Solent City Scooter Club

                      
 

Muriel Rowe

By Dave Tooley

My memories of Muriel Rowe are of a cuddly, friendly, buxom girl with a giggly sense of humour.  She liked to be at the centre of things, and was always game for a laugh.

There is a photo taken in the Connaught Drill Hall with her cuddled up to me on the pillion seat of my scooter. Third bike from the front left.

 

Another piccy showing her is the one taken on the Isle of Wight Rally in 1970.  She is the girl wearing the Miss Solent City garland at the front.

 

 I would often go around her family’s house in Gosport with Angela Twigg on pillion, and we’d spend a good few hours chatting and listening to music, with her sister Barbara joining in the festivities.

Muriel attended pretty much every Club Run and Rally that the club organised.  She never shied away from getting involved in club activities, and was probably one of our most active female members. When we all rolled up our sleeves to try and convert a derelict night-club in Gosport into our new club room, Muriel was one of the first down there with a pair of Wellies and scruffy Jeans on to help out. We spent a considerable time down there moving rubble about, cleaning up and generally just pushing wheelbarrows around and sweating buckets.  All to no avail, I’m afraid to say.  This pretty much spelled the end of our club since we had no venue to hold our meetings.

 

Incidentally I’m more than a little gutted, because at the time I owned a Polaroid camera and took many photos of us all labouring away in that building.  The pics were all kept in a photo album of the time.  When I recovered it from my parents house many years later, every single photo had faded beyond recognition.  Such a shame, because it was a snapshot in time of a bygone era. (over 35 years ago)  Most of us would give our eye teeth to get our hands on those photos from our youth. So few were ever taken.  Photography was an expensive hobby in those days, especially colour.

 

I seem to remember that Colin Thompson was Muriels boyfriend for a while, but cannot remember who she spent most of her time with.  I heard she joined the R.A.F. a while after I last saw her, but have no idea whether she stayed in there or where she ended up.

 

 

● Solent City Scooter Club
□ The Clubs Formation
□ My First Scooter
□ The Weekly Meetings
□ Trips to Stoney Cross
□ The Meeting Places of the Club
□ The Club Warehouse
□ The Thorngate Halls Disco
□ The Club Newsletter
□ Miss Solent City
● Scooter Picture Gallery
● Comments on the Site
● Contact Us
● The Member List
□ Members Tales Then and Now
□ Angela Twigg
□ Dermot Omalley
□ David Seymour
□ John Coles Metalflake SX
□ Keith Champion
□ Muriel Rowe
□ Kenny Erridge
□ Mick Estlick
□ Colin Fry and Debbie
□ Dave Tooley
□ Trevor Aspden
□ Phil Blatch
□ Terry Langridge
□ Pete Boyle
□ John Searle and Jackie Catchpole
□ Pete Thomas
□ Marten Holdway
□ John Olde
□ Chris Bracey
□ Mick Platts (Digger)
□ Ken Jackson
□ Colin Thompson
● Articles on Scooter Racing
□ Scooter Racing
□ Crystal Palace
□ Mallory Park
□ Thruxton
□ Lydden Hill
□ Castle Combe
□ Black Death
□ Les Rafferty
● Scooter Rallys
□ The Southend Scooter Rally 1970
□ The Isle of Wight Rally 1970
□ The Comax Rally
● Other Tales to Tell
□ Tales from the River Bank
□ Suzuki Stinger
□ Speed Cop
□ Ned Newman
□ Taking the Mick
□ Memories from Daves garage
□ First Blood
□ Club Party
□ Martens Wildcat Gp225
□ Such a Teaser
□ Braggers and Bullshitters
□ End of an Era
● Other Websites of Interest