Back to 2011 for the launch of Souldiers by the Sea, with hundreds of scooter riders heading to Worthing

‘Absolutely fantastic’ – those were the words used to describe Worthing’s first Souldiers by the Sea event, which brought hundreds of scooter riders and enthusiasts to the town in June 2011.

The event, which took place 11 years ago, on June 4 and 5, was organised by self-confessed Worthing scooter fanatic Darren Bradley. Including scooter displays, a ride-out, music events and a special showing of the cult 1970s film Quadraphenia, the weekend was held to raise money for Help for Heroes.

Darren said at the time: “It was absolutely fantastic. Everything went superbly. It’s difficult to put into words, It just goes to show Worthing does like dynamic events that bring something completely different to the town.”

A scooter display in the Guildbourne Centre proved popular, with managers telling Darren it was the busiest they had seen the centre for 20 years. Stars of the show included a scooter signed by Paul Weller, complete with a picture of the musician penning his name.

The Dome cinema was the venue for the screening of Quadraphenia, after which two of the film’s stars, Gary Shail, who played Spider, and Mark Wingett, who played Dave, led an auction and a question and answer session. The evening saw 800 people attend either an old ska, reggae night at the Vintner’s Parrot, a ‘classic scooterist night’ at The Warwick and a soul night at The Dome.

Splash Point was closed off for the visiting riders and was quickly filled with 300 scooters in all shapes and sizes. On Sunday, 180 scooters were ridden out to Brighton.

Darren said: “Everyone said we must do it again. It was so refreshing for Worthing. Scooterists took over the town.” But did it ever happen again? We cannot find any record of it in our archives. Do let us know if you remember the big day in 2011 and whether you have seen anything like it in the area since.

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