Apart from a horrific experience getting through English customs, the town that brought us Café Racing and the Clash treated us to a downright jolly good time.
Here’s a tip for getting through the annoyingly strict customs at Heathrow…LIE. Here we are at the end of a truly fantastic journey from Sweden to Bavaria, Helsinki to Venice and when I get up to the tough steroid experiment of a customs agent he asks me what I’m doing in England. I smile and say truthfully, “Showing my film.” He turns to the innocent looking waif of a trainee at his side and says without even looking at me, “Mandatory refusal.” Her welcoming smile goes south as my jaw drops in disbelief. “He’s here to work and there’s no visa so it’s a mandatory refusal.” Never mind that I’m coming in from another EU country and it’s supposed to be one big happy European Union. I say, “Excuse me? I’m a filmmaker who was invited here to attend showings of my film, is there a problem?” Again without even glancing in my direction, the guy says, “See how he’s changing his story? We only go by what he said first, so this is a mandatory refusal.” It takes all my remaining willpower to relax and keep from saying anything that would get me in trouble. Scotty is meanwhile on the other side of the barrier waving at me; having gone through a different line and saying the same thing I did which apparently didn’t even make HIS agent blink. Even while worried that I might not make it through, he still can’t keep from laughing at all the trouble I’m having. After collecting myself, I say “Excuse me, Sir, but I didn’t change my story. I’m explaining myself in detail so there’s no misunderstanding.” After what seems like an eternity, he turns again to the trainee and says “This is a judgment call. It’s up to you to make the call. I’m going to believe him this time.” With that and a smirk that says, “I own you” he stamped my passport and let me through. ...Not exactly the welcome I was expecting! Thank God, our swing through the British Isles improved from there.
Our first screening was a couple of nights later at one of the premiere spots in London for underground cinema, The Horse Hospital. Yes, it’s really an abandoned horse hospital! Fantastic venue and we had a blast. Our buddy Simon from Chopperbuilder helped us immensely, along with the guys from the Raindance Film Festival. Dick Baron from Baron’s Speed Shop was in attendance, as was Huggie (from Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels), artist/builder Johnny Morales, and their whole crew of cool pals.
The next few days were spent paying a South London visit to Ace Classics and Baron’s Speed Shop where we got a private look at Charley Boorman’s bike (Baron also built Ewan McGregor’s sweet bobber.)
Hanging out with Johnny at his shop.
Chris Hosegood is a quiet man, but his bike speaks for him.
And making an unforgettable cruise around London in Simon’s killer ’28 Model A Ford pickup. You should have seen the tourists’ faces when we forced our way down main street Notting Hill honking all the way…A-OOOO-GAAA-A-OOOO-GAAA...
Our British buddies treated us like kings and we topped off the trip with a screening at world famous the Ace Café. Our pal Stukka even came over from Belfast and we shared a pint. Thanks a "ton" to Mark and Linda, long live the Ace!
The weather held for us and as we boarded a train for Scotland, we couldn’t help but feel a little bittersweet about the trip. The One World Tour was coming to an end...or was it?
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