About henry

I was born in 1965.  I wasn’t christened Henry, but it’s been what I have been known as since I was a teenager.

I got my first scooter in 1984. A 1959 Lambretta Li150 Series 1 as a non-running heap from an advert in Thoroughbred and Classic Car magazine.  Having got it home, (a long story involving trains, signal box fires, a five mile push and sitting in a trailer full of cow poo) I quickly turned it into a running heap.  That was it, I was hooked, and I have had a Lambretta on the road since then - and most of them have been heaps as I don’t really do shiny! Like most people, I have more than one scooter and apart from the Lambretta(s), I have a collection of weird and wonderful European scooters that keep me busy in the shed.

Over the last 40 years on my scooters, I have attended National Scooter Rallies and European Scooter Rallies.  Tried my hand at racing back in the 80’s (that didn’t go well).  I have competed in a navigational trial (not sure if I actually finished as I got totally lost), been to Motorcycle Rallies and vintage vehicle meets, commuted to work and generally ridden all over the place.  In the last few years I have been Endurance Racing with BSEC as part of the IDK Endurance Racing Team. (Club Class Champions in 2022 don’t you know) and throughout this I have met so many fantastic people and thoroughly enjoyed myself making fantastic memories.

Because I have seen first hand what happens when memories fade and I want to help raise money to try and find a cure for dementia.  My Mum, who sadly passed away in 2021, had Alzheimers.  It started with forgetting a few little things and progressed over the years until she couldn’t remember me or other members of the family including my Dad, her husband of 55 years.  Mum had a fantastic life, she trained as a teacher and worked at a school in Hong Kong for many years.  She was artistic, painted, made stuff, loved reading, socialising, and enjoyed life.  But unfortunately her illness slowly took these things away.

It's a fact of life that whilst this is my story, many of you reading this will have had similar experiences. Well maybe not pushing a Lambretta for miles and sitting in cow poo perhaps.  The aim of the ride is to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society to give our generation and future generations hope that we can retain our memories for as long as possible and to eradicate this horrible disease.

I am looking forward to the ride.  I hope to meet loads of you on the road or at one of the do’s or at the Isle of Wight or online.  I would like to thank everybody who has, or will, donate to the cause and I would especially like to thank all the Grass Skirts Team members for their support in this enterprise. And a special thanks to Mum, because I wouldn’t be here without her!

Cheers all,

Henry