This is the stuff that memories are made of . . . a
perfect first-hand account . . .
and a vital piece of London's modern
history.
CLASSIC AMERICAN
Forty years ago, swarms of motorcyclists roamed along
London's North Circular Road in nightly 'burn ups'. They were the ton-up boys .
. . the coffee-bar cowboys . . . the Ace boys — so called because their
pit-stop was the Ace Cafe at Stonebridge Park.
This is their story as
told by the boys who raced, and the policemen who chased, woven against a
background of contemporary reports of escapades, accidents . . . and deaths.
'They
were the good old days — the golden years,' recalls one of the boys. 'If
anyone asks me, what were they like, I'd say, well, watch one of those Western
films like Dodge City when Wyatt Earp went and cleaned it up. That's
exactly like it was.'
The Ace Cafe Then and Now opens with the first beginnings of
bike racing in the London area — at High Beech — in 1928 and continues
with the pre-war history of the North Circular as one of Britain's new
'arterial' roads, and the establishment of the Ace 'road-house' at Stonebridge
Park in 1939.
Then, Barry 'Noddy' Cheese, one of the Ace's original
'ton-up' boys, paints a graphic picture for us of the excitement of life at the
cafe in the 1950-1960s, his account being set against the cold facts of the
increasing death toll amongst young motorcycle riders.
The
controversial Dixon of Dock Green TV episode is covered as is the making
of the classic film The Leather Boys and the book goes on to describe
events leading up to the closure and subsequent isolation of the Ace with the
construction of the new bypass in the 1990s.
The story is brought up to
date with the resurrection of the cafe's fortunes under Mark Wilsmore and the
fantastic re-opening celebrations in September 2001. It's all here . . . in The
Ace Cafe Then and Now.
ISBN 1 870067 43 6
SIZE 8¼"×8½"
180 PAGES
OVER 300 ILLUSTRATIONS
£14.95
CODE F050
INTRODUCTION:
'De-Luxe Cafe - Coffee Stall Prices'
IN THE BEGINNING . . . THE NORTH CIRCULAR ROAD
THE ACE AT STONEBRIDGE PARK
THE WAY IT WAS THEN . . . memories of a boy racer
THE GOLDEN YEARS
THE TWILIGHT YEARS
RESURRECTION