An Aberdeenshire man celebrated his 21st birthday in style this weekend with a ride on a vintage Sentinal steam wagon.
Aaron Clark, from Drumblade, had longed to ride on the machine since he started volunteering at Grampian Transport Museum in Alford in 2010.
And on Saturday, Mr Clark was given the opportunity as he helped drive the Sentinel from the museum to Castle Fraser for the Bon Accord Steam and Vintage fair.
Mr Clark’s mother Andrea said her son, who has autism, has learned a lot about interacting with people from his time under the mentorship of museum curator Mike Ward.
The former Meldrum Academy pupil has now landed himself a job as a kitchen assistant at Kellockbank garden centre near Insch while he studies for a cookery qualification.
The Sentinel, which was built in Glasgow in 1914, was seen as a modern road haulage vehicle when World War I broke out.
It worked through the entire period, in the hands of Sandy Runcie of Inverurie, who also used the vehicle to provide trips for school groups to local picnic spots, like Bennachie.
The rally over the course of the weekend attracted hundreds to Castle Fraser with more than 400 vehicles, ranging from military machines to classic cars, on show.
Mrs Clark said: “Aaron is very interested in transport and particularly trains so it was great for him to get a bit of experience volunteering at this museum.
“Volunteering has made him have to socialise with people, which he found very hard, and learn how to communicate with them.
“Luckily he gets to speak to them about his favourite subject so he found that really helpful.
“Mike has really been a mentor to Aaron, he got him started out handing out leaflets and now he does everything and anything there.
“Aaron was so delighted to ride the Sentinel and I really have to say thank you to Mike and his team for taking Aaron on from the beginning and helping him through his disability.
“He would not be the person he is without such a lot of community input and help.
“He said the ride made his birthday.”