We arrived in Skegness and booked into our accommodation, the Quorn Hotel. I though this would be a suitable place for Lee to stay, given his vegetarian tendancies. However, since the dinner menu only featured battered cod and gammon, I was somewhat disappointed and determined to contact the Trading Standards Authority! Our room was pleasant enough, with a sea view and very fluffy towels.
Friday Night
After a quick shower we headed to the pub, where there were quite a few Pacemakers already in attendance and more arriving all the time. I finally found a kindred spirit in Helen, who’s a fan of American Chopper and a big fan of Big Paul and Little Paul, although her fascination went slightly further than mine in terms of what she’d like to do with them!
And then it was time to make our way to the do, which was in a club along the seafront. Inside, it was like a street, with different bars and rooms dotted about, quite weird really. We ended up in the far room which was playing some great music courtesy of Dave ‘The Mod’ Porter. I had a great dance before the first live act came on, Doctor And The Medics.
Now I have to admit that when I decided to go to Skegness it wasn’t the fact that Doctor And The Medics were playing that drew me. However, their set was really good, and it turned out in retrospect to be the highlight of the weekend! Their first song was Time Warp, which Lee (embarassingly) danced to on his own, in the middle of an otherwise empty dancefloor…. He was soon joined by an inflatable sheep and a few toilet rolls (aimed at the band, not him!) and then by further scooterists who were enjoying the set – either that or they were too drunk to know any better!
Next on the agenda were the Stranglers, who were playing in the main room. The sound wasn’t great, except right at the back, which was a shame. We drifted in and out, preferring Dave Porter’s dancy tunes to the sweaty atmosphere for the Stranglers, although I was impressed by Jean Jacques’ topless encore – what a bonus! The kind bouncers grabbed a setlist for me, to add to the one I’d previously collected from the Doctor’s lead guitarist. It had been a great night but my bed was calling me, and my memory of the evening kind of stops there, it all gets a bit hazy…..
Saturday
Saturday dawned, too early…. After a post-breakfast snooze we headed to the custom show and met up with Terry and Angie who both looked as unhealthy as we did. They had their video camera with them, and showed us footage of King Kurt at Woolacombe last year. It showed me and Jo wrecking, how embarrassing! We couldn’t hear the sound and Lee said it looked like we were line-dancing – charming!
There were a few nice scoots on display, including the mad-looking Ruff Diamond, which Ferdy had fabricated for one of the A5’s. Outside, there was a dyno-machine where you could see how fast your scoot can go for a fiver. Vard, from the Pacemakers, tested his Taffspeed-tuned Vespa and it peaked at 97mph which was very impressive.
And so it was back down the pub to watch the play-off final between West Ham and Palace. For some reason I thought it kicked off at 1pm, so we dashed to the pub and I pestered the bar staff to turn off the rugby and put the footie on. I did the same at 2pm, but as Lee pointed out that the ground wasn’t very full I realised I’d got it wrong again. Finally, at 3 o’clock, it kicked off.
I was nearly falling asleep by then, last night’s antics having caught up with me, but managed to stay awake until the final whistle, when Palace celebrated a fantastic win – all the more ironic as it was the (un)Happy Hammers that gave them their play-off place thanks to a Brian Deane goal – it’s a funny old game….
Saturday Evening
After another snooze it was time to drag ourselves out for the last evening. We had a crap meal in a ‘restaurant’ by the clock tower and then dodged the rain showers as we dashed back to the pub. Lots of Pacemakers in residence again, but most of them preferred a curry rather than the prospect of another sweaty do. Not us, however, and we trooped up the road again, arm in arm with some of Lee’s old Bad Company mates.
Setting Sons were playing as we arrived, and doing a good set in the main room although the sound wasn’t very good again. We stayed in the bar and chatted, and I found another American Chopper fan in Bish, so we swapped chopper stories. The main act were the Highliners, who were playing to a very appreciative crowd. I’m not really into them so I went into the other room again, where there were loads of Leeds fans singing and swaying, oblivious to their team’s disastrous season – bless them! The DJ encouraged them by playing a few footie tunes but then luckily saw sense and put some more sensible music on, including Happy Radio which gave me the chance to slide about on the dancefloor. We decided to call it a night relatively early (but still after midnight!).
And so it was time to go home, another weekend was over. It was a good rally, in a great seaside resort which puts Bognor to shame (which isn’t hard!).
Gallery
Old Blue Vespa rally diaries
This is one of the rally diaries that appeared on my old website, BlueVespa.com, back in the 2000s.
I'm starting to put these on Diary Of A Detour so that everyone can take a wander down memory lane and relive the revival of my scooter club, the Midhurst Detours, and the fun we got up to back then.
Here's a handy link to them all, by year, for ease of reference!
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