VMCC Northumbrian Section.
About Us
Section History
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The Northumbrian Region (as it was then known) had its inaugural meeting on Thursday 21st April 1960. The venue was the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle and Bill White was elected the first chairman.
The club then met on the 3rd Thursday of every month and so the story started.
The official minute and scrapbook of the section shows how active the section has always been in events and competitions throughout the world. Film shows, night time trials and flower shows are just some of the events organised and supported by the section. Members have come and gone however the enthusiasm for the art of riding old motorcycles has always been present.
Over the years the section has had a wide variety of venues for its meetings. Mine offices, flying clubs and pubs have all played host to the Northumbrian section. Places such as Seghill, Holywell, Sunderland and Birtley have made us welcome. We moved to Birtley R.A.O.B Club in October 1988, then to our current meeting place (Birtley Golf Club) December 2017.
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During lockdown in 2020/21, we managed to keep going by having weekly Zoom Sessions on club nights, runs out and remote rallys when legislation allowed and getting going when things began to open up.
We are operating as normal now and welcome anyone who is interested in old motorcycles to come along.
Chairman's Bits
Hello from me! Who am I?
I'm Pete Bagnall, currently the Chairman of the Northumbrian Section of the VMCC and I would like to welcome you to this website which will hopefully give you an insight into the history of the Section and what we do.
This is a picture of Bill White in his outfit on one of the first section events.
First of all, a little bit of my own history.
I first became interested in bikes in May 1964 when at the tender age of 8 my dad took me to the Tatler cinema at the top of Northumberland Street in Newcastle for the Saturday morning cartoon show. On the Pâthé News was a report on 'Battle of Brighton' between the Mods and Rockers.
I remember being enthralled by the picture of all the bikes lined up on the promenade and I was hooked.
Fast forward to 1972 and after a summer working hard in a paper warehouse I had saved up enough to buy my fist bike. A '65 BSA C15SS complete with apehangers and custom tank! On my 17th birthday I got an MOT and I was off. Ever since then I have always had at least one bike on the road and they are one of the great interests of my life. Another is martial arts of one form or another (another useless fact)!
I became interested in vintage bikes when I acquired a relative's Panther Model 85 with instructions to 'do it up'. I found out about the local VMCC section which then met at the Waggon Inn at Eighton Banks. In November 1986 I went along to my first meeting and met Chairman Bill Lincoln in the small room in the pub that was then our home. My first business meeting was the AGM for that year at which official records show the section had not 'huffed anyone' which made my mind up. I was in!
Over the years I have made many friends and enjoyed all aspects of section activities. In 2026 it's my 40th anniversary of coming to the section so I think I can say it is a very important part of my life.
So fast forward to today and I am still very interested in all aspects of motorbikes, riding them whenever I can with varying degrees of skill. I have had the honour of being elected Chairman of the section in Nov 2010 and I hope to help the section to continue to grow and be active in the wonderful world of Vintage Bikes!