by Tim Britton

The rise of the Ace Café, on London’s North Circular, has been well documented since Mark Wilsmore set about its restoration. Tim Britton points his Triumph south and joins the café society.

I could see it but I couldn’t get to it - story of my travelling life, really - I’d been so many times round the Hanger Lane roundabout that pedestrians thought I was remote controlled. Eventually I pulled over and asked just how to get there. “Ayce Caff? You wanna be off d’ ferd exit, ‘en first left, mate, parst the toya place.” Ah, right, I can see the way now.
I’d been wanting to get to the Ace for long enough, even to a Northerner like me the place has a mystique about it, but it seemed that every time I planned to go, something cropped up. Anyway, I bumped into Mark and Linda Wilsmore during the Coupe Moto Legende at Montlhéry last May and they said “...stop dithering and get down for the Rockers Reunion Run. It’s a great weekend, we’ve got bikes, bands, DJs and then the run to Brighton on the Sunday.”

Best get me finger out and get down there, thinks I. Which is why I’m up and down the North Circular on a red hot Saturday morning. Going in the right direction at last I joined a queue of bikes being directed by event marshalls, to be told “... ’60s bikes on the forecourt, mate, there’s a couple of spaces left right in front of the caff.” As I pulled onto the already packed forecourt, with the heady sound of rock ‘n’ Roll blasting out from the sound system, I thought ‘wow! Is this what it was like 40 years ago?’ Well the answer is ‘no’ actually, as I was told by Brian Beasley – the owner of a very nice late ’60s Bonnie and a regular attendee to the Ace in the ’60s. “It’s much better now than ever it was back then. The Ace was just a transport café and one of the few places we could go with our bikes.”

The Rocker scene is an international thing, this happy bunch are from the Road Rocket Club in Holland.

Transport Café it may be, but also movie location. And 2003 is the 40th anniversary of the Leather Boys film that centred around the café in the early ’60s, many Ace regulars of the time appeared as extras. To celebrate the anniversary Gillian Freeman, who wrote the original book and screenplay, was invited along to the reunion. Gillian was up on stage, being interviewed by Mark Wilsmore, and joined by Colin Campbell and Dudley Sutton, stars of the film, who entertained the crowd with anecdotes from the production. Says Dudley: “Really it should have been called ‘The Plastic Boys’ as the company wouldn’t pay for leather jackets.”