Signpost Corner, Isle of Man is a former temporary motor-cycle race signal station, located on the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road at the road junction with the A39 Hillberry Road / B11 Avondale Road in the parish of

Onchan Onchan (; ) is a large village in the parish of Onchan (parish), 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, Isl ...

in the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

Origin of name

The name derives from a signal station 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 and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

races and

Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or ' Mountain Circuit') annually, usually at the end of August and early September. Traditionally the event has been staged over a two week period but this was reduce ...

. The signal station at Signpost Corner was connected to the race scoreboards located in Glencrutchery Road in Douglas by a telephone land-line. Race officials would instruct local

Scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

on the scoreboards to switch a light on above an individual competitor's scoreboard which would indicate to the pit crew and race officials that a particular rider had passed through Signpost Corner and might shortly be pulling into the race-pits located at the Grandstand on Glencrutchery Road to refuel.

Bedstead Corner

Located near the former signal station at the Signpost road junction is Bedstead Corner on the (A18) Bemahague Road section of the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course. The name is said to have come from a section of farm walling which had fallen into disrepair. The landowner was said to have made 'temporary' repairs with old bedsteads in order to make the field stockproof. The 'temporary' repairs remained in place long enough for the name to become established and stick until the present day.

Popular culture

George MacDonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a Scottish author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Harry Paget Flashman, Flashman. Over the course of his career he wrote eleven n ...

, author of the Flashman series of books, lived on the Isle of Man and titled his 2002 autobiographical memoir of his experiences as a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

scriptwriter as "The Light's On at Signpost".

Motor sport heritage

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

the Four Inch Course for automobiles was first used by the Auto-Cycling Union for the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races. The section of the Mountain Course from the Cronk-ny-Mona road junction to Governor's Bridge was first adopted for the

1920 Isle of Man TT The 1920 Isle of Man TT races was the first races to take place following the end of World War I. Official practice sessions started on 31 May with the races taking place on 15 and 17 June 1920. The 350cc Junior TT race was won by Cyril Willia ...

motor-cycle races and the Manx Grand Prix in 1923. This included the Signpost Corner road junction, ‘Bedstead Corner’ and the section known as the "old road" of the TT Course from the Nook to Governor's Bridge. The Signpost Corner section of the TT Course is used as part of timed special stages for the former Manx International Rally and Rally Isle of Man. In recent years the race signal station has been moved to a preceding position on the Mountain Course at Cronk-ny-Mona as average race speeds have increased.

Road improvements

The section of the TT Course between Signpost Corner and Bedstead Corner was widened during the winter of 1953/54 and the road re-profiled.''Isle of Man Weekly Times'' dated 29 May 1954

Sources

External links

Prohibited Area Page 32 Signpost Corner Isle of Man TT Races/ Manx Grand Prix

The Isle Of Man (IOMTT): Corner Guide (slow) and Scenery video
rider perspective (Signpost Corner at about 53:00), at YouTube Roads in the Isle of Man Geography of the Isle of Man Corners of the Isle of Man TT {{motorcycle-racing-stub