Jesters MC – History

Sometime back around 1983, in fact so long ago now no one can actually remember exactly when, two sets of like minded bikers from Bedford & Flitwick who had become friends, agreed to come together to start a motorcycle club.

As far as can be recalled the first “official” get together was held in a pub in the village of Cardington, near Bedford, where it was agreed that the newly formed club should quite obviously adopt a name! All those present went home to put their thinking caps on and re-convened the following week to discuss the various names suggested.

After a mass debate (wink wink) it was agreed that the new club would be called Jesters MCC. This newly formed club’s members then decided that they should have a club patch. Well if you thought choosing a club name was difficult…

Eventually the following club patch design was agreed upon and Jesters MCC at last had a true identity.

The club grew strong in numbers and direction and held runs, parties & various biker lifestyle events, cementing its core values of riding bikes, drinking beer and having a good time well into the roots of the club.

A few years later the club adopted an additional patch, as much because nearly everyone who saw the original patch would say “what does it say mate?” or “Jaspers?” The new patch was to be worn by full members below the original patch and would eventually become a reward for completing the initial part of the prospecting period demanded of all who wanted to join the Jesters. Prospective members who successfully completed their Prospecting term would be welcomed into the club with the award of the original patch too.

Like all clubs, Jesters MCC went through both good and not so good times. Some members disagreed with the direction the club embarked upon in its formative years and after failing to agree on the clubs future, several original members left the club to pursue different paths. But no matter how trying the road became, the club patch was always worn by a few members at all times and even though life lay down some difficult decisions in front of all of the members now and then, relationships, marriages, births, deaths, illness and everything else life can throw at you was experienced by the club and its members at one point or another but the club survived and continued following the biker lifestyle.

Later on in everyone’s lives there comes a time when responsibilities and ties become less problematic and this was the case with the Jesters and its core members. New vigour and emphasis was breathed into the club and it became strong again. The club became early members of the Lea Valley Alliance and used this medium as a tool to associate with many other clubs in the locality. A few further years passed by and eventually the club was once again ready to make a serious commitment on its future direction.

 The Jesters had always met in Public Houses or at best “back rooms” within them, eventually it found a new home within the Private Members Clubhouse of Bedford Rowing Club and made full use of the private meeting room and facilities the club could offer. The Rowing Club would become the Jesters home for three full years and is still used for outside events such as BBQ’s & Custom Shows today, but what it also did was awaken the desire to have a clubhouse exclusively for ourselves and coupled with the realization that we wanted to follow the biker code even more closely the club was soon being positioned to make the transition from MCC to MC.

On May 1^st 2008, 25 years on from its birth, Jesters MCC became Jesters MC. Soon we had our first clubhouse within a small industrial unit in Bedford and whilst daunted by the reality that real bills and overheads would bring to us, the club began to prosper even more. In early January 2010 we moved into our new home with much improved facilities and a workshop for the members’ bikes. Ahead of us lies as yet unknown challenges but we know now that we have the strength to face up to them as they arise.

We are Jesters, JFFJ.