With the change of venue to the South Of England Showground in Ardingly, Big 7 2023 ended up being in our home county of West Sussex and just 40 miles up the road. What’s more, we could get there without even going on the A27, and would have even escaped any dual carriageways if Lee had been able to read road signs 😅
A nice ride to Ardingly
There was a rainy weather forecast for the whole day so we bit the bullet and headed off soon after Booty arrived from Nuneaton. We took the back roads, and by the time we’d got to Storrington the rain had eased up a bit. We followed the A272 to Haywards Heath and then rode to the Bent Arms in Lindfield for lunch, which I’d done my usual research for, finding somewhere with a wide menu and good reviews. It didn’t let us down and after a lovely meal we then started up the scooters for the short trip to Ardingly. I’m always nervous about breakdowns, especially with the Lambretta, and Lee’s chop hasn’t done many miles so anything could happen.
It turned out that what I’d assumed was the most reliable scoot had other ideas, and Booty’s PX wouldn’t start! After changing the spark plug there was still no response so in the end he tried throwing some petrol straight into the barrel – and it worked! So we rode the last couple of miles to Ardingly without any further issues.
The rally was very reminiscent of Newark in 1984 for me, with everything on site and huge barns/hangars for the food and entertainment – although my memories are very vague. Luckily the days of wet t-shirt competitions are long forgotten, as is the Welsh streaker!
Booty had splashed out on a glamping tent so we dumped our stuff in there and wandered to the main area which was a huge undercover barn. First we spotted Jamie who had just bought a scrummy ice cream. Then we saw Gary Wickham who’d just arrived on Breaking Rocks with its leather covers keeping it protected from scratches. Someone mentioned to me at a recent rally, ‘oh, I bet it’s never ridden’ – he couldn’t be further from the truth as Gary rides in all weathers!
Then I saw someone I hadn’t seen for 40 odd years – Wonka! Aka Mark Williams – this was his first rally since the 80s having bought a PX a couple of years ago bringing it down from Scotland to meet up with old schoolmate Mark Green to ride to the rally with the Definitely Maybe gang.
We’d booked a lodge nearby so went there to chill and have a shower before the precarious walk back to site – in the rain on a main road with no pavements. We got soaked!
Friday evening
So we started in the northern room just to avoid more rain and it was great as we could get a seat and listen to the excellent tunes being played by Dave Porter and his lovely wife Sharon/Minx.
I tried to dry my hair in the loos, but it wasn’t successful or comfortable, on my knees waving my hands to engage the blower 😂 Lee also failed to mention to me that my mascara had run and I looked like a panda! 🐼
Anyway, after chatting with a few people in there we went to the main room/barn to catch the end of Start, who were playing a great mix of Jam, Style Council and Secret Affair songs, amongst others.
There were loads of people in the food court area so we were kept busy, chatting and taking photos. Then the main band came on, London Calling, a Clash tribute band. They sounded good but we didn’t stay til the end and as the rain had stopped the walk home wasn’t as traumatic for us.
So it was back to our little lodge for the night, and we noticed that Lee’s Speedo light was flickering- we think it was shorting out as a result of all the rain. So he covered it up to hopefully dry it out a bit.
Friday Gallery
Saturday daytime and custom show
Saturday dawned and after a quick shower and breakfast we rode down to the site. We parked under the roof of the main room to keep the scooters dry and as more scooters joined us it turned into a mini custom show!
The real custom show was in the northern room so Lee moved his scooter there, and joined other owners in polishing their lovely machines. There’s such a lot of chrome and paint to polish on Lee’s chop so I offered to help, and Gary Wickham kindly lent me one of his cloths. So I set about cleaning the long Harley Springer forks, hoping that the cloth which had polished one of the most successful scooters in recent years might bring some luck for World Freak Show.
There was a great turnout with more and more scooters arriving all the time, right up until the show opened at 12.30.
The room was soon packed and it was lovely to see so many people there, and by then Mark and Jez had arrived after riding up for the day. Tori and Rich had just got there too and we managed a quick catch up before we had a quick wander around the stalls and then headed to the main room for some lunch. We opted for pizza which was freshly made from scratch in a fired oven – it was really nice and I was upsold the ‘meal deal’ with a drink and slice of cake – it seemed rude not to 😉
After more chatting we went back to the custom show to find out when the presentations would be. I was then taken by surprise because Lee was looking chuffed and it was because there was a winners rosette on his chop! How exciting! We had to wait to find out which class it was for though, as the actual trophies were given out in the main room a little later.
It was really exciting seeing the trophy presentations and Lee won Best Chopper. There was a good spread of winners with Shane picking up Best Lambretta and Gary picking up Best In Show for Breaking Rocks. I was really pleased for Andy Purdy, AKA Lambretta_200 on Instagram, who had just arrived on site when the scooters were gathering for the custom show. Having had such a great reaction to my video of his gorgeous Model D a couple of weeks before I said he should put it in – and he ended up winning Best Ridden Classic Scooter!
Big 7 Custom Show Results
Best Lambretta – O’Fortuna
Best Vespa – Kingsworld
Best Auto – AJ58 NBX
Best Chopper – World Freak Show
Best Rat – DGW 382B
Best Ridden Classic Scooter – 860 UYW
Best Street Racer – Rizla +33
Best Accessorised Mod Scooter – Vespa GS
BEST IN SHOW – BREAKING ROCKS
Big 7 Dyno Shoot Out – Cobra Venom
Farthest travelled male – Iain Cleeve (342 miles)
Farthest travelled female – Karen Soulsby (313 miles)
Best turned out ridden club – Old Gits SC
By now the winds had really picked up and I think some tents were blown around a bit. We heard that Mark and Jez had got home safely but it had been a bit hairy on the final stretch near Fontwell. Tori and Rich also made it back OK she but messaged to say that there was torrential rain in Portsmouth. Luckily we escaped that and it stayed mainly dry for the rest of the day.
Check out the gallery for more custom show photos, and there are plenty of videos on Instagram too.
Custom Show and Saturday Gallery
An unexpected petrol station visit
Once the presentations had finished our plan was to head back to our lodge for a quick chill before coming back in the evening. Lee’s chop had other ideas though, conking out at the site entrance. He was worried something was seriously wrong but tried putting it on reserve and that was enough to bring it back to life! As I was quite low on petrol too we rode into Haywards Heath to fill up both scooters, then riding back to Ardingly for the planned chill time.
Saturday evening entertainment
We considered riding one or both scooters back to the site. Lee wanted to go 2-up on mine, but there’s just no room on my seat (we tested it out and Tori is my witness that it wasn’t a goer when I slipped off the back onto my SLUK rack!).
I suggested trying to go on the chop, since he designed the seat for two people – and it worked, I fitted perfectly in the pillion position and even had footpegs to use. But when the time came he chickened out so we took the precarious walk on the main road instead. But at least it was dry, and we got back to the showground in one piece.
Booty, Laurie and Joy were in the food court so we grabbed some drinks and joined them until the first band came on. We walked over to the packed music area where Oasish had taken to the stage. It was packed and with good reason, with the band knocking out all of the Oasis classics and the lead singer demonstrating Liam’s swagger perfectly.
We sang along right to the end, and then they came back on for an encore which turned out to be an extremely popular cover of My Generation.
One thing we’d noticed was an abundance of pegs on the back of people’s heads, jackets and even on a guy’s dreadlocks. I think it was a game of trying to peg someone without them noticing and then they would try and peg you back when they realised they had an appendage. Lee tried to peg me but was rubbish and could feel him fiddling with my jacket, so put them on his beer glass instead!
Headline news!
After a pause for the roadies to set up the stage for the headline band everyone crowded back in to see Angelo Starr and The Team. They didn’t disappoint and there’s just something magical about Angelo, and with his brother’s charm he had the crowd eating out of his hands. They played plenty of Motown classics alongside Edwin’s big hits and know just how to get the best from a scooter rally crowd.
The best bit was that Donna Smith came over and dragged me (very willingly!) to the front for a boogie. It was one of those nights where everyone was in a party mood and all of us had the most brilliant time. We copied the band’s dance moves, we marvelled at the keyboard player’s skyscraper stiletto heels and Donna sang every word much to Angelo’s delight!
There was a strict curfew at 11pm so the band were forced to leave with the crowd cheering and clapping their appreciation. We popped to the Northern room to use the toilets and were drawn in by the great tunes they were playing. Even Lee wanted to listen so I sidled onto the dancefloor for a quick boogie.
I saw one of the Rack ‘n’ Ruin SC guys, who was wearing Myk Smith’s old rally shirt – Donna had told me earlier that she was wearing one of mum Sandra’s old t-shirts, and Sandra had sold some others including most of Myk’s on Ebay. It turned out this really cool bunch of youngsters had bought them and we’d been impressed all weekend with their enthusiasm for the scene and authentic 80’s scooterist sense of style.
Here’s Donna with Alfie, which she’s kindly let me share on here to inspire any of us “80s Originals” to pass on any old bits and pieces we might have tucked away.
So if any of my older readers have any 80s t-shirts tucked away then do get in touch with Rack ‘n’ Ruin as they will take them off your hands and give them a new lease of life! Apparently they frame some of them too, for wall art, if they’re a bit too threadbare to wear!
After an uneventful walk home it was time for bed. Although the accommodation was gorgeous, it wasn’t very practical for getting to and from the showground. But it was nice to sleep in a comfy bed and make ourselves breakfast in the morning (rather than the endless toasties that Booty had!)
Sunday
The weather was a lot calmer on Sunday, thank goodness, and we headed to the campsite at around 9am to check on Booty. Luckily his scooter had started so I just took a couple of final photos (who can resist a yellow Rally or a Chris on Naked Again?) and we left the showground.
The ride home was lovely, and with my navigation skills we took the correct route through the country lanes, although there was a road closed at Arundel so we had to venture on the A27 for around 500 yards at Fontwell (that doesn’t count, does it?!). There’s nothing really wrong with the A27 but I just prefer back roads, and it’s virtually impossible to go anywhere exciting without using the main trunk road along the south coast. What I always love about Big 7 is going in a different direction and the new location of Ardingly ticked that box really well.
All in all I think the rally was a great success. People will always moan, but most have no concept of the time and effort it takes to put on these events. I take my hat off to all the rally organisers and really appreciate their hard work. My only mini-moan would be that people were smoking in the main stage room, but I understand that it’s considered an ‘outside’ venue due to one side of the room having no walls. So the bouncers and organisers can’t do anything about it, which is a shame.
Lee absolutely loves his trophy and it’s now proudly standing on our mantlepiece. He had some really lovely comments about his scooter too, which is brilliant. I see what goes into building a custom scooter and so it makes it all worthwhile when it can finally be ridden and seen by everyone. Winning a trophy is the cherry on the cake. He will hopefully show it at the Isle of Wight custom show so do look out for us there if you haven’t seen it yet!
Great write up Ali. What a superb rally!
Thanks Julian – yes it was brilliant wasn’t it?