I’m still sulking about being issued with an ASBO (Ageing SLUKER Behavioural Order) by Iggy in September because of my Woolacombe shenanigans. It lasts for six months so I’ll be free by Easter 2024 (ha ha ha).
As I’m sure you all know, it’s the final National of 2023 this coming weekend and it’ll make a nice change heading to lovely Llandudno at this time of year. So I thought it would be worth doing a SLUK back at the history of this rally destination.
Here you go, with a small gallery of images for most years and a few fun factoids thrown in at the end. We’ll hopefully see you all at the seaside on Friday…
Words and photos: Col
Additional images: Iggy, Booga and Bill Mac (RIP)
27th-29th October 1989
End of year “Pirate Rally” (hence the patch detail). Organised by the North West Alliance, Stockport Crusaders and West Brom Olympics. Both clubs continually still supporting the scooter rally scene to the max. The night venue was the Aberconway centre. It’s the same venue still used now. It was the first big scooter rally in Llandudno and the last sizable scooter rally of the legendary 1980s decade.
20th-22nd September 1991
The first-ever National Rally in Llandudno. I was the first scooter and tent on the campsite (arrived Thursday dinnertime having left home at 5 am). I had to ask a postman for directions to the big church near the seafront to find the camping field (as per NSRA newsletter instructions three weeks earlier). There were no makeshift scooter rally signs up at that point, (or sat nav/mobile phones to guide you there). I helped put the campsite direction signs up on Friday morning with the NSRA stewards/marshals. The campsite was only a few hundred yards from the main do. When Paddy Smith arrived on Friday dinnertime in his van he gave me a patch and a t-shirt for helping him put his stall up. It’s actually my favourite Paddy Smith rally patch ever as well. It’s likely I was the first travelling scooterist to arrive at the first-ever Llandudno National Rally (I’m going there on Thursday this year too).
May Day 1992
This National was held over the May Day weekend using the same campsite and night venue as in 1991.
1993 Spring Bank
We used a farmer’s field covered in cow shit for the campsite. It was back further along the seafront away from the do – it was the only time we used that campsite. The same seafront venue has been used for every Llandudno rally.
22nd-24th September 1995
The rally was back at the original seafront/near the church/ campsite. The AA scooter repair team were always kept busy.
Spring Bank Holiday 1996
This rally had Bad Manners playing in the main do on Saturday night. Buster Bloodvessel came on to the campsite at 2.30 am and bought all of us queuing at the burger van a cheese burger each. This was before taking three double burgers back to the tour bus for himself (happy memories). This was the last time you needed an NSRA members’ ID card to gain entry into the official night do at a Welsh rally.
March 24th-26th 2006
After a 10-year gap and the demise of the NSRA in 1997, the VFM collective took us back to Llandudno for a pre-season rally in 2006. A bitterly cold journey there with sleet and snow overshadowed a return to the town. Poorly attended compared to previous pre-season rallies in other towns.
2nd-5th May 2008
The first Llandudno National organised by the BSRA. We had a one year only visit to the town’s football club, for use as the campsite. As Bank Holidays go the rally seemed poorly attended.
30th April-1st May 2010
A new campsite was used further out of town on the main approach road in – a basic field that wasn’t well supported. It seemed obvious that far more people were getting B&Bs and hotels at this point on the rallies (age-related creature comforts maybe).
24th-26th July 2015
Another new campsite on the seafront at a working farm attraction type venue. It was one field back inland from the seafront campsite field first used 12 years earlier for the 1993 rally.
21st-23rd July 2017
Basically the same as above, a quirky venue that served the campers well. The daytime custom show outside the main night venue on the seafront was very busy and well-supported.
19th-21st July 2019
The campsite was back at the out-of-town field, first used in 2010. Three July rallies in a row seemed to have boosted the attendance of Llandudno scooter rallies – certainly compared to the ones in 2008 and 2010.
Llandudno factoids
- Five different campsites have been used at the Llandudno rallies
- The same night venue has always been used – the Aberconway Centre, now called Cymru Venue.
- The 2023 rally will be the 11th National Rally in Llandudno. Making it the most used National Rally venue in the country of Wales. Llandudno is currently on 10 visits, the same as Tenby (10 visits) not including the end-of-season and pre-season visits to Llandudno in 1989 and 2006 respectively
Spooky Factoid
This Llandudno rally is 34 years to the very day/date of the first-ever Llandudno pirate rally back in 1989 on 28th-29th October. Earlier that year the Welsh National rally was in Aberystwyth on the 28th-30th July, which happened to be exactly the same day/date as the one earlier this year.
Coincidental Factoid
The owners of the first two scooters to be featured on Paddy Smith patches at Llandudno are Paul from Birmingham with his Taffspeed/DTC blue and pink Vespa (on the 1991 patch) and Tulip’s (Redcar) ‘Suspect Device’ lilac Lambretta GP on the 1992 Patch. Both scooters are still owned by them, and both lads spoke to me at the Aberystwyth rally this year about the upcoming Llandudno end-of-year custom show. They told me of their pride all these years on of their scooters being on the patches back in the 1990s.
