public Collection (page 45)

Hillberry 1920s
An early 20s shot of Hillberry and the tar-spraying gang, looking back towards Brandish. The racing surface was just rolled and crushed stone until then

Brushing up at the Creg
Spectators watch practice action at the Creg ny Baa in the early 1920s, before there was a tarmac road surface laid. The publican used to leave a yard boom outside

Hillberry
An early ywenties shot of a rider who hopes there are enough horses under his tank to get him up to Cronk ny Mona

1926 George Reynard
George Reynard (Royal Enfield) attracts the attention of a flapper as he rounds the Waterworks in the 1926 Junior TT, with a clear biew of Ramsey Bay behind; much more vegetation has grown in

1926 H H Moller
Barely had Harold Moller slid to earth off his Norton at Governors Bridge - the flag marshal was already on his way to give assistance! Harolds fourth - and last lap took 51 minutes

Gordon Burney - Sidecar and Solo Irish Champion
In 1926 Gordon Burney won both solo and sidecar road race championships on Royal Enfield at Phooenix Park, Dublin. Burney was the Irish agent for the Redditch-manufactured machines

Brother victors
Brothers Edwin (above) and Kenneth Twemlow in the 1925 Lightweight TT. The brothers scored a first sibling double at TT 1924, with Edwin winning the Lightweight, brother Kenneth won the Junior

AJS boys at play
Jimmy Simpson and George Rowley added a sidecar to their all-conquering AJS 350, and took a fighting 5th in the 1925 Sidecar TT against their 600cc rivals

Packman & Poppe
Doug Prentice (P&P) at Parliament Square, Ramsey in the 1925 Lightweight TT. This company made machines from 1922 to 1925, but a fire destroyed their Coventry-based factory

The last pre-war Sidecar TT winner
Pressure from manufacturres caused the demise of the SIidecar TT after 1925. Len Parker and Ken Horstman (Dougas) were the last winners until it was reintroduced, on the Clypse Course, in 1954

Quarter Bridge - 1925 Sidecar TT
George Grinton and Manxman Arthur Kinrade skim the lampost in the 1925 Sidecar TT, the last to be held on the Island until 1954. Grinton finished third

EX 1925 Len Parker TT 001
Exhibition Images, EX 1925 Len Parker TT 001

Governors action
An unusual angle, as a 1920s competitor takes Governors Bridge. No tarmac in those days

Those were the days my friends
A sporty early 20s outfit, very little traffic on the roads to hinder progress, no speed limits and petrol at 6p a gallon; those were definitely were the days

Ballacraine
An early twenties shot of an unidentified Sunbeam rider at Ballacraine. Horse-shoe nails and recycled horse-food were the main hazard at this junction of the Ramsey-Castletown and Douglas-Peel roads

The first mega
The flat-twin ABC - " All British (Engine) Company" - was designed by Granville Bradshaw. Reg Lucas machine was the first TT racer to feature megaphone exhausts

1921 Senior TT
Jack Watson-Bourne (sv Triumph) checks back as he senses a fast-approaching Freddie Dixon on an Indian single through the Laurel Bank section. Dixon finished second, Watson-Bourne fifth

The Multi-talented Mr Shaw
Belfastss Jimmy Shaw was Ulster and Irish sand-racing champion ten times each. He turned his attention to road racing and became a member of the works Norton team

The drop from Kates to the Creg
Tom Sheard (AJS) approaches Creg ny Baa in the 1921 Junior TT. He finished third that year but won the Junior in 1922, Stanley Woods recalled that the publican of the Keppel Hotel, Creg ny Baa

1925 Sidecar TT
Pitting their 350cc AJS outfit against the 600 Douglas and Norton outfits, Frank Longman with Leo Davenport holding the third wheel down took a fightig fourth place

1924 Ultra Lightweight TT
The first massed-start TT. The whole field is in view as they leave the start. The winner was Jock Porter (New Gerrard, 1)

The First Manx
September 20, 1923; 31 staretsr prepare for the first Manx Amatuer Road Race Championship (M.A.R.R.C.). Ken Twemlow started No. 1

1923 Senior TT
Tom Sheard (Douglas) at Ramsey Hairpin winning the 1923 Senior. Theyear before Tom had won the Junior on an AJS. The Sheard family still own this machine

The piston lives on
Graham Walker and Tommy Mahon round Ramsey Hairpin in the 1923 Sidecar TT. Graham finished second to Freddie Dixon. Son and fellow race commentator Murray uses the piston from this very machine as a

1923 Sidecar TT
Freddie Dixon (Douglas) rounds Ramsey Hairpin on his winning way. Passenger Walter Denny, who remained seated the whole race, can be seen pushing the banking lever forward to lower the sidecar

1920 Senior TT
Competitors wair for the start of the 1920 Senior. This was the first year the current startline was used. ABC machines were the first ro race with a megaphone exhuast, as seen on Reg Abrams No. 78

W O Bentley - car and bike TT racer
In 1914, Walter Owen Bentley raced, and retired from the car Tourist Trophy in a French-built D.F, P, . Before that, he had ridden in the 1909 TT on a Rex, and again the next year on a Indian

1914 Car TT
Sir Algernon Guinness tales Ballacraine in his 3.3. litre Sunbeam. He retired after 12 laps with a failed drive shaft. He was the brother of Kenelm Lee Guinness, founder of the KLG spark plugs

1913 start - Quarter Bridge Road
From 1913 both Junior and Senior races were held over two days. As he waits his turn to start, is No. 25 fortifying himself for the race ahead?

1914 Junior TT start
Riders wait to start the 1914 Junior TT. No. 25 was Fred Walker (Royal Enfield); he had led the race for the first two laps

The first two-stroke TT win
The Shipley-built Scott, ridden by H O Tim Wood, won the 1913 Senior TT. The race was held over two legs that year, three laps one day, four laps the next

Not going Forward
The long arm of the law and other marshals rush to help Percy Owen who tumbles off his Birimngham-built Forward at Ramsey Hairpin in the 1913 Junior TT

A Ramsey pitstop
Pre-WWI, refuelling was allawed at Ramsey. Percy Owen gets his Norton topped up in the Northern captal of the Island

When was a Brough not a Brough?
George Herman (Puch, 138) George Brough (Zenith, 98) and Alister Kirk (Triumph, 56) refualling at Braddan Bridge, 1913 TT

1913 Junior TT
I am not sure if that is a smile or grimace on the face of Douggie Alexander. Riding the v-twin Royal Enfield he lay second on the first lap

Bray Hill - 1912
Harold Cox (Forward) tackles Bray Hill in the 1912 Junior TT. The bag aroound his shoulder contains the tools required to repair the machine en-race

Island Bound - 1911
Three T.T, machines on the Liverpool landing stage prior to being taken to the Isle of Man for the 1911 TT. FY649 is a New Hudson and the other two Humbers - all with three-speed gears

1911 TT winner
Oliver Godfrey hardly looks out of breath after his winning ride in the 1911 Senior TT. His tall pit attendant is W. H. Billy Wells, importer of the Indian machines that took the first three places

Bray Hill -1914
An unknown competitor plunges down Bray Hill. There were no house, shops or traffic lights there in those days. Bray Hill was well outside of Douglas town which was mainly centred round the harbour

1914 Tourist Trophy
John Hancock speeds past the Sulby Glen Hotel in his Vauxhall durig the 1914 Tourist trophy

A Veloce - not a Velocette
No. 33 shows Cyril Pullin astride his inlet-over-exhaust Veloce at the 1913 TT. The machine suffered oiling problems during the race, finally finishing 22nd (last) in the Junior TT

1912 Senior TT
Percy Owen (Norton) rounds Cruickshanks Corner, Ramsey in th3e 1912 Senior. The rough state of the road shoule be noted - the following rider is in fact riding the pavement to miss the worst of

Avoiding the potholes
From the line taken by 1912 Senior TT winner Frank Applebee and his pursuer, it looks as if they were taking the pavement route to miss the bone-jarring potholes in the stretch of road leaving

The Timekeepers
Todays timekeepers have a more solubrious accomodation then they did in 1908! The scoreboard was a chalkboard from the local school

1908 RAC Tourist Trophy
Kenelm Lee Guinness takes Ramsey Hairpin in his Sunbeam. Guinness was a member of the famous brewing faily. He was also the inventor of the KLG plug

The Arrol-Johnston -a Scottish racing car
Italian driver, Scottish car - Manx roads. Dario Resta and riding mechanic take their Dumfried-built Arrol Johnson round Cronk ny Mona in the 1908 four-inch-race; the Tourist Trophy

The Heavy Car TT
In 1907 the RAC added the Heavy Touring Car class to the TT. The plywood screen was added to simulate a limousine bodywork

The original TT course
Used from 1907 to 1910, this is the St Johns course. Riders used to have to push their single-speed racers up Glen Helen

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