Remembering Robbie Allan

As we arrived at Tinto Park on Friday afternoon for the Robbie Allan Memorial weekend, we were welcomed by a threateningly dark sky and the ominous prospect of rain. Things didn’t look too promising, but fortunately we were also welcomed by the event organisers; Margaret Allan (Robbie’s widow) and family, son Robbie (from here on to be referred to as ‘Young Robbie’ ) and daughters Jennifer and Olive, along with Robbie’s brother Vic, John McCrink and Willie Wallace (apologies to any I have failed to mention).  I’m pleased to report that our little group of ‘invaders’ from south of the border were made to feel very at home.

After leaving home at 6am to catch a flight from Lisbon, I was met at Manchester airport by my companions for the weekend, former Dot and Greeves factory rider John Griffiths and his lovely wife, Sheila. We were all eagerly anticipating the weekend, though this was tinged with sadness as only the day before John had been present at the funeral of his good friend and onetime travelling companion, Dave Bickers. We were feeling especially sad as we had all been looking forward to seeing Dave and his wife Sylvia and their close friends Chris and Patsy Ginn, who had booked into the same hotel as us.

Naturally enough, on the three-hour drive north the conversation focused on David, and John regaled Sheila and I with stories of long gone trips to the continent and further afield beyond the iron curtain, in the ‘Ice Cream Van’ – an old truck that David had converted to a transporter specially for their forays. John recalled that the first time he had seen it, the van had been lying abandoned in a field at the Bickers’ family home in Coddenham and had grass sprouting through its floor! But more of that another time maybe!

John, Sheila and myself had made the trip to Tinto Hill near Rigside, Lanarkshire, along with about 2,000 others, to honour the memory of Robbie Allan, motorcyclist extraordinaire, who passed away on 14 August 2013. Soon after Robbie’s death, family and friends took the decision to organise a memorial event and to donate the proceeds to Macmillan Cancer Support, a very worthy cause.

Sadly, I never had the opportunity to meet Robbie in person, though in research for my books I did have occasion to call him a couple of times and found him to be very helpful, knowledgeable and especially proud of the accomplishments of his younger bother, Vic. Over the weekend, however, I came to form a more complete picture of the man.

Robbie, who was born on June 21, 1941, was the third of four children; older brother Jim, also a keen motorcyclist, sister Anne, and kid brother, Vic. Vic recalls how Robbie got hooked on bikes after seeing a local motorcycle dealer road testing bikes outside the family home in Garlogie, Aberdeenshire. Motorcycles would go on to shape and define Robbie throughout his adult life; as Vic concluded in his foreword to the meeting’s programme he was ‘a man who gave his all to motorcycle sport.’

‘A man who gave his all to motorcycle sport.’ The photo says it all!

On the bike Robbie was proficient as a trials and scrambles rider, but from an early age it was evident that he was a talented instructor too, teaching future British Champion Vic everything he knew. In 1962 he moved south to work in the Greeves factory at Thundersley Essex. Within a year, racked with homesickness, he’d returned to his native Scotland. However, when Vic had won his first Scottish titles, Robbie was the first to suggest that he head south in search of better competition.

Robbie was also a keen promoter of the sport he so loved. In 1960 he was responsible for organising the first Scottish Championship meeting to be held north of Perth, though the pinnacle of his time as an event organiser must surely have been when he acted as clerk of the course for Scotland’s first, and sadly until now only, motocross GP – the 250 event at Kilmartin, Argyllshire in 1978. Former world champion Neil Hudson, who finished third overall in the GP was at Tinto Park and recalls that it was a ‘fearsome track’ – not for the faint-hearted!

Robbie also put his organisational skills to the test when he became involved in promoting motorcycle shows, putting the Scottish Motorcycle Show on the map back in 1977 and building what was without question one of the best shows in Britain.

In latter years Robbie turned to road racing, where despite his advancing years he proved to be a formidable competitor, lapping the TT circuit in the Isle of man at 106mph as a member of the aptly named ‘Team Twilight’. But it was in 2006, at the age of 65, when many are standing in line to collect their bus passes, that he accepted arguably the toughest challenge of his riding career when he entered the Dakar Rally, which started from my adopted home town of Lisbon. Not only was Robbie the oldest competitor in the field, but he was also effectively alone, as he didn’t have the luxury of a back up crew, or even a mechanic for the toughest motorcycle challenge of all. Sadly, a mechanical problem prevented him from completing the rally just three days short of the finish after a typically gritty performance from the wee Scotsman.

Far from home – Robbie out in the desert on the 2006 Dakar Rally

Returning to the event itself, the organisers, with the help of the Bon Accord Club (Robbie was a lifelong member) and all the members of the Kingston and District Motorcycle Club who made the long trip north,worked tirelessly to ensure that the weekend would be a success and what a great job they did. Over the weekend no less than three world motocross champions were in attendance at Tinto Park; Graham Noyce (500 champion in 1979), Neil Hudson (250 champion in 1981) and three-time 500 champion, Dave Thorpe (1985, 1986 and 1989). In addition there were at least five British motocross champions there; Arthur Lampkin, Bryan Goss, Freddie and Geoff Mayes and of course, Vic Allan, plus a veritable ‘Who’s Who of British offroad motorcycling’ including the likes of  John Giles, Gordon Blakeway, Ray Sayer, Maurice Tate, Mike Jackson, John Griffiths, Bill Gwynne, Jim Aim, Bill and Mick Wilkinson, Tony Davis, Terry Challinor, Alan Lampkin, Mick Andrews, Keith Hickman, Arthur Browning, Jimmy Aird, Roger Harvey and Bob Wright.

Old pals – Freddie Mayes, Bryan ‘Badger’ Goss, John                    Griffiths and Keith Hickman at trackside                 (Photo Ian Berry)

It was also nice to see such a good turn out of Scottish riders, with Vic and Jimmy active on the track, the legendary George Hodge spectating, Willie Wallace being put to good use trackside as one of the marshalls and ‘youngsters’ Paul Chiappa, Walter Bickmore and Tom Grant animating the Twinshock races – to name but a few.

But it wasn’t just the stars of yesteryear that made the weekend such a success, it was also all the other riders, family members, support crews who came along and lent their support. A special word of thanks must also go out to all the sponsors of the event, as without their help, it could not possibly have happened.

The meeting was kick started into action on Saturday morning with the enduro event which had classes for twinshock and monoshock machines, with the track extending across the road from  Tinto Park and into the forest opposite. Russell Watson from Saltburn-by-the Sea, who’s name would crop up throughout the weekend, won the Twinshock class on a 480 Honda,  whilst the best Monoshocker was Paul White (sorry I have no further details on Paul or his machine).

The enduro was followed in the afternoon by the trial, which unfortunately caught the worst of the weather. The trial had three classes; Rigid, Pre-65 and twinshock, with the best performance being put up by Andy Roberton, on a 1951 150 James, James Morton, riding a 1964 230 Triumph and Jim Tennant (again no further info on Jim) respectively.

Organiser John McCrink’s 1964 Greeves Challenger (Photo Ian Berry)

On Saturday evening about 250 people gathered in the beer tent, for obvious reasons, but also for an auction of a great variety of motorcycling memorabilia, including riding gear, vintage and new, trophies donated by some of the elite riders present, several signed copies of books, two superb paintings – one of Robbie, the other of Dave Bickers – from the brushes of organiser John McCrink – and many other items including a brand new Triumph motorcycle .

Before the auction started Young Robbie and Vic both gave heart-felt eulogies to their father and brother respectively and Vic also said a few words in memory of Dave Bickers. After a rather slow start, bidding started to take off in the auction, with some notable sales, such as a 1970’s Stadium crash helmet as worn by Graham Noyce and donated by his one-time mechanic, Roy Read, which raised £600.

My evening ended on a somewhat surreal note, when in company with Tony and Edna Davis and John and Sheila Griffiths, I visited the ‘Taj Mahal’ restaurant in Biggar, on the recommendation of one of the bar staff in the beer tent. I use the word surreal, as at the end of a long day we were served with a ‘Bigger Biggar Nan’  – an enormous oval nan bread over 1m long – by the most exuberant front of house man you are ever likely to encounter. I must say though, that both food and service were of the highest quality and if any of you ever find yourself in the vicinity and fancy a curry, I highly recommend popping in.

When I opened the curtains to my hotel room in Abington on Sunday morning, a light mist was covering the neighbouring hills, though by the time we’d put our breakfast away it had all but cleared and there was the promise of some decent weather for the day. On arrival at Tinto Park, the paddock was noticeably fuller and machines were soon fired up as riders put in their first practice laps for the afternoon’s full programme of races for no less than four different classes.

The crowd of spectators was also swelling with some very famous faces amongst its ranks. Indeed, as I stood trackside with John Griffiths, former BSA factory rider Keith Hickman, Freddie Mayes and Bryan Goss, we spotted the Lampkin brothers, Arthur and Alan arriving.  In their day, the Lampkins had a reputation for being  hard-riding, no nonsense, Yorkshiremen. As riders they were so often peerless, but at Tinto Park it would seem they met their match, when the ladies on the gate relieved them of £10 each towards  Macmillan Cancer Support!

Arthur Lampkin catches up with John Griffiths, Keith Hickman and Tony Davis, whilst Alan (AKA Sid) Lampkin is just to the left of his brother (Photo Ian Berry)

And so to the racing, which got underway promptly at  mid-day, just as I’m led to believe Robbie would have wanted it to; time keeping and efficiency being qualities he rated highly.  There were races  for Pre-65 and Leading link up to 250cc, Pre-60 Non Unit up to 650cc and Pre-65 over 250cc, Twinshock over 40s and Over 50s, and Pre-75 and Twinshock Over 60s and the races were keenly contested in each of these.

Notable performances came from Greg Radley of Steeple, Essex, who raced his 1967 250 Greeves Challenger to four straight wins, local hero Jimmy Aird on his 1979 580 CCM, who notched a hat-trick, and Russell Watson, from Easington, County Durham, who raced a 1983 CR480 Honda to overall victory in the fiercely contested Twinshock over 40s and Over 50s  class, pushed to the limit by Walter Bickmore, Paul Chiappa and local man Tom Grant, on a very swift 250 Honda.

Greg Radley leads the charge in a Pre-65 leading-link up to 250cc race (Photo Ian Berry)

Russell, who won the  Twinshock class in the Enduro and finished 4th in the Pre-65 class in the trial, was crowned man of the meeting, but I’m sure he wouldn’t begrudge me saying that for many, the combination of Andy Roberton and the Adrian Moss owned Matchless G50-engined Métisse  in full motion was the most powerful and evocative sight on the day and something to be cherished.

Despite some stiff opposition from Peter Hollinshead from Nantwich on a beautifully prepared BSA 650 twin and Roger Dunford on a 1964 Gold Star BSA, Andy soon hit the front in all of his races and showed a turn of speed that belied his 66 years. The 1972 250cc  British champion has lost little of his speed, style and aggression on a bike and remains a true racer.

One interested spectator at Tinto Park was Andy’s former mechanic and close friend, Tony Worthington. Nowadays Tony is restricted to a wheelchair, but that hasn’t dampened his enthusiasm for this magnificent sport we follow. In company with his good friend Alan Keane, Tony made the long trip north from Newbury, Berkshire, but I have no doubt that seeing Andy in such fine form on such a classic machine made it all worthwhile.

‘He flies through the air with the greatest of ease’ – Andy Roberton on the G50 Matchless-powered Métisse (Photo Ian Berry)

When the dust settled on Tinto Park – to be honest there wasn’t  a lot as the track was in such fine fettle – folks made their way home tired, a little bruised and battered in some cases – Geoff Mayes broke an ankle in an innocuous looking fall – but above all else, contented, after such a wonderful weekend spent in such good company.  The atmosphere at a memorial meeting is always somewhat laden with sadness and this feeling was exacerbated at Tinto Park following the recent death of Dave Bickers. But a fantastic £28,000 was raised for Macmillan Cancer Support and I for one left the track with a feeling of happiness and hope. Happy to have been part of the celebration of the life of one of Scotland’s motorcycling legends and full of hope that the Robbie Allan Offroad Experience will continue to be a huge success in the future, guiding some of  Scotland’s young off-road riders towards a brighter future.

But it wasn’t just the youngsters that Robbie guided. As his widow, Margaret, told me,  “He loved being here at Tinto Park, and it wasn’t just the kids he helped. One guy said to me, one day. Where’s the old man, he always told us we looked like a sack of tatties going round and told us to stand up!” It seems that right up until the end Robbie wanted to share his knowledge with anybody who was willing to listen.

I said earlier that I had come to form a better picture of  just who Robbie Allan really was after listening to others talking about the man they loved and respected. The overriding impression I now have, is of a loving family man, who was as equally dedicated to his wife and family as he was to his other great passion – motorcycling, and it is evident that the whole family shares this passion for the sport and long may it remain so.