October 2010 This page is deliberately blank PETER WILLSON It is with considerable sadness that we have to inform members of the sudden and unexpected death of Peter, the eldest son of Rob and, Scammell Register committee member, Lorrain Willson. This occurred only days before his twenty ninth birthday. The family have been well known in the field of Scammell preservation since the earliest days of the Register. Rob was among our first members and still owns, and is actively engaged working on, these vehicles. Peter shared in this practical hands-on involvement. His enthusiasm was well received and his positive attitude, which had emerged some years previously when his life had hung in the balance following a motoring accident, was admired by many. Peter’s final journey on one of the family’s Scammells provided a strong focus for over two hundred friends and mourners, some of whom had come from as far away as Kent, Leicestershire and the continent to offer their support at this time of tragic loss. EDITORIAL TEAM © Scammell Register. The views expressed in this Newsletter are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect Register policy its views or those of its officers or appointees. JOHN COLLINS 40. Mandalay Drive, Norton, Worcester, WR5 2PL Tel: 01905 355532 DAVE SPAIN [email protected] CAROL COOPER [email protected] INCLUSIONDEADLINE FOR ALL ITEMS FOR THE NEXT NEWSLETTER FRIDAY 10th DECEMBER 2010. By post to John or e-mail to Dave or Carol. PLEASE NOTE THIS DATE WILL BE STRICTLY APPLIED TO ALL COPY. We do accept hand written/typed copy through the post but we much prefer computer generated electronically transmitted items. Photographs must be copyright free or supplied with written permission of the owner of any copyright for use by the Scammell Register and are acceptable only on this understanding. Photographs are best sent us on a disc or by email. If this is not possible we can scan from original photos in some cases. All items are accepted on condition that the Scammell Register has permission without further consultation to reproduce and use these items in connection with publication or publicity for the benefit of the Register providing credit is given to the originator of the items and in such circumstances of use that these items will be subject to copyright by the Scammell Register for that occasion. Also that all items are subject to editorial alteration and control and may be used at any time forthwith following receipt of such items. THIS PuBLICATION IS SuBJECT TO COPYRIgHT AND SHOuLD NOT BE REPRODuCED IN PART OR IN WHOLE IN ANY FORM WHATSOEVER WITHOuT PRIOR PERMISSION. ALWAYS CONTACT THE EDITOR DIRECT FIRST. Even after the deadline your contributions are important, please keep them coming in for future use in following issues. 1 SECRETARY’S NOTES unfortunately it is with sad news that I have to commence my notes. I am sure I can speak on behalf of everyone when I say how shocked and saddened I was to hear of the sudden and unexpected passing of Peter Willson aged 28, Lorraine and Robert’s son. Although I had met him on several occasions over the long period I have known Lorraine and Robert I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing him well. There is nothing anybody can say to ease the pain of losing a son or daughter apart from that everyone who will read this, whether they know the Willsons or not, will feel sadness that such a tragic event could have hit such a friendly and down to earth family. Our thoughts are with you Lorrain, Robert and Kim, Peter’s brother. Peter was heavily into preservation and lorries, he made his final journey on Robert’s lovely early civilian 6 X 4 Crusader. Due to our little people going back to school that week I didn’t make Dorset but all the feedback I hear was it was one of the best years yet. I hope those that ventured down there will agree. It is now such a massive event it is virtually unstoppable. Thanks to all who helped too especially Tony Twinning, James Knight and Kate, Christine and Brian Carter, Carol Cooper and David Spain. A reasonable contingent set out to do the trans Pennine this year. We took our 20LA and Highwayman ballast tractors on the 500 mile round trip. Parry took his newly restored MH which I thought was a cracking bit of stuff, even more so when you realize he had blown it up only a month or so before! (See last issue “Trout or Bust” p7). It made a change for us to run empty, but to be honest we were all tired on the Sunday night when we made it home at around midnight. All the vehicles behaved impeccably except the Register Lorry! The starter solenoid refused to work so we had to divert a friend to Northampton services to get James bump started as we were travelling slowly up the A5. Then we did the same again on the Sunday morning, once we had found a tyre inflator to blow the brakes off, pull starting it in front of the gathering crowds at the start of the run. We then carried out the same manoeuvre at the end of the day before making our way home. Scammell lorries were the theme this year and there was a good cross section on display. As always Scammell was in 2 the minority but we all felt that there was a decent number to show what Scammell had achieved over the latter half of the 20th century. From memory there was a Trunker and matching tanker, Mr Ridings lovely R8, a Crusader, (well Amazon really), Tony Buckleys 20 LA ballast tractor, a Mk1 Contractor, a Highwayman unit as a ballast tractor, our 2, Parry’s MH and a 15Mu Pickford tanker. I have probably forgotten something as I never write these things down so sorry if I have! Well worth a trip next year if you want to be part of a friendly and well run event. I hope everyone made the most of the summer and I trust we will see some of you at Pendley for our lunch. There are a few less places available this year so don’t leave it too late booking. I hope we can welcome some new diners along with those members who regularly attend. I also hope those of you in name deleted’s area have managed to meet up and take advantage of his efforts to keep our presence known in the north of England. Thanks to you delted. We appreciate any help we can get so thanks to all who have helped keep things running, it’s not the Committee’s Register, it is all of us. Without your efforts we can’t do anything. Remember as well if there is anything you want brought up at the meeting, to drop me a line. All the best 42nd TRANS PENNINE RUN 1st AUGUST 2010 Best Featured Marque; Scammell Highwayman 1953 OgT 243 with tanker trailer in Pickfords livery Entry No18 – M17 Tyson H Burrridge of Distington Cumbria Vintage Spirit Award: Scammell Highwayman 1969 HYM881E in PSA livery Entry No 147 – J17 David Walker of Mentmore Bucks Furthest travelled Scammell: driven to the start, completing the run and driven home. A 6 months Tyson Burage’s Pickford liveried 15MU plus tank (Photo Parry Davis) Vintage Spirit Magazine subscription and a Vintage Spirit logo travel mug. 3 A LITTLE AND OFTEN by David Jones Mr David Parry (also known as Lord Parry), a proud AEC owner, had major gearbox problems and broke down on the recent Heart of Wales Road Run and had to be rescued by the Scammell. Now this in itself may sound a bit unfortunate, however, a few weeks previous to this Mr Parry had problems with his AEC wiring loom and had to borrow the Scammell to take part in the AYR Road Run, much to the amusment of certain others and for which he received much ribbing! So, as a wind up the Boughey's (who own the Scammell) and I purchased Lord Parry a membership to the Scammell Register and duly presented it to him at the Saturday evening dinner on the Heart of Wales run. Little did we all know that 12 hours later the poor old AEC would again expire and His Lordship would have to be recovered by you know what! The Mighty Scammell came to his rescue once again! To add to all this amusement the chap who was driving the Scammell had been presented the previous evening with a full size "International Rescue Outfit" (the reasons for this are much too bizzare to mention here) Anyway, before the Scammell got to the broken down Lord Parry the driver stopped and (Photo David Jones) donned his new uniform! This made the whole episode even more amusing for the rest of us. The Scammell is now to be known as "Thunderbird 6". The above was sent into us by vehicle enthusiats David Jones who thought it would be of interest. For a number of years David was responsible for the highly successful annual event at the West Midlands Safari Park, near Kidderminster. Quite a number of Register members will now be familiar with his happy smile as he directs them to the arena at Dorset. Perhaps the Register should approach the AEC society to arrange more permanent breakdown cover for their members! - Ed. 4 AUTUMN IN NEWSLETTERLAND It is never the ideal time to assemble a newsletter and this one, its production slot hanging firmly between what are really the Register's two most important shows, is probably the most awkward.