The Forester Spring 2009

The Scooterist & 60’s Newsletter From The Foresters Scooter Club-Est.1957

4d Members 2 / - Non-Members

The Forester The Spring 2009 Edition

In this edition: Dal’s Egg Run, The upcoming Misspent Youth Summer Ball 20th June 2009, The Rifles Doo, Mod’s May Day at the Ship & Anchor, Green Onions Goes Mod, An Audience With..., Step Into My Office and Jeannie from Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)...

Foresters Scooter Club

Est. 1957

non-members welcome Every Wednesday at

The Royal Forest Rangers Road Chingford E4. From 6pm...

Get Your Skates on Mate...

Kickstart, Southend Shakedown, Green Onions goes Mod, Paul Brown’s Mod's May Day at The Ship & Anchor, the Enfield Rifles Doo, Dal’s Egg Run, putting our scooters on stage at The Cock on St George’s Day, the Cutty Sark with Bar Italia friends and much more... there has been so much on lately and Foresters SC members were there or thereabouts at practically everything in our area. Well it is the start of the season, but it does look like it will be a busy one. Scooters are in every third TV advert right now… didn’t we all read the scene was mean to be running out of steam again? If anything it appears to be growing and thriving better than ever. Try search “60s Rockers” on Google Image. There are 5 photos before the first scooter shows up. Who won the most recent Battle of Hastings, then? Dal’s Egg Run, proudly was the biggest ever. It ticked all the charity boxes it should and 86 scooters showed up. Dal was made up and congrats to him for leading the event now in its sixth year. It was a great ride out thru High Beech. Shame the food at the Warren Wood ran out so quickly and the stand-in guvnor was such a tosser. There is so much upcoming thru Spring and Summer it is touch to know where to start see the updated diary at the back of this newsletter but for now remember two dates 20th June Misspent Youth Summer Ball and 16th July Foresters Jersey Run. In the last two months we liked seeing the Faith Stealers at the Enfield Rifles doo which was excellent. We appreciated the Spring Tide Cavalry at Green Onions, sung along The 501s and Wellerman at Paul’s Mod’s May Day and of course we loved seeing The Small Fakers. The “Fake” part of their band name does not do justice to the quality of what they do. Surely, New Faces? No? Anyway... And for those us whose life was and probably still is a jigsaw, Purple Hearts dates are in the calendar as are Ship & Anchor and Green Onion dates. May 10th was the Regency Suite Reunion at Gants Hill Ilford. The Regency Suite/Greyhound Chadwell Heath came towards the backend of what could be described as Revival Mod Phase One. A chosen few (err “available and so inclined” more than chosen...) from the days of the Hercules Tavern, The Phoenix, The Mildmay, The White Lion, The Bush Hotel etc. gathered, and a marvellous thing it was. To be on or around the dance floor Little Jo, Phillipa, Mick Tomlinson, Claire and Vanessa, Steve Pound, Pillar and Mappy with Spike DJing was a surreal Back to the Future moment. The glue in all this, and he wont mind me saying so, was the aforementioned Tony “Mappy” Hayzer who basically started the East London Mod Facebook community that gave rise to the event. The last time I saw Mappy was to wave goodbye to him going thru Walthamstow as me and my Rally 200 went one way and he and his Vespa went another. That was sometime around 83/84. See...? Old Mods never die they just take different turnings off the Markhouse Road. Membership cards are in as are the new club patches. If you have not paid your dues yet, shake your flipping money and buy a Summer ball ticket while you are at it! There are a lot of us going to Isle of Wight this year so there is sure to be a contingent leaving East London/ Essex at a time that suits you. As usual Wednesday nights is the best place to find out who is on for this or that run so get down there. Paul Brown’s promotional work at The Ship & Anchor Dagenham has really taken off which meant his Run Secretary duty of diligently getting us all together for the Sunday runs is took a back seat for a few weekends recently, however he picking up these duties full time again and no doubt we will all see confirmation of the Burnham run on Sunday 17th with our mates from New Originals SC. We wish him continued success with his promotions and welcome the return to his regular weekend texts. More on next Page...

Other Stuff:

Jump The Gun’s tonic suits are really worth a look as are their Aertex tops. Their limited edition Fred Perrys are comedy-priced however. Merc has tweed-ish three button jackets with a flap top pocket which are cool (maybe not for spring tho) but best of the best is a shop not on UK high streets Brookes Bothers. They have started an Italian Tailoring line and one current effort is a jacket with all the correct measurements with the most beautiful cut. It comes in white all cotton seersucker with fine red and blue stripes which sounds garish but it is actually very subtle. If you wore this jacket with Levi’s and an open neck button-down, a Fred or a Smedley - young attractive women whose names you didn’t know would walk up to you and offer to make sexy with you. If you owned this jacket your life would become immediately a little bit more like a 70s Martini commercial. It really is that nice. It comes with matching trousers and tie which you would/should never wear and should probably burn. The bad news is costs 700 quid. Oh well.

Clothes

Vintage-wise check out that place Bill discovered in Whitechapel. ICE in Loughton have started doing Smedley but he is pricey. Fred Perry might be pulling out of Debenhams so there are some bargains to be had right now.

60s Telly

It has been a rich time for would-be 60’s TV archivists lately. You gotta love Sky +... The BBC 4 feature on British female singers, that excellent Motown Anniversary show and with The Saint, The Champions etc. running on a loop or so it seems. Some of that stuff was pure magic, Dusty forgetting herself and cutting loose at the end of one of her shows which back then went out live was a such moment. Dusty was mainstream and thus unfairly dismissed by the elitist minority of our brethren but she really was a great singer and without her support Motown may not have found it’s wide appeal her in the motherland quite as “early” as it did. The first Motown tour of the UK was a complete flop and before Dusty fronted an RSG Motown special British yoof did not really know quite take the “...Shop Around...” advice. But with the rose tinted (National Health) spectacles some of us wear as regards the TV of our youth or childhood it is easy to forget just how much of it consisted of unfunny skits and Sandie Shaw dressing up like a Red Indian. And then there was Lulu’s show... Err, moving on...

60’s Babe

This issue gifts you Annette Andre. La Andre was/is Australian born and best known for her work on British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She began work as a dancer and singer and also worked in theatre, radio and television in Australia. Probably her most memorable role was starring as Marty Hopkirk's widow Jeannie Hopkirk in the late 1960s ITV cult classic Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). She made many appearances however in The Avengers, The Saint, Adam Adamant, The Troubleshooters, The Baron and the literally “out of order” The Prisoner. She played Philia The Virgin opposite Phil “Bilko” Silvers in the 1966 film version of the Broadway musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. But we liked her for this edition of the Forester simply because she was a FOX and the character she the played in R&H (D) was compelling in a “...really hot but you can also come and meet my mum” kind of way. Happy scootering. It is going to be a fun season. Pete.

Run Sec Paul Brown invites you to STEP INTO MY OFFICE...

The Misspent Youth Summer Ball

Pre-pay your ticket to avoid the crushing disappointment of turning up and having to dance and make conversation with strangers in the car park. See Rifles Tony who will be issuing numbered tickets at both club nights. [email protected] otherwise...

That must be why they call him Big Ron...

Did you Have an “Alternate Style Moment” or Two?

We don't want pictures of you looking young, slim and smart which you CLAIM to be embarrassed about, I mean pictures people could quite easily lose sleep over... This issue brings you Brad from New Originals SC in his Mod forerunner days on the beach at Margate back in “Nineteen Seventy Don't Be Ridiculous”. This is the kind of thing we are looking for. Of course we will all laugh openly at such pictures but of course because of scootering’s brotherhood/sisterhood and community feel, when we all laugh and point we will do so in a most caring and loving way. The story behind this picture is at Killyourpuppy.com. A huge thanks to Brad for setting the ball rolling and giving all of us something to aim at... Pictures to [email protected].

Run Sec Paul Brown invites you to STEP INTO MY OFFICE...

Born in the 60’s and a teenage-Mod of the early 80’s, he knows lots about scooters and loads about music, peel the skin and you’ll find he is a foundation stone of Green Onions in Hertford. He takes care of his wife and kids, wears bespoke, rides a GS and he has an Egg Run named after him… But really, where is this guy’s credibility? Let’s call him in from the Green Room and find out… People in the cheap seats clap your hands, the rest of you rattle your jewellery, it is time for...

An Audience With Dal Right, stand by your bed Gosling… Name rank and serial number… Darin Gosling.. Painter/Decorator... First scoot? A poxy horrible unreliable Lambretta J125. Current scoots? Vespa GS160, Vespa T5, Vespa Douglas Sportique. I am not sure we really have to ask you this but… Any Modernism going with you? Oh, only about 110%! Cast your mind back Dal, let it flow… Saturdays were always spent shopping for clothes and then down to the tailors for a fitting or to order something new. Back in the day it was really hard to find decent clobber in the high street shops so we would spend a lot of our spare time hunting for original 60’s clothes/ shoes etc. in charity shops and old style clothes shops. No new off the peg rubbish for our mob, only tailored made mohair suits and original 60’s clothing would do. Smart French macs in navy blue or off-white. Original 60’s chisel toe shoes, not a pair of “Dad’s shoes” from Dolcis! Clarks or Hush Puppy desert boots, not your cheap high street imitations thank you very much! It all had to be just right and just so. The clothes, the music, the scooters. All those who were there at the time, be it skinhead or Mod will know EXACTLY what I am talking about. You see the difference between us and our 60’s counterparts was that we CHOSE to be different from everybody else and not just follow the latest trend (which in the early 80s was the “casual” and “soul boy” thing). I think this really set us apart and made us even more interested and enthusiastic about the whole Mod thing. We were really obsessed about it. Mod means a lot of different things to a lot of different people; for us it was trying to get it as close to the original 60’s thing as possible in Modern day 1980’s London. We eat, drunk and slept Mod. It was so important to us, nothing else really mattered apart from our chosen lifestyle. Our attitude was “Bollocks to the establishment and everything it expected from us”, at the end of the a job only a means to an end and by the way “Cor blimey what a lovely pair of basket weave shoes I saw in an old shoe shop yesterday…”. Do you know what I mean? It was all about priorities and Mod came first. Nowadays it is so easy to just jump on the bandwagon. Go out and buy a nice scooter loaded up with lights and mirrors, pop down the high street and get kitted out with some clothes and bingo – instant Mod. Let me tell you, there is a big difference between Tesco’s and tailored! We had to battle our way through life (and casuals) to just get on and enjoy ourselves. We had no money and had to save up for every record, piece of clothing or bit of chrome that was going on the scooter. We used to get into rucks with soapy idiots dressed in Farah slacks and Sergio Tacchini tracksuits just because we looked different from them. You had to earn respect from others and win your stripes. I think because of those reasons, Mod meant so much more to all of us. Read more on Dal on next page...

An Audience With Dal… cont.

Going clubbing was great back then. Some of our mates were DJ’s, so we would go down to the clubs where they were playing. They would do us tapes (remember those poxy things?!) of all the music they were playing if we didn’t have the vinyl. The music was superb, soul, RnB, Ska, Jazz etc. Weekends were always best but any night would do. I was forever ringing in sick for work because I was hung-over during the week. Friends would put on a Doo somewhere down on the coast or anywhere in the country and we would make the effort to go there just for the night. It didn’t matter that the Doo might be far away, we was hardly going to enjoy ourselves down the local nightclub were we?! It was the same with the Mod rallies. You would just head for the coast for the weekend even if you were skint. All you really needed was beer and petrol money. You could always grab a shower in a wealthy mate’s hotel! If we couldn’t afford a B&B then we would have to sleep in a car or beach hut. Not many beach huts open at two in the morning so sometimes people would force their way in! In the latter years all the top Mods that we knew still loved their original stuff but had moved on a bit and we got turned on to acid jazz, rare groove and funk etc. We started going out to clubs that were not strictly Mod but had a very high Mod attendance. It was great to see all these hip cats dressed in 60’s clobber and dancing to some new fresh music that we hadn’t heard before. This whole thing was frowned upon in some circles but I think it was a really groundbreaking time. We were listening to DJ’s like Gilles Peterson and of course our old Mod mate Eddie Pillar. Anyway, I could talk for hours on end about all this but you’re all probably bored by now so I’ll shut the f**k up! I will finish off by saying that the whole Mod thing was (and still is) a very important part of my life.

What scooter developments would you like to comment on?

A decent, reliable Model that doesn’t ever break down. We may have won the war but those crafty Italians have been having the last laugh on us for the last 50 odd years ! What do you like about the Foresters? Good bunch of lads that are up for a laugh. What could we do to make the club better? Nothing, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Dal’ would like to thank? My long suffering wife Donna for putting up with my obsession! Chris Doye, Alan Hayes, Chris Fitzgerald, Steve Hatchard and Steve Hoare - for being decent mates when I needed them. You all know what I mean by that. Anything else you would like to say? Yeh… Bye! Editors Note Those of you that know Darin might guess this interview has been f*&^%ing well “expletive deleted”.

DIARY OF A RESTORATION

By Gary “The Scaffolder” Siggins

The story so far. Having restored an Indian Series 2 Lambretta and being mildly pleased with the results, I thought I`ll have a go at a GP. Scanned all the ads in scootering and decided on Resurrection Scooters, bugged them for ages waiting an arrival from India of a consignment of scooters, like an expectant father drove “!ooop north” to choose my baby, taking a biker mate who couldn`t believe it when I parted with £555.00 for something he felt should have been thrown back into the skip they most obviously must have dragged it from (bloody philistine). So get it home, show it to the wife who said “£%^&*%$£”**.£550.00 quid. (bloody philistine) and so proceeded to strip the beauty, engine out first and onto the bench, couldn`t wait to delve deep into her innards… Surely it couldn`t be as bad as it looked? The wife said “$$$%&**&& and the so called biker mate looked superior, the doubts had started to creep in. Have you ever read any restoration books, and they keep carping on and bloody on about making notes, taking photo’s etc as you take things apart, and you think, well I ain’t going to forget how that went together am I, yes you bloody are, and don`t even get me started on those faggots who dry build, bloody anoraks, so as you have probably surmised this is the diary of a bodger’s restoration. So the engine is knackered, the forks are bent the headset is cracked the frame looks straight though, but the stand cross beam is buggered. Now never having taken a Lambretta engine apart before, but having read Sticky’s manual on the toilet every day for weeks, what could possibly go wrong? I bought a Dremmel and dreamed of a big thirsty ts1, carb poking through the panel sucking great gulps of air, bit of mesh over it to avoid birdstrikes etc. But oh the reality hit home hard… New clutch, chain, barrel, piston etc etc. I couldn’t budge the mag housing so left it... fingers crossed the bearing is a good one. Electronic ignition fitted, stator plate is as far anti clock as it will go as just about gives 20.5 BTDC yet to strobe test that. Barrel to piston clearance is bloody tight, that will require gentle running in (that’s me $%%$^^). The petrol tank is a rusty mess, order a new one. I am starting to think its cheaper to buy a restored scooter! Those bent forks are straightened by a mate, and oh did I tell you I knocked out one of the retaining clips for the buffers, so bugger it I knock out one on the other side and I’m gonna do bolt in buffers on a GP...Do you think any one will notice? Of course not, there’s no anoraks in scootering ‘and of course it doesn't need saying but I waited till the forks came back from the sprayers, to do the hammering and drilling. The paint job took just over a year and no it ain’t great but for £300.00 I’m happy cos I’m gonna ride it, not polish it. And, oh yeah, he lost the legshields but he has found them now so hopefully I’ll have them for Christmas 2009. So its back in the garage now and its fighting me all the way… Nowt fits! Thank god for Dremmels I’ve got to assemble the new headset the forks the front hub and I took them apart 18 months ago, no, no notes or pictures its all in my head son. Its freezing in the garage, my back from all the stooping is killing me, but you know what I bloody love it. Price so far: GP 150 PAINT ENGINE FORKS STRAIGHTENED STAND CROSS MEMBER PETROL TANK EXHAUST FROM EBAY

= £550.00 = £300.00 = APPROX£250.00 =A FAVOUR =£30.00 PLUS PACK OF CIGGIES TO HAVE IT WELDED ON = £35.00 = £35.00 TOTAL CRAP TAIL PIPE AT WRONG ANGLE

SUNDRIES FROM SCOOTER RESTORATIONS £280.00 AND RISING TOTAL SO FAR £1195.00… Gary will no doubt be back to update us!

20-Jun Misspent Youth Summer Ball

Ship & Anchor/Live Injection 30th May 27th June

Other Dates Called in...

Other Surrey Parts Fair 19/21 June

Purple Hearts BH2 4th June 100 Club 21st June Camber 4th July IOW 29th Aug

Brooksie’s Motown Weekend Idea 23/23 Nov

Green Onions 30th May 5th Sept 10th Oct 7th Nov 5th Dec

Wellerman 14th May The Blarney Stone Barking 24th May The Tavern Rush Green 30th May The Loaded Dog Leytonstone

Misspent Youth Summer Ball 20th June Jersey Run 16th July