Quarry Bends

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The A3 Castletown to Ramsey Road approaching Quarry Bends, near Sulby, Isle of Man.

Quarry Bends (Manx: Close e Volley – Enclosure of the Old Curragh Road)[1] is situated adjacent to the 19th Milestone road-side marker on the Snaefell Mountain Course on the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey, in the parishes of Ballaugh and Lezayre in the Isle of Man. Quarry Bends is the site of the Curraghs Wildlife Park, the nearby Gob y Volley Forestry Plantation and Close e Volley Depot, Forestry Division, Isle of Man Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture and the former Ballavolley Quarry.

The enclosures at Close e Volley and Ballavolley are part of the wetlands of the Ballaugh Curragh (Norse: Mirescog – Mire of the Turbary)[2] of 1,000 acres (405 ha) in area.[3] The primary A3 road as part of The Long Round the journey from Castletown to Ramsey made by horse-drawn carriers and the A14 Sandygate Road form a boundary of the Curragh's wetland along with the tertiary U7 Old Sulby Road, C29 Old Windmill Road and B9 Ballacrye Road. In 1879 the Manx Northern Railway built a narrow gauge railway from St.John's to Ramsey which ran parallel to the A3 road from Kirk Michael to Sulby Bridge. The railway line crossed a number of minor roads as it passed through the Curraghs at Ballacrye, Ballavolley and Cooilbane. A small railway siding was built in 1882 to serve Clarke's stone quarry at Ballavolley crossing the primary A3 road at Close e Volley, later renamed Quarry Bends, running to a small loading wharf and siding to the main Ramsey to St. John's railway line.[4]

The Curragh's wetlands were traditionally an area for growing hay for grazing including attempts in the 1930s to grow New Zealand flax. The area was purchased in 1963 by the Isle of Man Forestry, Lands and Mines Board and the Curraghs Wildlife Park of 211 Acres (85 ha) at Quarry Bends was opened by the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, Sir Ronald Garvey on 23 July 1965.[5] The Curragh's Wildlife Park is now part of the Isle of Man Department of Community, Culture & Leisure and the park includes from 1992 The Orchid Line, a multi-gauge miniature railway of 1,750 feet in length operated by the Manx Model Engineering Society.

The Quarry Bends complex of bends was part of the Highland Course and Four Inch Course used for the Tourist Trophy automobile car races held in the Isle of Man between 1906 and 1922.[6] Quarry Bends is now part of the Snaefell Mountain Course used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT Races and 1923 for the Manx Grand Prix. Extensive road widening and road profiling occurred during 1985 at Quarry Bends by the Isle of Man Highway Board.

Sources

  1. ↑ Place Names of the Isle of Man by John Kneen MA page 512 (1970) Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh The Scolar Press
  2. ↑ Place Names of the Isle of Man by John Kneen MA page 513 (1970) Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh The Scolar Press
  3. ↑ An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Isle of Man by David T.Webber Revised by Frank Cowin and F.J.Radcliffe page 45 (1997) The Manx Experience ISBN 1-873120-25-7
  4. ↑ The British Narrow Gauge Railway No 2c – The Isle of Man Railway Volume III An Outline History of the Isle of Man Railway by James I.C.Boyde page 52 (1996)(1st Edition) The Oakwood Press ISBN0 85361 479
  5. ↑ An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Isle of Man by David T.Webber Revised by Frank Cowin and F.J.Radcliffe page 46 (1997) The Manx Experience ISBN 1-873120-25-7
  6. ↑ TT Pioneers – Early Car Racing in the Isle of Man pp 22 Robert Kelly, Mercury Asset Management (1996)(1st Edition) The Manx Experience, The Alden Press ISBN No 1 873120 61 3

External links

  1. TT Grandstand
  2. St Ninian's Crossroads
  3. Bray Hill
  4. Quarterbridge Road
  5. Quarterbridge
  6. Braddan Bridge
  7. 2nd Milestone
  8. Union Mills
  9. Ballahutchin Hill
  10. Glenlough
  11. Ballagarey Corner
  12. Glen Vine
  13. Crosby Cross-Roads
  14. Highlander
  15. Greeba Castle
  16. Appledene
  17. Greeba Bridge
  18. Gorse Lea
  19. Ballagarraghyn
  20. Ballacraine
  21. Ballaspur
  22. Ballig
  23. Doran's Bend
  24. Laurel Bank
  25. Black Dub
  26. Glen Helen
  27. Sarah's Cottage
  28. Creg Willey's Hill
  29. Lambfell Cottage
  30. Cronk-y-Voddy
  31. 11th Milestone
  32. Handley's Corner
  33. Barregarrow
  34. 13th Milestone
  35. Cronk Urleigh
  36. Westwood Corner
  37. Douglas Road Corner
  38. Rhencullen
  39. Birkin's Bend
  40. Bishopscourt
  41. Orrisdale North
  42. Dub Cottage
  43. Alpine Cottage
  44. Ballacobb
  45. Ballaugh Bridge
  46. Ballacrye Corner
  47. Quarry Bends
  48. Sulby Crossroads
  49. Sulby Bridge
  50. Ginger Hall
  51. Kerrowmoar
  52. Glen Duff
  53. Glentramman
  54. Churchtown
  55. Lezayre War Memorial
  56. Sky Hill
  57. Milntown Cottage
  58. Gardener's Lane
  59. School House Corner
  60. Parliament Square
  61. Cruickshanks Corner
  62. Whitegates
  63. Stella Maris
  64. Ramsey Hairpin
  65. Water Works Corner
  66. Tower Bends
  67. Gooseneck
  68. 26th Milestone
  69. Guthrie's Memorial
  70. Mountain Mile
  71. East Mountain Gate
  72. Mountain Box
  73. Casey's
  74. Stonebreakers Hut
  75. Verandah
  76. Bungalow Bridge
  77. Bungalow
  78. Hailwood's Height
  79. Brandywell
  80. 32nd Milestone
  81. Windy Corner
  82. 33rd Milestone
  83. Clark's Corner
  84. Keppel Gate
  85. Kate's Cottage
  86. Creg-ny-Baa
  87. Gob-ny-Geay
  88. Brandish Corner
  89. Hillberry Corner
  90. Cronk-ny-Mona
  91. Signpost Corner
  92. Bedstead Corner
  93. The Nook
  94. Governor's Bridge
Isle of Man racing circuits

Coordinates: 54°18′56″N 4°30′48″W / 54.31556°N 4.51333°W / 54.31556; -4.51333

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