Big Andys Scootering Site

RHYL RALLY JUNE 13TH-15TH 2003

With no other member from the ii or the Brewers attending Rhyl, i had arranged to meet up with the lads from Ital scooters when we arrived at Rhyl. Having already discovered there was no rally campsite, only two holiday camps that would allow scooterists to camp, we decided to get b&b when we arrived. So after saying my goodbyes to Dawn, i set off at around 4:15pm for the land of greatness, otherwise known as Wales. My route was to take the M6 and M56 to Chester then the A55 to Rhyl, but it soon became apparent that my beloved scooter was not at its peak performance. The engine was not firing correctly and was not giving me any accelleration, so i decided to stick to the A roads to Chester.

I saw very few other scooters on my uneventful journey to Wales, but had discovered that the faster i went the better my scooter performed. So having been cruising along at around 65-70mph most of the way, i arrived at Rhyl at 6:30 pm having taken 2 and 1/4 hours to get there. As i crossed the boarder in to Wales it brought a lump to my throat and a feeling of emense proudness to be back in my country. Having arrived safely i then set about trying to find a b&b for 4. After 2 or 3 unsuccessful attempts i found a guest house that had 2 rooms available so snapped them up and unpacked.

Nick,Mark and keith from Ital scooters arrived at around 8:30 and with my expert guidence had soon found the digs, so after a quick change and freshen up we set of along the prom to partake in some liquid refreshment.

We first stopped off at the Sandringham Hotel on the prom for our first beer, as it was packed with scooterists, some even attempting to sing along with the karaoke, then it was off back along the prom to the Palace Hotel then to V.F.M. s do at Brunels. There wasn't a great amount of people in there but that meant we could get a drink quicker. The usual V.F.M. crew were there spinning the discs to the increasing amout of dancers as the do filled up nicely. I went around with my camera fighting Andrea, from the Hornets, to get some photos of the do. My only gripe for the night was that the clubs own security were a bit heavy handed and to officious, but V.F.M. had noticed and to there credit put it right for sat night.

The do finished at 1am, but as we all poured out of the do we noticed another place called the Orange Peel that was still open and playing scooterist music so we all piled in there, including V.F.M.s Wigan Tim complete with his cd cases and promptly took over the dj spot. We all stayed in there untill we were kicked out at around 3:15, then went back to our digs for some much needed kip.

Saturday morning started with a rude awakening at 8:00 as Nick and Mark had decided that as they had to be up to go set up there stall, that myself and keith should be up too. So after a shower and getting dressed, i wandered down to the newsagents to kill a bit of time till breakfast. At breakfast i chatted to two other guests who had managed to get up, and hadn't stopped in bed nursing a hangover. These two lads had come from Chester and had planned on camping but on arriving at the first holiday campsite recommended by V.F.M. they discovered the owners would only admit families so went to the second site only to find that 1:- it was full, and 2:- even if they could get on it was going to cost £28 per tent per night. This is a total rip off as B&B only cost £12-£15 a night, so i was glad we had decided to go B&B.

After breakfast and a leisurely read of my paper i wandered down the prom to where the custom show and the stalls were set up. There was quite a lot of scooters along the prom by this time so wandered around taking a few piccies.

Winners of the custom show included, Tiggerific, PS2,Lock Stock & Barrell trike and best of show went to the Paul Smith special lambretta which belonged to one of the lads i had chatted to at breakfast in the digs. After consuming a few beers and chatting to a few peeps at Brunels, i wandered back to the digs to grap a couple of hours kip. (would have said power nap but apparently that phrase is copyrighted)

The Ital lads returned to the digs around 5pm and rudely awoke me, but as they were suggesting we went for a curry before we hit the pubs, i quickly forgave them. We found a curry house on the prom called magic spice so myself, the Ital lads plus Mark from lambretta art and his misses plus two other stall holders, Mandy and Jo plus Macca from The Last Resort S.C. settled down to a very enjoyable meal. We left the curry house around 9pm and went across the road to the Sandringham Hotel were i had a chat with Sid and his mates from Stoke on Trent. After a few beers we took off to Brunels for the V.F.M. do and arrived just in time for the band. After about 15 mins it became apparent that we should have stayed in the pub as this band were very poor. Steve Foster later explained that the planned band, Two-Tonic, had pulled out and these were a very late replacement. In hindsight he properbly would have been better to just have the djs playing all night. Most people stood outside the do as it was far too hot inside and if you spend more than 2 mins in there, sweat would pour off you. I again managed to take a few piccies but had to take them secretly so Andrea from the Hornets wouldn't see me. I don't know, these scootering magazine photographers. there a pain in the a**e (hehe Andrea told u i'd get some piccies)(note to Andrea...its best if you don't open up your camera when you are only half way through your film)

The do finished about 1am, so after a chat with one of the doormen who lived in Rhyl but supported the super rams (must be mad) and a chat on the phone to my loved one, it was off to the Orange Peel to continue the nights festivities. At 3am the dj and the management tried to tell us all that the night was over but they were unanimously over-ruled and convinced to carry on a bit longer, so we were finally kicked out about 4:15am and so after saying my goodbyes to a few peeps, i retired to my pit totally knackered.

Sunday morning, over breakfast, we were informed that the police had set up road blocks on the exit roads to pull in scooters and give them a going over to see if both scooter and rider were fit to be on the road, so we decided to delay our departure for a couple of hours to avoid any hassle. This hasn't been heard off since the 80's and was over the top by the local constabulary, but then they had been over the top all weekend with a very high visable turnout patrolling the steets dispite there being no occurances for them to sort out.

I got bored about 11:30am so set off home using the coast road to avoid the A55, arriving at Burton for a BBQ at 2:15pm

On the whole this was an enjoyable weekend with good company in the Ital lads, but i must be getting soppy in my old age cos it didn't seem the same without Dawn and i certainly missed not having her to cuddle upto at the end of each night. I also missed all my ii buddies but we can make up for that in 2 weeks time at shires.

So cheers to Nick, Mark, Macca and Keith from Ital scooters for putting up with me all weekend, cheers also to Steve and the lads from V.F.M. for putting on yet another top weekend.

see you all at shires

safe scootering

andy

(Burton Brewers S.C.)