Wow - what a weekend!

Having enjoyed the Gathering of the Clans for the last few years, we decided that it was probably our turn to organise this annual event which brings together the MGOC Regional sections from all over Scotland. 

Plans started at the beginning of the year and since people would be travelling from across Scotland to attend, we decided to make a weekend of it.  

For the last few years, the event has been held in September at Doune in the district of Stirling, but has generally been cold and, on many occasions, wet, so the decision was made to bring it forward by a few months in the hope of catching some good weather. Luckily, this decision proved to be a good one!

We decided to return the event to a location where it had last been held way back in 1998, namely the Grampian Transport Museum, which is located in the village of Alford, Aberdeenshire and following initial meetings with them, we settled on the weekend on 22^nd / 23^rd June. 

We managed to secure reduced rate accommodation in the village hotels and also arranged a dinner for the Saturday night at the Forbes Arms Hotel.

We then met with staff at Balmoral Castle to try and arrange a visit there on the Sunday. Two road runs had previously been devised for a Transport Museum event to Balmoral but sadly this never happened due to Covid – so the road runs were resurrected and it was all systems go!!  We sat back, and waited for entries.

A magnificent 81 cars entered, with a couple of last-minute additions arriving on the day.

Saturday dawned reasonably bright as the cars started to arrive as luck would have it, we were fortunate in that a large marquee that had been erected for an event the weekend before hadn’t been taken down, so when a forecast “less than 5% chance of rain” turned into a 100% chance, we were able to shelter in the marquee, inside which the MGOC stand, Alford Rotary Club / Charlie House charity stand, raffle and signing on were all located.

Luckily, it was just a passing shower and the weather improved significantly for the rest of day,

The Grampian Transport Museum has a purpose built short oval circuit and we used this for some slow speed parade laps as well as a light-hearted driving skills test. Drivers were asked at signing on whether they wished to participate in this, but very few did, presumably because they didn’t really understand what it entailed and had visions of some sort of Autotest! That is, until we started doing it – at which point lots of people joined the queue and all thoroughly enjoyed it!

Brilliantly organised by Museum Trustee Kevin McCormick, the test comprised of the following:

1.     A mark was placed on the front tyre, and the driver had to drive forward 3 revolutions of the wheel,

2.     The driver had to parallel park against a kerb (a length of 2"x2" timber!) with the aim of getting as close as possible to it without touching it,

3.     One fixed vertical post and a moveable one – the driver indicated to the marshal to move the moveable post in to leave the minimum gap to get his car through,

4.     A bicycle was parked, and the driver had to stop the minimum legal distance of 1.5 metres from it,

5.     Finally, the driver had to drive up to a post and stop as close to it as possible. 

Many people had more than one go and all were surprised how difficult it was - especially the distance from the bike!  All agreed though that it was an excellent addition to the day. Emerging victorious at the end of a very close competition was Colin Ross in his 1966 grey MGB GT, who won a bottle of Prosecco for his efforts.   

Entry included entrance for 2 people into the Museum and many took take advantage of this, as well as the many catering facilities available both on site and in the village.

On Saturday evening, around 60 people attended the evening meal at the Forbes Arms Hotel, who looked after us all extremely well  

Sunday dawned with clear blue skies and bright sunshine and just over 50 cars re-assembled at the museum and after a bacon roll and a coffee, set off on one of the two routes to Balmoral Castle. Given the varying ages of the cars attending, two routes had been prepared – one on major roads for the older cars who might have struggled on the second route, which was more uphill and down dale.  Details of the road run appear below, and the road books are available for download if you fancy a drive one day!  

On arrival at Balmoral, we drove through the famous gates up the drive to the front of the Castle where we all parked in brilliant sunshine. Entrants were then free to undertake the audio tour of the Castle and grounds and visit the exhibitions and café, before dispersing home.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend helped in no small measure by the fabulous weather Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and we had many letters of thanks, here are some examples:

• Please pass on our thanks from the Glasgow MGOC, and a big well done for a great weekend

• On behalf of Stirling MGOC members who attended the GOTC, many thanks to Aberdeen MGOC members for putting together and hosting this fabulous event at an excellent location, and the road run was certainly an added bonus, with terrific Aberdeenshire scenery enthralling us all. I'm sure most of us are familiar with the work, dedication, and preparation by the many people involved in putting together such an event, but I must say that Aberdeen MGOC have well and truly "Nailed it!" Thank you one and all, and for allowing us to be part of this fantastic event.

• Just to second Nigel's comments, it was an absolutely fabulous weekend, and so well organised. A big thank you to you and your team for all your superb efforts from all at the Edinburgh club also.

• Thank you one and all for hosting the event. It was such a special weekend, and the weather just capped it all, so much so it has shifted the bar I would say, new location and new month, seems the order from now on. I will be sure to pass on your email to all the Octagon members who attended and once again our thanks.

• I know you will get appreciation from our club secretary at Highland MGOC for a splendid weekend at the GotC, but I wanted to send you and your team at Aberdeen MGOC my personal thanks and congratulations for such an excellent, and very well organised event.

• My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute, and met many old, and new, friends.

• Please pass on our thanks to all involved and, I have to say, what a fantastic venue. Sorry we didn't get chance to talk to you but hope to meet you again soon.

• Just a quick note of thanks for the brilliant weekend Gathering of the Clans event. Our members that attended including myself had a great time and the weather didn't disappoint either. Thank you all again for the tremendous effort and successful gathering.

Many thanks to all entrants, helpers, marshals, Kevin McCormick, staff at the Grampian Transport Museum, The Forbes Arms Hotel, Balmoral Castle and everyone else involved.

Thanks also to Lewis Mackland and John Chessor for supplying the additional photos below, which, due to the random way that the site uploads images, are in no particular order.

Evening Express - June 22nd

A to B (Alford to Balmoral!) Road Run

Road Books can be downloaded via the links below: