"With many parts of Scotland covered in snow and some roads blocked during the weekend,  over 80 hardy souls managed to slip and slide their way to the 9th Annual Scottish Dinner Dance at Deer Park Golf Club in Livingstone.

It was quite a sight to see many guests arriving in a snowstorm and one patriotic Scot wore full Highland dress, of Kilt, Sporran, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie Jacket', Bow-Tie, Waistcoat, Long socks and,.......Wellington boots!   Well, it can get a bit draughty wearing the kilt in such weather, but at least you can keep your feet dry in the snow!

Before the dinner got underway, the chatter amongst long-lost friends stopped as Scottish WSRA President, Jimmy Tannock, led a minute's silence for Jack 'Red' Monteith, a former Glasgow Tiger who passed away recently. Jack had been instrumental in finding sponsors for the Tigers and was a great supporter of the WSRA's  Scottish events and will be sadly missed.

This year's Guests of Honour were Scot, Brian Collins, who rode for all of the Scottish teams during his career, Edinburgh, Coatbridge, Glasgow and Berwick plus the famous Wembley Lions and Poole Pirates,  and Cumbria's own adopted Scotsman, Derek Close, who starred for the Lanarkshire Eagles at Motherwell and qualified for the 1952 World Final at Wembley.

Unfortunately, Derek was taken ill and unable to travel to Scotland from his Sedbergh home, but Monarchs' Press Officer, Mike Hunter gave an eloquent speech listing some of Derek's great achievements including the fact that at various times during his career, he rode FOR Scotland against England and also for England against Scotland. A foot in both camps!

When the organizing Scottish Committee discovered that Derek and his wife, Hazel, were due to celebrate their DIAMOND Wedding Anniversary (60 years!)  on 21st March, they bought a huge bouquet of flowers for Hazel and also a silver  "Quaich", an ornamental Highland drinking bowl as a memento from the Scots, a very nice gesture.

As the Closes were not there to accept these gifts in person, my wife, Edith & I collected them on their behalf and, on our way back south the next day, stopped in Sedbergh and delivered them to a delighted Derek and Hazel who pass on their thanks to the Scots.

Our main WSRA was represented by our President, Terry Stone and his "First Lady", Jean, but this was their last official engagement before he handed over the Chain of Office to new President, former Crewe King, Pete Saunders just one week later at the main WSRA Dinner at the Leicester Marriott.

With one Guest of Honour missing, Brian Collins was also given a history lesson on his career by Mike Hunter. Listening to Mike describing a particularly exciting race and how Brian had won the race,  Brian exclaimed,..."Gee, even I don't remember doing THAT!"  

Brian, who is known in Scotland by his nickname, 'Pogo'  eventually cleared up the mystery of how he got that name. It seems that to help his recovery from a broken leg, Brian bought a pogo-stick to bounce around and strengthen the injured limb, and the name, 'Pogo' stuck with him ever since. Now we know.

A nice touch at the Scottish dinner is that all the tables are named after Scottish Speedway Legends, hence the Doug Templeton Table, Carlo Biagi Table and even an Ivan Mauger Table.  I know that Ivan is not Scottish, but he DID wear the kilt when HE was Guest of Honour along with Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs, a few years ago and besides, the Kiwis are meaner than the Scots, so Ivan qualifies for a table being named after him.

Once again, there were so many prizes donated for the raffle, that almost everyone could win a prize, that is, if it was not for Kenny McKinna winning THREE prizes on the night! Thanks to the generosity of everyone involved, the raffle raised £350 for the Scottish WSRA funds. This money is used to run the annual dinner dance and also the Scottish Reunion Lunch during the season, and to help injured and ill riders north of the border and finance their gifts at Christmastime. 

So, after a great dinner, interesting speeches, and much "Bench Racing" as ex-riders relived their youth, it was time to head back out into the snow blizzard and slip and slide our ways home and look forward to the big  WSRA Dinner Dance at the Leicester Marriott and hope that the snow has stopped by then!  Now,......Where did I leave those wellingtons?"

Bert Harkins "