Braidwood 'coppers' lay down the law in candid caper as Model A Fords roll into town

Sure, radar-toting constabulary are a regular scene here pouncing on lead-footed Y-platers speeding to coast, but these cheery coppers look a bit different to your stock-standard Braidwood highway patrol officers.

Firstly, there's no police car with flashing blue lights, and secondly, they're carrying clipboards and dressed in replica 19th-century uniforms. What's more, they're pointing jovially at one of their colleagues who is standing at attention on the other side of the road and saluting passing traffic.

Heck, it's as if I've stumbled upon the film set of a remake of Keystone Cops.

Before I have a chance to check if I've interrupted the filming, a vintage Model A Ford chugs over Monkittee Creek and up the hill past the town's landmark big pink pub. It's barely doing 30km/h but that doesn't stop all four keystone cops from directing the wide-eyed driver to pull over.

It turns out I've stumbled upon the 27th Model A Ford (1927-1931) National Meet during their day run from the rally's week-long base in Goulburn to Braidwood and while I wasn't anticipating such a spectacle on a mid-week drive to the coast, the folk from the Braidwood Museum certainly were. In fact, they thought they'd use the opportunity to indulge in some good old-fashioned fun.

John Stahel, vice president of the museum, one of the four 19th-century coppers, plucks an infringement notice from the thick wad of them he has tucked away in his clipboard.

The offence succinctly states "for driving a motor vehicle in a reckless manner in an historic place so as to cause alarm that mud may be splashed". As to damage to the driver's back pocket? Five guineas which must be paid "in person" at the Braidwood Museum. Classic.

Further up the main street more and more drivers and their passengers most resplendent in 1930s garb, some even with twirling parasols, emerge from their vintage vehicles.

While many peruse the boutiques and antique shops, enjoy the performing buskers lining the street or join the long queue for pies at the Braidwood Bakery, outside the historic courthouse "Sergeant" Stahel and his mates in blue are having a field day issuing more infringement notices.

One of the first parked cars they swoop on is Gilbert Haywood's shiny dark green 1931 Ford Model A "Victoria" model.

Before Gilbert can even wind down his window, Sergeant Stahel swoops. His crime? "Failure to wave red flag vigorously 20 yards in front of moving vehicle in an historic place" - an obvious hark back to the early days of motoring when self-propelled vehicles needed to be proceeded with a man walking ahead carrying a red flag to warn other road users of the vehicle's approach.

But Gilbert doesn't look like a man who's just been hit with a hefty fine. Oh no, he is beaming. Having driven with his wife, Heather, all the way from Strathalbyn in South Australia to be part of the rally, he's "more than happy" to join in with the candid capers of the pretend coppers.

"This is more fun than towing a caravan across the Hay Plain," he muses as Sergeant Stahel's offsider, "Constable" Rob Martin, instructs Gilbert to step out of the car and place his hands on the bonnet for a faux frisking.

Before long, Sergeant Stahel and co have placed an infringement notice under the windscreen wiper of every single one of the 100-plus Model As lining the main street.

And there is method to their madness, with the fines having to be paid at the museum. "It's a way of coaxing the visitors into the volunteer-staffed museum and to appreciate the town's history and maybe [leave] a donation," explains Sergeant Stahel.

But their antics aren't just about boosting the museums' coffers, it's also leaving a positive impression on visitors, many of whom travelled from as far afield as the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

"We really enjoyed the motorcade and I hope they enjoyed our little bit of theatre," says Sergeant Stahel.

According to rally secretary Rob Taylor, who I caught up with at the conclusion of the national meet, the participants "had a blast".

"From the buskers on the street corners to locals dressed up in period costume, everyone in Braidwood really stepped up to the mark," he says. "Other towns don't do anything quite like this, it was special, everyone was just gobsmacked with the wonderful welcome Braidwood put on."

Not even the rain that began to tumble as the convoy left Braidwood for Goulburn took the shine off the day.

"Nothing was going to dampen our spirits, not after the high everyone was on in Braidwood," explains Rob.

And as for all those potholes on the back roads between Braidwood and Goulburn? Well, they weren't a problem either.

"Model A Fords were designed for dirt roads, and we only drive at 60 or 70km/h so providing you didn't go through the big holes, a bit of rough road isn't going to hurt us," explains Rob.

Despite the age of the vehicles, challenging weather and unforgiving road surfaces, there were only two incidents during their excursion to Braidwood - one car broke down with an electrical fault and another had its front bumper bar fall off.

"But that's all part of the fun of a car rally," says Rob.

One of the best aspects of driving around the region are the surprises you find on - or beside - our country roads.

Sometimes it's a roadside stall like the hen eggs cleverly marketed as "wombat eggs" at the village of Wombat near Young and other times on quieter roads it's games of cricket, using the thin strips of bitumen as the pitch.

One of the more outrageous "sporting" sights I've interrupted on a country road was a few years ago at Wee Jasper, where I encountered a group of speed skaters waiting by a hairpin bend.

Perplexed as to their daredevil antics, I stopped and had a chat. There were about 30 of them (the rest were at the bottom of the hill waiting for a lift back up) competing in a Secret Outlaw Race.

"As we aren't supposed to race on the roads, we keep the location undercover until the last possible moment," explained one skater covered from head to toe in a black body suit and sporting a video camera on his helmet.

Reaching speeds of up to 70km/h it wasn't surprising that there was more than one competitor nursing flesh wounds.

Then there are the animal encounters, which aren't always with wildlife, but sometimes stock. In 2017, during the height of the last drought, I stumbled upon drover Mark Fraser with a mob of cattle grazing the "long paddock" near Nimmitabel.

Just like with the Model A's, the mob of several hundred cattle slowed down traffic, adding an extra 10 minutes or so to our trip. Most other drivers were happy to slow down (and take photos) but of course there were a few left more than a tad aggrieved that they couldn't keep driving at 100km/h. Surely our roads are for all of us to use, aren't they?

Have you encountered a surprise on the roads around the region? I'd love to hear from you.

Rating: Medium - Hard

Clue: Hudson's first.

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to tym@iinet.net.au. The first correct email sent after 10am, Saturday September 24, wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.

Last week: Congratulations to Sue Fraser of Hackett who was the first reader to correctly identify the location as the site of Canberra Hospital, the ACT's first public hospital (now called Jaeger Old Hospital Building 61A by the ANU) on the corner of Mills Road and Balmain Crescent in Acton. Sue beat several readers, including Chris Ryan of Kirrawee and Ian Petersons of Macquarie to the prize.

The photo was sent in by Kevin Mulcahy of Tura Beach who reports the hospital had various names at different times. "From 1914 to 1930 it was known simply as the Canberra Hospital; it changed in 1930 to Canberra Government Hospital and again in 1935 to the Canberra Community Hospital. All patients and equipment were transferred to the new hospital of the same name in Liversidge Street in 1943. This was the one that was imploded in 1997. In 1968 the name reverted to Canberra Hospital until 1979 when it became the Royal Canberra Hospital. It kept this title until November 1991 when it was closed." Got it?

On a recent walk on Red Hill, nearby resident Asoka Wijeratne noticed a fallen branch wedged in a fork of a tree that together with the bark pattern made it resemble a stork. "I didn't think it was a real bird, but by looking at it from the right angle it certainly looks like one" he explains, adding "it's on the track down from the Trig Point to Mugga Way."

CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, GPO Box 606, Civic, ACT, 2601

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