The journey up to Whitby was uneventful and only took 2 and half hours. The only time i was held up was when i was out on the North Yorkshire Moors and i got stuck behind a big bunch of scooters. Bloody mods on their mopeds, why don't they get proper bikes so they don't hold everyone up. Joking apart, i take my hat off to them because that road over the Moors was no picnic, even in my car. There was snow everywhere although the weather all the way had been sunny. It made me glad that i hadn't ridden my scooter. I soon found my B&B, which was up on the West Cliffe, right opposite the Pavilion Theatre which was going to be handy at the end of the night do's. One quick phone call and i was soon in the Dolphin having a few beers with Jamie, Phillapa, their daughter and Charlie (from Lincoln SC). We were soon joined by a few more from Lincoln SC as well as Andy & Nickie Bayes. From the Dolphin we crossed over the river to join up with more of the VFM* roadcrew in the New Angel. On the way we came across Rick who had not long arrived and was looking for his digs. Before long it was time to experience a few more of the pubs along the harbour before myself and Rick went off for some food. After being fed it was time to go up to the Pavilion, via my B&B for a quick change. The walk up there almost killed me, even Rick was puffing a bit, that walk up the West Cliffe is a killer and there should be a lift built into it or at least an escalator.
Breath recovered and clothes changed i reported in to the Pavilion Theatre for the nights festivities. Appearing tonight were The Cheapskates backed up by the usual VFM* DJ's, Wigan Tim, Evo and Disco Daz with Steve Foster helping out too. The early part of the night seemed to drag on slowly as we welcomed everyone and got to speak to some scooterists that i hadn't seen since Bridlington or Fleetwood last year. Some of the Brewers arrived and as i hadn't seen any of them since i left the club, i was intrigued as to how they would react to me. I needed of worried about them as most of them warmly said hello and had a chat although one or two were either frosty or completely ignored me. That was their choice and i wasn't going to lose sleep over it. As i explained to those that did talk to me and were anxious that i hadn't fell out with them, i haven't fallen out with any particular person. just the club, i just didn't want to be part of the club anymore. Anyway the night quickly progressed and the Pavilion Theatre was soon filling up, and filling up, and filling up. What a turn out for a Pre-season Rally Friday night. The Cheapskates took to the Stage. This band used to be `I Can't Believe its Not Punk' before one of their members became extremely ill and was hospitalised. I must admit i much preferred them when they were `i Cant Believe its Not Punk' playing punk covers but they seemed ok playing their Clash covers. The night soon passed along and before long i was going round kicking everyone out before myself and Jamie & Phillapa made the short walk across the road to our B&B and retired to our beds.
I awoke about 8:30am and went for breakfast downstairs. After a call back home to my beloved, we walked over the road to the Pavilion for the Custom Show and Trade Stalls. I walked amongst the ample Trade Stalls (some were going to the Antwerp Custom Show but all the ferries had been cancelled because of the weather so had winged it upto Whitby instead) stopping to chat as i went. The Custom Show was downstairs and had a good turn out, although few were making their debut. The Sons of the Desert (Laurel & Hardy) scooter stood out for me. It was now about 2pm so i wandered down into town to meet up with a few in the pub. I was also under orders from the wife to get her a few things so i braved the rain, wind and hail untill i got what she wanted, i'm a good husband aint i. I joined a few of the VFM* crew in the New Angel before we again went to sample the other pubs along the harbour. It was in one of these pubs i bumped into Andy & Nickie Bayes again and joined them for a drink. The others shouted to me they were moving on to the next pub and i said i would catch up with them, although i never quite managed to. Andy & Nickie had told me the previous day that they were emigrating to Australia in April so i wanted to have a good chat with them and they told me all about it. As i said we left the pub but we never caught up with the others so we decided to eat before i had to go and change ready for the night do. As Dawn wasn't with me i was also working this night as well.
The Saturday night do was also in the Pavilion Theatre but tonight there was two rooms, the main room and a Soul Kitchen downstairs. If Friday night had been well attended tonight was packed out. This really was the best attended pre-season to date. The Tickets took to the stage early on. This was a band made up of 4 young lads who didn't look like they were old enough to drink. This said they were a very tight outfit and for me were the best band of the weekend even though they were predominately a mod band. They did a mixture of songs by The Jam, The Who, Small Faces and the like as well as a few 2 tone songs and impressively also threw a couple of their own songs in too. If anyone needs to book this type of band i would recommend them, and i believe they are also booked for Sticky Rock this year. The other band tonight were The Cool Jerks who are always a decent band. A few more Brewers arrived tonight as well and again i was warmly greeted by them and towards the end of the night i went over and had a good chat with most of them untill one member decided it was time to have an arguement with me and dragged up the accident again. This member wasn't even at the accident but was trying to tell me what happened so i decided to leave them to it and went off to speak to someone else. The good thing for those of us working was the fact that the bar was only open untill 1am (as it was on Friday) so it was soon time to start chucking people out and retiring to bed.
So that was the first (British) rally of the season over and if the attendance figures at Whitby are reflected in the up coming rallies, then we are in for a busy year. This rally had been an excellent start to the season even though the weather had not been brilliant and we now move it all on to Great Yarmouth over the Easter Weekend. See ya all there.
SAFE SCOOTERING
BIG ANDY