Big Andys Scootering Site

.....This was the rally i know a lot of people were looking forward to, as this was to be how a scooter rally should be, SCOOTERS ONLY. It was to take place mainly on the Saturday but if you wanted to, you could arrive on Friday. I rode upto Wigan Tims house in St Helens on Thursday evening having a gentle ride up the A50 and the M6, taking about 2 hours to get there. We then went to his local for a meal where i was astounded by how cheap the meals were. Having stuffed ourselves on the local cuisine we went to The Black Bull to meet up with some of the Lancashire Alliance and sampled some of the local brew. Next morning we went over to Asda to pick up my weekend supply of lager then off to the chemist to pick up some insect repellent. Tim had been upto the venue on Wednesday night and had been bitten by an insect and his arm was red and badly swollen and i didn't fancy having the same. We then made our way to The Lancashire Speedboat Club where the rally was being held. We then set about setting up our tents before setting up the disco upstairs for the Soul Room. Before long Johnny Bollard had arrived followed closely by Steve Foster, Tesco and Bill from the Monsters SC. We set up the table at the entrance where i spent the rest of the afternoon greeting those that arrived and removing £6 from them. Myself and Rick (Modrapheniacs SC) finished on the gate about 9:30 and went of into the club to join the others. There was about 70 - 80 people there on the Friday and it was a very relaxed atmosphere as we partied into the night, firstly in the club and then by the tents. I called it a night about 3am and retired to my little sweat box of a tent.

.....I was forced to get up around 7:30 as it was sweltering in my tent. The club was supposed to open again about 9:30am for breakfast but it was nearer 10am when they did. By then just about everyone was queuing outside and despite being the last one to join the queue, somehow JohnsmateDave was first at the food counter. After breakfast i lounged around outside but it was already too hot, so ambled down to the gate to join those there as this was in the shade and probably the coolest spot around. Scooters arrived steadily and yes, despite it being a strictly scooter only event a few cars still turned up. These were refused entry and told to go and park their cars further down the lane. Outside the club, Bernie from Stockport Crusaders SC did an accoustic session singing many a rally favourite. The ride out from Matlock via Macclesfield arrived about 3pm leaving just about enough time to set up their tents before the England game. I took over on the gate whilst the game was on as i wasn't bothered about watching it but could hear it on the loud speakers. Being Welsh, i wanted England to win but could laugh when they lost out on penalties again. A constant stream of angry faces poured out of the club into the sunshine fuming over either Rooney or Christiano Ronaldo. There was only one thing for it and that was to drown your sorrows in more ale.

..... Myself and Lincoln Lee remained on the gate for a while longer then went off to join in the fun. There was about 270 - 300 people in by now and the beer was in full flow. I spent the rest of the night chatting to folks and taking photos but by 1am i was ready for my bed.

.....Next morning it was a case of taking your tent down, packing up, saying your goodbyes and riding off into the sun. This was an extremely pleasant rally, set in a beautiful area next to the Carr Mill Dam, with enough people there to make it a relaxing weekend. I hope we can do more rallies like this in the future. I'm not sure which is my next rally, probably Isle Of Wight, but we might just do saturday night at both Cleethorpes and Brewers. If not i shall see ya on the I-O-W, untill then

SAFE SCOOTERING

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