Lambretta Ladies

Long before the seaside towns of England were invaded by the petty hoodlum mods of the sixties and the army surplus clad scooter riding hordes of the 1980s, a gentler time saw the birth and infancy of a burgeoning scooter scene, a scene that over the years has grown to become a modern British subculture.

In the post-war years of the 1950s, the UK's population yearned for travel and freedom, for the ability to explore the ever-changing world around them. For two young ladies, the discovery of an Italian icon, the Lambretta motor scooter, gave them their very own two-wheeled key to liberation and the right to roam the tarmac highways that traversed the country, with new-found friends and fellow scooter enthusiasts.

Gaze upon this photographic treasure trove and read their memories from the golden days of scootering history. In an era when women were expected to faithfully follow the domestic path laid down for them, our two young Lambretta riding ladies wandered off, gently steering their own path on their own machines, and became lifelong friends along the way.