The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Tufty is for grown-ups, too!
A recent message plus photo sent to Craigie by Dunfermline resident Jean Walls on the theme of the Tufty Club has elicited an interesting response from Magnus Wylie.
The Perth pensioner tells us that the popular children’s road safety initiative from the 1960s and ‘70s served as the rather tongue-in-cheek inspiration behind a nickname given to a regular get-together for Fair City men of a certain vintage – which has now endured for three decades.
Mr Wylie, of Gannochy Walk, explains: “Many of your readers will be aware of the existence in Perth of the Jeanfield Tufties, which has been on the go for about 30 years now. We started off as a newly-formed section of the Jeanfield Swifts Social Club, with the late Paddy Winton as president and the late Jimmy Boyle as treasurer.
“The official title of the section was ‘Over 50s for Men’. We were all retired from work and, if my memory serves me correctly, the original members were Jim Devine, Nick Duff, Alan Ferguson, Roy Patterson, Sandy Simmers, Dick Cooper, Jimmy Christie and myself.
“The purpose was to go out and about. We did a lot of walking when weather permitted and we visited various places of interest, all over the place. We had an outing up to Orkney and another down to see Manchester United. It was all about getting out there.”
The original Tufty Club, which was started by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, passed on road safety advice to youngsters under the age of five through stories featuring the fun character Tufty Fluffytail and his various animal friends.
Magnus says it was this quirky aspect
to the scheme that led to his own group’s affectionate moniker.
He says: “The nickname of ‘The Tufties’ originated from Paddy Winton’s wife Christine and Jim Devine’s wife Mary, who were amusedly concerned about our road safety. The wives thought these older guys going out and about might not be so safe and, in turn, a lot of people in Perth heard about us and picked up on the name.”
Sadly, the other founders of the Fair City
set-up have passed on one by one, leaving Magnus and a small batch of later recruits to carry the torch as they seek to maintain a presence as a bastion of companionship in the face of fierce competition nowadays from the likes of the Men’s Shed movement.
However, hope springs eternal, and he reveals plans are afoot to bolster the charitable group’s ranks as 2022 further unfolds.
Mr Wylie declares: “I am the only one left of the original Tufties and sadly have been to many funerals of later additions as well – but I am delighted to have had the company of the five other present day Tufties.
“Membership has dwindled a bit, obviously. At the moment we have only those five other members and it’s always been a case of people within the club speaking to friends and asking if they would like to be a part if it – it just goes on by word of mouth and inviting people to come in.
“In days gone by we met at Simpson Park but it was destroyed and the football club moved up to Riverside Drive. In recent times we’ve instead tended to meet up at Dobbies for a coffee and it’s been a case of, ‘Right, what’re we going to do today?’
“Weather permitting we always look for getting out for the walk, preferably in the countryside, but we just go with the flow.
“We put money in every week and it goes towards paying for petrol and other costs. The Tufties is the highlight of the week for members.
“My wife died four years ago and this has been a big thing for me to keep going, meeting these guys. It’d be fine if some other people thought, ‘We could do this’ and came along and joined us.”