REMEMBERING FRANK

With an age difference between them of almost 50 years you’d expect a huge contrast in outlooks – perhaps even like chalk and cheese. True, there was always going to be a bond between grandfather and grandson but the close relationship between Frank MacDougall and Mark Bone which developed over the 25 years or so they spent together meant they almost turned out like two peas in a pod. “We could fight like cat and dog,” says Mark with a big smile with the memory, “but it was all in good fun. Frank would wind you up sometimes – just to watch your reaction – but he never meant anything harmful to it.”

Although Mark’s home was in nearby Galston, he recalls almost being brought up at his grandparents place a couple of miles away. The attraction to spending almost every weekend – and the long school holidays – up the hill from town was there was always so much going on. It was still a small working farm back then with cows and sheep while there was a quad bike to try out (from the age of five) and then a tractor to drive from when he was about ten. There was also a strange mix of brand-new vehicles in transit through the farm yard while during the season there were always all sorts of different rallies to go to. And even the winter time was just as good as there were always some long-term restoration projects to crawl under and help out with. Yes, following in the wheel-tracks of Frank ‘Mr Perkins’ MacDougall was to see