View from above
Refreshment break at the Sulby Glen Hotel
Promenade
Niki G at Guthries
Gaiety Theatre
Dancing Couple on the Promenade
Boating Lake in Ramsey
Snaefell Mountain Railway on a misty morning!
Spectating from Nobles Park
Beer Engine on the bar at Sulby Glen Hotel
Niki G at Windy Corner 2016 – courtesy of FanTTastic event photography
A J at Guthries – courtesy of FanTTastic event photography
It is 51 years since I first set foot on The Isle of Man to watch the TT Races as a pedestrian.
I have returned many times since that first visit, sometimes again as a pedestrian but during the last 28 years I have returned a number of times on my own motorcycle.
Having my own motorcycle on the Island allows me to ride the iconic public roads that make up the TT
Course during the breaks between the Races and Practice Sessions.
Speed Limits of course apply when the TT Course roads are returned to public use but for me it is a great thrill to ride around the iconic corners with their equally iconic corner signs in the wheel tracks of my heroes.
I remember so well my first visit, a four-hour passage from Liverpool on a glass smooth sea, struggling to sleep on the wooden seats around the perimeter of the ship.
Arriving at six am with a coach standing by ready to whisk you around a lap of the TT Course.
On that occasion the sun shone all day and I spectated from Nobles Park, alongside Glencrutchery Road, to watch the riders bump start their machines and disappear through St Ninians crossroads and down the infamous Bray Hill.
I also spectated at Quarter Bridge as it was an easy walking
distance from the Ferry Terminal and my evening crossing
back to Liverpool.
An awesome day!
In contrast, this year I returned to the Island for four days with my son and his wife on our own motorcycles.
The sea passage took just two and threequarter hours on the catamaran Mannanan; with private cabins available as well as airline and table seating, a cafeteria and shop my experience could not have been more different to my first journey.
The sun shone on our first full day, and we did four laps of the TT Course to familiarise my son’s wife with the thirty-eight- and three-quarter miles that make up the circuit, calling after each lap at the Creg ny Baa hotel for refreshments.
The weather was mixed over the next three days, but we enjoyed the buzz of the Paddock where the racing machines are prepared, a trip on the Electric Tramway up Snaefell and the first practice session
when the riders took to the course.
There is much to enjoy on the Island away from the glorious spectacle of the Races themselves. The Tramway with its wonderful views of the Island, Laxey Wheel, museums aplenty, railways and opportunities for walking, cycling, mountain biking and trail riding.
Douglas, Castletown and Ramsey are also lovely places to visit. One of my favourite places to visit is the Sound Cafe which overlooks The Sound and the Calf of Man in the south of the Island.
I haven’t seen all the Island, there is always more to see and do.
A few interesting facts:
Running since 1895 the Victorian Snaefell Mountain Railway is the only electric mountain railway in the British Isles and is around 5 miles long.
An example of Art Nouveau architecture, the Gaiety Theatre opened in 1900.
Made of bronze by local sculptor, John Mulvey ‘The Dancers’ on the Promenade was unveiled in 2021.
The Beer Engine on the bar at the Sulby Glen Hotel was made from a reclaimed Honda engine by a regular visitor to the TT, Hans Petrovic from Germany. Installed in 2009 four different beers are pulled by electric pump through each of the engines exhaust ports. Quite a novelty!
Pics; AJ at Gooseneck, AJ at Guthries & Niki G at Windy Corner courtesy of FanTTastic event photography
silverglobetrotters.com