I regard my formative years as that transitional period between puberty and maturity. Some would say that even at 66 I haven't reached maturity yet as I'm still riding bikes and attending themed events such as Rocker's Reunions and Ton Up Days. That said, I'm so glad that I had the good fortune to be living in East Kent during my teenage years. The world of two wheels started on my 16th birthday and opened up a life of leather jackets, motorcycle clubs, race meetings and biker cafés. I suppose that youngsters, both male and female and of a similar persuasion, were doing the same thing all over the country, but I counted myself lucky in having a plethora of venues in Kent catering for the leather clad Rockers with whom I socialised. My home town was Broadstairs on the Kent coast, a five minute bike ride from Margate with it's seafront arcades and the notoriety of the Mods and Rockers clashes of the mid sixties. Like many I quickly graduated through the bikes from
Triumph Tiger Cub BSA Road Rocket
a 200cc Tiger Cub to a 650cc BSA Road Rocket, and started to venture farther field than our local cafés, The Coffee Lounge at Birchington and the Trapezium at Sandwich. Standing in Birchington Square at weekends waiting to hurl abuse at any passing Mods heading for Margate seems so churlish now, but it was all part of the scene. Meeting with like minded souls. The Top Hat at Dover and The Sunshine at Cheriton in Folkestone became regular rides, and the Ashford Aces Club was a convenient one to join. However the famous 59 Club was the one we aspired to join and soon weekend trips to St. Mary's at Paddington started to feature in the life of the East Kent rockers. A brief kip in railway rolling stock at the back of the Ace Café on the Norf Circ sufficed before heading back to the coast. Thankfully the rest of Kent had a similarly vibrant bike scene and the most well known stop off between the coast and London was Johnsons on the A20. I was never a regular at Johnsons, but it served as a half way stop off or meeting place before and after a race at Brands Hatch, and all on bikes were always welcome. The same could be said of the Saltbox and the Nightingale as we continued to seek out the rocker's meeting places. Box Hill was a popular meet as was the Halfway at Harrietsham. Café patch collecting became the norm and I still have a Johnsons patch on my leathers today (not my original unfortunately), as well as still being a member of the 59. Sadly most of the café sites have been utilised for housing, or at least a change of use but the culture lives on.
"Speed Twin -1965 Discovering the Rocker culture" "1964, Commuting to work"
Now, as my 70's get inexorably closer, I look back on those early biking years with a great deal of affection and am gratified that the culture does live on, some of it in much the same vein as 50 years ago. "Silly old sod" I hear some say, but it has given me a lifetime of pleasure. I can still meet like minded souls at some of those early venues and more importantly can still ride. Yes I had the odd tumble and yes there was some uncalled for violence. Some contemporaries did not survive and that's always sad, but it's also the way of the world. Todays social network helps to keep the spirit alive and we are all better for it. Ian Blyth
