Gooseneck, Isle of Man

Gooseneck, Isle of Man

Steve Hislop riding the rotary-engined Norton RCW 588 at the Gooseneck, Isle of Man, in 1992
Coordinates 54°18′18.5″N 4°22′55.5″W / 54.305139°N 4.382083°WCoordinates: 54°18′18.5″N 4°22′55.5″W / 54.305139°N 4.382083°W
Built 1870, 1938-1939
Location of Gooseneck, Isle of Man in Isle of Man

Gooseneck, Isle of Man[1] (Manx: Roan – the reddish land)[2] is situated between the 25th Milestone and 26th Milestone racing road-side markers used for the Snaefell Mountain Course on the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road with the road junction with the tertiary D28 Hibernia Road in the parish of Maughold in the Isle of Man. The Gooseneck is surrounded by open moorland and uncultivated grazing land of Park Mooar, the Rhowin and North Barrule in the Northern Uplands in the Isle of Man.[3]

History

Gooseneck corner was part of the Highland Course and the Four Inch Course used for the Gordon Bennett Trial and Tourist Trophy automobile car races held in the Isle of Man between 1904 and 1922. It is now part of the Snaefell Mountain Course used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT Races and since 1923 for the Manx Grand Prix Races.

Description

The Gooseneck is described as a good location for spectators to be very close to the bikes. Racers are at medium speed, yet can seem faster because the spectators can be so close.[4]

It's also fun for visiting motorcyclists, as the traffic flow is restricted during the race season to be one-way, and there is no speed limit through the Gooseneck and some other locations, while elsewhere there is "intensive police vigilance associated with extensive speed limit enforcement as part of an effort to control, or choreograph the riding behaviours of visitors."[5]

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Isle of Man Ramsey Courier page 2 22nd May 1914 MOTOR CAR SMASHES - TOURIST TROPHY RACES EXCITING INCIDENTS "....at the awkward bend in the Mountain Road, the scene of many 'spills' in the past and known as the Gooseneck, about a mile or so beyond the Hairpin Corner."
  2. ↑ Place Names of the Isle of Man by John Kneen MA pp526 (1970) Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh The Scolar Press
  3. ↑ Ramsey Courier page 1 24th April 1936 "TRESPASSES NOTICE - Any person trespassing on the Estates of Ballure (Reservoir), The Rhowin, Park Mooar or North Ballure, with gun, dog or ferret will be prosecuted. BY ORDER
  4. ↑ David Wright (2013). 100 Years of the Isle of Man TT: A Century of Motorcycle Racing. The Crowood Press Ltd.
  5. ↑ Geoff Crowther (2007). "Embodied Experiences of Motorcycling at the Isle of Man TT Races". International Journal of Motorcycle Studies.

External links

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