Today we left Almond House by the Firth of Forth in Edinburgh and headed over the Forth Bridge to towards Crieff, where we had a cottage booked for a week. The weather was very overcast with a strong cold wind which got worse as we headed north on the M90 motorway.
The weather ahead looked very ominous with black clouds and we had a sprinkle of rain and then the sun came out. This was to be the pattern for the day.
We had decided to go to Crieff through Perth to meet up with Bernie and John whose bed and breakfast we used when we were in Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales. They had told us that they were attending a Hillman Imp 50th anniversary celebration there and said that if we were in the area it would be great to meet up again..
We arrived at the racecourse in Perth to find the Hillman Imps (seemed like hundreds of them) heading out for the day to a Rootes Group gathering and then onto another gathering at the famous Grouse Experience near Crieff.
Despite many phone calls which went unanswered and messages left on the mobile number they gave us to contact them, we were disappointed that we received no response at all from Bernie and John.
On our way into Perth we noticed that the Perth Show was on so we decided to go and have a look.
We found the car park near the showground (South Inch Park) and went in to the entry road to find it cost £5 to park. Mick asked the attendant if that included entry to the show. You guessed it, no it didn't, entry to the show as another £7 each.
We were used to such things so smiled and paid up.
The show was an agricultural show of the type which are typical in the UK with lots of different farm animals, farm machinery and riding events plus various other attractions.
What was different about this show was that as it was in Scotland, it had a Pipe Band blazing away on their bagpipes and drums and marching about the place. Spectacular.
As we had arranged to pick up the keys to our cottage at about 3pm, we left the show at 2pm and drove to Crieff where we were met by a very nice lady who was the sister of the owner who had gone to Barcelona for a holiday.
The cottage was right in the middle of the village so we could walk just down the road to the shops.
Bernie and John's Hillman Imp
The weather ahead looked very ominous with black clouds and we had a sprinkle of rain and then the sun came out. This was to be the pattern for the day.
We had decided to go to Crieff through Perth to meet up with Bernie and John whose bed and breakfast we used when we were in Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales. They had told us that they were attending a Hillman Imp 50th anniversary celebration there and said that if we were in the area it would be great to meet up again..
We arrived at the racecourse in Perth to find the Hillman Imps (seemed like hundreds of them) heading out for the day to a Rootes Group gathering and then onto another gathering at the famous Grouse Experience near Crieff.
Despite many phone calls which went unanswered and messages left on the mobile number they gave us to contact them, we were disappointed that we received no response at all from Bernie and John.
On our way into Perth we noticed that the Perth Show was on so we decided to go and have a look.
We found the car park near the showground (South Inch Park) and went in to the entry road to find it cost £5 to park. Mick asked the attendant if that included entry to the show. You guessed it, no it didn't, entry to the show as another £7 each.
We were used to such things so smiled and paid up.
The show was an agricultural show of the type which are typical in the UK with lots of different farm animals, farm machinery and riding events plus various other attractions.
What was different about this show was that as it was in Scotland, it had a Pipe Band blazing away on their bagpipes and drums and marching about the place. Spectacular.
As we had arranged to pick up the keys to our cottage at about 3pm, we left the show at 2pm and drove to Crieff where we were met by a very nice lady who was the sister of the owner who had gone to Barcelona for a holiday.
The cottage was right in the middle of the village so we could walk just down the road to the shops.
Bernie and John's Hillman Imp
The Hillman Imp's all alloy engine and it's body panels were built at a brand new factory built at Linwood near Glasgow in Scotland and it was regarded as a "Scottish car". It was also more popular in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK. This one is left hand drive from Europe.
Ginetta G15 with a Hillman Imp engine
Real time tuning of the pipes
Dargill Simmentals?
This guy made this barrel from scratch
£5 each to park, do the maths.
Perth and District Pipeband
The boss piper. Note the gold braid
"Avonlea" our self catering cottage in Crieff, Scotland
50th Anniversary for Hillman Imps, who would have guessed that the car would last that long. Amazing.
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