__NOTOC__ Rhencullen ( gv, ‘holly ridge’) () including Birkin's Bend is adjacent to the 17th milestone of the TT course, on the primary A3 Castletown to

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 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 ...

Location

Rhencullen ( archaic Balla-ny-Rhenney beg) is a former quarterland district located between Kirk Michael village and Bishopscourt with the road junction of the tertiary C19 Orrisdale Loop road, in the parish of Michael. The area is dominated by the farmland at Ballarhenny and the Bishop's Demesne of Bishopscourt, including Birkin's Bend, 'Cloudy Lane' and Rhencullen Hill. The disused Peel to Ramsey line of the former

Manx Northern Railway The Manx Northern Railway (MNR) was the second common carrier railway built in the Isle of Man. It operated as an independent concern only from 1879 to 1905. History When the people in the town of Ramsey realised their town was not going to ...

runs parallel to the A3 road at Rhencullen in a cutting, now part of the

Raad ny Foillan ' ( en, The Way of the Gull) is a coastal long distance footpath in the Isle of Man. Because it is a closed loop around the coast, it can be walked in either a clockwise or an anti-clockwise direction. Route and history The ' starts and finishe ...

long-distance footpath.

Motor-sport heritage

The Rhencullen section was part of the 37.50 Mile

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 ...

for the RAC Tourist Trophy automobile races held in the Isle of Man between 1908 and 1922. In

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

, the Four Inch Course for automobiles was first used by the Auto-Cycling Union 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 ...

motorcycle races. This included Rhencullen (previously Orrisdale South) and the course later became known as the 37.73 mile

Isle of Man TT 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 ...

, which has been used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT Races 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.

Birkin’s bend

During an early morning practice session for the

1927 Isle of Man TT The 1927 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy saw more changes occur with a fatal accident during practice to Archie Birkin, a brother to Tim Birkin of the Bentley Boys fame. The corner in Kirk Michael where the accident occurred was renamed Birkins Bend an ...

races,

Archie Birkin Charles Archibald Cecil Birkin (30 March 1905 – 7 June 1927) was an English motorcycle racer, brother of Tim Birkin, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s. Background and family Birkin was born into a wealthy Nottingham family in 1905. He w ...

, riding a 500 cc McEvoy motor-cycle, crashed fatally at Rhencullen after swerving to avoid a collision with a fish-van being driven on open public roads. The corner at Rhencullen on the A3 road where the accident occurred was named as 'Birkin's Bend'. From 1928 onward, practice sessions for the TT Races and Manx Grand Prix were held on closed public roads.

Road improvements

The Rhencullen complex of bends including Birkin's Bend was subjected to extensive road widening and reprofiling by the Isle of Man Highway and Transport Board during the winter of 1953/1954 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.''Isle of Man Weekly Times'' page 6 Saturday 29 May 1954

Gallery

File:Sidecar at Rhencullen, Isle of Man.jpg, Sidecar crew approaching Rhencullen 3 in 2003 File:John McGuinness at Rhencullen - geograph.org.uk - 461512.jpg, John McGuinness midway through Rhencullen in 2011

References

Rhencullen __NOTOC__ Rhencullen ( gv, ‘holly ridge’) () including Birkin's Bend is adjacent to the 17th milestone of the TT course, on the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey road in the Isle of Man. Location Rhencullen ( archaic Balla-ny-Rhenney be ...

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