Rolling with the Ulster Lambretta Club

Italian motor scooter enthusiasts bonded in Co Fermanagh this weekend

Lambrettas were an essential accessory in the mod scene of the 1960s.

The spirit of that era is being kept alive by a group of enthusiasts of the Italian motor scooter.

Around 100 scooters from all over the UK and Ireland travelled to Co Fermanagh this weekend, 70 years after the first Ulster Lambretta Club was formed.

Chris Wilson, one of two members of the original club, bought his first Lambretta for around £40 in 1966.

"A scooter was just to me a form of transport, but then there was the option to use it for other things. It was a bit of sport. I never did get into the mod scene and I'm probably far too old now for it", he said.

"Basically it was relatively cheap, relatively reliable and they were available for the right amount of money and once you had one there were other things you could do with it other than just riding from A to B."

Chris Wilson bought his first Lambretta for around £40 in 1966

He used to race Lambrettas in time trials around the TT circuit on the Isle of Man.

The first Ulster Lambretta Club wound up in the early 1970s but it was reformed 12 years ago.

"It started to die out around 1971, the interest in scooters, other forms of transport and the Troubles didn't help with clubs in general, so I thought, 'No that's it, finished'," Chris said.

"And then sometime back there were showings of the interest in it and it seems to have grown and grown."

'No two are the same'

Philip Steele is the membership secretary of the Ulster Lambretta Club which currently has 97 members.

"Everyone's got their own take. Obviously there'll be guys influenced from the whole mod scene, that's where a lot of it started.

"Other guys are into the racing scene, rockers, there's a mixture of everyone in it here. Some people are just into the vintage thing."

The first Ulster Lambretta Club wound up in the early 1970s but it was reformed 12 years ago

Many of the scooters have been customised and no two are the same.

"You can either keep them original and potter along at 35 or 40 mph they were originally designed to go around the small streets in Italy, but some of the guys have tuned these things.

"Some of these bikes here probably could do upwards of 100 mph, the super tuned ones. "

There were a few breakdowns and push starts over the weekend.

And while the weather in Northern Ireland isn't always as pleasant as the Lambretta's Italian home, the sun was shining as the scooters toured around County Fermanagh.