Youth Culture History

Margate FC, home to Scooterists in 1989.

Ian Scott with his scooter in Margate 1960 and again in Dreamland, Margate in 2011. © Iain Aitch.

A close up of Steve the Jurassic Mod outside the old Margate Magistrates’ Court. There is a story here (with some great pics of mods outside the court) about the 1964 Whitsun bank holiday in Margate and a local museum’s attempt to capture that period in photographs and on film. You can see an interview with Steve here. Definite proof of the concept of ‘hard mods’, some of whom later evolved (or devolved, depending on your opinion) into skinheads, a subculture first seen in numbers in Margate in 1968.

We shall fight them on the beaches: skinheads and mods clash on Margate’s main sands, circa 1980.

Scooters for miles, 1988 Scooter Rally, Margate.

Original mod Steve the Jurassic Mod in Margate on Whitsun bank holiday 2011. He was in Margate for Whitsun 1964 and was up before the magistrate the next morning. The old court room is behind him to the left. The court room scenes from that day were re-written for the mod film Quadrophenia and the location swapped to Brighton. Photograph © Iain Aitch.

Fred Perry are running a campaign based on the memories of people who wear Fred Perry clothes today or did in their own teenage years. Some great photos and memories from the 1960s onwards.

This story from the Guardian explains more about the project in Margate and features one of my photographs from the show.