The Armstrong Galloway Hills Rally

HISTORY OF ‘THE HILLS’

The “Galloway Hills” organising team are proud that this will be the fiftieth running of the event – proud because a rally which began its’ life in the heyday of the Mark I Escort has continued undiminished for five decades, and still attracts the supercars of today.

Dating back to 1974, the Galloway Hills Rally is one of the longest running motorsport events in Scotland. Beginning as a collaboration between two local Car Clubs - Solway and East Ayrshire - the team was strengthened by the addition of Machars Car Club in 1983, forming the partnership which lasts to this day.

The “Galloway Hills” of today seems infinitely more sophisticated than those pioneering events of the early seventies. The basic format of a forest rally may have remained the same, but who could have foreseen the increase in manpower which today’s event demands? The introduction of Route Notes and computerised results – once a novelty – became essentials in the late 90s, and the appointment of the Safety Delegate over a decade ago brought with it an enormous increase in pre-event paperwork and an increased demand for Marshals. This puts a considerable burden on our helpers, and as Organisers we cannot remind ourselves too often how much we are in their debt.

Admittedly, there have been low points in the last fifty years, when lack of sponsorship and declining entries may have caused the treasurer of the time some sleepless nights. Somehow, even in these lean years, we have always managed to run the event and emerge with both enough in the bank to survive and an abundance of optimism that there would be better times ahead.

We realise that Forestry and Land Scotland have other people’s interests to consider, and must balance the needs of walkers, cyclists or bird watchers, as well as the demands of their timber contractors. The reasons that our event did not run in 2024 were highly publicised, and while those reasons still remain, we feel that we owe it to our loyal Competitors, Sponsors and Supporters to run a 50th Galloway Hills Rally. We remain optimistic that a self-repair scheme which works financially for all sizes of events can be agreed in future, to ultimately help safeguard the future of gravel rallying throughout Scotland.

For this year however, whatever your involvement with the Galloway Hills Rally, and whether it is your first or your fiftieth, rest assured that it will be our aim to ensure that you enjoy yourself and return again to continue the tradition along with us.