Quarterbridge Road

The A2 Quarterbridge Road and the level section of road used for the startline for Isle of Man TT 1911–1913 .

Quarterbridge Road (Manx: The Quarters or Quarter Dub – quarterlands of Ballabrooie and Ballaquayle)[1] is situated adjacent the 1st Milestone road-side marker on the Snaefell Mountain Course on the primary the A2 Douglas to Ramsey road in the town of Douglas in the Isle of Man.

The Quarterbridge Road runs from the major road junction at the Quarterbridge with its junction of the primary A1 Douglas to Peel road, A2 Douglas to Ramsey road and the A5 Douglas to Port Erin road to the road junction with Bray Hill, Tromode Road, Stoney Road and Thorny Road.[2] The A2 Quarterbridge Road also forms road junctions with Alexander Drive, Selborne Drive, Brunswick Drive and Cronkbourne Road in the town of Douglas.

The A2 Quarterbridge Road was part of the Highland Course and Four Inch Course used for the Gordon Bennett Trial and Tourist Trophy automobile car races between 1904 and 1922. For the 1906 Tourist Trophy Race for automobiles the start was moved from the Quarterbridge/A5 New Castletown Road to the road junction of the A2 Quarterbridge Road/Alexander Drive adjacent to the property called 'Woodlands' in the town of Douglas. The startline for the 1908 Tourist Trophy was moved again from the A2 Quarterbridge Road to Hillberry Corner as part of the new Four Inch Course.[3]

The A2 Quarterbridge Road is part of the Snaefell Mountain Course used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT Races and the Manx Grand Prix since 1923. The startline for the 1911 Isle of Man TT Races was originally situated on the level section of the Quarterbridge Road between Selborne Drive and the 1st Milestone/Alexander Drive.[4] The startline and refuelling area was moved to the top of Bray Hill for the 1914 Isle of Man TT Races and then moved in 1920 to the Nobles Park area of the A2 Glencrutchery Road with the junction with Greenfield Road in Douglas.

During the 1953 Senior TT, Les Graham the inaugural 1949 500cc World Champion riding a 500cc MV Agusta motor-cycle on lap 2 of the race lost control on the uneven surface of the Quarterbridge Road and crashed fatally.[5] A further fatal accident to the Australian competitor Geoffrey Walker[6] during the same race at Kerrowmoar prompted a series of major safety revisions and alterations to the Snaefell Mountain Course during the winter of 1953/54 in the Isle of Man. This included the widening of the Quarterbridge Road junction with the A1 Peel Road at the Quarterbridge.[7]

The A2 Quarterbridge Road including the road junctions at Selborne Drive and Brunswick Drive and the A2 Bray Hill was subjected to major road repairs and re-profiling during the winter of 1978/79 by the Isle of Man Highway Board. This followed a series of fatal accidents during the start of the 1978 Sidecar TT Race 'A' to the Swiss sidecar competitor Ernst Trachsel on Quarterbridge Road and the sidecar crew of Mac Hobson/Kenny Birch on the nearby Bray Hill.[8]

Sources

  1. ↑ Place Names of the Isle of Man by John Kneen MA pp125 (1970) Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh The Scolar Press
  2. ↑ Streets of Douglas Old and New by Stuart Slack pp125 (1996)(1st Edition) The Manx Experience ISBN 978-1-873120-27-9
  3. ↑ 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 978-1-873120-61-3
  4. ↑ The Tourist Trophy in Old Photographs Collected by Bill Snelling. Bill Snelling pp14 Sutton Publishing ISBN 1-84015-059-9
  5. ↑ Isle of Man Weekly Times pp7 dated 20 June 1953
  6. ↑ Motor Cycling pp vi dated 18 June 1953
  7. ↑ Isle of Man Weekly Times dated 29 May 1954
  8. ↑ TT Century – One Hundred Years of the Tourist Trophy by Stuart Barker pp62 (2007)(1st Edition)The Random House Group Ltd ISBN 978-1-84605-235-4 EMAP Automotive Ltd

External links

Coordinates: 54°09′30″N 4°29′45″W / 54.15833°N 4.49583°W