REPORT Cleethorpes Rally

An old school traditional seaside scooter rally and something very special...

Stu takes us through the highs and lows of Cleethorpes.

The Cleethorpes National Scooter Rally is held at the Meridian showground, which is conveniently situated near to the town centre and main promenade. The site is clean, well-organised and has good facilities. It’s within walking distance of the Beachcomber where the night time rally entertainment is held. For wristband holders there’s also a complimentary bus service from the venue, which goes into the town centre or to the Beachcomber for those not wishing to walk.

Arriving at the Meridian showground I was greeted by a friendly team and while I was stood chatting by the entrance I had a good view of the campsite. Early arrivals were beginning to set up in the main camping area and the traders’ village was beginning to take shape.

Having got ‘base camp’ set up I introduced myself to my next-door neighbour, Paul Thwaites of Salford Knights SC and then set off to see what was going on. At the top of the campsite among the early arrivals were Paul Carney, Scott Parkin, and his father, Gordon Parkin who’d all ridden in from Derby. Scott was riding his Li 150 / TS1 Series 2, christened ‘Fat-Lass’, which was a previous Santa Pod sprint champion scooter. Talking about his GP, Gordon said: “I’m 67, I love riding it and the Cleethorpes rally is one of our favourites!”

Further round I met Boots n’ Scoots SC from Lincoln. Rick Sharpe explained that it is a relatively new club, formed in 2015 and has 44 members. The team shared some funny stories but on a more serious note expressed their deep sympathy regarding the recent loss of Craiggy ‘Little Lam’.

For those of you reading this article who didn’t know Craiggy, he was a well-known and popular figure on the scootering scene who had a special place in a lot of people’s hearts and sadly passed away at the beginning of July.

After a short walk I met with French scooterists ‘Animal’ from Chartres, ‘Little Fred’ from Bordeaux and Harry from Paris. Their journey had consisted of a five hour ride through France and then a 10 hour ride to Cleethorpes from Newhaven!

I spoke with David Sims creator of the custom Vespa chop’ ‘Tangerine Dream’. David was with his wife, Shelly, son Terry and Terry’s pal Billy Woods who were all showing off their fantastic Vespas. Shelly’s scooter has a Northern Soul theme inspired by the Cleethorpes Winter Gardens venue, Terry’s has a ‘Last Resort’ theme and Billy’s a mod with no lights or mirrors theme (all of the scooters were painted by ‘Gatch’ from Halifax).

After checking out the traders’ village I was invited over to have a chat and a beer with Julian, Steve J, Steve G and Jack. All were in good spirits and explained that they’d had an interesting ride in from Barnsley, which had included all sorts of wrong turns and mishaps!

As evening fell I got changed and headed for the rally bus stop just outside the showground.

The pubs on the promenade were doing a roaring trade and the market square was absolutely jam-packed. Having taken in the sights of the town my priority was to head for the Beachcomber to take advantage of the organised rally night-time entertainment.

The main room in the Beachcomber was alight with rally tunes and the Twisted Sisters (formed by Eddy Wainwright) were amply taking care of business in the soul room playing an outstanding mix of Northern Soul, Rn’ B, and a smattering of ‘cross-over.’

Having taken in the evening’s entertainment I arrived back at the campsite in the early hours; the 24 hour refreshment stand was a welcome sight.

Saturday morning arrived and presented us with glorious weather. On-site MC and DJ ‘Mad-dog’ fired up the showground sound system and throughout the day he played a mix of rally tracks, and kept us up to date with the on-going rally proceedings.

Having had a cuppa and a bite to eat I spoke with Paul, ‘Adder’ and ‘Digger’ of Gemini SC Leeds. With a smile on his face ‘Digger’ told me that as a result of his nickname most

We were fortunate that Darren Hague decided not to enter his spectacular Lambretta GP 200, ‘The Modern World’ into the official rally custom show, as a result he gave us our Campsite Custom winner!

Darren explained that in 2000 the scooter was set to rest, when after the last rally of that year he put it in a mate’s garage with his tent and sleeping bag still attached. Other priorities in his life had to take over.

In 2007 circumstances changed and Darren was able to get back into the scootering scene. He decided to give the scooter a full overhaul, which included an upgrade to the present engine set up and new paintwork. The theme of the paintwork he chose at that time gave way to a Northern Soul inspired scooter aptly named, ‘Time Has Passed You By’.

About 10 years later Darren decided it was time for a change and decided on a Mod theme for the scooter. Darren said: “I’ve always been a Mod. It’s not a Mod scooter, but it’s dedicated to the Mod scene and in my opinion that’s where all this started.” The paintwork took around six months to complete and during that time Darren took the opportunity to give the engine a once over. Darren describes the scooter’s performance as ‘smooth running’ and has a cruising speed of around 70mph.

Darren would like to dedicate this piece to his dad, Roland Hague, who supported him with ‘The Modern World’ and passed away earlier this year.

people thought he was from Australia; however he explained they were wrong, his name was given to him because he’d been a grave digger since 1981!

Nearby were Bolton based Darren Hague, owner of ‘The Modern World’, Terry Walsh, Stoke Paul, and Ste’ Green who were all supported by Ste’s wife, Net Green.

Old Skool SC were in good numbers along with Overnight Division and I had a pleasant chat with Old Skool’s ‘Big Al’ and Overnight Division’s Wayne Fletcher of Wigan SC.

Midday saw the ride-in take place, which was an emotional and spectacular event. To illustrate the number of riders it had attracted it took five minutes for the nearly 1000 scooters to pass, and as a mark of respect the forward section of the ride in was predominantly made up of scooterists wearing florescent Craiggy ‘Little Lam’ memorial T-shirts.

With all the ride-in scooters parked outside the showground it was a magnificent sight to behold. In the meantime inside the ground the custom show began to fill up. There were some fantastic entries and Craiggy’s ‘Little Lam’ scooter had been given a front row pride of place position.

While the custom show was being judged I visited the ‘Scarborough Pals’ who’d ridden in on some fabulous scooters and nearby the trader’s village area was packed with people viewing the fashion and scooter accessory stands.

The custom show results were announced; Best in Show went to ‘Midnight Oil’. Toby Taylor’s Vespa ‘Rossi 46’ picked up Best Custom Vespa and Best Paint / Mural went to ‘The Mother Road’.

With the custom show results complete and to the sound of ‘Skinhead Moonstomp’ Dave McGahan was given a charity haircut by ‘Fat Lad Lee’ and all proceeds went to Macmillan Cancer Support.

I then took some time out and retired for a brief moment to soak up and really appreciate the atmosphere. I had a couple of beers with some familiar faces before heading back to the Beachcomber to get my musical fix.

Again, the atmosphere in the main room was absolutely buzzing and in the soul room the Twisted Sisters delivered an evening of absolute belters. All too soon, at 2am, the lights were switched on and along with other late night revellers I headed back over to the campsite aboard the last bus and eventually got bedded down.

The Cleethorpes Rally is a fantastic experience, it’s a true scootering carnival, which goes from strength to strength. A weekend wristband costs £15 and includes full access to the complimentary rally bus, camping, and entry into the Beachcomber.