My friend Jim Tully passed away on 21 October. He was diagnosed with cancer around 4 years ago, and has met that challenge with his normal positive
attitude, but sadly he was told a month or so ago that it was no longer treatable. I have written on these pages that we were doing something, or
not doing something else, "for reasons that I won't go into". Well, this was the reason.
We have shared so many TVR trips and adventures over the past 20 years, too many to write about here. Every trip has been better for Jim's sense of humour and mischief.
Our first trip "abroad" was to TVR S-Club in Coventry in 2007, on a weekend when TV weather reports warned of severe flooding, with several roads blocked, and police advising people to make essential journeys only etc. So naturally, after about half-a-second's careful consideration, we three, the original S-Series caballeros, decided to set off anyway, and had an absolutely brilliant weekend.
That was followed by a trip to TVR S-Club at Newark in 2008, with a bigger Scottish contingent. We all had t-shirts especially printed and everything!
Dave's daughter and my son also came along. Memorable for (a) a gazebo blowing end-over-end up the showfield, and (b) winding up Mike about washing
cars outside the hotel at 7.30am.
2 years later we went to S-Club in Telford, and went down to visit Ironbridge for our customary ice cream
This trip was also memorable for the water pistol fight where Jim was aiming for the face and Dave aimed for the trousers, so Jim had to spend an
hour lying face-down so that he didn't look like he had wet himself...
practice for the drive home from another event ...
Sometimes we studied geneaology.
Sometimes we just wore silly hats.
This is at the TVR Car Club event at Burghley House - can't remember the year.
We had a wee 4-man Scotland tour in June, where we spent one night in swinging Campbelltown (on the Mull of Kintyre).
And this is from our very last trip to England, when we went to a TVR event near Blackpool in July...
We've had some great times, we've shared stories of our lives and experiences, some hilariously funny, some unbelievably sad. Anybody else listening to our conversations would think that we couldn't stand each other, such is the level of banter and piss-taking. But when it came down to the wire, we were always there to help each other.
We've travelled many thousands of miles together, and we've always managed to depart and arrive at the right place at the same time.
This last journey, you have to make on your own Jim. But we know that as usual, you'll be waiting for us just up the road, just round the next corner, and we'll all catch up then.
Until then, all our thoughts are with Debbie, Anna and Bobby, whose loss is inestimably greater than ours.