Woolacombe Scooter Rally 2023

So, for various reasons we couldn’t take any of our scooters to Woolacombe, so I managed to borrow a GTS 300 from Dearden Motorcycles for the weekend.  Thanks Nigel!  Deardens is our local Piaggio dealer now that CMW has closed, so we drove over to Southampton to pick it up.  I was like a kid in a sweet shop because although I don’t regret swapping my old GTS for the T5, I do miss having a workhorse we can rely on for the further rallies.

I totally fell in love with the mint green one on display, but Lee had his eye on the orange one with go-faster stripes!  I asked Nigel about the glossy vs matt debate because I’m not a fan of matt scooters, unless they’re rats and meant to be like that.  He said that gloss ones fly out of the door – which is no surprise.   Why can’t the Vespa designers realise that new scooters are meant to be shiny?  There was a mud coloured matt one there which you couldn’t have paid me to ride!

Anyway, we sorted out the insurance details and loaded up a nice glossy black one for our journey north. 

I’ll do a proper review in a different post but as soon as we started moving we remembered just how lovely a GTS is to ride, and this brand new one was so much smoother than our old one.

The Ride to Woolacombe

We picked up the A36 and breezed through Salisbury then took our favourite detour to the A303 via Wilton and some picture postcard villages.  We stopped at Mere services for fuel and grabbed a quick lunch at Starbucks.  The weather forecast had been changing all week but North Devon was going to be the most rainy so we made the most of the blue skies as we rode through Wiltshire and Somerset. 

Our next stop was just off the M5 and Lee debated whether to put on his waterproofs, but (unusually for him) looked on the bright side as all we could see were blue skies.  However, less than ten miles later the heavens opened so we pulled over into a layby so that he could put on his wet weather gear.  I was already prepared but put on an extra jacket just in case, and it was just as well because it rained for most of the way to Barnstaple.

We filled up again just past Barnstaple and were shocked how mucky the scooter was!  I’d managed to turn this pristine glossy black model with only 43 miles on the clock into a matt mud coloured one, in just a few hours!!

It was then a short jaunt to Woolacombe and we were greeted at the site by Mark who put on our wristbands and sent us on our way.  There was a slight mix-up at reception as they’d given our keys to another Alison Richards!  Who knew there were two of us!  But it was sorted out quickly and we headed to our apartment to unpack.

By now it was teatime (or dinner time if you’re a northerner, or supper time if you’re posh) so we walked down to the Old Mill pub for some food.  With some soul and ska music blasting out it was a great way to start the weekend and nice to see some familiar faces down there too.

We needed to freshen up so went back to the digs for a quick bath and then headed out for the evening’s fun and frolics.

Friday night

We started in the main room and then wandered down to the bowling alley where it was easier to get served.  Some of the A5s had the same idea so we caught up with them, and I particularly enjoyed listening to a few of Pat’s stories, which may actually be shared with the world soon if he gets on and writes his book!

The bowling was free so we booked a lane, and although none of us were on top form (I blame my arthritic fingers!) I managed to come a respectable second. Booty started well but then lost his mojo, maybe due to one too many fruity ciders!  Lee’s excuse for not doing as well as usual were that his fat fingers didn’t fit in the holes, with even the XL one not being big enough.

We then decided to check out the soul room which was nicely busy with Emma Cox and friends on the decks.  I had a great dance, and they played some songs I hadn’t heard or danced to for ages, like Magic Carpet Ride and Lady In Red. 

It was 10.30 by now and we wanted to see Marquis Drive so bought some drinks from the outside bar and walked back to the main room.  They’d already started and the room was heaving with everyone enjoying their repertoire of covers which includes Oasis, Stone Roses and Ocean Colour Scene songs. 

It was nice to see Donna Smith who’d been looking for me all night, with a present for me!  It was a Clipper lighter with lovely colourful flamingos on it that match my scooter colours!  Tori had arrived by now, typically glammed up and ready to dance.   Once the band had finished we all hit the dancefloor and for the next hour or more Disco Daz kept us moving, and when I checked my phone the next day I’d done nearly 3000 steps between midnight and 1am!

Lee was flagging so we had ‘one more dance’, and luckily it was Tori’s last dance too so I didn’t have the risk of FOMO and we all went home to bed.

Saturday

Saturday dawned and we did the usual stuff, wandering around the stalls, chatting to random people, looking around the custom show and then chatting some more – all the time with me taking photos and shooting videos!  All my videos will be on my Instagram account, with more being added all the time.

There was a nice mix of scooters we’ve seen before and new ones.  Some that caught my eye included a pristine Primavera, an old Series 1 and a few tasty street racers.  And I got the traditional photo of Pete Davies taking photos!

Custom Show Results
Best of Show (Bill Mac Memorial Trophy : Breaking Rocks
Best Lambretta : Blue Moon Rising
Best Vespa : Little Boy Soldier
Best Street Racer : Rizla
Best Engineered : YAM 421
Bust Cutdown / Chopper : Stray Cat
Best Restoration : LI125 141 YUP
Best Paint : Series 2 ABW 344K
Best Mural : Breaking Rocks
Best Auto : GTS LY03 UBF

Then we rode down the hill to the Red Barn in town to beat the rush and get a table.  I was starving too, so we had lunch and then I wandered outside to take some photos just as the rideout arrived.  Perfect timing! Once I’d videoed all the scooters I met Peejay Hinsley who’d helped us arrange the GTS from Dearden Motorcycles.  It turned out that he was borrowing the same bike on Tuesday while his scooter is being serviced.  He’s looking forward to seeing whether the new features are noticeably different from his other GTSs, which are only a couple of years old.

Then it was time for a wander around the shops before heading back to the site where the outside bar was busy with people watching the afternoon band, Double J and the Rock N Roll Swindle.  Unsurprisingly they were playing punk covers from bands such as Stiff Little Fingers, Rezillos, Buzzcocks, The Clash and Sex Pistols.  They were great and everyone was having a good time, maybe partly because it was happy hour and beers were only £3 a pint!

I’d heard there was a hen do and as well as the ladies in attendance, Jonah made quite an entrance in fancy dress!  Not only that, he started pogoing to the band, which was quite a sight to behold! 

This is the kind of fun we love on the rallies, and I can’t imagine many other scenes where you can get away with dressing in a giant willy without people batting an eyelid.

Bingo time!

We went into the main room at 4.15 and it was already standing room only!  Not that I was surprised as it was such great fun last year.   This year didn’t disappoint and the room was rammed by the time it started with people squeezed into every space, dabbers at the ready.

As it was music bingo, it didn’t take long before everyone was singing along with the tracks.  There were three cards – the first was Motown themed, the second ‘Dad Rock’ and the third was dancey hits.  For the popular songs the campsite entertainment team were offering spot prizes for the most enthusiastic table and Lou Nimmo-Scott and her table scooped the first award. 

I spotted one of the early winners spending some of his cash prize behind the bar, with a huge tray of drinks! No wonder everyone was so merry!

It just goes to show that all it takes are a few singalong tracks to get a lively scooter audience whipped into a frenzy, and sadly it couldn’t go on all night.   Once the final prize was awarded (free accommodation for next year) the room was cleared ready for tonight’s band.

Then a lady approached me and asked if I was Ali Richards – she’s the other Ali Richards!!! At least we know now that there are two of us so will be better prepared for checking in next year 😊

Saturday Night

We went back to the apartment and chilled for a bit and then ended up watching Strictly (which I was sure the boys would object to, but I think they secretly love a bit of glitter and fake tan!). So we didn’t head out until 9pm or so, and started with a walk up to the soul room in the drizzle. Unfortunately Chilli was having technical issues with the speakers so we ended up chatting outside about Lambretta kits (my Scootopia one in particular) and then length of choppers (Tiny’s extension was the same size as Lee’s – 10″ – which seemed to please them both!).

Anyway, enough of the bragging, it was time to head to the main room where we hung out with the A5s on the balcony by the bar. DJ Terry was keeping the dancefloor busy and I ventured down for the northern soul section when he played some great tracks back to back.

Back in the bar the Robins SC gang were parading in a sea of orange t-shirts and hats with a tongue-in-cheek ‘Just Love Two Stroke Oil’ theme.

Then it was time for tonight’s main act, Rhoda Dakar. Her backing band started playing and then Rhoda arrived on stage, her voice sounding great. They didn’t play anything I recognised but it was typical bouncy ska, played and sung with passion. So far so good, but then things went downhill slightly when Rhoda complained about people talking, calling them brass necks.

Then she had a chat between each song, talking on some of the subjects she clearly feels passionately about, but the stop/start flow wasn’t conducive to winning over the crowd. Plus, with many of the songs being featured on her new CD, most of us weren’t familiar with any of them. Having had a late finish the night before (anything after midnight is late for us!) we decided to call it a night and headed for bed.

Sunday

We wanted to get away early, not only to get home and recover but also to avoid the strong winds which were forecast to arrive later in the morning. I still had a couple of ciders left so left them on Lobby’s scooter, where hopefully they will go to a good home…

We packed up the scooters and Booty took the scenic route via a nearby petrol station while we went via Barnstable.

It was quite windy and we did have a bit of rain but I was expecting it to be far worse. We only stopped for petrol briefly twice and dropped the scooter back to Nigel at Deardens just after midday. Despite Lee cleaning it yesterday it had got really muddy again from the rain and roadworks. Luckily Nigel had a hose close at hand so could give it a quick rinse before Peejay borrows it on Tuesday.

I’ll be doing an in-depth review of the GTS later this week, and while I was in the showroom I couldn’t resist one final look around the shiny new scooters including this sweet little Primavera Picnic 💚

It had been a great weekend, the highlights for me being the Friday dancing (thanks to Daz and Emma) and Saturday bingo which was even better than last year.

Thanks so much to Andy, Stu, their crew and everyone we had fun with – it really is a special scene in every sense of the word and I wouldn’t have it any other way!!

PS Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for loads more scooter content

Woolacombe Gallery