Lambrettas and Vespas, parkas adorned with badges, the music of The Who and the Small Faces, conversation and Coca Cola at the Continental . . . Our recent feature about the formation of a new scooter club in Shipley brought the memories flooding back for T&A readers.

Bernard Kearns, of Low Moor, a DJ and former Bradford councillor, recalls the scooter era as a tremendously exciting and enjoyable period in his life.

"I was a mod and scooter boy in the 1960s - the very proud owner of a Lambretta SX200, with all the mirrors and headlights, the parka full of badges and a chrome crash helmet to boot," he says.

"During the 1960s the scooter and mod scene was very big in Bradford. The main meeting place was the Continental Coffee Bar in Godwin Street and the Hole in the Wall disco inside it. Both were alcohol-free zones, but the old (glass) bottle of Coca-Cola was compulsory.

"Godwin Street was two-way traffic in those days and on the left going up to the corner with Westgate was a mass of scooters - 40 to 50 there most nights. When they made it one-way and banned parking, we all parked round the corner and filled Kirkgate.

"Until 1968 most scooter mods in Bradford were members of Tong Scooter Club. In 1968 Bradford Scooter Club was formed as a breakaway and strictly for mods only.

"In the 1960s I remember Jimmy Savile coming as a famous DJ to the Hole in the Wall, Bob Marley coming to the Penny Farthing and Jimmy Cliff coming to a very 'hip' soul club on Cheapside.

"The 1960s were a fabulous time for music and camaraderie and it all centred on The Continental. Yes, we invaded Blackpool and were turned away by police. Yes, we invaded Scarborough and clashed with rockers. Yes, we were turned away from Bridlington at the border by police.

"But all that was nothing because Bradford had The Continental. Everyone who was into the music of the 1960s and in particularly Tamla Motown in the late 1960s went there.

"Wouldn't it be great if money could be made available from the Millennium Fund to reopen The Continental for the year 2000 as a year-long reunion?"

The same coffee bar features prominently in the memories of Mick Illingworth, of Baildon, now 47 and nostalgic for 1968. He lists the remembered images of that time.

"Transport: scooters, West Yorkshire buses, trolleys and some rich mates who owned a Mini, and of course my Ford Anglia.

"Clubs: Hole in the Wall - an atmospheric meeting place with coffee, smoke and Coke', the in-place to be seen. The Heartbeat disco - Watney's Red Barrel, Double Diamond, burger and chips, the dancing den for grooving to the Four Tops and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

"Groups: The Who, The Small Faces, music that typified the new mod generation, 'smart but casual'.

"Fashion: for the boys, parkas, sheepskins, Levis, brogue shoes, Ben Sherman shirts, crew-cutted heads with long sideburns and trendy moustaches. For the girls, leather coats, two-piece suits with short skirts, white tights and mini handbags (used for dancing around on the dance floor). Your clothes could be bought at Roz & John's boutique, Jonathan Silver's and, of course, C&A's.

"Good times and great music - and as The Who said, there's no substitute. May the mod revival continue!"

Leonard Waddington's scooter memories go further back, to the pre-mod era when the Aire Valley Vespa Club flourished in Shipley.

"One evening in 1958 a few stalwarts, all Vespa owners, met in a barber's shop in Bradford Road, Shipley, and the club was formed. Denham & Bottomley were agents for Vespas and with their assistance our numbers grew until in 1959 we had over 50 members, mostly people in their late teens buying their first machine.

"We met every Wednesday evening for a social occasion at various venues - Windhill Cricket Club, a church hall at Windhill and at the Victoria public house in Saltaire Road. Sunday was set apart for an organised run to various places depending on the weather and the time of year. If snow was on the ground we would go only to Skipton to a coffee bar for a get-together.

"We were affiliated to the Vespa Club of Great Britain and attended their rallies. We did our own 'at homes' in the ground of Wrose school which were a great success and attended by all the clubs in Yorkshire.

"Easter we would go further afield for a few days. Rhyl and the Lake District were popular venues and in 1959 two of us and our wives went for a three-week holiday to a village near Graz in Austria - this on 150cc Vespas which never faltered on the Austrian mountain passes!

"Sadly after a few years scooters lost their popularity and as most of our members graduated to four wheels the Aire Valley Vespa Club ceased to function. Four of the members and our wives still meet after 40 years for an annual reunion meal."

One of the founder members of the Pennine Scooter Club was Andy Moorhouse of Brownroyd Hill Road, Wibsey. He and Chris Conroy formed the club which grew to have almost 70 members, at the Wheatsheaf pub on Southfield Lane.

Every week the lads and their lovingly cared for machines set off on an outing. And Andy, whose nickname was "brush" because of his hairstyle, still has an album of photographs of the great days when they set off to Blackpool or other far flung places.

Andy and his pal even set off for Europe one year, taking in France, Germany and other exotic locations - only to suffer a puncture after 2,000 miles, half a mile from home!

"The club lasted about seven years, then everyone got married. We still keep in touch though," he added.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.