**

RECOGNITION

For many years I was quite content to visit the Isle of Man at TT time receiving a pass to get into the paddock thanks to Tommy Ryan the Clerk of the Course. He was a close friend of my father and had actually raced against my father in their Speedway years of the late 1920s.

I was extremely grateful to be able to get into the places the general public rarely saw, but I worked for my pass, running errands, and making myself useful......However after my father had to give up his TT visits in the 1960s due to his job committments and after Tommy Ryan ceased having his high office, I ended up being a pure spectator for a few years.

This was definitely to my advantage for, instead of being stuck in the paddock and pits area, I was able to get out onto the course and learn all the vantage points that I know now.

However, in early 1986, I had a 'phone call from Brian Crichton, the then-editor of the TT Programme. He asked me how many times I had been to the TT and after a hasty count I told him that in 1987 I would be celebrating 40 years !

He came to my home (the TT programme was printed in Reading in those days and their office was just down the road !) He interviewed me to some length and took a number of photographs of what was becoming my "Vast Collection"...



He took down my tips for the winners of the forthcoming TT...

I mentioned in passing that my mother had been six months pregnant with me in 1939 and that my parents had been at that years TT when Georg Meier had won on the blown BMW...So The interview relevant to 40 visits included my very early trip over --- in the womb !

I also contributed some of the places from which I liked to watch plus a TT crossword and a quiz. I contributed to a number of subsequent programmes until the Isle of Man took over its production. I interviewed riders, including Brian Morrison, over the phone, gave my opinions and wrote more quizzes and gave more of my tips. As a consequence of my involvement I gained my Press accreditation for which I was more than happy and began writing freelance for a number of magazines. Over the years I helped Leslie Nichols, George Turnbull and Norrie Whyte. and since 1986 I was back in the thick of it................



...And who was my top tip for 1986 ?????


ROGER BURNETT


My father was unable to make his annual trip to the TT after 1961 so I began to write to him while I was at each TT, relating what I was doing, my latest news and information about bikes and riders.

When he died in 1995, among his files were every letter I had sent him, which I knew he had read avidly...

These letters were subsequently published in a motorcycle magazine and they made very nostalgic reading.....and reminded me of the times I had attended the TT and now form the basis of my personal experiences.

In 2007 I completed 60 years as a TT Fan and received a number of awards for my dedication to the TT..


MY TANKARD FOR 64 YEARS DEDICATION TO THE TT


In 2010 I was invited to the Governors residence to be presented to him and I also received a very nice engraved tankard from Geoff Corkish, again recognising my dedication..


AT THE GOVERNORS RESIDENCE


MY TANKARD FOR 64 YEARS DEDICATION TO THE TT


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