Photos: Bikes, trikes and scooters ride into town for Mod Weekend and Margate Meltdown

Margate Meltdown Photo Frank Leppard

Margate has been packed out today as thousands of bikers headed into the town for the annual Meltdown.

The event, likely the largest to date, had bikes, trikes and scooters lining the seafront and stretching past the Winter Gardens.

Scores of scooterists were already in town for the Mod Fest at Olby’s Soul Café as the Ace Café bikers rode in.

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The Meltdown was the 13th annual visit to the town and celebrated the 85th anniversary of Ace Café which organises the ride out.

Live entertainment rocked the seafront from midday onwards with MC Bill Guntrip and the DJ’s Bill & George Guntrip, together with the three piece band “The Draglinks”, playing Rockin’ Blues , Rock’n’Roll and Rockabilly.

 

47 Comments

  1. Margate Meltdown?
    That explains why I had to walk home from WWX with my shopping.
    No Loop bus.
    No joke, when you’re pushing 76.

  2. The more the merrier, wonderful stuff wall to wall bikes, good happy people with a common bond, two wheels and an engine brm brm. Loads of strokers giving off the wonderful Mediterranean scent of burned two stroke oil, so reminiscent of a long ago trips. Thousands of folk felt good today and Margate Rocked them, what a good day.

  3. Brilliant from the Mod and 60s weekend through to the meltdown on Monday, 164 scooters taken around Thanet on Sunday and 100s of bikes on the Monday. Margate full of like minded people of all ages and business owners finally making some money.

  4. The smells noise exhaust fumes and pollution in Margate were off the scale we looked around but couldn’t see Jenny Dawes or the other moaners through all the smoke. By contrast we then went to Manston Airport to watch the planes no smells no fumes just an enjoyable picnic. Wonderful.

    • Ann, you do realise that a 24/7 freight hub will mean that Manston will be too busy with old clunkers arriving every ten minutes to host such events. Worth remembering that SHP included a heritage runway so these events could have been a regular thing.

      • Wow !

        There is clearly a heavy demand for Manston if you say that planes will be arriving every ten minutes, 24 hours a day.

        So much for the knockers that say it is not viable . . .

    • zzzzzzzzzz Anne there is a huge difference between a hundred small planes and a hundred huge cargo planes.

      Anyway it was nice to see margate busy with scooters and bikes. Hope everyone got home safely as the driving standard around here is here is poor.

    • So a Piper Cherokee didn’t produce much in the way of smells, smoke or noise.
      What do you think an Airbus or Boeing would do?

      • It doesn’t take much to hold up the loops. But the meltdown wasn’t the culprit this time. It’s the temporary traffic lights at Ramsgate Harbour that are onto of a pedestrian crossing which isn’t ideal. 4 loops in a row on madeira walk on Saturday when I walked up there loo.

        Also.. pollution of the scales? Do shut up Ann and get a life. They’re bikes not old diesel trucks.
        Honestly, how pathetic your life must be to moan about people of all ages having fun, just because you’re a miserable spoil sport. I hope you find happiness in your life at some point.

  5. That is a lot of money going into the Margate economy. If TDC were a bit more welcoming there would still be national rallies to Margate rather than just local ones.

  6. What a fantastic day. Thousands of people out for the day enjoying themselves. Ramsgate seafront was busy with lots of bikes too. No ‘Loop bus’? What a shame. Never mind, there’s plenty of other days in the year to go shopping. I bet the cash tills were ringing on the seafronts. This news story is about The Margate Meltdown, but I see the Manston Mob are trying to muscle in. Anyway, hope everyone got home safely.

  7. What a great day. Good to see Margate busy & full of life for a change. It would have been nice to have seen the old yellow Sea King helicopter flying along the shoreline with the door open & the crew waving to people on the beach & seafront, that I remember as a kid. Sorry, couldn’t think of any other unnecessary or irrelevant reference to Manston that is needed by some.

  8. I think a lot of anti Manston Airport moaners went to the same school as Boris Johnson liars, liars, liars. They know nothing about freight being flown in so you just exaggerate and make up stories about how dirty and bad it will be. Yeah if you look up on a regular basis planes are flying overhead all the time into Gatwick, Heathrow Airport, Stansted, Luton. I guess most of them owners voted to leave the EU and a really regret it when I see the price of the cost of living Brexit is up to inflate.

    • Yes ann and all those airports are on the fuel grid and are cheaper to refuel than by using aviation fuel tankers at manston lol.

      Anyway back on subject lol

  9. I didn’t go to the same school as Boris Johnson and I think it is now time to cut down aviation considerably, as well as private car use. Public transport needs to be massively improved, and flights within Britain should be stopped altogether.

      • Scott, the usual assumption that ‘everyone’ has the same opinion as you is demonstrably flawed, again. I agree with M.M.Rees. You can ignore climate change at your peril but it will happen whether you believe in it or not. Fortunately your opinion doesn’t count for much in scientific circles.

      • A lot of people would like fewer cars and more buses and trains, strangely enough, “Scott”.

        • More buses :L :L :L
          Yes because 7 or 8 loops in either direction isn’t enough.

          Perhaps if they sorted the roads out, made them fit for purpose and adequate for the ever growing thanet population things would be better and everyone would be happy. Well, except you of course. “Cars are bad and they hurt my fee fees.” “hey everyone don’t go on holiday because planes are bad too. you should stay in Ramsgate and love it like I do. so much so that it’s the only town you ever see”

          • Yes, more trains and buses , fewer cars and planes.

            What does “fee fees” mean? What does “:L” mean?

            How old is Scott, I wonder.

          • How old am I? Think the better question is how old are you?
            As you like to portray yourself as someone of intellect on a media group constantly yet, can’t decipher what fee fees means.

            You just stick to getting the smelly busses and taking an hour to get anywhere, chucking your orange powder about and flying your Ukraine flags out your windows.

            And I’ll stick to driving an economical car and enjoying events such as Margate meltdown without trying to spoil it for others.

  10. M M Rees, the days of the horse and cart over. The population of the U.K. is increasing once the Tories are out the U.K. can start to grow again. Cleaner greener fuel yes in all forms of transportation.

  11. “At your peril” lol. Yes, it’ll happen whether we like it or not. No matter how much you buy into efuels etc.. that isn’t what’s causing it.
    My opinion doesn’t count, just as yours doesn’t either.

    Jump on another train, one that’s proven and doesn’t have ANY debate. Like plastic pollution or the fact we’re looking down ‘carbon capture’ routes. Yet, forests are being demolished. Those are the real issues.
    Not people owning cars.

  12. Buses aren’t usually smelly.

    Orange powder? Ukrainian flags? Please explain the connection between these and public transport.

    • Yes.. yes they are.

      The connection is, as a general rule people like you who try to dump on regular people using anything that burns fuel will jump on any other signal virtuing bandwagon.

  13. Firstly, the buses I have been on (and I have used buses and trains all my life) do not smell unpleasant.

    Secondly, your description of my behaviour is wrong.This is not surprising – if you wish to criticize someone personally, it is better to have reliable information about the person you wish to describe than to assume that “a general rule” actually applies to them. If you know nothing about them, there is a high chance of your making a wrong interpretation of what they are like.

    You have not explained the connection between orange powder/Ukrainian flags and public transport.

    • Yes you strike me as the type.
      I quite clearly just explained the connection. If you can’t quite understand, then it’s on you.

      You’re on here calling people racists and telling them to “urinate off” LOL.
      I think it’s best we just agree to disagree on these topics because we’re clearly not getting anywhere.

  14. I wish some people would stop moaning. If its not aircraft its motorcycles. Profoundly boring. Unless it’s all goody-goody woke and oh so ‘adult and responsible’. You are just up yourselves. All things are striving to become cleaner and more sustainable – but you still stay stop this/stop that. Just go and do one – you will always moan

    • “Woke” used as an adjective just doesn’t seem right. Why not use “awake”, which is the proper adjective?

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