed. A few of the navigators came unstuck and chose the wrong route which took them about a mile out. At this point, Richard Stewart and Jim Doig were well in the lead and well up on Mark Stewart and Walter McDonald. Then things started to go wrong.

Richard Stewart discovered that his stomach was having difficulty keeping food down and to cap it all, the Cortina lost its exhaust. They plodded on but lost more and more time and missed codes at nearly every check point. Nevertheless they finished third. Back On Time The instructions to TC7 at Hoddomcross were a mixture of spot heights and map references and may have delayed some of the navigators. However the more experienced crews soon found themselves back on time. Nancy Gibson and Ken Duff in a Mini were the only crew to clean this section, but it made little difference to their overall position.

The course to TC8 and TC9 foxed many crews, although it seemed relaxed. G. Anderson and G. Brown in a Lotus Cortina managed to clean the latter section without penalty but no one else did. The final two sections were cleaned by Stewart and McDonald, putting them almost 1000 points ahead of Anderson and Brown, their nearest rivals. The results were given out at the Kirkconnell Hall Hotel in Ecclefechan. (1) M. Stewart/W. McDonald, Cortina GT (2) Anderson/Brown, Lotus Cortina (3) J. Doig/R. Stewart, Cortina (4) R. McCourt/D. Irving, Escort TC (5) J. Graham/R. Carruthers, Cortina (6) Nancy Gibson/K. Duff, Mini (7) C. Maxwell/I. Carruthers, Triumph 2000 (8) R. C. Brown/N.J. Hagan, Volkswagen. P. M. Connelly and E. Lauder had to retire their Cortina on the first section. So did Ian Tweedie and Peter Giesiecke when their Cooper "S" lost its exhaust on the same section".

The`GP Denham Cookes Challenge Trophy`.

This trophy, as mentioned in the earlier introduction, may not always have been awarded to the highest placed driver on navigational rallies as it is today, but the names inscribed on it, provide a real `who`s who` of past members and (in the earlier years), details of the cars they drove in pursuit of excellence. Here`s the list of recipients of this piece of club heritage since the very beginnings, also, in the early years at least, naming the cars they drove:

1951 R. Miller - Lea Francis. 1952 F. D. Dundas - Jowett Javelin & J. I Smith - Jaguar SS 100. 1953 F. D. Dundas - Jowett Javelin & J. Watson - Ford Anglia. 1954 F. Bogie - Jowett Javelin. 1955 F. Bogie - Jowett Javelin. 1956 F. Bogie - Jowett Javelin. 1957 P. Roxburgh - Hillman. 1958 J. McInnes - Morris 1000. 1959 P. Roxburgh - Singer. 1960 A. Dalziel - Austin. 1961 J. Bogie - Ford. 1962 P. Roxburgh - Citroen. 1963 J. Jamieson - MG. 1964 J. Bogie - Ford Cortina. 1968 W. Riddick - Escort. 1969 J. Bogie - DAF. 1970 D. Attwood - SAAB. 1971 J. Bogie - Mini. 1972 W. S. Robertson - Mini. 1974 E. McGowan - Ford. 1975 J. Brown - Mini. 1976 J. Brown - Mini. 1977 J. Brown - Ford. 1978 J. Doig. 1979 J. Bogie. 1980 J. Bogie. 1981 M. Rankin. 1982 D. Halliday. 1983 D. Halliday. 1984 D. Halliday. 1985 J. Doig. 1986 J. Doig. 1987 J. Doig. 1988 D. Magee. 1989 D. Paterson. 1990 D. Paterson. 1991 S. Davidson. 1992 J. Bogie. 1993 J. Bogie. 1994 M. Richardson. 1995 D. Latta. 1996 J. Bogie. 1997 J. Bogie & G. Myatt. 1998 J. Bogie & W. Ross. 1999 J. Bogie. 2000 J. Bogie. 2001 I. Wright. 2002 J. Murray. 2003 A. McKeown. 2004 I. Haining. 2005 I. Haining. 2006 I. Haining.

Does this bring back memories for the more `mature` of you?.

The Big Events.

Over the decades since the club was established, it has participated on the broader stage, by promoting events as part of championships that brought competitors from outside the area to compete locally. The `DOONHAMER` and `TUNDERGARTH TROPHY` rallies were both navigational events and would commonly start late at night, running right through to breakfast time, often with breakfast provided. From memory, one Doonhamer which started at the now unlikely venue of St Michaels Street Garage in Dumfries (when there was a lot more space to play with and long before the area was as developed as it is today), had around 100 entries! How times have changed, - most likley due to the fact that running such a rally nowadays would be a PR nightmare.

Here`s the first ten starters, from a total of 32 entries, on the Doonhamer on April 5th 1986:-

1. Charlie Brown & Neil Turner, Glasgow, Lanarkshire Car Club, 900CYS, Golf.

2. Bill Boyes & Brian Couper, Kilmaurs, Kilmarnock & Loudon Car Club, ------ Escort.

3. Jim McDowall & Robert Beck, Creetown, Machars Car Club, MIJ426, Golf.

4. John Bogie & Frank Wright, Dumfries, Machars Car Club, VHH201Y, Escort.

5. Jim Doig & George Black, Dumfries, South of Scotland Car Club, ------ Escort.

6. Derek Halliday & David Sloan, Closeburn, South of Scotland Car Club, ----- Sunbeam.

7. Jim Clark & Gordon Hood, Beeswing, South of Scotland Car Club, B130LSW, Panda.

8. John Shennan & TBA, - - - - - - - - - -.

9. Alan Candlish & David McKeown, Dumfries, South of Scotland Car Club, ------ Sierra.

10. Chris Harvey & Jed Woollard, Hamilton, Lanarkshire Car Club, ------ Fiat 127.

Other notable entries were:- 11. Les Percival & Andrew Kellitt, Penrith, SOSCC, EHH668V, Escort. 13. Ronnie Kirkpatrick & Bob Green, Penpont, Solway CC, SOS394X, Escort. 15. Derek Forster & Gordon Paterson, Dumfries, SOSCC, LOS754S, Ascona.

Results not available....

Guid Nychburris Autotest.

This first ran in 1976 and was won by a visitor called John Chalmers in an MG Midget. This was part of the Scottish Autotest Championship and local club members could only watch in awe, as visitors, mostly from the central belt of Scotland who made up most of the entry list, would turn up with their specially prepared Midgets, Sprites and Mini Copoper S`s etc, to show how it was done. Over the years, the tables have turned. At the time of writing this in April 2008, the whole of Scotland now struggles to produce an autotest championship, whilst SOSCC club members regularly achieve entries of up to 30 cars on their own, on the club`s tarmac (or grass) autotests. The record number of entries on a `closed to club` event was reached on March 23rd 2008, with 36 members taking part in a Tar Autotest on the old runway at Heathall, in Dumfries.

Winners of the trophy since the trophy was first awarded: 1976, John Chalmers, Midget. 1977, Graham Forrester, Mini. 1978, George Black, Mini. 1979, David Robertson, Mini, 1980, David Sloan, Mini. 1981, Jon Cook, Midget. 1982, Jon Cook, Midget. 1983, George Croppp, Mini Special. 1984, Garde Murray, Escort. 1985, David Sloan, Mini. 1986, Tony Mitchell, Mini. 1987, Gordon Clendinning, Mini. 1988, Gordon Clendinning, Mini. - No Guid Nychburris Autotest from 1989 to 2004 - 2005, Warren Gillespie, Mini. 2006, Iain Haining, Mini. 2007, David Robertson, Mini Special. 2008, Gordon Clendinning, Nova. 2009, Gordon Clendinning, Nova.

Crossflags PCT.

Most current members will have little or no recollection of our annual championship Production Car Trial (PCT), which often drew in more than 60 entries from over the border, most of whom were participating in the Cumbria Motor Sport Group`s PCT Championship. Latterly, before it died out, the event took place on the steep grassy slopes just along the road from where Mabie Farm Park is today and was sponsored by former member, Bert McNish, of Crossflags Motors who, at the time, were trading from their garage in York Place, Dumfries. Clerk of the Course of this event which took place for five or six years was committee member Bob Wells, who was keen on PCT `s as well as Tar Autotests. In fact Bob won the sports car class in the West of Scotland Autotest championship in his yellow Midget. At its height, the Crossflags PCT even drew the attention of Border TV, who came to one event and made a feature of it for their tea-time show, including in-car shots, interviews with Bob and some competitors and general shots of cars on the hills.

High Auldgirth Hill Climb

This ran twice a year for a good few years and while at the first event on July 5th 1992, it attracted only 14 entries comprising: Ian Paterson, Geoffrey Harkness, Richard Dobson, Fraser Kinnear, Nigel Harkness, David Reid, Graeme Forrester, David McKeown, Donald Graham, John Moffat, Kevin Guthrie, Stewart Marshall, Ian Wright and William Struthers, it quickly gathered strength, often attracting in excess of 60 entries, including anything from a Morris 1000 to a 2.8 litre open-wheeled racing car, which we were quickly advised was illegal on this width of track!!!.

The entry list for the May 1984 event included: Ian Wright and Liam Patterson in Civics, Finley Vance in an Escort, Irene McKay in a Sierra, Ian Biagi in a Mini, Geoffrey Harkness in a Ray 78, Willie Nelson in an Escort, Murray Grierson in an MG Metro, David McKeown in an Ascona and, George Myatt and Scott Bell in a Lotus, but by far the most awesome of all, was David Seaton from Edinburgh in his 2.8 Pilbeam (mentioned above) which took FTD on his second competitive run with 49.19 despite recording a 45.31 on an earlier practice run. Records arent sufficiently detailed to confirm whether the weather had deteriorated during the day, but one can safely assume it did!.

As the road is, in some parts, only about eight feet wide and not over eleven feet wide, which would have allowed us to permit open-wheeled cars over 1600cc to continue to compete, development of this venue was stifled, as widening the track would have proved a financial impossibility.

Interest in the event finally waned, as even the routine upkeep of the track was an expensive, time consuming and never-ending task but this doesn`t stop many people constantly requesting to this day, that the hillclimb should run again, as it was a genuine hillclimb in the truest sense of the word and a real challenge, including no less than three hairpin corners, as it climbed 90 metres along its 1066 metre length.

It seems pretty certain that Malcolm Wishart from Glasgow, a retired regional manager with the Clydesdale Bank, will therefore always hold the record at High Auldgirth. His best time of 43.44 seconds set on July 6th 1997, in perfect sunny, warm and dry conditions, was achieved in his immaculate 2 litre Mallock.

Ideal conditions were never to be taken for granted on this site which, due to its elevated position, overlooking large swathes of the beautiful surrounding Dumfriesshire countryside, seemed all too willing to attract any passing rain shower. The last hillclimb event took place here on June 14th 1998.

Hallburn,

near Longtown, was resurrected in 2009 by SOSCC as a single venue rally destination, the last club event having run here back in 1989. In its heyday, Hallburn could easily attract up to 80 entries and with plans afoot in 2009 to refurbish the concrete roads around this old wartime airfield, it could again be hosting full entries. The 2009 event that ran in July had 44 starters even though it was not part of a major championship and it was immediately a hit with past participants and newcomers alike, thanks in no small part to sponsors Oakbank Services and D. W. Construction.

The Hallburn Stages Rally on November 11th 1984 takes us back in time. The top ten seeds for this event were:-

K. Hill & G. Hill of the Wigton Motor Club in a Chevette, I. Griffin & R. McCrorie of the Stranraer Motor Club in an Escort, Mike & Isobel Riddick of the Solway Car Club in a Sunbeam, J. Weir & H. Irving from Wigton MC in an Escort, I. Nelson & Tom Gilhooly from Wigton MC in an Escort, J. Liddle & A. McVittie from Wigton MC in a Chevette, Kenny Dorans and Alan Burgess from Stranraer Motor Club in a Sunbeam Lotus, G. Currie & D. Beattie from East Ayrshire CC in a Sunbeam, Jock Black & Mick Rollo from SOSCC in a Fiat 131 and D. Robinson & I. Robinson from Wigton MC in an Escort RS 1800.

Further down the list were: 11, David McKeown & J. Crane from SOSCC in a Mk II Escort, 13, G & C Welsh from SOSCC in an Escort, 15, Hugh Murdoch & R. McIntyre from Stranraer in an Escort 2.0, 19, Donald Peacock & W. Murdoch from Solway CC in an Escort, 21 David Reid & `A N Other` from Machars in an Escort, 22, K. Thomson & C. McKay from Solway in an Escort Sport, 23, Alan Candlish & Jock Davidson from SOSCC in an Escort, 24, W. Bone & D. Livingstone from Machars in an Avenger, 25, Derek Halliday and David Sloan from Solway in an Escort, 30, Bob Blair & Gavin Murray from SOSCC in an Escort RS 2000, 36, Niall Cowan & Barbara Armstrong from Wigton MC in a Sunbeam, 37, T. Ridley and E. Graham from SOSCC in a Clan, 40, Sam Mullen & A Gallagher from East Ayrshire in an Escort, 48, Ian Paterson & `A N Other` from SOSCC in a Fiat 128 Sport, 49, Mark McKnight & S. McKay from SOSCC in an Escort Mk II, 53, Alan Barrie & `A N Other` from SOSCC in a Mini, 55, David Magee & Mike Wells from SOSCC in an Escort and at 60, Jim Sharp & D. Taylor from Stranraer in a Sunbeam.

This was a round of the Five of Clubs Championship, offered 8 stages totalling 25 miles and the three classes were: Class 1, up to 1300cc, Class 2, 1300 to 1600 cc and Class 3, over 1600 cc. The entry fee was £20, the maximum entry of 60 cars started at 30 second intervals and while the regs stated the event was only open to members of SOSCC, Solway, Stranraer, Wigton and East Ayrshire Car Clubs, six entries from the Machars Car Club seem to have sneaked under the wire. Surely, missing Machars CC off the regs was simply a misprint?.

The 1989 Seat Stages at Hallburn ran on May 7th with 77 starters and the sponsors were Southern Garage Dumfries, who were Seat dealers at that time. It was a round of the County Motors Clubmans, Five of Clubs and CMSG Stage Championships. The cars started and ran at 30 second intervals and stage one commenced at 10.00am. Final results were posted and the awards presentation took place at the Carlisle Crest Motel. Clerk of the Course was Callum McKay and the entry fee was £43 for 22 stage miles over 8 stages. Top ten seeds were:

1 M. Edgar & E. Tiffin - Chevette, 2 B. Mitton & A. Bouch - Chevette, 3 R. Cook & J. Parker - Escort Mk III, 4 Alistair Stewart & Willie Nelson - Suzuki Swift GTI, 5 R. Clark & W. Horne - Audi 80 Quattro, 6 R. McLellan & J. McCallum - Escort Mk III, 7 H. Murdoch & ? Murdoch - Escort, 8 J. Askew & M. Walker - Cavalier, 9 Ian Paterson & Helen Brown - Escort, 10 J. Willis & S. Willis - Metro.

First overall on 25 minutes 23 seconds were car 12, G. Currie & A. Causey in an Escort. Other notable entries were: 19 David McKeown & J. Smith - Ascona, 22 Richard Dickson & Iain Haining - Sunbeam, 32 George Porteous & D. Porteous - Escort, 43 Robert Dickson & Derek Forster - Escort, 44 Keith Forster & Jock Kelly - Sunbeam, 45 A. MacGregor & Robert Paterson - Escort, 47 A. McKechnie & Ian (Bing) Crosbie - Escort, 59 Stuart Paterson & Arron Cruickshank - Escort, 70 R. Myatt & G. Myatt - Avenger, 74 Steve Petch & A. Grimstone - Daihatsu, 77 Eddie Ferguson & David leslie - Skoda.

Autumn Stages Rally.

Undoubtedly the flagship event of the club has really always been the `Autumn Stages` Rally, a special stage event which, for many years, was a round of the Scottish Rally Championship, the West of Scotland Rally Championship, the Harold Thompson & Sons ANECCC Championship and on two occasions, the BTRDA Championship.

Club members, who also happened to be businessmen, were often called on to provide sponsorship for the Autumn Stages. Among these companies were Mogil Motors, the club member connection in this case being Tony Charnell, Tweedies Daihatsu (Harold Tweedie), Grierson & Graham (Eddie Graham).

Bowmaker Finance and the Scotsman Newspaper were also involved in the early years and more recently, on the 2005 event, Palmerston Furniture (David Hughes) and Oakbank Services (owned by John Bogie, our Honorary Vice President), whose company basically made the roads around Drumlanrig useable in the first place and then returned for a whole week after the rally to rebuild them, along with one `B listed` bridge, which one or two drivers had helped to demolish!.

Bringing matters right up to date, Ciceley Commercials provided financial sponsorship for both the 2007 and 2008 Autumn Stages Rallies, with Oakbank Services again extremely generously preparing and repairing the roads, especially for this event.

The Tweedies Daihatsu rally in 1991 (which ran on April 21st), was a round of the `West of Scotland`, `County Motors`, `Association of North East Car Clubs`, and `Six of Clubs` stage championships. It had five stages over 35 Forestry Commission stage miles and an entry fee of £145. (The fee for the same event a year earlier was £130.). One of the scrutineers listed in the 1991 regulations was one Roy Herron, a popular man in the rallying world, who tragically later died in a stage rallying accident.

1971.

First ever Autumn Stages. Won by Alistair Brearley.

1972.

Second Autumn Stages. Won again by Alistair Brearley.

1973.

The 1973 Autumn Stages, run on September 30th was sponsored by the Scotsman newspaper. It had 100 entries plus 30 reserves. Alistair Brearley & Michael Smith started at number one in an Escort and the remainder of the top ten seeds were: 2, J. Baillie & R. Baille, Escort. 3, Brian Coyle and William McGregor, Stiletto. 4, A. Kesson & K. Christie, Escort. 5, Dominic Buckley & Brain Lowrey, Escort. 6, Ken Wood & A. Barrow, Mini Cooper. 7, Keith McCleary & D. Titterington, Escort. 8, Ian Gemmell & Ian Knox, Avenger. 9, Les Eagleton & Edna Eagleton, Escort. 10, Brian Benson & Willie. Clark, Escort.

Notable local entries were: 11, Stewart Robertson & Tom Mair, Dalbeattie, Escort. 13, Murray Grierson & T. Anderson, Dalbeattie, Escort. 27, John Bogie & Andrew Ralley, Dumfries, Mini Cooper. 31, George Rutherford & Gordon Hood, Castle Douglas, Escort. 32 Tom Laird & Sheila Laird, Crossmichael, Escort. 33, Roy McCourt & David Irving, Dumfries, Escort. 34 R. W. Armstrong & J. Morrisson, Lockerbie, Renault Gordini. 44, A. K. Shedden-Brown & Willie Service, Whithorn, Escort. 45, Tour Eide Johansen & David Turnbull, Dumfries, Escort. 55, Ollie Gault & M. Connelly, Castle Douglas, Cortina. 60, Tom Gilhooly & Ken Duff, Gretna, Volvo. 62, T. Black & G. Black, Dumfries, Mini Cooper. 65, D. Porteous & J. Graham, Lockerbie, Mini Cooper. 66, W. Mathieson & B, Chamberland, Whithorn. Mini. 72, Derek Billson & G. Lindsay, Dalbeattie, Riley Elf. 78, Mike Nairn & W. Dalgliesh, Lockerbie, Stiletto. 81, Rab Smith & John Brown, Thornhill, Mini Cooper. 83, Mark Stewart & Ernie Smart, Dumfries, Cortina. 84 E. Stewart & D. Beattie, Castle Douglas, Cortina. 85, Tom Corrie & Gordon Currie, Castle Douglas, Morris 1000. 86, Campbell Macauley & Andrew Macauley, Dumfries, Mini Cooper. 87, W. Graham & R. Carruthers, Lockerbie, Escort. 88, G. Anderson & I. Anderson, Dumfries, Cortina. 89, T. Biggs & T. Milligan, Sanquhar, Hillman Imp. 90, Roland Proudlock & John Innes, Dumfries, Mini. 91, George Brown & Ian Gordon, Dumfries, Cortina. 96, B. Johnstone & R. Macfarlane, Lockerbie, Renault. 98, Derek Halliday & R. Williamson, Thornhill, Anglia. 99, Raymond Kirk & Frank Wright, Dumfries, Mini Cooper. 100, Harold Tweedie & G. Millburn, Dumfries, Escort. The reserves list included: David Reid & TBA from Dumfries in an Escort. G. Armstromg & B. McCleary from Newton Stewart in an EScort. Alan McMorran & A. Breckenridge from Castle Douglas in a Mini. J. McCubbin & L. Robertson from Kirkbean in a Simca and W. Ellis & & J. Russell from Dalry in a Mini.

Top ten overall were:-

1st. Car 1. Alistair Brearley & Michael Smith, Galashiels, Escort, 38 minutes 32 seconds.

2nd. Car 23. Chris Stevenson & Ian Tweedie, Penrith, Escort, 39.19.

3rd. Car 5. Dominic Buckley & Bryan Lowrie, Kelso, Escort, 39.28.

4th. Car 6. Ken Wood & Alan Barron, Stow, Mini Cooper, 39.48.

5th. Car 7. Keith McCleary & David Titterington, Carlisle, Escort, 40.00.

6th. Car 10. Brian Benson & Willie Clark, Glasgow, Escort, 40.10.

7th. Car 15. Robin Murray & Ivor Clark, Carlisle, Firenza, 40.14.

8th. Car 9. Les Eagleton & Edna Eagleton, Stocksfield, Escort, 40.20.

9th. Car 3. Brian Coyle & William McGregor, Glasgow, Stiletto, 40.32.

10th. Car 4. Alistair Kesson & Kenneth Chrystie, Glasgow, Escort, 40.41.

The A. K. Stevenson Award for the highest overall SOSCC crew went to car 23, Chris Stevenson & Ian Tweedie from Penrith in an Escort. There were 82 finishers and among those were Roland Proudlock and John Innes on their first ever rally in a Mini that cost just £45, had a minimal single-hoop roll cage and normal seats with simple lap & diagonal belts. The four remould chunky tyres lasted the full event and they cant remember seeing a scrutineer although there apparently was one!. They finished 64th.

This Scottish Championship `Challengers` event started at Huntingdon Market in Dumfries and from there the crews went to stage one, Mabie, which started along the wee farm track that is off to your right half way up Whinny Hill, on the New Abbey Road from Dumfries. The 3.1 mile stage emerged in a grass field near Lochanhead. Then it was on to Ae 1, 2 & 3 at 3.2, 5.7 and 5.5 miles respectively. Stage 5 was Greskine, (on the North side of the M74 near Beattock) a 3.4 miler which had a scary 90 degree right handed corner near the end which, if you got it wrong, meant you were in danger of going onto the railway line below. (It was cautioned)

Twiglees & Castle O`er rounded off the fun at 6.4 and 4.45 miles after which everyone retired to the Queens Hotel in Lockerbie for tea.

The entry fee was £7 including high tea. Late entries were accepted with a surcharge of £1. The Clerk of the Course was Derek Attwood, the Secretary of the Meeting was Richard Stewart, Assistant Clerk of the Course was Colin Maxwell, Scrutineer was Rab McDonald and Chief Timekeeper was Bob Morland. No servicing was allowed anywhere !.

1974.

Just to prove how popular a rally the Autumn Stages was, the 1974 rally had a full house of 120 entries, plus a further 20 reserves. The whole route was presented to competitors as a long list of map references, which they had to mark on maps to find their way round from the start at Curries Transport Depot in Heathhall, Dumfries via the stages to the finish at the Embassy Hotel in Newbridge, Dumfries. There were nine stages commencing with Twiglees at 6.4 miles, Castle O`er at 4.45 miles, Windyhill (Ae) at 2.5 miles, Lamphitt (Ae) at 4.8 miles, Gubhill (Ae) at 4.0 miles, Morrins (Ae) at 4.8 miles, Lochaber (Mabie) at 1.5 miles, Craigend (Mabie) at 2.0 miles and Dalbeattie at 8.0 miles. The top ten seeds were:

No 1. Alastair Brearley & M. Smith of Galashiels, in an Escort.

No 2. Gavin Waugh & S. Turnbull from Brampton, in an Avenger GT.

No 3. Jimmy MacRae & D. Brown from Kirkmuirhill, in an Escort.

No 4. A. Kesson & K Christie from Glasgow, in an Escort.

No 5. Fred Almond & H. Kennedy from Hexham, in an Escort.

No 6. Dom Buckley (senior) & R. Smart from Eccles, in an Escort.

No 7. Murray Grierson & J. Anderson from Dalbeattie, in an Escort.

No 8. M. Telford & J. Taylor from Carlisle, in a Saab.

No 9. Mike Gilligan & Ron Palmer from Carlisle, in an Escort.

No 10. Stewart Robertson & Tom Mair from Dalbeattie, in an Escort.

Other notable entries were:

11 Richard Stewart & Jim Doig from Dumfries, Escort. 12 Keith McCleary & Ivor Clark from Gretna, Escort. 30 Tom & Sheila Laird from Castle Douglas, Escort. 32 George Rutherford & Mike Jackson from Castle Douglas, Escort. 51 M. Wilson ( ? ) & J. Davies from Workington, Escort. 52 R. Armstrong & R. Jardine from Lockerbie, Renault Gordini. 57 Tom Gilhooly & T. Vivers from Gretna, Volvo. 66 Brian Halliday & T. Irving from Palnackie, Escort. 72 T. Eide Johansen & D. Turnbull from Dumfries, Escort. 79 David Reid & S. Robertson from Auldgirth, Escort. 86 Roland Proudlock & John Innes from Dumfries, Mini. 87 M. Nairn & W. McGaw from Lockerbie Stilletto. 90 T. Corrie & G. Currie from Castle Douglas, Morris 1000. 95 Rab Smith & Jock Brown from Thornhill, Mini. 97 Harold Tweedie & G. Millburn from Dumfries, Escort. 99 J. (Robin) Bardsley & Steve James from Auchencairn, Mini. 100 Derek Halliday & Margaret Halliday from Thornhill, Volvo. 103 Ross McKay & John Shannon from Powfoot, Escort. 104 A. Peacock & R. Ritchie from New Gallowy, Healey Sprite. 109 R. Carruthers & C. McCourt from Lockerbie, Escort. 116 Tam Wilkinson & Alex McEwan from Dumfries, Imp. 120 W. Billson & TBA from Dalbeattie, Riley Elf.

The reserves list included local drivers, such as Micky Rankin, Roy McCourt, Ewan McGowan, Ken Duff & Kenny Nairn. The winner however, was none other than Jimmy MacRae, taking his first ever rally victory, a win he fondly remembers to this day. (See the item on the 1988 event).

1975.

The 1975 Bowmaker Autumn Stages (sponsored for the first time by Bowmaker Finance) had 121 starters and 99 finishers after nine stages. 1st overall, after a week of heavy rain had turned the forest tracks into skating rinks and taking the `Clyde Valley Trophy`, were Malcolm Wilson & J. Davies with a total time of 38.47. 2nd overall: Murray Grierson & T. Anderson, taking the Embassy Hotel Trophy with a time of 39.17. 3rd overall were car one, Jimmy McRae & D. Brown on 39.29. Top SOSCC crew were M. Grierson & T. Anderson who also lifted the A. K. Stevenson Trophy

1976

The Bowmaker Autumn Stages was upgraded to National status and included in the Scottish Rally Championship.

1978.

The 1978 Bowmaker Rally, held on Saturday 23rd September, was a round of the British Airways/Scotsman Scottish Rally Championship and for the first time ever, the BTRDA Gold Star Rally Championship. It was also a round of the Harold Thompson ANECCC Stage Rally Championship, the West of Scotland Stage Championship and the Ford Escort 1300 Competition. The rally forum, held the night before, had a panel comprising reigning Scottish Champion Charles Samson, racing driver Tony Charnell, Chris Lord, one of the BTRDA drivers and John Horton, rally manager for Dunlop Tyres. Three films were shown, `Pentti`, `Seconds Out` and `The Fascination of Motor Sport`. Admission was free.

The Rally programme, presented as a pull-out section of the Dumfries Courier newspaper, carried confirmation that this was Bowmakers` 4th year of sponsorship of this event. Starting frm the Mercury Motor Inn in Moffat and being elevated up to a `National` event from the normal `Restricted` level, it took in eleven stages in Killburn Hill (Twiglees) at 6.06 miles, marshalled by Hawick & Border CC, Hog Knowe (also Twiglees) 5.10 - Workington & District MC, Castle O`er 4.36 - Wigton M C, Kirkland Hill (Ae) 12.20 - Apex M C, Windy Hill (Ae) 4.35 - Cumberland Sporting C C, White Naze (Ae) 5.44 - Lanarkshire C C, Knockenshang (Ae) 4.10 - Lanarkshire C C, Mabie 3.16 - Kilmarnock & Loudon C C, Dalbeattie 9.24 - Apex M C, Glengap 4.80 - Solway C C and Bennan 11.0 - Machars C C. The rally finished at the Cargenholm Hotel near Dumfries.

Senior officials were: Clerk of the Course Frank Wright, Secretary Ken Rundle, Depute COC`s Colin Maxwell, & James Dean, Club Stewards Bill Troughear & Ian Muir, RAC Steward Jonathan Lord, Scrutineers Rab McDonald & Bruce King, Chief Timekeeper Richard Milne and Press Officer Bob Wells.

Highly respected Scottish motor sport journalist, Ross Finlay, contributed to the programme a very detailed explanation of the Scottish Championship positions leading up to this event, which recorded Drew Gallacher as the runaway leader of Divison 1, ahead of Charles Samson who still had a mathematical chance of catching Drew but only if he faltered. Second to sixth places in the championship could go to any one of five drivers, namely: Jim Howden, Murray Grierson, Ivor Clark, David Porter and Alistair Braerley. In division two of the championship, Dumfries driver walter McDonald had a slim lead over the likes of Alistair Roy, Ronnie Dale and Robin Christie.

The top fourteen seeds were:

1. Charles Samson & Roger Anderson, Kingskettle, Escort RS 1800.

2. Drew Gallacher & David McHarg, Girvan, Escort RS 1800.

3. Tim Brise & Bob King, Wilmington, Kadette GT/E.

4. Chris Lord & Ron Varley, Leeds, Chevette.

5. Jim Howden & Hugh McNeil, Edinburgh, Escort RS 1800.

6. Murray Grierson & John Horton, Dalbeattie, Datson Violet.

7. Bill Dobie & Peter Mellor, Maryport, Escort RS 1800.

8. Allan Arneil & David Brown, Hamilton, Chevette 2.3.

9. Frank Pierson & Ed Morgan, Salop, Escort RS 2000.

10. Donald Heggie & Iain Mungall, Coupar, Escort RS 1800.

11. Dominic Buckley & Walter Duguid, Kelso, Escort RS 1600.

12. Ivor Clark & Ken Wilson, Gretna, Avenger 1600.

13. No number 13.

14. Alistair Brearley & Roger MacFarlane, Galashiles, Kadette GT/E.

15. Ken Wood & Peter Brown, Galashiels, TR7.

Other notable entries were: 17. Walter McDonald & Charlie Caven, Dumfries, Escort 1700. 21. Robin Christie & Eric Stewart, Whithorn, Vauxhall Magnum. 28 Mike Gilligan & Kenion ?, Carlisle, RS 2000. 31. Stewart Robertson & Lawrence Clark, Dalbeattie, Dolomite Sprint. 50. Kenny Nairn & Rob Carruthers, Boreland, Escort RS 1600. 61. Austen Rraine & Andrew Kellit, Carlisle, Escort 1300. 64. Paul Gilligan & Peter Oddie, Carlisle, Escort 1300. 69. James Fleming & Robert Cunningham, Ayr, Chevette 2300. 73. George Porteous & David Porteous, Lockerbie, RS 2000. 74. Peter Cooper & John Shannon, Dumfries, Datsun Violet. 75. Alex Watson & Gordon Hood, Beeswing, RS 2000. 102. Bertie Burleigh & Robert Renwick, Ecclefechan, Escort 1600. 105. John Innes & Roland Proudlock, Collin, Mini Cooper `S`.

The winner was Charles Samson who had tied with Allan Arneil on total stage times but as Charles` first stage time was faster, he took the spoils. Other than to confirm that the A. K. Stevenson Trophy for the top SOSCC crew was awarded to walter McDonald and Charlie Caven, the rest of the results for this event are yet to be traced.

1979.

The 1979 Bowmaker rally took place on Saturday 22nd September with sponsorship from Bowmaker for the fifth year running.

It was run on a `National` Permit and again it was a round of the British Airways/Scotsman Scottish Rally Championship, the Esso BTRDA Gold Star Rally Championship, the Harold Thompson & Son ANECCC Stage Rally Championship and also the Ford Escort Rally Championship, The West of Scotland Rally Championship and the Mopar Sponsored Rally Championship.

Ross Finlay`s contribution to the rally programme confirmed that on the run-up to this event, 1978 Scottish Champion Drew Gallacher and Donald Heggie were battling for the Scottish Championship lead, Donald just having the edge due to Drew retiring on the Granite City and scoring only a few points on the Scottish, despite having had a works drive. Meanwhile, coming to Dumfries, Allan Arneil led the West of Scotland Stage Championship. Scottish R. C. points prior to the Bowmaker were: Donald Heggie, Escort, 66. Drew Gallacher, Escort, 63. Vince Finlayson, Talbot Sunbeam, 45. Andrew Cowan, Escort, 39. Allan Arneil, Chevette, 36. Dave MacDonald, Celica, 33. David Gillanders, Escort, 32. Ivor Clark, Avenger, 30. David Porter, Chevette, 27. Ken Wood, TR7 27.

In division II of the Scottish Championship, (for drivers who before the 1st of January 1979 had not finished in the first 20 of an International or RAC Championship National Rally, or in the first 10 on a National or Restricted staus Drivers` event in a previous Scottish Championship, or as winner or runner-up in a previous Challengers` Championship), SOSCC member Kenny Nairn was described as a dark horse who, having scored well on all four rounds he had contested to date, would not need to drop points as compared to leaders: Bill Nicol, Jim Carty and Brian Wilkinson who had done more events.

Senior officials were: Clerk of the Course - Jim Dean, Deputy COCs Colin Maxwell & Fraser Robison, Event Secretary - Ken Rundle, Club Stewards - Ian Muir & Bill Troughear, RAC Steward - G. Foster, Scrutineers - Rab McDonald & Bruce King, Timekeeper - Richard Milne, Press Officer - Roland Proudlock and Computer Results were provided by Martin Liddle.

Part of the Clerk of the Course`s introduction, featured in the rally programme went as follows, "This year of course we have had to take the petrol supply situation into account and reduce our overall route from last year by over 10%, something most motor sport events are doing on a voluntary basis". On a more positive note, the programme also records the astounding fact that the South of Scotland Car Club team had been victorious over all the works teams in the 1979 Scottish Rally. The team`s drivers were Ivor Clark, Walter McDonald and Stewart Robertson and all were entered for the `Bowmaker`.

The maximum entry was 120 and the minimum was 80. Entries were £55 which included 2 snack lunches in the Embassy Hotel, Dumfries. (the lunch halt) The start was at 8.01 am from the Ladbroke Mercury Motor Inn in Moffat which is where it also finsihed. The publicised stages were: 1. Hog Knowe (Twiglees) 5.20 miles. 2. Castle O`er 4.36. 6. Dalbeattie 9.24. 7. Poldivan (Ae) 5.12. 8. Hole House (Ae) 7.35. 9. Castle O`er II 4.36. 10. Hog Knowe II 5.20. Total distance was 175 miles of which 60 was stage miles. Item 8 on the regs stated, "All special stages will be Forestry Commission property, except one which will be on a sealed surface". (Anybody know where?). There were four classes: Up to 1000cc, 1001 to 1300cc, 1301 to 1700cc and over 1700cc.

First overall won the `Clyde Valley Trophy` + £100, 2nd the `Embassy Hotel Trophy` + £60 and third - £40. The Highest placed Lady Driver received an award presented by Border Travel Services Ltd. Item 18 in the regs included the following: "Smoking in a special stage or failure to wear a crash helmet or seat belts on a special stage - Eclusion" and also "Use of pace notes - Eclusion". Later, the regs state "The cost of a `Service Pack` which contains all rally and service routes, `Service Ban` and `Out of Bounds` areas will be £1.50 and must be ordered on the competitors official entry form."

Top ten seeds were:

1. Drew Gallacher & David McHarg, Girvan, Escort RS 1800.

2. Bill Dobie & Peter Mellor, Maryport, Escort RS 2000.

3. Donald Heggie & George Dean, Cupar, Escort RS 1800.

4. Derek Evans & Terry Evans, Shrewsbury, Chevette 2300.

5. Geoff Simpson & Alan Simpson, Sandford, Escort RS 1800.

6. Allan Arneil & David Brown, Hamilton, Chevette 2300.

7. George Hill & Ron Varley, Oldham, Chevette 2300.

8. Pip Dale & Richard Stark, Skirpenbeck, Chevette 2300.

9. Chris Lord & Ed Morgan, Leeds, Chevette 2300.

10. Ivor Clark & Kevin Doyle, Gretna, Avenger 1600.

Other notable entries including local crews were: 16. Dominic Buckley & Tony Thomson, Kelso, RS 1800. 17. Ken Wood & Peter Brown, Galashiels, TR7. 29. Kenny Nairn & Rob Carruthers, Lochmaben, RS 1800. 32. Stewart Robertson & Lawrence Clark, Dalbeattie, Sunbeam 1600. 33. Walter McDonald & TBA, Dumfries, RS 1800. 75. Robin Christie & Eric Stewart, Whithorn, Chevette 2300. 92. Alex Watson & Gordon Hood, Dumfries, Escort Sport 1599. 99. Andrew Wood & Diana Taylor, Kelso, Escort II. 103. David McKeown & Kenny Morland, Dumfries, Escort TC. 105. Jock Davidson & Ronnie Kirkpatrick, Dumfries, Escort. 109. Raymond Kirk & Bob Blair, Dumfries, Escort RS 2000. 112. John Innes & Roland Proudlock, Dumfries, Austin Mini Cooper `S`. 118. Robert Renwick & Lesley Marchbank, Beattock, Escort. 119. John Harkness & James Brown, Thornhill, Escort.

Results yet to be traced.

1980.

The 1980 Bowmaker Rally took place on Saturday 20th September and despite returning to `Restricted` from `National` status, was still a round of the Scottish Rally Championship Divisions I & II, the West of Scotland Rally Championship and the ANECCC (Association of North East and Cumbria Car Clubs) Championship. Although the programme affirmed there was a strong bond between the SOSCC and Bowmaker, the economic situation in 1981 dictated that Bowmaker Financial Services would have to end their six-year partnership after this event, forcing the club to find a new sponsor.

Clerk of the Course Jim Dean had arranged a six stage event which started at 11.01 am at the West Cumberland Farmers depot at Heathhall in Dumfries & went through Mabie, Dalbeatte, Ae 1 & 2 (which were not publicised to deter spectators), Castle O`er and Twiglees to finish at the Mercury Motor Inn in Moffat. Scrutineering took place on the Friday night at Mogil Motors, Locharbriggs, Dumfries. There was excitement when it was announced that Malcolm Wilson was to take in a rally for the first time since breaking both ankles in a horrific crash on the Scottish Rally in June. Drew Gallacher was determined not to let Malcolm have his own way though and he powered his way to an impressive win.

Top ten seeds were:

1. Drew Gallacher & J. Eyres, Girvan, Chevette HS 2300.

2. Malcolm Wilson & TBA, Workington, Escort RS 1800.

3. Donald Heggie & Iain Mungall, Cupar, Escort RS 1800.

4. Walter McDonald & Gordon Hood, Dumfries, Escort 2000.

5. Ken Wood & Peter Brown, Galashiels, TR7 V8 3500.

6. Dominic Buckley & George Blackie, Kelso, RS 1800.

7. Tom Clark & Charlie Young, Newmains, RS 1800.

8. Ian Wlson & Paul Mason, Stonehouse, Talbot Sunbeam.

9. Andy Smith & Alan Patterson, Ayr, RS 1800.

10. Colin Grewer & Tim Ashton, Monkbridge, Escort 2000.

Other notable entries, including some locals and unusual cars at 61, 63 & 74, were: 12. Robin Christie & Roy Campbell, Port William, Chevette 2300. 14. Kenny Nairn & Rob Carruthers, Lochmaben, RS 1800. 15. Richard Stewart & Bob Morland, Dumfries, Sunbeam. 17. R. J. Murray & Stuart Turnbull, Carlisle, Chevette 2300. 26. Bill Lymburn & Allan Hutchinson, Prudhoe, TR7 V8 3500. 27. Jimmy Fleming & Robert Cunningham, Ayr, Toyota Starlet 1588. 29. Micky Rankine & Jim Doig, Dumfries, Escort 1997. 30. Louise Aitken Walker & Ellen Morgan, (sponsored by Mogil Motors of Dumfries and driving their Fiesta) Duns, Fiesta 1600. 31. Peter Knowles & Lawrence Clark, Chester Le Street, Escort 1700. 35. George Marshall & Allan Ainslie, St Boswells, Chevette 2300. 36. Andrew Wood & Norman Gault, Melrose, Escort Mk II 1300. 45. Lawrence Seditas & Duncan Ballintyne, Dundonald, Opel Kadette ST/E 2000. 47. Tom Gilhooly & Ian Nelson, Annan, Escort RS 2000. 50. Tony Janetta & Donald McGill, Stirling, Sunbeam TI 1598. 51. Gordon Smith & Alan Stark, Alford, Escort RS 2000. 53. John Wilson & Charlie Smith, East Kilbride, RS 2000. 57. David McKeown & Kenny Morland, Dumfries, Escort Twin Cam 1558. 58. Alex Watson & Lawrence Clark, Dumfries, Escort Sport 1599. 60. Kenneth Pattison & John Ross, Carlisle, Escort Twin Cam 1558. 61. Farquhar MacRae & Fiona Kennedy, Inverinate, Davrian Imp 998. 63. John Tainsh & Peter Elliot, Aberdeen, Magenta 1293. 74. Roland Simey & George Rutherford, Castle Douglas, Vauxhall Magnum. 76. Willam Anderson & Donald Anderson, Annan, Escort 1600. 79. Michael Connelly & Ronald David Sezz, Castle Douglas, Austin Mini Mk I. 80. Michael Riddick & Robert Green, Castle Douglas, Talbot Sunbeam 1598. 81. William Haining & Alister Clark, Castle Douglas, RS 2000.

Scottish Championship points prior to this event were: Divison I: Drew Gallacher 88, Ken Wood 57, Walter McDonald 53, Donald Heggie 43, Dom Buckley 41 & Ian Wilson 40. Div II: Robin Christie 55, Wlson Girvan 53, Dougie Riach 38, James Bissett 35, Hugh Munro 35 & Robert Miller 34. West of Scotland points to date were: Tom Clark 24, Walter McDonald 23, Drew Gallacher 20, Robin Christie 15, Richard Stewart 12 & David Fulton 11. Harold Thomson & Sons ANECCC points to date were: Alan Conley 57, Fred Henderson 56, Richard Mawson 53, Mike Gilligan 46, Roy Wadsley 40 & B. Lewis 30.

Senior officials were: Clerk of the Course - Jim Dean, Secreretary - Brian Carruthers, Depute COCs - Alan Candlish & Fraser Robison, Club Stewards - Derek Attwood & John Taylor, RAC Observer - Bill Troughear, Scrutineer - Rab McDonald, Timekeeper - Frank Wright, Press Officer - Roland Proudlock.

Local drivers featuring in the following week`s newspaper report were Micky Rankine & Jim Doig who buckled a wheel on a tree stump in the Dalbeattie stage but still finished 17th, while Richard Stewart & Bob Morland broke their rear axle and two shockers to go into retirement. Kenny Nairn`s recently rebuilt engine let go. However, Walter McDonald & Gordon Hood took top local spot with 4th overall and the A. K. Stevenson Trophy for the top SOSCC Crew.

1st Overall. Drew Gallacher & J. Eyres, Chevette. Some of the other locals crews` results: 20th. Car 47, Tom Gilhooly & Ian Nelson. 37th. Car 74, Roland Simey & George Rutherford. 46th. Car 58, Alex Watson & Lawrence Clark. 47th. Car Car 80, Mike Riddick & Bob Green. 52nd. Car 57, David Mckeown & Kenny Morland. The full results list is yet to be traced.

1981.

The 1981 Mogil Motors Stages on Saturday September 19th had 82 starters and 58 finishers after seven stages totalling 45 miles in Twiglees, Castle O`er, Ae (3 stages), Dalbeattie and Mabie. Rally HQ was the Mercury Motor Inn in Moffat, where it started and finished with service/lunch at the Embassy Hotel Dumfries. Clerks of the Course were Alan Candlish and Fraser Robison, Secretary - Brian Carruthers, Club Stewards - Derek Attwood & John Taylor, RAC Observer - Janathan Lord, Scrutineer - Rab McDonald, Timekeeper - Bob Morland, Press Officer - Roland Proudlock. The entry fee was £50 and the rally was a round of the Esso Scottish, West Of Scotland and Norflex ANECCC Rally Championships. Incidentally, as the club had at reasonably late notice, found itself without a sponsor for its flagship event, Tony Charnell, the MD of the local brach of Mogil Motors had no hesitation in putting his firm`s name on his event.

The road book only contained a long list of map references which the navigators had to plot on maps, to find their way round the route. As this rally took place pre-Dumfries bypass, an extra 16 minutes were built into the road timing to let the cars push their way through the town and interestingly, the noise check took place after scrutineering!. Top ten seeds were:-

1 K. Wood & P. Brown - TR7 V8, 2 D Buckley & G Blackie - Escort RS 1800, 3 I. Wilson & P. Mason - Talbot Sunbeam, 4 A. Arneil & R. Anderson - Chevette 2300, 5 A. McSkimming & R. Wilson - Escort RS 1800, 6 W. McDonald & G. Hood - Escort RS 1800, 7 K. Stewart & J. Stewart - Escort 2000, 8 R. Close & J Parker - Kadett GTE, 9 M. Nichol & G. Mackie - Escort RS 2000, 10 A. Wood & A. Weatherhead - Escort 1800. Other notable entries were: 13 Ivor Clark & Tom Fleming (late entry, so no car listed) 21 Kenny Nairn & R. Carruthers - Escort RS 1800, 23 Micky Rankin & George Black - Escort 2000, 30 Anthony Charnell & Roy McCourt - Escort RS 2000, 37 George Donaldson & B. Woodward - Mini, 39 Jock Davidson & Ronnie Kirkpatrick - Escort 1300 GT.

Top ten overall were:-

1st. Ken Wood & Peter Brown. TR7 V8. 49 minutes 19 seconds.

2nd. Ivor Clark & T. Fleming. ?????. 49.47.

3rd. Walter McDonald & Gordon Hood. RS 1800. 50.15.

4th. Alan Arneil & Roger Anderson. Chevette 2300. 50.54.

5th. K. Stewart & J. Stewart. Escort 2000. 51.33.

6th. Darryl Weidner & D. Hart. RS 1800. 51.36.

7th. Russell Close & John Parker. Kadett GTE. 52.04.

8th. T. Muir & G. Sharp. Escort 1840. 52.08.

9th. Ian Wilson & Peter Mason. Talbot Sunbeam. 52.49.

10th. B. Stanners & A. Sylph. Escort 2000. 53.05.

The `AK Stevenson Trophy` for first South of Scotland Car Club crew, went to Walter McDonald & Gordon Hood. The Embassy Hotel Trophy went to Ivor Clark & T. Fleming. The Demolition Autos award was won by Micky Rankin and George Black and `Man of the Rally` was T. Fleming. Dont know why, but could it be just for sitting beside Ivor Clark?.

1982.

The 1982 Mogil Motors Stages took place on Saturday September 11th and was the penultimate round of the Esso Scottish Rally Championship (the last round being the `Sprint Tyres Trossachs Rally`) and as the following week`s report in the Dumfries Courier records, "was totally dominated by Ken Wood (Galashiels) in the flying Golden Wonder Triumph TR7 V8. Wood finished almost three minutes ahead of his closest rival, Robin Christie (Port William) driving a Vauxhall Chevette, after a particularly demanding one day rally. Dumfries couple Micky Rankine and George Black finished in 11th place only 6 minutes behind the leaders".

Starting at the Moffat Mercury Motor Inn, the 85 car entry tackled the six stages that were on offer, ranging from 4 to 12 miles in length. Bruce Lyle (Chevette) and Allan Arneil were both potential challengers but Lyle`s Merson Signs Chevette left the track on stage two while Arneil`s Nicholsons sponsored Escort broke a half shaft, also on stage two. The chase for second place was then taken up by the three Vauxhall Chevettes of Port William`s Robin Christie, Inverness`s Dougie Riach and Fort Augustus`s Wilson Girvan. Girvan fell foul of a nasty corner on stage four, leaving Christie to to keep Riach at bay, finishing just 11 seconds apart at the finish.

Results:.

1st. Ken Wood & Peter Brown, Galashiels, Triumph TR7 V8, 49.44.

2nd. Robin Christie & Roy Campbell, Port William, Chevette, 52.34.

3rd. Dougie Riach & Jack Davidson, Inverness, Chevette, 52.45.

4th. Andrew Wood & Gordon Hood, Melrose, Escort, 53.20.

5th. Bill McGhie & Andrew Hosie, Skene, Escort, 54.30.

6th. Jimmy Fleming & Robin Cunningham, Ayr, Toyota Starlet, 55.26.

7th. David Metcalfe & Phil Sandham, Darlington, Escort, 55.28.

8th. George Gillespie & David Marshall, Larkhall, Sunbeam, 55.28.

9th. Marion Bol & Tony Janetta, Escort, 55.42.

10th. John Allan & Ian Webb, Oban, Escort, 55.48.

As stated above, 11th. Micky Rankin & George Black, Dumfries, Escort 55.54.

There were 61 finishers.

1984.

The Tweedies Daihatsu Autumn Stages ran on Saturday September 8th and had 72 starters and 50 finishers. Here are the top ten finishers:-

1st. Car 0, Malcolm Wilson & Nigel Harris. (Clyde Valley Trophy)

2nd. Car 2, Ken Wood & Peter Brown. (Embassy Hotel Trophy)

3rd. Car 15, Dougie Watson Clark & Ron Palmer.

4th. Car 12, T. Stephenson & P. Jackson.

5th. Car 13, George Marshall & Brian Marshall.

6th. Car 8, T. Muir & G. Sharp.

7th. Car 9, Robin Christie & George Black.

8th. Car 5, Dom Buckley Snr & Doug redpath.

9th. Car 14. G. Gillespie & G. Black. 1st in Group A.

10th. Car 4, Dougie Riach & B. Wilson.

Other notable entries were:- 40th. Car 1, Donald Heggie & Ian Mungall. 42nd. Car 3, Andrew Wood & D. Paterson. Retired in stage 1, Car 6, Murray Grierson & Roger Anderson. Retired in stage 1, Car 7, Jimmy Fleming & Rob Cunningham. Retired in stage 6, Car 10, David Gillanders & G. Neish. 15th. Car 22, Mike Riddick & John McQuaker. 24th. Car 27, Andy Kelly & Gordon Hastie. 14th. Car 31, Tommy Finn & Jonathan Lord who picked up the `Demolition Autos Award` for the first West of Scotland Championship crew. 11th. Car 40, Kenny Dorans & Alan Burgess, who picked up the `Newcomers Trophy`. 22nd. Car 42, Brian Kinghorn & John Campbell, who picked up the AK Stevenson Trophy for the first SOSCC Crew. 48th. Car 57, Ruth Gilchrist & Donald Peracock. Retired in stage 1, Car 61, Niall Cowan & Barbara Armstrong. Retired in stage 6, Richard McCrow & Emma McCrow. 23rd. Car 65, David Turnbull & Gavin Murray.

Marque awards:- Dougie Watson Clark & Ron Palmer (Ford). George Marshall & Brian Marshall (General Motors). Ken Wood & Peter Brown (Austin/Rover). Spirit of the Rally - David Turnbull & Gavin Murray.

1985

The Tweedies Daihatsu Autumn Stages had 72 starters and 55 finishers. Top ten finishers:-

1st. Car 9, David Gillanders & G. Neish, 37 minutes 49 seconds.

2nd. Car 6, Smith & Carstairs, 37.50.

3rd. Car 3, Murray Grierson & Roger Anderson, 37.55.

4th. Car 5, Robin Christie & Roy Campbell, 38.11.

5th. Car 4, Jimmy Girvan & McGilvray, 38.29.

6th. Car 10, Girvan & Urquhart, 38.30.

7th. Car 26, Whiteford & Gallacher, 38.57.

8th. Car 7. Fletcher & Chisholm, 39.12.

9th. Car 8, Alistair Brearley & Wilson, 39.18.

10th. Car 21. Mike Riddick & Bob Green. 40.13.

Other notable entries:- 34th. Car 11, George Gillespie & George Black, 44.41. 15th. Car 15, Stewart Robertson & Lawrence Clark 41.02. Retired on stage 2. Car 27, Brian Kinghorn & Jim Stairs. 24th. Car 51, Alastair Stewart & Willie Nelson 43.17. Retired on stage 1. Car 54, Jock Black & Ian (Bing) Crosbie.

`AK Stevenson Trophy` for first SOSCC crew - Alastair Stewart & Willie Nelson.

`Demolition Autos Trophy` for first West of Scotland Championship driver - A. Kelly.

Marque Awards:-

Gordon Smith / Carstairs (Ford - Mogil Motors Trophy) Robin Christie / Roy Campbell (General Motors - SMT) G. Anderson / Thomson (British Leyland - Corries).

1st Scottish Championship Crew - David Gillanders and G. Neish. 1st Scottish Championship Newcomer - J. Girvan.

1987

The Tweedies Daihatsu Autumn Stages ran on September 6th. It had 78 starters and 52 finishers. Top ten finishers:-

1st. Car 1, Murray Grierson & Roger Anderson, Kadett 400, 28 minutes 07 seconds.

2nd. Car 2, Kenneth Dorans & Alan Burgess, Metro 6R4, 28.21.

3rd. Car 4, Raymond Kirk & John Davidson, Escort, 29.16.

4th. Car 46, Don Milne & John Baird, Nissan 240, 29.249.

5th. Car 38, Brian Kinghorn & Rob Grant, Escort, 30.09.

6th. Car 6, John Hepple & Jimmy Burns, Escort, 30.17.

7th. Car 11. Alastair Stewart & Willie Nelson, Nova Sport, 30.34.

8th. Car 22, Eddie O`Donnell Jnr & Eddie O`Donnell Snr, Escort, 31.00.

9th. Car 25. Alan Barrie & Alan McKean, Sunbeam, 31.01.

10th. Car 9. Ricky Wheeler & Ian Kimm, Escort, 31.07.

Other notable entries:- 11th. Car 5, George Gass & Gerry Bryden, Manta, 31.13. 37th. Car 16 John Willis & Sharon Willis, Mini, 34.11. Retired. Car 26, Ian Paterson & Helen Brown, Escort. 32nd, Car 33, Barbara Armstrong & Mhairi Harvey, Sunbeam 33.23. 25th. Car 41, Garde Murray & Gavin Murray, Escort 32.59. Retired. Car 44, Richard Dickson & Iain Haining, Astra. 19th. Car 54, Niall Cowan & Mike Rollo, Peugeot GTI, 31.57. 28th. Car 55, Alan Candlish & David Kirkpatrick, Sierra, 33.04. 18th. Car 56, David Mckeown & Gordon Paterson, Ascona, 31.44. 47th. Car 62, Allan Paterson & Kenny Wyllie, Escort, 36.07. 43rd. Car 65, Keith Forster & Derek Forster, Avenger, 34.37. 50th. Car 67, Brian Jardine & Stuart Wilson, Escort, 39.43. 51st. Car 69, Andy Nicholson & David Beattie, Sunbeam 44.18. Rolled. Edward Fergusson & Sharon White, Skoda. 45th. car 73, Mark McKnight & Struan McKay, Escort 35.22. OTL. Car 75, Neil MacGregor & David Leslie, Escort.

Marque awards:-

John Willis & Sharon Willis, Mini (Austin/Rover - Corries of Dumfries Shield) Stuart Peebles & Richard Clark, Escort (Ford - Mogil Motors Shield) George Gass & Gerry Bryden, Manta (General Motors - SMT Shield)

First South of Scotland Car Club crew: David McKeown & Gordon Paterson.

1988.

The Tweedies Daihatsu Forest Stages too place on July 16th 1988. (Note that it has now moved away from Autumn and the name has changed accordingly) The motor sport headline in the Dumfries `Standard` on Wednesday July 20th 1988, read "Colin Follows In His Fathers Footsteps".

This was the lead-in to a report on the previous Saturday`s SOSCC stage rally and here are some excerpts from it:

"Perhaps it was a case of history repeating itself for the MacRae family on Saturday. For Dumfries provided the backdrop for son Colin`s first ever rally victory... fourteen years after it did the same for his dad, Jimmy. Colin, the Lanarkshire driver fast building a name for himself on the rallying circuit, won the Tweedies Daihatsu Forest Stages rally in torrential rain. It was his first ever overall win after several events where he took the runner-up spot.

Dad, Jimmy won his first event here back in 1974 when it was known as the Autumn Stages rally. Colin was driving the Nissan 240 RS and took along his girlfriend, Alison Hamilton as co-driver."

And so, a bit of history was made right here, where both father and son enjoyed the sweet smell of success in the local forests, courtesy of the South of Scotland Car Club. Of course the report goes on to ralate the stories of a number of other local competitors, whose successes or failures merited a mention at the time but would take up too much space here to repeat it all.

However it`s difficult to resist repeating the final part of the report, which goes, "And on a final amusing note, Eddie Fergusson enjoyed an unexpected `race` in the Skoda Estelle. He slowed down at the first junction in the event and as he was doing so, spotted a rabbit in the road. The rabbit spotted him and decided to shoot off in the same direction. Eddie`s foot went to the floor and the pair zoomed off, with the rabbit accelerating away". Mentioning Colin MacRae`s first victory and this tale in the same rally report, must surely be what they mean by going from the sublime to the ridiculous!

And needless to say, Alison later became Colin`s wife.

Results:

1st. Colin McRae & Alson Hamilton, Nissan 240 RS, 33.09.

2nd. Richard Wheeler & Bob Morland, Escort, 33.36.

3rd. Murray Grierson & Mark Grierson, Escort, 33.41.

4th. Pat Haley & Anne Cavanagh, Talbot Sunbeam, 33.54.

5th. Brian Allan & David Reid, Escort, 33.55.

6th. Ian Wilson & David Marshall, Opel Kadett 400, 34.01.

7th. Steve Petch & Alan Grimstone, Daihatsu Charmant, 34.34.

8th. Raymond Kirk & John Davidson, Escort, 34.36.

9th. Alisdair Stewart & William Nelson, Suzuki Swift GTI, 34.50.

10th. Michael Riddick & Isobel Riddick, Toyota Corolla, 34.52.

The A. K. Stevenson Trophy for first SOSCC crew went to Raymond Kirk & John (Jock) Davidson. Men of the Meeting were Ian Paterson & Alan Paterson who after the failure of the rally car`s engine on the eve of the rally, borrowed the engine from their Transit Van service vehicle, fitting it overnight and going on to finish the event. Here`s a bit more from the newspaper report; "Around 85 cars started the event that featured reverse seeding for the first time. It meant the faster drivers set off last, a move designed to allow the slower competitors a chance to use the roads while they were in better condition. It had a good effect in that it attracted more entrants. But on the practical side, it resulted in many of the faster cars catching up on the slower ones".

Dumfries`s Ian Currie & Colin Johnstone lost the brakes on their Avenger on stage 2 and did the 8.5 miles of Dalbeattie with only the handbrake to stop them. Alan Candlish, accompanied by Andy Jardine failed to finish in their Sierra, Alan`s first non-finish in ten years, Mike & Isobel Riddick had a good battle with Niall Cowan and Mick Rollo`s 205 GTI, the Riddicks taking the upper hand on this occasion.

1989.

The 1989 Tweedies Daihatsu Forest Stages Rally was a round of the West of Scotland, ANECCC, County Motors and Cumbria Motor Sport Group Stage Championships. There were 71 starters and 51 finishers. The five stages were called Gowkstane, Gawinmoor, Dalbeattie, Ae and Auchencairn - some names more familiar than others !.

1st. Stewart Robertson & Lawrence Clark, Metro 6R4, 36 minutes 38 seconds.

2nd. Murray Grierson & Roger Anderson, Metro Ford, 38.03.

3rd. Jimmy Girvan & Campbell Roy, Toyota GT4, 39.18.

4th. Donald Harper & Douglas McCallum, Cosworth, 39.33.

5th. Keith Lovergreen & Ro Lee, Escort, 39.56.

6th. Michael Riddick & Isobel Riddick, Celica, 40.01.

7th. Peter Herron & Tom Herron, Escort, 40.13.

8th. Andrew Scott & John Herbert, Escort, 40.14.

9th. Gordon Smith & Alan Stark, Cosworth, 40.36.

10th. John McKenzie & Trish Elder, Ascona, 40.42.

Other notable local finishers were:- 11th, David McKeown & John Smith, Ascona, 40.52. 13th, Alan Barrie & Alan Mckean, Escort, 41.07. 16th, Brian Kinghorn & Jim Stairs, Escort 41.15. 17th, Richard Dickson & Jack Houston, Sunbeam, 41.18. 25th, Andrew MacGregor & Paul Atkinson, Escort, 43.05. 30th, Alan Candlish & Bob Morland, Sierra, 43.25. 31st, Alan McMorran & Ronnie Kirkpatrick, Avenger, 43.25. 33rd, Barbara Armstrong & Amanda Burnie, 309 GTI, 44.00. 39th, Alisdair Stewart & Mairi Harvey, Suzuki Swift, 47.05. 40th, George Porteous & David Porteous, Escort, 47.12. 45th, Stewart Paterson & Kenneth Wyllie, Escort 49.07. 50th, Willie Nelson & John Kelly, Escort, 63.54.

First South of Scotland Car Club Crew, David McKeown & John Smith.

Marque Awards:

Donald Harper & Douglas McCallum (Ford - Mogil Motors Shield) John McKenzie & Trish Elder (General Motors - SMT Shield) Stewart Robertson & Lawrence Clark (Austin Rover - Corries of Dumfries Shield).

1990.

The 1990 Tweedies Daihatsu Forest Stages Rally ran on Sunday 29th April. There were 67 starters and 46 finishers. The seven stages were, Auchencairn, Curly Knowe, Ae, Dalbeattie, Auchencairn, Curly Knowe, & Ae. The rally was co-promoted by SOSCC and Wigton Motor Club.

1st. Murray Grierson & Roger Anderson, MG Metro. 40 minutes & 01 seconds.

2nd. John Gray & Fergus Loudon, Sierra Cosworth. 40 minutes & 36 seconds.

3rd. Donald Harper & Gus McKinnon, Sierra Cosworth. 40 minutes & 40 seconds.

4th. Tom Coughtrie & Bobby Wallace, Escort RS. 41 Minutes & 35 seconds.

5th. Ian Wilson & John Bennie, Sunbeam. 41 minutes & 36 seconds.

6th. Steve Petch & Andrew Grimstone, Charmant. 42 minutes & 21 seconds.

7th. George Porteous & Andy Jardine, Escort. 42 minutes & 22 seconds.

8th. Brain Allan & David Reid, Escort. 42 minutes & 50 seconds.

9th. Kevin Harker & Chris Goldsworthy, Escort. 43 minutes & 29 seconds.

10th. Allan Clark & Gordon Gracey, Avenger. 43 minutes & 29 seconds.

Other past & present members, who finished this particular event were:

12th, Alisdair Stewart & Mairi Harvey, Suzuki Swift, 43.40. 16th, Robert Dickson & John Kelly, Escort, 44.19. 17th, Ian Paterson & Keith Forster, Samba, 44.29. 41st, Willie Cork & Mark Houston, Escort, 49.53. 45th, Edward Fergusson & Edith Dempster, Skoda, 54.40 and 46th, Ruth & George Myatt, Avenger, 58.59.

Marque Awards:-

John Hughes and Peter Foy (General Motors - SMT Shield) (Austin Rover - Corries of Dumfries Shield - not awarded) John Gray & Fergus Loudon (Ford - Mogil Motors Shield).

1st South of Scotland Car Club Crew - George Porteous & Andy Jardine.

`A` is for Alphabet.

In this section of the history page, a wee bit of a story about members past and present who competed or achieved something remarkable, will be provided. So, for `A` we could have Attwood as the surname and Derek for the first name, but only when the details for Derek Attwood are obtained and put together.

For starters though, we can select `B` for Bogie.

B.

Bogie - John, who lives just outside Dumfries, is one club member who really has to juggle his time between running thriving businesses and rallying. Born in 1955, John`s first taste of stage rallying came when he turned seventeen but at that time he was very limited for choice as to what car to use, due to the fact that he had previously suffered severe leg injuries in a car crash, meaning that a car with only two pedals would do!. At that time, you could buy a Daf 55, a belt-driven affair which, while they could be bought for road use, were fairly scarce in rallying circles. The car provided limited success but was a lot of fun, nonetheless. John comes from a long line of rallyists, his dad Ian having serviced for his uncle, Francis Dundas, who won the first ever Scottish Rally in Jowett Javelin. Two other uncles, one called Francis Bogie and the other, also called John Bogie, served their time in rallies, uncle John campaigning a Mini Cooper for a number of years, regularly taking in the Scottish Rally with wife Pat navigating, as the highlight of their year.

After a few years of the Daf, John `retired` from stage rallying prematurely at 22 and with business commitments, marriage and then kids coming along, was satisfied to continue his sport on navigational rallies, partnered by guys such as, Alan Edwards, Frank Wright and David Paterson. His best result at this level came on the SOSCC`s legendary `Doonhamer` night navigational rally, which he and Frank won outright, against a full-house entry of 120 cars. John remembers the keen competition between him and other clubmates and came to expect all sorts of tricks and lies from the likes of Micky Rankin, Murray Grierson and Big Stewart Robertson, all of whom tried to outdo each other, to win at all costs. He recalls one amusing incident on a navigational rally, when approaching a ford (river crossing) near the Haugh of Urr. Alan Edwards knew that the road the ford was on wasn`t on the rally route but he did know it was a decent short cut. They arrived at the ford with Alan shouting "its a goer, go on, go on". As John gingerly lined the car up at the edge of the ford which was (to him at least) obviously in flood, Alan continued to encourage John to "go for it". At that moment, John spotted a huge tree, complete with branches, entering the range of the headlights and shooting past them, heading downstream at a rate of knots. He reckons they would have been found somewhere way out in the Solway Firth, had he listened to Alan that night.

John re-started stage rallying again at 45 but this was a very much more adventurous affair, campaigning two immaculate Metro 6R4s for just a few years, scoring a fantastic string of results in the process. His worst memory is the big crash on the 2005 Jim Clark, when he mistook a corner for one similar to it elsewhere on the route, the resultant crash scene resembling `a light plane crash` more than a car accident, according to John. He and David `Pat` Paterson were very lucky to get away from that one so lightly, as the previously immaculate Metro was wrecked.

But without doubt, his favourite result was on the 2006 Cheviot Rally on Otterburn, a round of the National Tarmac Championship. Despite only 50 foot visibility in heavy fog over the last stage, where the pair had to rely totally on the pace notes at speed, while fearing that one of the many cattle that roam freely on the ranges might looom out of the darkness, they pressed on and took the win. At the moment they crossed the finish line, John had made his mind up and shocked everyone, including wife Anne, by stepping up for his trophy and simultaneously announcing he was retiring on the spot.

John feels very privileged to have met so many genuinely nice people during his rally career, including Chris Wood who prepared his Metros until a tragic motorbike crash took his life and of course, Colin Mcrae, who used to call in at John`s factory at short notice, just for a chat. Now, all John`s motorsport efforts go into assisting son David in building his rally career, while also generously supporting the Autumn Stages Rally and proudly holding the post of Honorary Vice President of the SOSCC. Dated 19/08/2008.

C.

Charnell - Tony, born in Dudley, West Midlands in 1937, went straight from school to work with Rootes in Coventry as an apprentice and after a succession of promotions within the industry, finally arrived in Dumfries in 1974 as `Dealer Principal` with Mogil Motors, the Ford dealers at Locharbriggs. Here, among many successful associations with motor sport, Tony was instrumental in giving Louise Aitken Walker one of her breaks in rallying, sponsoring her for a time in a rapidly driven Fiesta. Tony also deserves credit for personally stepping in to save the Autumn Stages in 1981, when it unexpectedly found itself without a sponsor. Thereafter, the `Mogil Motors Stages` became a well known name in Scottish rallying circles. And it would be fitting to mention that Tony competed on this event with Roy McCourt co-driving, starting at 30 and finishing 38th.

But Tony was a motor racing man and back in August 1962 had his first race, at Oulton Park in an Austin Healey Sprite Prototype, finishing about 20th. 1963 saw his progression to a Healey 3000, with 2 wins at Silverstone and various sprint awards. Having moved to Scotland in 1964 a sprite was his mode of racing transport at three or four meetings while 1965 saw his move to an Imp which he raced at Ingliston, one or two autocross metings thrown in for variety. In 1966 he continued racing and autocrossing the Imp but this year also saw his first taste of endurance racing where he was a member of the winning team at the six-hour relay race at Silverstone. The Imp remained in service in 1967 but this was joined in 1968 by a Lola Twin Cam for Libre racing, with wins at both Silverstone and Croft before selling it to Ian Mclaren, another familiar name from that era.

Semi-retirment followed in 1969/70 where a group II Imp had sparse outings but this was only a short rest, as in 1971/72 he raced a fearsomely fast Chevron B8 taking 3rd in the RAC Sports Car Championship, with various wins at Ingliston and Croft. In 1973, a curiously named Chevron `Gropa` FVC took him to seven wins at Ingliston plus more at Croft, Silverstone and Mallory Park, the crowning moment of the year being where he stepped up to receive the Scottish GT Championship Trophy. Those of us with longer memories will recall the inaugural Avon Tour of Britain in 1973, a mix of racing and rallying events which seemed to cover the length and breadth of mainland UK, where he was 1st in the small car class and 23rd overall, in a Simca Rallye 1000, navigated by his wife Corinne and serviced by rally preparation legend, Des O`Dell. To see the Simca, go onto You Tube, type in `Avon Tour of Britain LLandow` and look for a wee white car, number 99.

1974 saw him race a Lola T212-FVA with which he won the Scottish Sports Car Championship and set class lap records at Ingliston, Croft, Castle Combe and Llandow. He also raced abroad for the first time at Nurburgring, where he retired with mechanical problems but at Avus - Berlin, he won the 1600cc class. An ex-Graham Hill Brabham BT38 BDA was campaigned by him at Ingliston, Croft and Silverstone. In 1975, he raced a Chevron B23 at Ingliston three times but spent much more time racing abroad, where his best results were 4th overall in a 2 Litre Championship race at Hockenheim (the original long track) and tenth at the Ostereich Ring. His 1976 successes were achieved in a Chevron B.31, with wins at Ingliston and Thruxton, 3rd overall in the RAC Sports Car Championship and 5th overall at Zolder (Interserie). His team tackled Le Mans in 1977 in the same car but retirement beckoned and a year later, the same car crashed out of Le Mans with suspension failure while leading its class.

It was a case of `third time lucky` in 1979 when, with a Chevron B36 Sports Car, he and his team-mates, Robin Smith and Richard Jones, won the 2 Litre Group 6 Class at Le Mans, where they lifted the `Woolfe Barnato Trophy` plus the `Motor` trophy for being the first British car home. Success was also tasted at Brands Hatch in the Chevron with a 3rd overall and 1st in class. In 1982, Tony raced a Lola T212 in the Atlantic Computers/Bellini Models Historic GT Championship, taking one 1st overall and four podium positions. Tony continued racing and his his last event was in 1985 but the highlight of his racing career was undoubtedly that superb class win at Le Mans in 1979.

Tony`s wife Corinne fondly remembers travelling to the race meetings in the team bus, where she struggled to get a word in, as all the men in the team, including Tony`s close friend Roy McCourt, kept her amused endlessly with their hilarious banter. Tony was a keen sportsman in other disciplines such as golf and rugby and Corinne also recalls one story where Tony was in recovery from a broken leg, sustained during a rugby match. Having only had the plaster off for two days, Tony turned up at a race meeting at Ingliston with a leg that was clearly still stiff and painful but he was determined to race. Not having been passed medically fit to race, he was summoned to the medical van and managed (despite the pain and discomfort), to affect a suave walk into the van where he was examined. The doctor gave him a thorough check and remarked "your leg must be ok, because you are walking fine". Managing to stifle a grimace, Tony strolled back out of the van, having totally duped the medic. If only he had known!. As President of the Scottish Motor Trade Association, he was honoured in 1985 to show Her Majesty the Queen round the Scottish Motor Show when it was held at the new Scottish Exhibition Centre. Tony was a gentleman and very popular for his reassuring manner. His house in Dumfries only has subtle hints of having been the home of a busy and far travelled racing driver. In the hallway, a small offcut of carpet bearing the crest of the BRDC (British Racing Drivers Club) was small consolation for Tony who really wanted to carpet the whole hall with it, but couldnt get enough!. A Silk Cut Jaguar mechanic`s pinafore hangs in the kitchen as a reminder that other members of the family still continue in the racing world. Tony sadly died after a long illness in 2001. Dated 07/10/09.

D.

Doig - Jim, who now lives in Terregles, Dumfries, thoroughly enjoyed his rallying and liked nothing better than to get out on a 12 car rally, normally accompanied by long-time friend and colleague at Dumfries`s long since closed Carnation factory, Bob Morland. Jim states quite categorically, that his greatest ever achievement was becoming the SOSCC Club Champion. Jim was also a familiar sight getting around the town in his Zephyr estate, signwritten with the legend `Moffat House Hotel`, which followed Richard Stewart`s Escort TC all over the country, as a service car on stage rallies.

Now in his 60`s, Jim is heavily involved in the local vehicle preservation society and among his proudest posessions is his red and white `Carnation` liveried lorry, which had a starring role in the `Magdalene Sisters` film, set back in the sixties/seventies and filmed right here in Dumfries, in 2002. Jim also has a double decker bus, which originated in Caerphilly and since he`s owned it, the old bus has been all over the UK including Shetland and back to Caerphilly, where Jim received a civic reception when he took it back for a visit. Dated 23/03/2006.

G.

Grierson - Murray, born in Balmaclellan in 1948 and now living in Dalbeattie, didnt get involved in motor sport until he reached 24 when he joined the SOSCC and began doing 12 car rallies in a Mini Cooper `S`, only one of a few Minis which were participating at that time, more often than not involved in epic battles along the back roads of Dumfriesshire. Murray then became a regular Scottish Championship competitor and used among other cars a fabulously fast Mk I Escort. He won the championship not once but twice, firstly in 1987 in an Opel Kadett 400 for which he collected the Stuart Brown Memorial Trophy, the Weldex Trophy, the Esso Trophy, a Skean Dhu Holday Weekend Voucher and a cheque from ESSO for £600, plus the ESSO Award for 2nd in class 6. In 1993, the win came partly thanks to his Metro 6R4, famously sponsored by his employers, ICI. Not finished there, he progressed onto the British (Mintex) National Rally Championship, finishing either first or second on every event but never taking the title, although he was runner-up thrice, first in 1988 in the Kadett and in both 1997 and 1998 in an Impreza 555.

Murray`s keen eye for detail and vast experience then took him on to many World Championship events as gravel note man for Alister McRae in the Hyundai Accent WRC car as well as Colin McRae in his Subaru Impreza WRC and Citroen Xsara WRC.

Murray has had a few navigators over the years but many will recognise one, the quiet and unassuming Roger Anderson, who partnered Murray on many many events and to this day is still heavily involved in running stage rallies.

But to finish, a little more on his own rally carrer. Murray claims his best results included one particular year on the `Scottish`, where he was 4th overall which may not be all that impressive, until you mention that Marcus Gronholm was third and Tommy Makinen was sixth!.

Then there was the 1994 Vauxhall Rally of Wales, where he proudly recalls he was third overall, which is impressive enough but take a look at the top ten: Stephen Finlay, Birger Gundersen, Murray Grierson, Tomas Abrahamsson, Bertie Fisher, Austin McHale, Tapio Laukkanen, Martin Rowe, David Llewellyn, and Runar Pedersen!. Not to mention the 1998 Bulldog Rally which had another nostalgia stirring top ten: Alistair MacRae, Murray Grierson, Marcus Dodd, Roger Duckworth, Jeremy Easson, Mark Perrott, Gwyn Jones, Brian Lyall, Nigel Worswick and Steve Hill.

Murray`s favourite funny memory hails back to 1996, when he was on the Subaru works team in support of Coln McRae`s WRC campaign. The event was a specially arranged visit to Silverstone when a Jordan F1 car, sponsored at the time by Benson & Hedges was laid on for Colin to drive, while Martin Brundle (some unknown F1 driver) was to drive the works Scooby sponsored by 555. The idea was that the back to back test would allow the drivers to compare notes and of course, make good publicity. (I mention B&H and 555, because this tobacco manufacturer of both brands, was the connection between the two teams).

Murray and Subaru colleague, Simon Redhead, were strolling round the pits and spotting the front cover was off the Jordan, they wandered over. Looking closely, Murray, an engineer of some repute noted the suspension had a `potentiometer` fitted and began explaining to Simon what this neat piece of kit could do. (Basically, a potentiometer can measure and set tiny changes in dimensions.) One of the Jordan technicians spotted the pair peering at the suspension and pompously thought he would give them the benefit of his vast knowledge. He walked over and said "Yes, that tiny instrument there is a potentiometer. With that I can sense suspension changes up to 100th of a mil". Without thinking, Simon piped up. Oh yes, but we can set the Subaru suspension spot on!".Updated 09/03/10.

H.

Hayton - David, also known by many as `Peggy`, was born in 1958 and currently lives in Bloomfield, Dumfries. David`s first event was a PCT run by SOSCC at Irongray, where he turned up in a fibreglass MG Sprite. The field being used that day was unusually steep and because of this, the organisers had specified that once they had cleared the tests, competitors should reverse straight back down the hill to avoid the possibility of cars rolling or sliding sideways into trouble. As the rules were foreign to Peggy, not only did he clear the first section easily but he also drove out of the top end of it and then along the side of the hill !. Legend has it he got a bollocking for his trouble.

Peggy has only ever rallied (always very sideways and spectacular) one model of car - the MkI Escort - firstly in a bog standard 1100 Popular 2 door model on the Machars Rally in 1977. He then moved onto 1300s and latterly a 1600 on the 2003 Scottish Rally with Derek `Rooster` Adamson. This was his last event to date. His best ever result on a rally was 3rd overall in the 2002 National `B` Centurion Rally, but he is equally proud of coming second overall in the 1300 class, in the 1982 Scottish Rally Championship. Peggy still has a Mk I sitting in a garage which is just about ready for competition and would like a chance to compete again, his ultimate ambition being to do the Roger Albert Clark.

He remembers one incident with a smile, where he and David Paterson worked hard until midnight to get the Mk I ready for the `Arbroath Stages` the following day. Having just managed to prepare the car, they set off at 4.00am, duly arrived at Arbroath, went through scrutineering & signing on and then suddently realised that they hadn`t brought anyone to drive the service car !. All they could do was carry a half-shaft and some tools in the rally car but the car was so reliable, they werent needed. At the one and a half hour service halt, Peggy and David got quietly sick of ice cream, as the only food available here, was from an ice-cream van !. David`s son Stuart is already a hot-shot on a racing kart at 12 years of age, so the Hayton dynasty in motor sport wont die out for a long time yet. Dated 20/03/07.

J.

Jardine - Andy, who was born in 1967 and now lives with his wife Rosie in Inverness, first got into rallying doing 12 cars in the 80`s but soon progressed to the stages with Alan Barrie in the Balcastle Hotel sponsored Mini their first rally being a SOSCC stage rally at Hallburn near Longtown. Later they progressed to an Escort, doing Scottish Championship events. After his spell with Alan Barrie, Andy joined Brian Kinghorn in 1987 for a couple of years of competition together, where they achieved a couple of top ten places in a 1600 Escort. At the same time he managed to cram in some West of Scotland Navigational events. While living in the Lockerbie area, Andy served on the SOSCC committee and organised 12 Cars, was Clerk of the Course on the Doonhamer Navigational Rally and later helped revive the Autumn Stages in 1990.

But back to his rallying carrer. In 1990 it was all change again, this time competing on the Scottish Championship with George Porteous. Even though work took him off the rallying scene for a wee while, he soon returned to join George in a Toyota Corolla, which he had purchased with the intention of doing the 1991 Lombard RAC Rally, this being one of the highlights of Andy`s rallying career. The support team consisted of other SOSCC members, Gordon Paterson, Kenny Morland and Brian Kinghorn. The four day event based in Harrogate went well for the team and going into the last two stages, they had calculated that as they were lying seventh in class and the prizes only went up to sixth, they`d better get their collective finger out !.

While the gap to sixth in class was one and a half minutes, they decided to "have a go - then it got foggy". Andy continues - "On the penultimate stage, we took forty seconds out of sixth place. On the last stage the fog was so thick it was easier driving with the lights out and by reading the organisers notes, we had a blazing stage with our biggest moment 100 metres before the flying finish". They waited at the stop line to await the result they had been hoping for, to discover they had got into sixth place by quite a margin. They had been 19th fastest on the last stage, upon which the results computer threw up an alarm, causing the organisers to add a minute to their time, a situation that only lasted as long as it took the team to convince the officials they were wrong !.

Oh and Juha Kankunnen won the RAC rally that year !.

In 1992 he started navigating for Andy Horne in a collection of cars, surviving one horrific accident in a Manta on Mull, against a granite boulder twice the size of the car, Andy only suffering a broken finger. Since moving North in 2004 to be White & MacKay`s Electrical Engineer in their distillery, he has started navigating again, and has done a spell on the organising team of the Snowman, run by his local Highland Car Club. Dated 20/12/2006. Updated 02/12/07..

M.

Marshall - Sadly, Sandra Marshall passed away on July 29th 2003 after a short illness. Sandra was for many years one of the largely unsung, unpaid administrators of the sport and if she was at an event, she would almost certainly be found seated behind a desk. Having initially competed at various levels of motor sport, Sandra then found it easy to adapt her administrative skills to become part of any organisational team. Sandra spent some time on the South of Scotland Car Club committee and served for a number of years as a super-efficient club secretary. She then moved onto the organisational team of the Scottish International Rally and remained there right up until her untimely death, having worked in the rally`s press office only a month before her demise. Her funeral at Beattock Church, was attended by some notable faces from Scottish Motor Sport and her helpful, eager and always cheerful personality was a great loss to motor sport. Dated 04/05/06.

M.

Monro - One of the founder members of the South of Scotland Car Club, Sir Hector Monro died on August 30th 2006 at the age of 83, having distinguished himself in a number of fields, undoubtedly his most notable achievement being Tory member of Parliament for Dumfriesshire for 33 years. Hector was a keen sportsman and in particular, an avid follower of Rugby but motor sport was also a passion from an early age. While we were making preparations to celebrate our 50th anniversary by re-running the Autumn Stages at Drumlanrig, we wrote to him for his recollections of the early years of the club and to invite him to attend the event. Here are some excerpts from his reply from his Baltimore home, dated August 17th 2003, aged 80.

Dear Roland, Many thanks for your most interesting letter, which has been forwarded here from Williamwood. (his Dumfriesshire home) I would have thought that the car club began at least in 1954, if not a year or two earlier. I am thinking of cars I drove in various competitions then, usually in rallies or driving tests. I was pretty active in 54, 55, 56 with my Triumph TR2 and represented the club in the inter-club auto tests at Turnberry. Personalities were Frank Dundas with a Cooper Climax and Denham-Cooke in his Jaguar XK120. We had lots of fun and I suppose I was an original member. The Doctor at Thornhill (Doctor Watson) was also a leading light with his Allard. He was on the RSAC Motor Sports Committee.

Later, I drifted off to vintage Bentleys and still have the club badge on it. I am sorry over the years I have lost touch with the club, though not with motor sport, as I have raced with the Bentley Drivers Club at Silverstone and was President of the Auto Cycle Union for 5 years. A week on the Isle of Man was always a great experience. I remember venues such as Halleaths, Langholm, the Ranges at Kirkcudbright and rally routes but rusty on names. Kind regards, Sir Hector Monro. Dated 26.09.06.

M.

Morland - Bob, who lives in Heathhall, Dumfries has had enough rallying experiences to fill a book. Even though he will be a septogenarian in 2007, he continues to love his rallying and can relate stories from way back. His first rallying experience was navigating for Derek Attwood in a Saab and through the years has sat beside a variety of different drivers including, of course, Ivor Clark and Jim Doig. The decision to stick to navigating was taken one night when on the `Solway Coast` (at the time a navigational event) he put a Mk 1 Escort, navigated by Walter McDonald, on its side near Lochmaben cemetery.

Bob`s best result was second overall, navigating for Ricky Wheeler senior on the 1988 Tweedies Daihatsu Stages, beaten only by Colin McRae, who was busy winning his first rally. Bob also has a flair for building rally cars and by March 2006 has already built two of the latest spec Fiestas. One of the more notable builds was Richard Stewart`s flying Anglia, which will certainly not be remembered by the younger readers even though it was legendary in its time. Pick any subject you like, and Bob will have a story. And he has a wicked sense of humour. Occasionally he`ll produce a Blue Book from 1970 and completely bamboozle the organisers, who often are not quick enough to notice it`s over 30 years out of date!. Dated 20/03/06.

McG.

McGowan - Ewan, who after many years still lives in Lochfoot, a wee village a few miles West of Dumfries, now runs the village Post Office with wife Hilda and is very involved in village life, including the popular Pantomime Group, based there. Born in 1943, Ewan has long since given up motor sport, having competed mainly in navigational and stage rallies in the late 70`s, with Frank Wright, Murray Grierson and Jock Adamson having taken spells in Ewan`s left-hand seat. Ewan`s best ever result was winning the Doonhamer Rally with Murray, an all-night event around Dumfries & Galloway, which was at that time, capable of drawing in excess of 100 entries.

Ewan`s choice of car was originally a Cortina GT (sponsored by Mogil Motors) which with development, morphed into something much more competitive. He recalls that there were times when Murray would get his lefts and rights mixed up and Ewan would find himself dangerously anticipating what Murray was about to say and then reverse it himself, to work out the correct instruction. On one all nighter, he recalls eating cold pies from Johnstonebridge Service Station, which due to their dubious quality, became nicknamed `depth charges`. He also remembers Murray coming out with this gem "If we do the next five miles in three minutes, we`ve a good chance of winning this" !.

Ewan`s first stage rally was the Autumn Stages, which he completed on standard road tyres and with no spare being carried on board. One stage in Ae was so rough because it hadn`t been regraded that at the end, Jock Adamson, remarked *!@!+* that was rough, reached into the glove compartment, pulled out a can of lager and on pulling the ring, filled the whole car with spray!. Dated 22/06/07.

P.

Paterson - Willie, (known as Micky to his friends) now a Collin resident, was born in 1936 and remembers being one of the first members, joining when Francis Dundas was Chairman. Micky ran the first club Autocross at Broadgate Farm, Mouswald in the 60`s. He competed mainly in rallies during the 50`s and 60`s, initially in a Lotus Cortina, followed by an Escort Twin Cam, in which he did his final rally, the 1972 `Scottish`, based in Aviemore. Micky was always navigated by Roy McCourt and remembers his main friendly rivalry on most events was with John (the current John`s Uncle) and Pat Bogie.

Micky recalls winning the club`s `Burmah Castrol Trophy, the whereabouts of which is currently a mystery. He also goes to great pains to emphasise that David (Plod) Reid was always his service crew and remembers with a grin, two instances where Plod provided the laughs. On the first, while servicing on the Scottish for Micky in a Ford Anglia, Plod went through a stage after the rally cars had completed it. He had his suitcase strapped to the roof rack by the handles but unfortunately, only the handles remained when he got to the end of the stage! On another occasion, while preparing the tea in a caravan which was pitched near Elgin, Plod attempted to heat a can of beans on the stove without taking the lid off. Micky remembers the explosion was like a bomb and the can went right through the caravan roof !. Dated 03/05/06.

R.

Rankin - Michael, (known by everyone as Micky) currently living near Terregles, Dumfries, is perhaps best known for his legendary car control and has a number of 1980`s stage rally wins to his name, including the now defunct farmtrack events, known as the `Machars` and the `Rhins` rallies, because of their geographical locations. Micky was also a keen competitor on club Autotests and 12 Car Rallies. Born in 1953, he recalls when 12 car rallies were fiercely fought over by a group of members and when asked to reminisce, he particularly recalls the time when he and his friend George Black (now the tyre supremo at M-Sport) were haring along in the Durisdeer area with John Bogie a minute behind. Micky `lost` the car on one corner and the car careered backwards down a banking, out of sight of the road. John Bogie soon flew past, unaware of the incident and arrived at the next control to enquire of the Marshals where Micky and George were. In fact, back down the road, the lads had got out, turned the carbs up and put the car in gear so that it would drive itself, while they shoved from the back. It worked! and they regained the road to continue.

Competing in a variety of Avengers and MkI & Mk II Escorts, he also had Jim Doig navigating for him briefly but Jim decided the partnership was over on one Machars stage rally, when they rolled end over end and finished upside down with petrol dripping round their ears!. Micky almost scored a historic second overall on one of the early `Galloway Hills` because while he was seeded 50th, the snow and ice faced by the top seeds had gone by the time he and George arrived. Sadly, a broken diff on the last stage ended the dream. Micky is particularly proud of his win on the tarmac `Runway Stages` at Kirknewton Airfield near Edinburgh in the 80`s. Up against ex-works cars valued at easily ten times the value of his Escort, he dominated the event, surprising everyone else marginally more than he did himself !. Dated 16/05/06.

R.

Reid - David, known universally as `Plod`, was born in 1950 and brought up at Morrinton, near Dunscore. Plod first joined the SOSCC in 1969 and then spent some time on the commitee in the early seventies. He has competed with a number of guys over the years, among those being his first navigator, Rab Marchbank. His first rally win was achieved when sitting beside Brian Allan on the Machars Rally in 1973. The pair remained as a team until they took their second and only other win, on the Autumn Stages in 2005, which was also to be their final rally together. Near successes included leading the Autumn Stages rally on its first running in 1972, sitting beside Gordon (Corvennie) Armstrong, the win eventually going to Alastair Brearley from the Borders.

Plod`s first event was an SOSCC 12 car rally in 1969 in a 100E Escort. The rally started between Lockerbie and Langholm and he remembers it went on for most of the night, depite heavy snow causing some crews to leave the road. Some of the cars even had to stop for a train at a level crossing on the Waverley Line near Langholm, which has long since closed. Another memory he has of 12 Cars is that they would sometimes start in the dark and finish in daylight, regularly going on for 250 miles or even more!. In fact, on one particular Wednesday night, an SOSCC 12 car and a Machars 12 car met head on, at Morton Castle near Thornhill.

He has lots of fond rallying memories, many of them funny and some which cannot be repeated here but when asked, one story came instantly to mind. Apparently, during one eventful Scottish Rally, where much merriment was being enjoyed up in the North of the country, Murray Grierson lost his wallet on a night out in Granton on Spey. After an exhaustive search, it was found at the bottom of the practice tower in Grantown`s Fire Station. Little can be remembered about that night but it seems the wallet fell out of Murray`s pocket when, in an alcohol fuelled fit of bravery, climbing the tower seemed like a good idea!. Plod also recalls when the fountains in Aviemore were filled with Squezy liquid and bubbled over and also the midnight tea-tray races down Aviemore`s dry ski-slope. He lives a much quieter but no less busy life now, and has become a bit of a thespian with Dumfries`s Guild of Players, also finding time to be part of the successful team that runs Dumfries Aviation Museum. Dated 12/04/08.

S.

Scott - Walter Francis John Montagu Douglas, known better the world over as His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry VRD KT. His Grace signed his mail simply `Buccleuch`, which was quite understandable really and no doubt (having a keen sense of humour) would find the funny side of having such a long title. He was of course known to all of us in the club as our Honorary President, a title he held for decades until his death in September 2007 a few days after our Autumn Stages rally, following a short illness. Despite his disablement which confined him to a wheelchair after a riding accident in the 1970`s, His Grace continued to run his many estates with a velvet glove, loved by some and admired by most of his employees for his understanding and compassion for each individual`s personality and needs.

Born in 1923, His Grace served in the navy, later in life moving on to serve as Member of Parliament for Edinburgh for thirteen years and then later in the House of Lords. He supported numerous charitable causes and loved sport, music and art but it was his loyalty to the South of Scotland Car Club that saw him emerge to us as a great benefactor when in 2005, he agreed to allow the use of his estate roads for a Special Stage Rally to celebrate the club`s 50th anniversary, - a club that he was instrumental in creating so many years ago. The club will show its gratitude to him and our deep respect, when a memorial tree is planted in the grounds of Drumlanrig Castle in 2008. Dated 16/01/08.

T.

Tweedie - Harold, a retired Leftenant Colonel who lives in Amisfield, Dumfries, was an active member back in the sixties, seventies and eighties and is still a fully paid member to this day. He competed in a variety of events and cars, including using a Austin Healey 3 Litre in the club`s sandracing events down on the shore at Powfoot in the sixties, which he recalls were highly dangerous events.

Apart from sponsoring the `Tweedies Daihatsu Rally`, (including 1988, the year that Colin McRae won it, this in fact being his first rally win), Harold made the local newspapers in May 1985, when he announced he was to compete on the following month`s Scottish International Rally in a 2.8 litre, 4 cylinder, Daihatsu Fourtrack, the only Diesel vehicle to enter the event. With Bob Morland alongside, the pair gave the Army Land Rovers a run for their money, beating them soundly. The Daihatsu returned from the rally to Dumfries and to more mundane agricultural duties, without a scratch. More recently, Harold surprised everyone by turning up to watch a grass autotest in May 2008 and ending up competing, driving his wee MGF on ordinary road tyres and using a borrowed helmet. You`re never to young, or too old, to go autotesting!.Dated 06/06/2008.

Lots more history still to come................