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Austin Seven's At Borvemore
 On Saturday 30th July 2005 the people of the Isle of Harris were given a rare chance to view a collection of Austin Seven cars. Some twenty-five Austin 7's crossed the Sound of Harris, cruising in convoy through Leverburgh on their way to Borvemore Stable & Byre Cottages. Many of the children (and adults!) gave the drivers a wave as they passed, this was reciprocated with an equally friendly wave and a beep of their horns [they sounded a bit like the car in the children's program Brum - come to think of it they looked like it too].
The meeting at Borvemore was a celebration of the fact it was 100 years ago that Lord Austin set up his company. In the summer of 1905 Lord Austin (then Herbert Austin) founded the Austin Motor Company, which produced various vehicles - the most memorable being the Austin 7. Although the Austin 12, one of which was at Borvemore, was a "luxury" version the Austin Seven has several advantages (the most obvious to me is that is more affordable!). Many would assume that the Scottish Austin Seven Club would consist of "oldies" recapturing their youth but nothing could be further from the truth as I saw enthusiasts of all ages.
 Having waved the cars passed my house I caught up with them at Borvemore having been kindly being invited by Scott Bennet, himself an Austin Seven enthusiast and owner of an immaculate maroon Austin 7 (One day I will have to ask Scott if I can take a photo of his car outside his blackhouse). I had asked my children if they had wanted to come with me, this invitation had been met with an unenthusiastic "mmmm maybe" but when they had seen the cars drive by they couldn't wait to get up there to investigate further - the cars seem to have that sort of effect on people.
 The photograph to the right - you can click all photos on this page to view enlargements - shows the barbecue before the arrival of even more Austin Sevens and members of the Lewis Classic Car Club, after which the place was packed and difficult to get a photo of the area. The food was excellent, especially the cakes and cheesecake, the weather was especially good and the midges stayed away - I don't think you could ask for anything else - though I heard that after the barbecue they all went blokarting down on the beach at Scarista - great fun.
 To make the day even more enjoyable we had traditional music and song which continued through the day. I was fascinated by the instruments, which together produced a very pleasant sound. The photograph to the left shows the small pipes with the accordian but also Scott using electric bagpipes - well electric pipes as I couldn't see a bag anywhere! If you want to take a closer look just click the image.
John Murdo kindly sang for us at the request of Scott (a song of special importance to Scott but I can't remember the name). It has been a while since I have heard John Murdo sing but he can still belt them out and hold his notes. The whole musical experience had a feel of the traditional ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) which used to be so common across the islands but sadly has appeared to be in decline in recent years (though I believe that Borvemore Studios is often the venue for musical evenings with both pipe and accordian players).
On the next page (coming soon I hope)I will try to add as many of the (hundreds of) photographs that I took that day as I am sure many visitors would like to see all of the wonderful vehicles which ranged from the Mini Cooper to the Cobra - oh, and of course a great many Austin Sevens ;-)
I will also try to add some Austin Seven wallpaper to Virtual Scotland's wallpaper section as soon as possible.
Austin Seven Wallpaper page 1
Austin Seven Wallpaper page 2
If you click the photo below you will see a much large version:
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