Big Andys Scootering Site

ME, A MOD, NEVER

My first ridden rally was to Porthcawl in South Wales back in 1981,but unfortunately as i spent nearly all my £30 a week wages on going to the rallies (how did i ever manage on just £30 a week, but that was about the going rate for a 17 year old bricklaying apprentice), the one thing i never got around to buying was a camera, so i have very few photos of my early days, and as my memory is crap (properbly due to all the pills), i have even fewer memoirs. Anyway here a few of the photos that i have still got from back in 1982. Oh, and by the way, by the look of me back then the reason i survived on my meagre wages was because i didn't eat. (and yes it actually is me below)

The red P200E was mine, it was the first scooter i owned

This rally was only the 2nd one that i rode on a scooter to

And this area was actually the camp site but most of us kipped in the big building and so many people lit bonfires it was nearly burned down

This area is now a shopping centre, just next to the A55, but back in 1981 as you can see it was a flooded 'camp site' 

These two photos are of the same scooter, and believe it or not all the lights on both the front and the rear all worked (god knows how many batteries were hidden away on it)

This lot were from the North West Leicestershire Scooter Club based in Ashby & Coalville, With whom i rode to a lot of rallies with. My P200E had by now got union jack side panels.

The one thing about this rally that i remember is that i took a girl from Ashby with me but unfortunately my girlfriend from Derby came down on the train without me knowing and caught me out

From left to right:-(1) Chris Archer, (2)Kev ?, (3)A lad from Rugby who rode down with us with, (4)Chris Wheatley, (5)Tony ?, (6)Mark Wheatley, and finally (7) a lad called Blue who i think was also from Rugby

Above is Chris Wheatley from Ashby. The two of us rode upto Morecambe on our own and met the rest of the club there

This was my baby, but as you can see it didnt get a lot of money spent on it except for a few mirrors and lights (im ashamed to admit it now) but just look at the helmet, it was done with sticky back chrome with an army net over the top and part of a union jack painted on the peak. I forget whose idea this was but at the time it looked good, well i was a young mod back then.

If  you look closely at my scooter, you can see that my side panel had been damaged. This happened when i came off my scooter. Those of you that know me, know that this was to become a regular occurance for me over the years. Still the joys of scootering, hey.

The place where we all gathered and slept in Brighton was by Black Rock Beach, which, on Sundays only, had just become Englands only nudist beach, so you can imagine the enjoyment a horde of teenage mods got just before they left Brighton to go home

And this daft sod riding along the prom without his helmet on is me

The photo above was sent to me from another Derby scooterist and was taken at Scarborough in 1982 and shows me wearing a boating jacket of all things. The lad next to me is Colin Potter who was best friend. We met when we were about 12 years of age and became inseperable and were more like brothers than friends. We both became punks before becoming mods together, we even got married to girls who were best friends. Dawn, my wife was best friends with Colins 1st wife, Lisa. Colin was my best man when Dawn and myself were married.

As previously stated my first scooter was a P200E but Colins was a Vespa 50. When the above photo was taken Colin had actually rode his 50cc up there, taking about 7 hours to get there.

In the last 2-3 years we drifted apart a little bit, seeing each other only occasionally, but Colin was never far from my thoughts.

On the 18th January 2006 Colin passed away, aged only 40, having been diagnosed with cancer only a couple of weeks earlier, leaving me devasted by his death. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Sue, and the rest of his family.

Rest peacefully mate, i shall miss you