A Passion for Wheels By Councillor Douglas Cameron
Douglas Cameron is well know=
n in the
North East of Scotland where for many years he ran a very successful garage
business in the village
of Kintore.
The business continues in the capable hands of his son, Neil. In his retire=
ment,
Douglas was elected as the councillor for Kintore and
Keithhall - a ward of Aberdeenshire Council tha=
t lies
between Aberdeen City and the expanding market town=
of Inverurie. Douglas was also a much respected volunteer member of the local fire
brigade and as its driver had a reputation as being the one person in Kintore that could get you from A to B in the shortest
time.
Douglas’s family came from Kilmonivaig where their home was Redburn
Cottage. It was his grandfather, who came in search of work to the East of
Scotland. A Gaelic speaking mason, Douglas’s
grandfather came over to build a school and schoolhouse in Aberdeenshire. T=
he
family settled in the North-East of Scotlan=
d
where Douglas was born and brought up. He
married Helen and they have 3 sons, 9 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildr=
en.
However, it is about his passion for motor bikes and cars that this article=
is
about.
“Although I owned and =
had
driven what I can only describe as ‘a varied selection of vehicles
– disreputable and sometimes barely legal’, it was only when
serving with Middle East Land Forces, at Fayid =
in the
Canal Zone that the opportunity came to =
take
part in competitive two-wheeled sport. As NCO in charge of a REME Light Aid=
detachment
to the Royal Signals, I was soon involved in the conversion and building of
dirt-track bikes and was then asked to compete with the Blue Angels Team. M=
ost
of the nearby units could field a team and on Sundays we visited different
venues throughout the Canal Zone such as=
Ismalia, Kabrit, Port Tewfiq, Suez etc which along with boxing and weight-l=
ifting
made a change from the inevitable running and football. Cross country runni=
ng
was not my forte and I never could work up enough aggression when boxing
although bashing your own was an incentive of sorts. De-mob in October 1949
brought to an end a very enjoyable experience and a return to a bleak cold
winter working in Kintore on all ages and types=
of
vehicles. This included tractors, motorcycles, cars, trucks, chainsaws,
farm engines etc – even buses and the odd road roller.
Marriage and family interven=
ed and
took over for a short period. Then, in the mid-fifties I was approached by
members of the Bon Accord Motorcycle Club to build and race a scrambles/sid=
ecar
outfit. Scrambling was at that time in its heyday – the Allan brothers
being local enthusiasts on solo bikes. The sidecars were mostly from Perth, Forfar and=
the
Dundee Club. Luckily, I had a willing passenger in Reg=
Reid from Inverurie who was also an accomplishe=
d solo
rider. We had many years of fun and considerable success, prize wise, though
winnings seldom equalled expenditure. Robbie Allan (Ga=
rlogie)
went on to become Scottish Champion as did his brother – Vic and both
still ride in classic events. Their brother Jim Allan was a terrific grass
track exponent.
Anyway, scrambles went out o=
f favour
and Robbie Allan initiated stock cars and again got myself, an apprentice, =
and
journeyman mechanic involved to build and race two cars at Garlogie,
Turriff, Bridge of Don
and once at Inverurie in aid of swimming pool f=
unds
(my wife’s pet project). We had a few good years with stock cars, rai=
sed
quite a bit of money for various charities but eventually - apart from Crimond track, they too tapered off. Finding suitable
fields was always a problem - sand racing at St Andr=
ews
and Findhorn being the exceptions. By this time, I was also in to Judo and =
the
sporadic bouts of weight lifting - Insch Dumbells and Dinnie Stone=
s (total
weight 760 lbs) being memorable. By now, the Vintage Rally scene was proving
popular. Again, with a friend, Leslie of Shirlaw
Motorcycles - also a great scrambler and Trials Competitor, I became involv=
ed with
a Scott vintage machine (1929) then
a 1925 AJS offered by a customer, a TT Triumph (1929) a 1917 Model T Ford, a
1959 Triumph TR3 which I bought instead of transporting to Kent, a Silver
Shadow (for rainy days) etc etc - all in all ar=
ound
14 vintage bikes and 7 cars - a 1934 Singer Le Mans is almost complete and =
two Rileys and a 7 Type Ford 8, circa 1938 await attentio=
n. Les
Shirlaw sadly died and his wife, Babs
got my wife and myself involved in touring - Germany, <=
st1:place
w:st=3D"on">Austria, Italy etc, all good =
fun. Last
decent run was my wife Helen and I to Majorca
solo on a ‘84 MotoGuzzi. Although all thr=
ee
sons competed in scrambles, Neill and Leslie are keen bikers. Douglas
appears to do well in golf circles when he finds time. Neill is taking my o=
ld
TT Bike to Isle of Mann, this summer, so I hope all goes well for him. I am
fortunate in having support and assistance from my wife in all my projects =
and
she still enjoys pillion riding.
Today, Douglas
is a sprightly great grandfather who attributes the problems he has with his
knees to years of motor-cycling scrambling. He is less active these days ha=
ving
had a stroke but still turns up at events. He has fitted a sidecar to his <=
span
class=3DSpellE>Guzzi (Italian Motorbike) and comments that event mar=
shals
tend to look askance when he arrives, dismounts and retrieves his shooting
stick from the side car. Douglas also ha=
s an
enviable collection of vintage and veteran cars and is well known in the
vintage car circle.