2025 Thirlestane Show – Review

Sunday 8 June 2025

Saturday

…From what looked likely to be a very wet weekend, it turned out to be just the opposite, well, on the Sunday at least!
The Gang of Three (Billy Wait, Nancy Crichton and myself!) duly arrived at around the agreed time of midday, the first
obstacle being to locate our stand space. This was not as marked on the site map, the organisers having omitted not
one but two trees on the stand space when drawing up the initial plan. Mild panic ensued until our neighbouring stand,
MGOC, directed us past the obligatory Portaloos (handy, I thought, for those of us on a certain medication!) to our
alternate stand site, situated close to the Castle overlooking the rest of the site.
…Bob MacGillivary had kindly offered to tow the club trailer, and while we waited for him to arrive, the usual banter
ensued, ranging from the effectiveness of a soft top and windscreen wipers on a classic when it’s hissing down with
rain, through to the current price of fish, all the while keeping an eye on the rain clouds hovering above. No sooner had
the trailer arrived and was being unloaded, than the heavens opened, just as we had started to erect the two marquees.
More “unprintable banter” ensued, but the marquees were duly erected, and stand gear placed in the dry ready for final
setting up tomorrow. So now it was time for two of our number to head off to our hotel for the night, with the other two
making their separate ways back home.

Sunday

…A complete change in the weather today, with sunshine forecast until late afternoon, albeit with possible showers from
around 4pm, the stand set-up was completed and last year’s Best Club Stand Award duly returned to the secretary of the
BVAC. I did suggest that as we had won the Award three years running, we should be able to keep the trophy, but the
answer was No! Club entry registered and entrant souvenirs collected, our entrants (smaller than in previous years)
started to arrive; cars were placed in our usual chevron pattern, with modern Fs and TFs on one side, GT’s and Roadsters
on the other, with a centrepiece of two 1955 TFs and an RV8 – some 13 cars in total – and very attractive it looked!
…We were kept very busy throughout day, welcoming both Club and non-Club members, with much interest shown and
many compliments paid on our display. We also hopefully signed up four prospective new members. We had three
Centre awards to present on the day: Best Modern F and TF, Best Other MG and Furthest Travelled. Glenn Neilson received
the Best Modern F and TF award for his very nice 2009 TF 85th, with Ken Brown receiving the Best Other MG award for
his much travelled 1978 BGT, with Lee-Ann Hume receiving the award for Furthest Travelled to the Show, at 92 miles
…The real icing on the cake for our Centre – and to our surprise – was to be informed that we had won the BVAC
Challenge Trophy yet again for the Best Club Stand for the fourth year running! A big and sincere thankyou from me to
all members of the Caledonian Centre who helped to make it possible.

Mike Pelling
Chairman Caledonian Centre

Photos
Photos