Mods and rockers in Brighton by Joan Moore 22 March 2015My Film club will be screening Quadraphenia in August and would like to put on an exhibition of photos, memorabilia etc. Can any one advise?5 replies Re: Mods and rockers in Brighton by Jennifer Drury:Website Editor 22 March 2015Joan: your message does not make it clear what type of help/advice you are looking for. In order for anyone to respond it is necessary for you to be specific as to what you would like to do. Re: Mods and rockers in Brighton by Joan Moore 23 March 2015Thank you for your reply, Jennifer. I would like to exhibit photos. etc from the weekend that the mods and rockers were in Brighton, and if there is any one of them around that I could talk to. Re: Mods and rockers in Brighton by Geoffrey Mead 24 March 2015Hi Joan, last year there was a study day based around Quadrophenia at University of Sussex [I was a discussion panel chair]; it was organised by a very nice lady and colleague Dr Pam Thurschwell[P.Thurschwell@sussex.ac.uk]. She should be able to help with your enquiry. best wishes Geoffrey Re: Mods and rockers in Brighton by Charles Clarke 5 February 2020 6:39 AMI was in that scene at the time in 1966, if this is the period you are referring to. I was born in Brighton but lived in Burgess Hill at the time. At the time it all seemed a lot of fun and I feel that reports and events have been over-dramatised over the years. There were regular interactions at the weekends, with mods running around chasing greasers and visa versa. There were a few fisticuffs but not that many, and I can’t recall anyone getting more than a bruising, nothing vicious and no weapons. I can recall a couple of greasers jumping off the end of Palace Pier. Most of the trouble makers were from South London and Crawley. I recall that we would sometimes wait at Pyecombe and pick on a group travelling towards Brighton on the A23 and follow them into Brighton. Us local lads didn’t like these weekend invasions and we used to know all the rat runs and short cuts.I don’t know where the description Mod and Rockers came from. Mods were Mods and considered a bit puny in their Parkers and fur coats and fancy clothes and were mainly South Londoners . Meanwhile, the local people were mainly motor bikers and were called Greasers or the Grease and not called Rockers; the reason being that Motorbikes in those days were smelly oily greasy things and were ridden by people in dirty jeans and leather jackets smelling of Castrol R. The biggest Greaser meeting point was a Cafe called the Black Cat. This was at Patcham at the end of the A23 dual carriageway up on the embankment just past the sports field as you head towards Brighton.I think it was mainly innocent fun and the Police tended to leave things alone, I can’t recall any incident of property damage or vandalism, or people getting badly hurt.The Police were very good and tolerant. For speeding they had to catch you and most times they couldn’t . I had a fairly distinctive bike and on one occasion did give a Police bike a run and left him well behind, I took a detour to get home only to find the Police bike parked in our driveway. I was summoned to the back garden only to find the bobby in a deckchair having a beer with my father who he knew, I was given a good telling off and he said he would catch me next time and that was it. Good times. Re: Mods and rockers in Brighton by Joe Stoner 6 June 2022 11:05 AMI spent every waking hour then (school excepted) on the sea front at the Brighton Canoe Club and remember distinctly one of the guys, who had had polio and thus wore leg-irons, being pelted with stones from a bunch of ***ts on the East Street Groyne and us, able bodied, kayakers having to rescue him.I was not then or am now sure as to whether that were Mods or Rocker/Greasers but they were and are cowardly scum! Add your replyHiddenAdd your title Add your wordsWould you like to add some images (optional)? If so, how many images would you like to add? 1 2 3 4 5 6Your image files will be uploaded when you submit this form. They should be .jpg or .png files. 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