Club Focus
The AFSC has been through several incarnations, most recently becoming part of the support network for Armed Forces Veterans. If asked to name the three largest Scooter Clubs in the UK most scooterists could easily name two – LCGB and VCB, but the third?
Blackpool Lambretta Owners Club.
“COMRADESHIP – IMAGINED BY MANY, EXPERIENCED BY FEW”
With a membership approaching 900 the Armed Forces Scooter Club has a massive presence on the UK scooter scene but is hardly known outside its membership. Simon Cuerden, founder member and current membership secretary, spoke to Scootering about the club’s past, present and future.
Cheesy Hammy Eggy and Pokey Pink Things “The club was originally formed in 1981 as The British Forces Scooter Club,” explained Simon. “There was nothing formal about the club at that time. Just a few mates linked by scooters and the armed forces who would meet informally at rallies and send the odd ‘Bluey’ (single sheet letter) to each other while deployed on operations.”
During the 1980s the security situation deteriorated and service personnel became a target for various terrorist groups. At that time it wasn’t advisable to advertise that you were in the armed forces, so the British Forces Scooter Club had to become more discreet and was renamed after a popular (and artery hardening) Royal Navy snack known commonly as a ‘Cheesy Hammy Eggy’.
Membership was open to both serving and retired members together with civilian support staff. The ‘Mad Bishop’, the Rev Mike Brotherton RN, who was based at HMS
Nelson in Portsmouth, coordinated the newsletters with all mail being sent in the civilian post due to the ongoing security concerns. As this was the pre-internet era, maintaining communication was challenging but membership was healthy as was the general interest in scootering. Eventually the Cheesy Hammy Eggy SC followed the same fate as most UK clubs of that era. Members found themselves with mortgages to pay, families to raise and careers to pursue. Inevitably numbers declined and the Cheesy Hammy Eggy SC eventually folded.
The club’s next incarnation was in the early 1990s as ‘The Pokey Pink Thing SC’ which was founded by Brett Rhodes, a soldier based in the UK. The name came from a pink fluffy rabbit which was carried by Brett’s wife on all the runs and was referred to as a Pokey Pink Thing. At that time it was normal for scooter clubs to use novelty names and as it still wasn’t advisable to publicise any connections with the armed forces, the name fitted the times perfectly. Despite the best of intentions this club was fairly short lived and faded away leaving lots of armed forces scooterists a little frustrated.
Armed Forces Scooter Club
It was in 1996 that Simon became involved: “I was posted to Banja Luka in Bosnia for six months and during this tour I put a spoof advert in Scootering
magazine announcing a fictitious ‘Banja Luka Scooter Club’. I knew that there was a need for an armed forces scooter club but was very surprised when people actually wrote asking if the club was being re-formed. I thought long and hard about becoming involved in running a club. At that point scootering was in something of a crisis – far right politics were common, as was in-fighting between clubs and there were widespread allegations of misappropriating funds.
“Before committing to running the club I contacted the biggest names I could think of in scootering. I’m still very grateful for the advice I received from Kev Walsh, Ray Kemp and the late Margaret Farquharson. Thanks to their input The Armed Forces Scooter Club was formed in November 1996.”
New role for the new millennium.
Simon remains heavily involved with the club and explains its current ethos: “We remain apolitical, with no subscriptions and try to avoid staging too many of our own events as we aren’t promoters. Instead we have an annual ‘thrash’ and choose a UK scooter rally, which is usually based centrally and close to the start of the season, so we have at least have one date when AFSC members can gather together.”
When asked about the club’s current role Simon becomes uncharacteristically serious and takes on a much less relaxed tone.
“It would be irresponsible and inaccurate to suggest that all former members of the armed forces are damaged in some way by their service. For the overwhelming majority of them it’s a time they recall with great pride. However it’s also common knowledge that the past two decades have seen the armed forces engaged in extended combat operations and these have taken their toll both mentally and physically. There are a lot of fantastic people out there doing amazing work to help veterans but resources are stretched beyond capacity.