400 Years of Scarborough – Col’s SLUK back | Nostalgia

2026 is a landmark year for the seaside town of Scarborough. 400 years ago, in 1626, spa waters were found at the very site where the Scarborough Spa building now stands.

That, readers, is the very same spot where many of you will get together this weekend to admire scooters, catch up with good mates, and have a good party.

Feeling good

The medicinal benefits of these 400-year-old spa waters and the lovely, clean, fresh seaside air will make you all feel fantastic – just like it has for all those visitors coming to the UK’s original seaside resort for many centuries.

What a load of old nonsense that is.

If I know you fellow scooterists like I think I do, the clean seaside air will be full of 2-stroke blue fumes, and the medicinal waters will make you feel giddy at about £5 a pint (or more).  Oh, and by the way, when it’s time to set off home, a lot of you will feel far worse than when you arrived – make no mistake about that. But, on a positive note, think of the fun you will all have whilst you’re in the town with like-minded scooter enthusiasts!

Scarborough 1982

50th Annual Easter Scarborough rally?

You should check your facts, mate!

I will apologise up front if this little SLUKback is sounding a little repetitive to you, regular readers. But my reasonably good scooter rally knowledge has recently been put to the test by a self-confessed relatively ‘new to the scene’ scooterist, whom I now feel needs a small apology from me – “SORRY  I was wrong.” Please read on.

Bad memory or bad advertising?

A few weeks ago, I was riding my scooter on one of the few sunny, dry days we’ve had so far this year. I pulled up at a little coffee shop, here in the UK’s first ever seaside resort. Whilst stood with my drink, a rider pulled up on his shiny new Royal Alloy scooter, looking resplendent with some vinyl graphics that I didn’t completely understand. It had a Union Jack seat cover and two 6-foot-long whip aerials. The rider explained he had ridden about 35 miles to try to book himself in advance, some overnight accommodation for the forthcoming scooter rally. He then went on to say that he thought the event organisers “VMF”(???) were really missing a trick on the advertising, and why the hell aren’t they celebrating the fact that this is the “50^th Annual Easter National Scooter Rally to Scarborough?”

Scarborough 1986, it’s great to see the fashions change as the years roll by, both in the scooters and their riders.

1987, an Armando’s 225 sat amongst the post-apocalyptic rally campsite, we were a scruffy bunch back then. No wonder nobody liked us!

Would you challenge Col’s scooter rally knowledge?

Carrying on with Col’s exchange with the newbie rider…

Feeling a bit puzzled, I quickly and politely explained that the only reason it’s not advertised that way is that it isn’t the 50th annual Easter rally to Scarborough. And, since the early ‘80s, some 40 odd years ago, I can think, off the top of my head, of about six other towns that have hosted the official Easter National Rally on about 30 different occasions.

His reply was blunt but clear, “You’re talking nonsense, mate. I’ve seen a great little video on YouTube from a BBC documentary clearly showing scooters arriving in Scarborough for the  Easter 1976 rally, which is obviously  50 Years ago.”

I just smiled and said, “Oh, OK, that proves it then, pal”

For the record, I, too, have seen the YouTube video. It’s a great snapshot in time, many of you would enjoy it, I’m sure, (If you haven’t already). But it actually shows a group of scooters arriving on the Whitsuntide end of May Bank Holiday, which kind of diffuses the 50 Easters-in-a-row argument before we even start. What a melon, I thought.

Scarborough 1983

Scooter Geekery

Needless to say, those of you who have the pleasure (or misfortune) of knowing me personally (answers on a postcard) will know that it’s this kind of scooter info geekery that keeps me going. It fuels my fire, so to speak.

Looking back through any of my scooter archive SLUKbacks, you could be forgiven for thinking I’m one of these people who think that travelling off to a seaside destination by scooter was something that only started in the 1980s.

Absolutely not true! It’s very well documented that since the 1950s (or earlier), riders have set off on rally-type weekends away, ever since the first scooters rolled off the production lines.

Scarborough 1986

The 1960s scooter riders and their seaside shenanigans have been documented so many different times. It’s hard to believe all of what you read. But as I’ve said many times before, it’s the 1970s riders I admire the most, all long before my riding days.

The numbers seemed far fewer than today’s riders, but the spontaneous word-of-mouth meet-ups seemed far more true to scootering. More so than many of the scooter-themed weekenders you see advertised in recent times.

The reason so many of my archive SLUKbacks start in the 1980s is simply that it’s the decade I started riding. And, it’s also the decade that the official National Rally fixture list became pre-planned, voted on and discussed by a committee.

Spiritual Home

The town of Scarborough has hosted quite a few local club rallies, or local alliance rallies, over the years. But, the actual number of ‘official National Rallies’, is maybe surprisingly less you than you might think – certainly for a town many riders call the spiritual 1980s home of the scooter boy.

This 1966 newspaper image shows a police officer with his dog; the policeman is none other than Col’s father!

Four-legged gang busters calm the Mods down

As far back as 1966 (60 years ago), scooter riders made their presence felt. A picture from the August Bank Holiday Scarborough Newspaper, the headline said: “Four-legged gang busters calm the Mods down”

Policemen and their ferocious German Shepherd dogs were called in when a group of about 120 Parka-clad youths were goading motorcyclists wearing leather jackets for a fight. Holiday makers looked on with concern as the packs of youths were throwing insults and missiles at the bikers; the mods were hellbent on trouble. It was nothing like the scale of the disturbances in Brighton or Southend two years earlier, but the northern mods had arrived and were ready and very willing for conflict with the enemy.

The 1988 Oliver’s Mount campsite

1980s invaders

By far and away, Scarborough’s biggest troubles with scooter riding invaders were in the early 1980s, and the behaviour of many travelling scooterists must have made the job of organising a rally feel nearly impossible.

Thankfully, the VFM/BSRA task is a little less worrying these days.

Scarborough 1986: Group Six-style cutdowns were in vogue…

Easter rally venue other than Scarborough since 1980

• 1983-’85  Morecambe                 1986 Yarmouth                     1987  Morecambe                  1988-’89   Isle of Wight
• 1990  Skegness                             1991-’92  Margate                 1993 Bridlington                    1994 Margate
• 1995 Yarmouth                             1996 Bridlington                  1997 Morecambe                    1999-2001 Yarmouth
• 2002 Whitby                                 2003 Yarmouth                    2004 Morecambe                   2005 Yarmouth
• 2006 Morecambe                         2008 Yarmouth                    2010 Whitby                            2012  Whitby
• 2014  Whitby                                 2016  Whitby                         2018  Whitby                           2020-2021  COVID
• 2022  Whitby                                2024   Whitby

Scarborough 1982

Geek factoids

• 1983 and 1986 are the only two occasions the Scarborough rally has not been on a Bank Holiday weekend
• During the 17-year period from 1989 to 2006, there was only one National rally and one official pre-season rally in Scarborough (1998 National, 2004 pre-season)
• 2026 is the first time in 28 years that Scarborough will host an official National Easter weekend rally in an even-numbered year. (Previously, Whitby had even numbered years and Scarborough odd numbered years (shown in lists)
• The towns of Kelso and  Woolacombe are far newer additions to the National Rally fixture list, but both have hosted more National rallies than Scarborough (Kelso 20 rallies and Woolacombe 24 rallies so far)
• 2026 is only the 18^th official National Rally to Scarborough since 1980 (14 at Easter, four on other dates)

I’ve listed what I believe to be a fairly accurate list of previous Easter rallies since the 1980s and official Scarborough rallies since the same period.

Going underground

I would ask all of you attending this coming weekend to bear one thought in mind: 40 years ago, the Scarborough rally was in October, and the local police and council would only allow a night-time disco to take place in the damp underground carpark directly underneath the Spa bridge shown in the photo. Many pubs and off-licenses wouldn’t serve alcohol to anyone who looked like a scooter rider, and we were then persuaded to head back to camp underneath cliffs (prone to falling rocks) that were open to the elements of the North Sea (In October).

I can only imagine the comments on social media if that was what greeted travelling riders at this coming weekend’s National Easter Rally.

See you at The Spa?

I hope to see many of you at the Spa Building this weekend, it’s where the official heart of the rally is (find out all the rally info here). The VFM event organisers don’t care whether it’s your 1^st rally, or your 50^th  rally to Scarborough, or what you’re riding – just enjoy the ride and have a great weekend, hopefully supporting the main venue in the process!

The VFM Collective, in conjunction with the BSRA, welcomes you all and hopes you have a safe journey.