Quarterbridge (The Quarters or Quarter Dub: quarterlands of Ballabrooie and Ballaquayle) is situated soon after the 1 mile-marker measured from the

TT Grandstand The TT Grandstand including the startline, pit lane, re-fuellers, merchandising, scoreboard and paddocks for the Isle of Man TT and Manx Grand Prix races is situated on the A2 Glencrutchery Road, in the town of Douglas, Isle of Man. Histor ...

, part of the

Snaefell Mountain Course The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or ''TT Course'' is a street and public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle ''TT Course'' is used principally for the Isle of Man TT Races and also the sep ...

used for the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

races, at the junction of the primary A1

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

to Peel road, A2

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...

road and the A5

Port Erin Port Erin ( gv, Purt Çhiarn, meaning ''lord's port'') is a seaside village in the south-west of the Isle of Man, in the historic parish of Rushen. It was previously a seaside resort before the decline of the tourist trade. Administratively it ...

road which forms the boundary between the parishes of Braddan and Onchan in the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

Name

The Quarterbridge forms the boundary between the quarterlands of Ballabrooie and Ballaquayle. A quarterland is an old land division in the Isle of Man, which includes a farmstead or ''Kerroo'' within the quarterland. In this system four of these divisions became a ''treen'' and land rights were entrusted to a landholder, who in turn cultivated one of the quarterlands. The three other quarterlands were rented to freemen paying dues in the form of rents, produce, parish services including the maintenance of a small church or ''keeil'' within the treen.

History

The Quarterbridge spans the River Glass at this point and forms part of the boundary between the parishes of

Braddan Braddan ( gv, Braddan) is one of the seventeen parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located on the east of the island (part of the traditional ''South Side'' division) in the sheading of Middle. Administratively, a small part of the historic p ...

and

Onchan Onchan (; glv, Kione Droghad) is a village in the parish of Onchan on the Isle of Man. It is at the north end of Douglas Bay. Administratively a district, it has the second largest population of settlements on the island, after Douglas, with wh ...

. A bridge at this point was washed away during a storm in 1727 and replaced with a two-arched structure 30 yards downstream. The local mason Charles Scott was contracted in 1809 to build a single-arched span across the River Glass on the present alignment for a price of £280. The bridge was extended upstream in 1862 and there was a further extension downstream in the early 1900s. The public house on the site, The Union Hotel, was damaged by fire in 1830 and replaced by the present Quarterbridge Hotel. A gatehouse and nearby Quarterbridge rail-crossing were built in 1873 for the new

Isle of Man Railway The Isle of Man Railway (IMR) ( gv, Raad Yiarn Vannin) is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin on the Isle of Man. The line is narrow gauge and long. It is the remainder of what was a much ...

's Douglas to Peel line. Road widening on the A1 Peel Road during the winter of 1937 included the demolition of the Brown Bobby public house and road work at the Quarterbridge road junction. In the 1930s a distinctive roadside cafe was built in a modular prefabricated concrete Post-Modernist design on the junction with the A2 Quarterbridge Road. During the winter of 1953/54 road widening to the approach to the Quarterbridge occurred for the

1954 Isle of Man TT The 1954 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the second race in the 1954 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season and proved highly controversial for TT Course and race changes. The 1954 Junior TT was the first race where the official race distance was re ...

Races. In 1963 a roundabout was added to the road junction at the Quarterbridge. In winter 1986/87 there was further reprofiling at the Quarterbridge road junction, with a new road traffic system including two mini-roundabouts, and the removal of a traffic island and cherry trees. In July 2008, the

Department of Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

announced a £4 million road safety scheme for the road junction, including the building of a new roundabout and the demolition of the Quarterbridge Hotel. In February/March 2011 the Highways Division of the Department of Infrastructure modified the junction, including major road resurfacing work, improved drainage, elevation changes and repositioning of pedestrian barriers adjacent to the Quarterbridge Hotel.

Racing

The Quarterbridge was part of the

Highland Course Highroads Course was a road-racing circuit used for the Gordon Bennett British Eliminating Trial held in the Isle of Man for the 1904 and 1905 Tourist Trophy Race involving touring automobiles and cars. The events were held on public roads clos ...

and

Four Inch Course The Four Inch Course was a road-racing circuit first used for the 1908 Tourist Trophy Race for cars, held on public roads closed for racing by an Act of Tynwald (the parliament of the Isle of Man). The name of the course derives from the regu ...

used for the Gordon Bennett Trial and Tourist Trophy car races between 1904 and 1922. The start-line for the Highland Course''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 was at the Quarterbridge and junction with the A5 ''New Castletown Road'' and the

Quarterbridge Quarterbridge Crossing ''('' Manx'': Crossag Droghad y Cherroo)'' was the first major crossing point of the Isle of Man Railway's first line from Douglas to Peel. It opened in 1873, but closed in 1968, with the rest of the line. History A gated ...

railway crossing. For the 1906 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy race the Highroad course was amended to a distance of 40.38 miles to prevent disruption to railway services. The start was moved from the Quarterbridge 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 Hillberry Corner (in gv, Knock berrey or ''Cronkybury'') is situated at the 36th Milestone road-side marker on the Snaefell Mountain Course, being on the primary A18 Mountain Road with the side-road junction of the C22 Little Mill Road, in the ...

as part of the new

. The 1905 International Motorcycle Cup Races were held in the Isle of Man when the Quarterbridge was used as the start and finish line. The Quarterbridge road junction is part of the Mountain Course used since 1911 for the TT and from 1923 for the

Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or 'Snaefell Mountain Course, Mountain Circuit') every year for a two-week period, usually spanning the end of August and early September. New for 2022 is a period re ...

races.

Sources

External links

Map of course

Name

History

Racing

Sources

External links

See also