After two years of being cancelled due to the dreaded Covid, the weather gods looked down on us for the 9th Annual Manchester St. George’s Day scooter & multi-meet ride and parade 2022 (a catchy title I think you’ll agree!).

This year the ride was held in memory of the much-missed and loved Jonnie Bolland

The ride has grown organically since I was first asked to get a few scooters together by the organisers of the official parade back in 2012. There were just 30 on the first ride. It was counted that more than 1,000 came on the 2019 ride! I don’t know the exact numbers but I’m always humbled by the turnout of clubs and riders, some from as far as Birmingham, Cumbria and Shropshire, but not forgetting a huge turnout from our neighbours in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester Scooter Collective clubs.
The premise is simple, part of the day is your ride here to Manchester, we then do a short ride over to the start of where the main St. George’s Day parade leaves with all its floats, walking attractions and bands. Then we leave some distance and ride through the streets lined with thousands of people in the city centre cheering us on.

The meeting point for this year was set as Castlefield Arena, a natural outdoor amphitheatre in the Castlefield area, usually reserved for outdoor concerts. It was the only place big enough to hold us. Everyone got a hot drink and breakfast barm (roll, bap, etc.,) and then to the warmup. I had a new toy, a loud hailer to get everyone’s attention, back in 2019 I set off a rocket and it blew up next to Kev Lawn of all people…lol.

There was a five-minute warning and we asked for a two-minute silence in memory of Jonnie Bolland and also two other friends who the scootering family have lost recently, racer Stefan Manoli and Rachel Bradshaw of the Mansfield Monsters. The silence was beautifully adhered to and everyone applauded afterwards. It was one of those moments you know you’re really with family new or old.
This year we didn’t have the fantastic biker marshals helping us out, so it was a bit of a task keeping a few hundred scooters together going over the Mancunian Way and on to Bradford Road. We had a few hiccups, but everyone got to the start. The Stockport Crusaders were out in force to remember their old No.1. It was great to see them all out smiling and enjoying themselves. We then ended the parade through the centre of Manchester, and we ended up in a new square in Ancoats, with a few bars around to get a drink and soak up the sun.

In the past we’ve had pubs with bands on and DJs, but I like to change the format every year to make it a bit different. It was great to see everybody’s smiles and the lovely comments on social media afterwards. It’s always humbling as I feel as though I don’t do a lot, I just make an announcement, and share it on social media. We also sold patches, kindly donated by Darren at Crusader Promotions, who personally could not make it to the event as he has just relocated. All monies raised will be going to New Start, the transplant charity at Wythenshawe Hospital that Jonnie used.

I’d just like to thank everyone in a club, all the solo riders, riders groups and collectives for turning up, it’s your ride and you make it what it is.

Thank you to the Bolland family, Stockport Crusaders and Crusaders Promotions for their support on this ride.

I’ll finish off by saying rest in peace, Jonnie Bolland, Stefan Manoli and Rachel Bradshaw.

Life is too short folks, smash the hell out of it whilst you are here!

Words and photos: Howard

More photos in the rallery below