Reliability
Run 2003 – Isle of Skye
(4th – 6th April)
Editorial and pictures by Steve Wilson
(Scottish Area Representative)
The Reliability Run or “Run To The Hills” as it became
known was the brainchild of Charlie Walker, a long-time NASC
member from London who has lived on the Isle of Skye for about
6 years. He waited until he had his Rod on the road before mentioning
it to Chris McCulloch who spoke to Shaun Wilson; the idea then
hit print in the Hot Red Gusset, shaming him into proceeding
with it. The event was run as a fund-raiser for the RNLI on
the Island.
The response was significantly more than Charlie had ever imagined
given it was so early into the hotrod & custom season, he’d
have been quite happy with 15 cars – he ended-up with around
40. In fact, the venue was quickly over-subscribed and he had
to find additional accommodation locally when the hotel was
fully booked. He was a victim of his own success and ended up
having to turn people away such was the overwhelming response
he received.
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| Brian
Watson's '47 |
Around fifteen cars came up from
England on the Thursday including Kevin Rooney’s Kapri
Klassic all the way from the South coast and Charlie’s
son Paul from London in a model T pick-up and they all stayed
overnight in Hamilton. On Friday morning, joined by (and continually
supplemented with) Scottish participants, the cruise made it’s
way up in sunshine through the breath-taking scenery of Callander,
Fort William, Kyle of Lochalsh then over the bridge to the Isle
of Skye and up through Portree to Duntulm Castle Hotel on the
North end of the Island. Friday night was spent at the bar catching
up with old friends and making new ones.
Saturday morning saw blue sky(e) and more sunshine as we made
our way to Uig Ferry Terminal for a fuel stop and our first
local attraction, the Isle of Skye Brewery.
The Brewery had made a special set of labels with a hot rod
on it for one of their many fine ales and called it “Top
Fuel”. Almost everybody bought a four pack, which saw the
shop quickly having to get more labels to cope with demand.
Then the cruise set off again to visit the magnificent Dunvegan
Castle and then the oldest pub on the island at the beautiful
coastal village of Stein. By this point the weather was unseasonably
warm (even by Scottish standards!) and a lazy time was spent
in the sun outside the pub taking in the impressive view. Brian
Watson in his gorgeous ’47 Ford backed his car down the
jetty to the waters edge followed by a queue of others to make
the most of the unique photo opportunity.
Later in the afternoon the cruise made its way to Portree where
a car park in the centre of town had been kept especially for
the cruise to allow the participants to park together. This
was organized by Charlie and the RNLI who watched over the cars
while the visitors got to walk around Portree in the sunshine
and visit the local shops or the harbour. The local public came
to gaze in wonder at the amazing collection of cars and the
RNLI staff walked amongst them with buckets collecting for their
very worthy cause. Over the whole weekend we all helped raise
a total of £640.
We returned to the hotel for a drink and a shower before one
of the biggest (and certainly most varied!) buffet’s I’ve
ever had at a Rod Run. The chefs from the Duntulm Castle Hotel
and the Flodigarry Hotel did themselves proud to the extent
that several people remarked on Sunday that they weren’t
hung-over because they couldn’t drink too much on Saturday
night after such a great feed.
Before the disco kicked-off Charlie presented top five trophies
to his choice of the attendees. Margaret Sice and myself presented
the NASC Pick trophy to Michael Hannah from Dreghorn, Ayrshire
for his super clean white 1965 Pontiac Le Mans which is set
off by a set of 17” ARE Torq-thrust’s with disc brakes
all round. Mark McHardy and Pete Griffith’s of the NSRA
presented Charlie with a trophy for organizing such a great
event.
 |
| Charlies
Deuce |
The disco was ably operated by the multi-tasking Charlie and
went on through the night until closing time when the mini bus
which was laid on, came to take groups back to their additional
accommodation – what service!
Sunday morning arrived with blue sky and sunshine – yes,
again! After another great breakfast some of the participants
gathered to head home together, whilst others who were staying
on, went on another cruise around the island for more stunning
scenery and a better understanding of the heritage and attractions
such a beautiful island has to offer.
Unfortunately, my friends and I eventually had to go about 2pm
on the Sunday. It seemed a great shame to leave the others,
the scenery and the fantastic weather. What was very apparent
from everyone I spoke to over the course of the weekend was
that this was a well-organised, well-catered for and carefully
thought out Run, quite different to most others – made
all the more impressive by the relatively short space of time
in which it came together.
Charlie will be the first to admit that he didn’t do it
on his own, it was a real family effort from his wife Irene
who was a tremendous help and co-organizer, and their son Paul
who helped-out all weekend and had organized T-shirts for the
Run. Also, husband and wife team Andy
& Pam, who own the Duntulm Castle
Hotel and the Flodigarry Hotels respectively, who put up with
us all and provided excellent accommodation and quality food.
I would like, on behalf of everyone who attended, to thank everyone
who helped make this a Run we’ll talk about for a long
time to come.
This is scheduled to be a bi-annual event and due to it’s
location can only cope with a limited number of cars. My name’s
already down for Run To The Hills 2005 – if you want to
guarantee yourself a space call Charlie on (01470) 562216. |
