BSRA #4 Big 7 scooter rally 2023 | RALLERY

So here we are at Big 7 National Scooter Rally, it’s the middle of June and we’re at the Hop Farm in Kent… except it’s not June, and we’re not in Kent. 

There’s a change of plan (more of that later), the rally date and venue have moved. 

New location

Now in July and at the South of England Showground at Ardingly, West Sussex. It’s actually closer for me, 60 miles as opposed to about 100 miles, so an easy hop (not Hop Farm) to the rally.

The weather in June was fantastic so there’s no reason that July would be any different, yeah right! The weekend’s forecast just got worse and worse, to the point that I swear Carol Kirkwood looked out of the TV straight at me during her weather report and said “The strong winds will be particularly bad for people in tents!”

Summer’s here!

Friday morning arrived with ‘unseasonably bad weather’ and I was hoping there would be a break in it, there wasn’t. So, mid-afternoon I finally packed up the scoot and headed off into the wind and rain towards Ardingly. It was genuinely horrible, with a lot of the roads being hilly country lanes. I was trying to negotiate floods and broken branches, I’ve ridden in worse, but this was just miserable and I was glad to bump into a mate riding up – so we continued our journey together.

Hardy campers

On the way there I imagined the campsite being deserted, well how wrong was I? When I got there I found loads of scoots already parked up, with tents erected and their owners stuck firmly at the bar.

Dry inside

The set-up at Ardingly is similar to the Hop Farm but is different in a number of ways; firstly it’s much larger, and secondly and possibly more importantly the buildings are all permanent (if you’ve been to the Hop Farm you’ll know what I mean). There’s a long concrete barn being used as the main area, with one side for the bands and the other side a partition made up of a bar (best use of a partition ever!), then a seating and food court. Other buildings had reggae/ska and northern soul, all of which were busy, everyone avoiding the rain and enjoying themselves at the same time.

London Calling

The headline band on Friday was London Calling, in case you hadn’t guessed it, a Clash tribute band, who went down very well with the crowd.

Wet with a hint of moist

Friday slowly turned into Saturday morning, and surprisingly (and definitely against the weather forecast) it was dry. VERY windy, but dry. OK, there was the odd shower but generally, they blew through quite quickly. The custom show was indoors as was most of the parts fair, though there were a few hardy traders holding tight to their gazebos. There were quite a few campers doing the same, with varying levels of success. Sadly, as the day progressed the weather once more deteriorated, but I must say Saturday was great, in spite of the weather, or perhaps because of it. The scooterists’ version of the Dunkirk spirit maybe?

What a Starr

Saturday’s headline band was Angelo Starr and The Edwin Starr Band, oh wow, Angelo has the crowd eating out of his hand and quite frankly is fantastic. The night ends far too soon and it’s off to my soggy tent to sleep before heading home on Sunday morning.

Cash cows

Earlier I mentioned the change of plan for the rally, well here’s the reason; originally the Hop Farm were offering the site for about £15,000, with all the stuff we as scooterists take for granted, like security, waste removal, and even fencing.

Well, they changed their minds, removed the extras, and upped the price. Leaving a potential bill of around… wait for it… £55,000!

Well, I guess another venue has seen scooterists as a cash cow with no option but to take everything they throw at us. Well, all I can is say well done to Big 7 SC for making a stand and finding a new venue at short notice, and frankly an excellent venue it is too. I for one will be heading back if it’s on again next year, though hopefully with some better weather!

Words and photos: Booga