PRIDE OF THE TYNE

Scooter Clubs come and go, but some remain in a pivotal position in our scene today.

The Newcastle Setting Sons is one such club.

With a proud history behind them, original members and their scooters remain today as an inspiration to all on the scootering scene.

THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER MONTHS OF 79 THE SEEDS WERE SOWN

Small groups of mods started meeting in early 1979 around Tyneside and eventually got together during the summer.

The first meetings on scooters were by the Armstrong Bridge in Jesmond. Numbers grew, and the Punch Bowl in Jesmond on a Wednesday night became the regular haunt. The group of mods became the Setting Sons in late 1979.

The car park round the back was full of scooters. A couple of older scooterists turned up one evening, less than impressed at the new kids on the block. Members were mainly from the Coast (north of Tyne), Newcastle and Gateshead. 

MOVING ON UP

AND MOVING ON OUT

The club grew rapidly, and started attending rallies across the country. In 1979 members rode to Ambleside and Southend, then 1980 onwards saw large numbers of Sons heading across the country to national rallies. About 90 members made it to Scarborough for the traditional Easter rally.  The popular magazine of the time, Scooter Mania, featured an article by Martin Dixon which stated that the club had done more miles than any other scooter club in UK that year. The Sons were well respected on the scene, nationally.

At the same time, the club was moving around, meeting at different pubs and clubs. Prior to the end of 1982, we had met at The Punch Bowl, The Newcastle Arms, the Red House, Sun Inn, Egypt Cottage, and the Central in Gateshead. Memories include someone removing a toilet door at the Red House and tobogganing down the stairs.

RIOTS IN KESWICK, BIKERS IN AYR AND
A GUN AT A PARTY

When lots of members rode to rallies, vans were often hired as back up. Inevitably they filled up with non-riders which meant there would be loads of Geordies in Scarborough and further afield. These weekends were great – the sort of times you still remember forty years later. But rallies away from traditional destinations often brought trouble. A riot in Keswick, gangs of bikers in Ayr, CB hassle in Dunbar all took a shine off the trips. And the theft of a lot of club cash and accompanying allegations didn’t help. A gun was fired at a club party (by an outsider). Again, the sort of thing you remember forty years later…

People started moving on and forming other clubs, but the Sons continued to meet and travel, albeit with fewer members. One of the new clubs was the Tyneside Tigers. Relationships with the new clubs weren’t always good, and both the Central Bar and St Doms witnessed some ‘disagreements’. And of course, people were no longer smart mods, but Scooterboys – boots, jeans and flying jackets.

CHANGE AT THE TOP & NOT MUCH CHANGE IN PEOPLES POCKETS
SLOWS THE PACE

By 1983 the club was based more in Gateshead. Steve Ware took over from Ken Parkin as the No. 1. The club continued to travel huge distances to attend rallies across the country including the Isle of White, Newquay (during the famous 1987 ‘storm of the century’), Porthcawl, Aberystwyth, Oban, Fort William and a 22 hour trip to Torquay.  But numbers slowly shrunk over the years to about ten or twelve. Lack of cash, families and work commitments, among other things, all got in the way. However, Steve and a hardcore group continued to travel. They flew the flag abroad as well, riding to Euro Vespa at Barcelona, 1986 and Krems in Austria 1987.

Pubs used by the club to meet at this time included The Nine Pins, The Gold Medal, and the Barley Mow in Gateshead. And scooter nights at various clubs were still held which remained popular. The club arranged a pre-Dunbar rally do, and entertainment at the Grand Hotel in Tynemouth for the 1991 national rally in Whitley Bay. At this time Steve was also representing the club and area on the NRC/NSRA.



Throughout the nineties and noughties the Setting Sons SC was kept alive by a small number of dedicated members. The club at this time remained well respected nationally, other scooterists aware of the massive distances folk had to travel to get to some of the rallies.

But as people got older, spare cash started appearing in some pockets, families grew up and scooter riding became an option again. Ride outs were being organised by groups of mates and the scene quickly picked up again. Some of the original members reappeared, as did some stunning scooters. Nationally, scooter riding has become popular again, now without added agro.

THE FLAMES GROW HIGHER & LONGER

Past and present members decided to formally get the club back together and arrange monthly meets. As well as members of the Sons, riders from other clubs - and independent scooterists - come along to the Tyne Bar (in Ouseburn) on the second Tuesday of the month. But pretty much every Tuesday sees scooterists meeting there before heading down to the Quayside to join the Black Knights. To see twenty Lambrettas parked in a row, plus sweet Vespas, and modern autos gladdens the soul. But more than that, we now see a good number of youngsters and lasses riding to meets.

The recently formed North East Scooterists Collective is pulling people from all the different clubs together, and the future's looking good for both the Setting Sons and scootering generally.

As they say, Stay Safe and Keep the Faith.

David Tompkins

Early members of the club included Jasper and Crispy (both RIP), Swizz, the Coldwell cousins, John Scotland and Gary and Cath Lewis. Some of the originals in addition to those mentioned already. Dale Anderson, Arthur Addison, Julian, Oscar, Paulis, Mick and Pete Smith, Dawn Ramsey, Christine Brennan, Paul McCourt, Paul Hunter, Richard Wakefield, David Tompkins, Paul Martin, Rob Fenwick, Clive, Fat Paul, Big Mick, Paul Scott, Dave Snowden, Stephen Hamilton, Eddie Hands, Sneed, Dave Neelans, Anne, Jeff Sexton and Dave Harvey