BSRA #7 Woolacombe National Scooter Rally – 2023 | RALLERY

Those of you who make the time to read through my rally reports here on ScooterLab (thank you) will see that I’m always positive about the scooter rally scene –  rarely am I negative.  

I just feel there is enough nonsense and misery going on in the world, and often in just day-to-day life stuff, without it affecting our beloved world of scooters. Most of you must feel similar otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this! A love of scooters brought you here – right? Some say I wear rose-tinted glasses, I wouldn’t know about that, but they’re about eight inches wide and they came from an Elton John auction (or maybe one of Sunday night’s dancers at the top of this page!)

Woolacombe rally started in 2000 – so by my reckoning its silver jubilee event is surely on the horizon, taking into account the enforced break in 2020 & 2021 for you know what.

Britain’s best holiday camp?

The Golden Coast camp was taken over two years ago by new owners, and it would appear they think us scooterists are decent folk (who spend lots). Hopefully, the future of the rally is at least for now, as rosy as my specs!

If you haven’t been to Woolacombe before, I would ask why not. It’s a fully self-contained rally that, within reason, the weather can’t spoil. This holiday park was once described as “Britain’s best holiday camp” and it’s beside one of Europe’s best beaches. Or, to put it into scooterists speak, it has an outside onsite bar that serves until 3 a.m.

Once a regular two-day rally, this has now grown into a full three-night event where even the Sunday night party is as big as (if not bigger than) any of the Sunday nights on any of the four Bank Holiday rallies we have each year. The Woolacombe rally has never been hosted on a Bank Holiday weekend it just feels like one.

Child’s play

The hard-working South West Scooter Clubs that put this event on, are well-practised at organising rallies both at home and on the other side of the world (literally). Promoting and hosting their most regular rally in their own region of the country should be child’s play. But my guess is, that it’s not that straightforward at all.

Snail’s pace

The final leg of my journey there took me on a route I wouldn’t normally travel. Along the A39 past Minehead, Porlock and then Exmoor. The scenery was breathtaking, but at times pitifully slow going on a small capacity standard 125cc Vespa* – much to the amusement of some of the travelling “Old Skool Scooter Club”, that somehow managed to get stuck behind me, even when I was going in the wrong direction.

*Col’s ride from Scarborough is 356 miles – one way if he goes direct!

Usual suspects

Friday daytime arrivals at the Golden Coast seem to be all the crazy usual suspects from the South West of the country, mixed in with many of the hardcore rallygoers that travel to what seems like every major UK event – all in a rush to pick up chalet and caravan keys to set up home for the weekend.

Marquis Drive

The live band in the clubhouse on Friday evening were the uber cool “Marquis  Drive” playing top-quality tunes with a real Britpop slant if that’s fair to say. Across the holiday camp, Northern Soul was being blasted out to the dancers in its usual room. All too soon, it’s 2 a.m. and partygoers are shuffled out of the main buildings and across to the open air “Tiki beach bar”, where drunken middle-aged men could stare at the stars, talk utter nonsense and drink for another hour.

Saturday morning’s sorry-looking faces awaken all blurry-eyed and start setting up their stalls to sell us much-needed scooter spares and merchandise, whilst the rest of us peacefully sleep things off.

Getting naked

The official rally patch and t-shirts usually sell out really quickly at South West events, and they nearly always pick a scooter owned and built by a South West scooterist to be emblazoned on the merchandise. Often that scooter is as modified and deranged as its owner. This year’s was no exception (if you know, you know). It’s a genius-engineered scooter make no mistake about that.

Custom show

Saturday is custom show day which generates loads of interest with some works of art, some high mileage rally-going scooters (some are both) a couple of OTT-engineered machines and some fairly subtle well-executed scooters. Although within the lineup was an Indian-made Tuk Tuk that had recently just done a charity run from John O’ Groats to Lands End. It had lots of people talking and everybody smiling.

The Rideout to Woolacombe Bay followed whilst the people that stayed on site were entertained by Double J and The Rock and Roll Swindle, playing a great punk set with happy hours drinks prices helping the boisterous mood even more.

Sardines

A small fleet of minibus taxis have proved to be a good substitute for the open-topped double-decker bus service that used take scooterists from the holiday camp to Woolacombe seafront. People wanting to head to the town’s seafront pubs get there just as easily, albeit a bit more cramped. The Red Barn and the Jube pubs were bursting at the seams for all of Saturday afternoon.

Baby Guinness

A small fleet of minibus taxis have proved to be a good substitute for the open-topped double-decker bus service that used take scooterists from the holiday camp to Woolacombe seafront. People wanting to head to the town’s seafront pubs get there just as easily, albeit a bit more cramped. The Red Barn and the Jube pubs were bursting at the seams for all of Saturday afternoon. I found myself in the hilarious and good company of the West Brom Olympics SC formation drinking team. Alcohol is by no means cheap nowadays, and trays full of Baby Guinness shots at £70 a round is just silly. The money a scooter rally injects into a town must be immense.

Saturday evening’s live act back at the camp’s main room was ska and two-tone legend Rhoda Dakar and her band the Lotek Four. Rhoda’s vocals were extremely powerful and had lyrics to match. The band played an extremely well-received set in the main room. Across the camp the Northern Soul room was equally busy – all too soon it is 2 a.m. and we were back out to the outside Tiki bar for the final hour.

Funday Sunday

Sunday morning’s mass exodus home doesn’t really happen at the Woolacombe rally because many stay on for the Sunday night fancy dress party night. During the afternoon the 5.15 played a mod and new wave-inspired set in the Old Mill on-site pub, and then later the theme night was 70s glam rock with the band “Glam 45” playing in the clubhouse to the Woolie rally faithful.

Lap of the planet

The Woolacombe rally shows no signs of slowing down after all these years, it somehow just seems to cater for so many people that ride along together under the collective banner labelled ‘Scooterist’.

In the 26 years that the South West Scooter Clubs have been organising National and other large rallies, I have managed to ride an incredible 26000 miles (41000 km) supporting those events. That’s the equivalent of a complete lap of the planet.

That statement isn’t intended to brag, it’s simply my way of showing respect and genuine support to a group of fellow scooterists who give up their own time to make these weekend rallies happen.

Woolacombe National Scooter Rally 2023 was made a whole lot better for me, in the company of top scooterists from Bridlington, Cardiff, Macclesfield, Nottingham, Manchester, Swindon, Rushden, Medway, Portsmouth and the West Midlands.

To you all, and to quote the late and very great Johnnie Bolland, “The friendships in scootering will never be defined by geography.”

Llandudno’s up next and I’ve got this funny feeling that I could be seeing quite a few of you there.

Ride safe Slukers, Col

Photos galleries: Booga and Col