The Ace Cafe is a historic transport cafe located near

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

, North West London, England. Situated next to the

North Circular Road The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a ring road around Central London. It runs from Chiswick in the west to North Woolwich in the east via suburban north London, connecting var ...

, it is historically a notable venue in motorcycle culture. The original cafe opened in 1938 and closed in 1969. It re-opened on the original site in 1997 as a cafe, functions, and entertainment venue.

Location

The Ace Cafe is located on a leg on the western side of the North Circular Road, off the junction with Beresford Avenue. On the A406 it is between the Hanger Lane gyratory and the

A404 junction. It is east of the

Alperton Alperton () is an area of north-west London, England, within the London Borough of Brent. It forms the southern part of the town of Wembley and is west north-west of Charing Cross, on the border with the London Borough of Ealing. It includes a ...

neighbourhood, close by Stonebridge and the

Park Royal Park Royal is an area in North West London, England, divided between the London Borough of Ealing and the London Borough of Brent. It is the site of the largest business park in London, but despite intensive existing use, the area is, togethe ...

industrial estate, just west of Stonebridge Park station and the Brent Viaduct. Apart from the cafe on the original site in London, Ace Cafe London have opened cafes in other countries: Ace Corner

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, Finland (opened in June 2011), Ace Cafe

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

, Switzerland (opened in June 2015), Ace Cafe

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China (opened in July 2015), Ace Cafe

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain (opened in April 2017), and Ace Cafe

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, United States of America (opened in May 2017).

History

The Ace Cafe opened in 1938 to accommodate traffic on the then-new

. It was built on an area between the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

and Stonebridge Park Depot. Because the cafe was open 24 hours a day, it started to attract motorcyclists in the evening and at weekends, becoming popular in the 1950s and 1960s with the Rockers, whereupon Reverend Bill Shergold initially visited to invite them to join the 59 Club. The cafe was rebuilt in 1949, after an air raid on the nearby

Willesden Willesden () is an area of north-west London, situated 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933; it has formed ...

railway

marshalling yard A classification yard (American English, as well as the Canadian National Railway), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, and Australian English, and the former Canadian Pacific Railway) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway y ...

s caused damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Events in the postwar environment made the Ace a success – the emergence of the

teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated wi ...

, an increase in traffic, and the British motorcycle industry at its peak. Young people started to meet at the cafe to socialise, gather their motorcycles, and listen to

rock'n'roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African American music such as jazz, rhythm and ...

on juke boxes. Bands and motorcycle enthusiast groups formed there. The cafe closed in 1969, shortly after the opening of the Scratchwood Services at what was then the southern end of the M1 motorway. The ground floor of the building became a tyre sales and fitting shop. The first floor was occupied by a vehicle delivery company.

Rocker revival and refurbishment

With increasing popularity of the Rocker revival and discussions with original 59 Club members,The Rev William Shergold: biker priest
''The Times'', 23 May 2009 the first Ace Cafe reunion was organised by Mark Wilsmore and held in 1994.''

Motor Cycle News ''MCN'' or ''Motor Cycle News'' is a UK weekly Motorcycle, motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Verlagsgruppe, Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspape ...

'' 23 March 1994, p. 48 ''Ace Cafe to open for rocker bash. "Famous rockers' haunt, the Ace Cafe, is to "re-open" 25 years after its closure for an anniversary meeting...Triumph fan Mark Wilsmore has arranged for an exhibition and all-day party at the site in September. The cafe closed in 1969 and now houses a tyre depot on London's North Circular Road''". Accessed and added 2014-10-05 The cafe reopened in 1997, with complete refurbishment completed by September 2001. Rockers and motorcyclists from all over the world attend themed meetings. It is no longer open 24-hours but the cafe now has an extensive calendar of events for both motorbike and classic car owners. Hosting events such as monthly meets for both bikes and cars. The location also hosts special event nights for certain styles and builds, such as german, or EV night. It also hosts weekly live music and DJs, and is approved for weddings and civil partnerships.

Film and media

The Ace Cafe was used as a location in the 1964 film '' The Leather Boys'', Sidney J. Furie's British

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

-interest kitchen sink drama, starring

Rita Tushingham Rita Tushingham (born 14 March 1942) is an English actress. She is known for her starring roles in films including '' A Taste of Honey'' (1961), '' The Leather Boys'' (1964), '' The Knack ...and How to Get It'' (1965), '' Doctor Zhivago'' (1965 ...

. In the past it has been used for the Channel 5 TV programme ''

Fifth Gear ''Fifth Gear'' is a British motoring television magazine series which has been broadcast since 2002. Originally shown on Channel 5 from 2002 to 2011 (and branded as ''5th Gear'' until 2005), it began as a continuation of the original version ...

'' in the seasons 10 to 13 (September 2006 until March 2008), and for ITV programme ''Used Car Roadshow''. It has also featured in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television series '' By Any Means'' with

Charley Boorman Charley Boorman (born 23 August 1966) is a British television presenter, travel writer and actor. A motorbike enthusiast, Boorman has made four long-distance motorcycle rides with his friend Ewan McGregor, documented in '' Long Way Round'' (20 ...

; mentioned as a favourite for

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and ...

by his wife in the documentary, Long Way Down; and the 2008 film '' Freebird''. The cafe also featured in an edition of ''

Car SOS ''Car SOS'' is a British automotive entertainment television series that airs on National Geographic Channel as well as being repeated on Channel 4 and More4. The first ten series are also available on the Disney+ streaming service. The serie ...

'' – Season 1, Episode 9, presented by Tim Shaw, filmed during 2012 and shown in the UK on at least one TV channel –

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

. The episode depicted the secret restoration of a decaying Ford Zodiac Mk1, which was then unveiled and presented to the unsuspecting owner in the car park, close to the building entrance. Motoring TV presenters Edd China and Mike Brewer filmed at Ace Cafe on a ''Hot Rod'' night in early 2014 during a sequence to sell a

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro sha ...

, part of Wheeler Dealers series 11. The music video for " You Go Your Way" (released 2024) by

Perrie Perrie is both a surname and given name, and may refer to: Surname * Ian Perrie (born 1979), Australian rules footballer * Lynne Perrie (1931–2006), English actress * Maureen Perrie (born 1946), lecturer in Russian History Given name * Perrie ...

was filmed at Ace Cafe.

Awards

The Ace Cafe won

London Borough of Brent Brent () is a London boroughs, borough in north-west London, England. It is known for landmarks such as Wembley Stadium, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London, Swaminarayan Temple and the Kiln Theatre. It also contains the Brent Reservoir, W ...

's "Best Bar None" award for local bars in 2009.

Notes

References

*Ramsey, Winston. ''The Ace Cafe Then and Now'', 2002. *Stuart, Johnny; (1987). ''Rockers!''. Plexus Publishing Ltd. *Duckworth, Mick, (2011). "Ace Times". Redline Books.

External links

* *
Company financial report
{{Restaurants in London Biker bars Restaurants in the London Borough of Brent Motorcycling subculture in the United Kingdom Youth culture in the United Kingdom 1938 establishments in England Restaurants established in 1938 Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Brent Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Brent National Transport Trust Red Wheel sites