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ON THE ISLAND - YET AGAIN  We were waiting to board the ferry in Liverpool and saw the cars returning from the British Empire Trophy Races which had just finished on the Isle of Man..... While 1947 was my first year on the Island, 1948 was the year I literally caught the TT Bug. In my first year, I had been bewildered by the noise and the speed at which the fortnight had flown by. Certainly no holiday but the introduction to a passion to which I have continued to hang on for 60 years. In 1948 100 riders entered the Senior TT which proved that the TT was as popular as it was before the war. Norton filled the first three positions in the Senior but had poor results in the other two races. Maurice Cann on a Moto Guzzi won the Lightweight and Freddie Frith won the Junior on a Velocette. Our hotel group went up to Creg ny Baa by coach for the Senior, we sat in the Grandstand for the Junior and we watched the massed start Lightweight from Quarter Bridge. However I must mention that in the first week of that years TT, I attended every practice session and drank a lot of soup and cocoa in the courtesy tent after the early sessions. I was able to meet many famous riders and while not an autograph collector, managed to get a few scribbles which I still have in my collection, some still smeared with 1948 mud and riders fingerprints.  ................In 2008 I hope to re-enact some of the experiences I remember from 1948.... I am 60 years older but my enthusiasm still does not wain. So with the help of a few others, I will be on a simulated early morning practice, plus watching races at Creg ny Baa and Quarter Bridge. I will see the practicing and one race from the Grandstand and visit Bray Hill where I watched my first evening practice out on the course all those years ago. |
