The 1964 Scottish.

[laird387]

Hi,

When you ask riders who entered the Scottish Six Days trial throughout the 1960s for any woeful anecdotes chances are they will tell you about their 1964 ride!

That was one of the years that the Highlands showed the foreign invasion just how quickly bad weather can turn to near disaster. The rain threatened all the way from the start on the Monday, becoming more persistent the further north they got.

On the Tuesday the route took them to a new section at Kinlochleven called Pipeline and then high on to Rannoch Moor. There were boggy bits to avoid and the downpour meant it was a cold and inhospitable place, just how inhospitable they were going to find when they reached, part way across, the little river they normally splashed through with no problems.

The rain on the higher ground had drained through the watershed to the river which was transformed from a rideable trickle to a waistdeep torrent. It was a frightening sight and many opted to ride around the hazard, taking many more miles to get off the moor. The brave, including winner Sammy Miller, tried to jump the torrent.

Onlookers report that Sam landed in midstream and just forced on, seemingly with the carburettor below the water line, until the motor died hard against the far bank where Sam, with superhuman effort dragged GOV 132 on to the bank and set about draining it out and drying the points and the like until it chimed back to life and he pressed on, trying to keep in the time limit.

Others joined in groups of four and five to wade through the torrent and manhandle the machines in turn to the far bank. To be continued:

Sadly there are no images in the archive of the scene at the river - but plenty more of the rest of the week - enjoy.

We'll start with the winner, Sammy Miller.

Edited January 21, 2014 by laird387

[laird387]

Hi,

1964 Scottish, continued:

The organisers heard about the problems when the first weary riders made it to Fort William and promptly set about making an emergency fuel supply as close as possible to where the riders taking the long way round came off the moor. Many drenched riders finally got back to Fort William hours after their expected time and were relieved next morning to find that the organisers had scrapped the time limit for

that day, so as many as possible to continue in the trial, assuming the men and machines had coped with the abnormal conditions.

To be continued:

Rider 169 is Roy Peplow, riding his own unit-construction 500cc Triumph, only three such machines were known to have been constructed at that time.

Rider 179 is Gordon McLaughlan, with the works AJS 401cc longstroke, seen on Caolasnacoan.

Rider 171 is local Scots rider Aly MacDonald with his HT5, he dropped 196 marks in the week to gain a First Class award.

Rider 197 is better known as a scrambles and ISDT rider, John Lewis from Rhayader, with his 350 Royal Enfield Bullet - he won a First Class award.

Enjoy.

Edited January 21, 2014 by laird387

[laird387]

Hi,

1964 Scottish continued;

Four more images from the archive of the 1964event.

Rider 206 is Ian Rennie from Palestine, nr Andover on his 347cc Matchless. Ian was a devout enthusiast of long distance trials.

Rider 169 is Roy Peplow - showing that not every day of the '64 Scottish was wet - it just felt like it!

Rider 174 is Brian 'Tiger' Payne with his 347 AJS, 'Tiger' was a founder member of the old Lancs. and Yorks. Classic club which, as it grew, split into the separate Lancs and Yorks sections, most members simply became members of the two separate sections to get twice as many rides!

Rider 205 is Alan Morewood with a solo HT5 - looking distictly second hand at the base of the cylinder - and is that Merle watching with a rolled up flag under her arm?

Enjoy.

To be continued.

Edited January 21, 2014 by laird387

[laird387]

Hi,

1964 Scottish continued:

Most interesting for me is that in 1964 nobody rode round clean, so the sections were obviously more than enough to extract marks, and in spite of the conditions a glance at the entry for 1965 proves that most of the riders came back for more!

Now for some more of those images.

Enjoy,

Rider 183 is Terry Hill from Ireland who gained a First Class award with his 350 BSA, seen here on Caolasnacoan.

Rider 172 is my old mate Jim Sandiford, not very happy with being asked to use the factory B40 when he really preferred the C15T.

Rider 201 is Mike Scott who made the trip from the South Midlands with his 246 Butler, a machine type not often seen

Rider 165 with the 347cc is H I Simpson, a tad cross-threaded on Loch Eild Path.

Enjoy

To be continued.

Edited October 12, 2015 by laird387

[laird387]

Hi,

1964 Scottish continued:

1964 was the last year that British machines dominated the event, there wasn’t a single foreign manufactured machine in the Special First Class awards – and that means the top twenty per cent. Claude Peugeot was the Best Foreign Rider, and he achieved that on his Greeves.

Triumphs were close to the end of their formal competition days and so John Giles and Roy Peplow were allowed to ride their favourite twins – interestingly in Roy’s case since he had won the trial on a Cub, yet still preferred the bigger bike.

I am attaching more images.

Rider 214 is Ken Streeter of the West Midlands Amateur club, always keen supporters of the Scottish Ken uses the 500 version of the AJS which, sadly, succumbed to the downpour during the week.

Rider 177 is a local Lochaber member, Ron Thompson riding, I believe the only BSA Gold Star in the entry.

Rider 199 is Gwyn Chambers from Brecon with his freshly Millerised, for the event, Ariel. Sadly Gwyn failed to finish.

Rider 208 is one of Tom Arter's riders, Mick Waller, with his shiny new AJS longstroke, BFN10B which was later sold to Ralph Venables and used for years as his recreation transport. During his time he also had a well-known Allard car and also, latterly, a Reliant Scimitar.

Enjoy

Edited January 21, 2014 by laird387

[laird387]

Hi,

More images from the 1964 SSDT.

Rider 212 is M D Ward from Scarborough, who was awarded a Second Class on his lightened Ariel HT5.

Rider 195 is old friend, Peter 'Jock' Wilson, well-known as a Comerfords salesman, riding the ex-works AJS 350 that Gordon Jackson used before he got '184 BLF'. Nice shot of Caolasnacoan, in spite of the weather.

Rider 172 is Jimmy Sandiford on his famous BSA.

Rider 198 is one of the interesting specials that used to turn up in Scotland, this time a Norton 500T power unit 'squeezed' into a Greeves trials chassis, itself slightly Millerised, ridden by 'Jacko' Wright.

Enjoy.

Edited January 21, 2014 by laird387

[laird387]

Hi,

More images of the 1964 Scottish.

Rider 167 is Mick Andrews, with his works AJS, was runner-up to 'Sam the Man' and a member of the winning manufacturer's team, seen in two typical aggressive riding poses.

Rider 173 may surprise many, it is well-known racer from the Isle of Man, Geoff Duke, having a spot of bother with the 350 Royal Enfield Bullet. Geoff enjoyed his trials as a form of keeping fit and relaxing, and he performed well enough to be given an Ariel works team place with the little 200cc Ariel Colt when it was introduced - too late for the company though - the storm clouds were already gathering........

Rider 210 is a young Rob Edwards, riding an AJS as a privateer and taking a Special First Class award with a loss of 124 marks - which obviously caught someones eye as he was out on a works bike not long after.

Enjoy.

[laird387]

Hi,

Images of 1964 SSDT.

Here are the final batch of images for the moment - but there are more to follow later.

Rider 124 is a good friend, Bill Faulkner, riding his B40 BSA in 1964.

Rider 176 is another good friend, Johnny Giles, riding his big twin in preference to the Cub - those works Cubs did not have the best reliability record!

Rider 202 is John Green from Pontefract, rode to Scotland on the pillion and watched long before he had a bike of his own. Seen with his rigid AMC.

Rider 200 is Tony Holt from Northampton later became a lightweight enthusiast.

Rider 215 is local rider Duncan MacRae won a First Class on his immaculate Ariel HT5.

Enjoy.

[wetfeet]

Fantastic simply Fantastic

Thank you

[toemoss]

I love this, no bunny hopping, no nose wheelies just heavy bikes and men riding with no helmets or gloves thanks for posting

[hillary]

Fabulous, and it's great news to have Deryk's massive archive available for all to see. The 1964 Scottish was the first SSDT that I attended. I was just 17 at the time and having passed my driving test a couple of months earlier my Dad suggested that we go to the trial and watch, so together with Maurice Everett from Harpenden, Secretary of the Mid Herts Club, we went north from our Slough home to see the 1964 Scottish.

As Deryk has reported so vividly, it was arguably the wettest week in the history of the trial, though some of the subsequent 36 Scottish Six Days that I have attended seem to me to have been pretty wet, though wet weather gear is much better these days than it was in 1964.

I have two abiding memories of the '64 trial - apart from the weather. The first is of the eventual winner Sammy Miller getting into an enormous tangle on Foyers overlooking Loch Ness, with the poor picture I took at the time showing him leaning so far over the front wheel of his Ariel that his head was almost touching the front wheel. That picture has been published in the past, but I regret that I can't find the original in my poorly stored collection of pictures. However, I do have a few others which I will get scanned soon and will post on here.

Secondly, together with Ralph Venables, the four of us were trudging up the steep hill to watch the Tyndrum sections; the rain was coming down sideways and the wind was howling across the hillside when Dad's umbrella was whipped inside out and blown across the mountain. "I see you're off to the office Bert" said Rafe, which may not seem funny now but at the time was hilarious. Tyndrum sections can still be seen from Tyndrum village if you glance to your left whilst heading towards Fort William, they were the twisting scar on the shale covered hillside up high to your left.

Mike Rapley

[rhayaderman]

Hi there Deryk, really enjoying your contribution to this forum. It doesn't seem that long ago that you and Mary were dropping off your magazine through my letter box. I must tell you a tale having seen the picture of Gwyn Chambers. Well,Gwyn and Gordon had"Miller" Ariels built at the "Automobile Palace" in Llandrindod Wells. We all lived in Brecon and as we all rode the 1964 event we travelled together to the start in Edinburgh with my Cub sandwiched between the two Ariels. The Ariels had magneto problems and both retired. I well remember "Pipeline" section as it was the first time used in the trial - I still have the programme for the event and a picture of me on the Cb on the section. Well, on the way home,my Cub broke loose on the trailer and punched a large hole in Gwyn's fibreglass chain case- he was not amused. The Mid Wales contingent who rode that year also included John Lewis and John Davies. All except Gordon are all alive and, I am fortunate enough to still be riding in trials.

[laird387]

Hi,

Just to prove that not every day in the 1964 Scottish was wet, here's my old mate Jonny Giles with his unit Triumph twin on Caolasnacoan.

You can also see that fifty years later - the section still looks the same!

Enjoy

[laird387]

Hi,

Another interesting machine in the 1964 Scottish, the Butler ridden by Chris Butler himself, on the wet and muddy Loch Eild Path.

Enjoy.

Edited February 13, 2014 by laird387

[laird387]

Hi,

Another image from the 1964 Scottish, this time Chris Cullen on the works Scorpion.

Enjoy.