Perhaps that’s the right word, crazy. Or maybe it’s just the onset of auld age and the uncertainties that accompany advancing years. However there were a couple of issues which troubled the editorial thought processes.
The first was how to treat those rallies which embraced more than just the Scottish Championship, like the British, BTRDA, IRTC, National, Historic, regional and one-make competitions. After all, these books were intended to document the Scottish Championship not others. The easy option would have been just to report the ‘Scottish Championship’ points scoring events, but in the end I tried to address every part of each rally. This was pretty straightforward when an event counted towards just two or three championships, but events like the three day Jim Clark Rally provided a constant headache with its multiplicity of championships and one-make series over the years.
These multi-reports provided a constant concern and required umpteen re-writes but the feeling was that these events around the Scottish Championship counters were an integral part of the story and therefore had to be told. Often some of our lot were chasing points in British, National and regional competitions and were up against some of the best and brightest talent from down south and across the water, but by reporting on all ‘rallies’ within one ‘event’, their performances were able to be measured against and compared with the visitors.
Scottish rally fans will be well aware of how competitive our natural born drivers and co-drivers are but reporting their performances against the visitors puts their results into context and a wider audience can therefore derive a better understanding of the competition. Anyway, that’s my justification.
The other big problem concerned the tragic accident of 2007. Of course it couldn’t be ignored, the ‘McRae’ chapter in each book so far has been a very popular addition so it couldn’t be avoided in this latest volume. There was simply no point, and no desire, to delve into that terrible event, too much has already been reported and written about it, but equally, it couldn’t be ignored. What has been written in this book has therefore been written from a slightly different, and personal, viewpoint and others will judge whether it’s too much or too little, or indeed, whether it should have been ignored.
However, after much thought and many re-writes I am content with what has been written, regardless of what others might think. If there are doubters and critics, just remember one thing, ‘The Bears’ are very sensitive beasties – slow to rouse but quick to respond.
Anyway, the deed is done, and the results will be available for all to see shortly.
Full access details for Dalserf Bowling Club were given in the previous post but it’s also worth noting that the access road to the Club has recently been re-tarmacadamed -and now sports three ‘sleeping policemen’, not the uniformed type but the hump across the road type! If you’re intending to arrive in your McLaren, Ferrari or Lamborghini, best leave it on the public road!
Another point worth noting for newcomers to the venue. As you turn right at the foot of the road towards the Club, the sweeping headlights may fail to pick up the large flat area to the right which is the car park. It’s big enough to accommodate a bigly number of cars but only if you park sensibly - and not like some service crew in a rush to park up their van at a rally
And finally, although the Club bar is cash only, the purveyor of the books will happily accept card payments or cash!!
Oh! And finally, finally, bear in mind the Bears motto: "Wha daur meddle wi’ me?" In other words, behave yersels!
