A wartime canteen truck gifted to Angus by the late Queen Mother has been pressed back into service.
The Austin K2 was presented to the Angus Emergency Relief Association at the height of World War Two.
It was a gift from the Queen Mother to the county and handed over at her childhood home of Glamis Castle.
Now, 80 years on, its urn is supplying refreshments to enthusiasts at monthly meets organised by Strathmore Vintage Vehicle Club.
Its members restored the old Austin, which is part of the club’s permanent collection of vehicles at their Bridge View House HQ, a stone’s thrown from Glamis Castle.
Queen Mum’s love of Glamis
The First World War began when the young Princess Elizabeth was just 14.
She spent much of her childhood at Glamis and the historic castle was turned into a military hospital, housing 1,500 soldiers.
Elizabeth’s fondness for Glamis and Angus never left her.
She returned for many public and private visits.
One of those was in August 1943 when the Austin canteen was handed over to Angus Emergency Relief Association.
The vehicle was based on a K2 three-ton chassis, supplied by Wm Morrison of Littlecauseway in Forfar.
It was fitted out just doors away by town joiner Norman Esplin.
The canteen could provide meals for up to 300 and after the end of the war continued to perform its role for the WRVS.
But it was eventually put off the road and found languishing in a Forfar yard in the 1970s.
SVVC stalwarts Lyall Norrie and Ian Johnston led the vehicle’s restoration, which involved hundreds of hours.
They painted it in its original colour scheme.
And the cupboards inside still contain all of the original crockery and cutlery supplied when the vehicle was built.
Fittingly, the canteen’s first appearance after restoration was at the 1995 Scottish Transport Extravaganza.
It is the club’s major annual event at Glamis Castle.
Since then the Austin has been a regular attraction there and at other vintage events.
Classics and Coffee
More recently, SVVC has asked the old lady of the road to return to her original role.
The club started Classics and Coffee gatherings earlier this year.
They have proved a runaway success and regularly attract around 50 interesting vehicles every month.
And the Queen Mum’s canteen has become ‘Katy’s cafe’.
Meigle teenager Katy Hogg is one of SVVC’s new generation of enthusiasts.
Her grandad, Stan Williamson, is one of the club’s motorcycle experts.
And Katy has even snapped up her first classic bike.
So she’s taken on the role of tea lady by lifting the canteen hatch at the monthly meets.
SVVC director Stephen Dear said the Angus idea was sparked by a regular Bacon and Brakes gathering at The Rhynd cafe in north-east Fife.
“Our headquarters is the ideal venue to hold a smaller informal meet,” he said.
“We don’t have cafe premises for food but it’s been a talking point to use the 80-year-old canteen to serve coffee and teas from.”
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