The clubs history can be traced back to the Bridgwater Images S.C.,a club born out of the 1979 mod & skinhead revivals.On attending the Bournemouth 1981 national rally and then Scarborough in easter 1982 our eyes were opened up to the world of the northern scooterboys.By the time of the Skegness rally later in the year four of us,like many others, had become immersed in the world of the scooterboy
.The four,Stuart Lanning,Mike Woodland,Pete Duncan & John Griffiths decided it was time for a new club,Mike came up with the name,Stuart voted in as No.1 and the SCOOTERMANIACS S.C. Somerset was born.Based in Bridgwater but taking in the towns along the somerset coast from Minehead & Watchet to W-S-M.Paddy Smith came up with a logo and patch.Into 1983 and membership started to grow rapidly. Late summer 1983 brought sadness when one of our members Carl Greenwood passed away at the age of nineteen,we have kept his name alive with charity donations since.Early to mid eighties saw the club attending all the nationals in numbers,this time also saw some of the members take an interest in scooter racing.The Scootermaniacs Race Team was born & pretty soon Ralph Remnant,Stuart Lanning,Dave Taylor,Chris Geyton,Simon & Paul Baker were competing with the best.This success also led to its downfall.To have a chance of beating the best more funding was needed which the club could not give.This saw the majority ,with heavy hearts, move on to join Taffspeed Racing in 1987. Stuart retired from racing and the team disbanded.All was not lost,some of the members took up off-road scooter trials and on the rally side the club won the Glevum Stax Club of the year competition for rally attendance in 1987.The club won the similar N.S.R.A. one in 1988 and 1991.Towards the end of the eighties although still attending the Rallies in good numbers membership started to fall.Around this time a few large clubs in the Weston-Super-Mare area folded which saw an influx of members into the club.This saw the clubs base move from Bridgwater to W-S-M and give the club a fresh drive into the nineties.As well as the U.K. nationals members started attending rallies abroad.With Stuart still in the driving seat,the club was steered along by a collective of members such as Mark Bale,Zoe Watson,Gary Thomas,Mark Hooper& Sean Nickells.Towards the end of the nineties a new club, Sedgemoor S.C. started up in and around the Bridgwater & Highbridge area.Including old Scootermaniac and race team members,such as Paul Baker,Ralph Remnant,& Andy Parr, and run in a similar way, members from both clubs were soon joining regulary for meets.Stuart suggested a meet to discuss a merger.This got a yes vote.Another chapter for the club to drive it on into the millenium.The noughties has seen the clubs base move back to Bridgwater and the old meeting place The Lime Kiln.The club is part of the S.W.S.C's collective and helps in the running of the South-West Rallies that they host. The club continues to support both National and local Rallies and rallies abroad,as well as scooter racing via the SRP Racetech team.We remain proud of,and dedicated to our scooterboy roots.
