Stanley Woods at the startline of the 1935 Lightweight Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (TT) with Douglas Pirie without his helmet on the third row
Date(s): 1935
Creator(s): Keig, S.R.
Scope & Content: Stanley Woods at the startline of the 1935 Lightweight Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (TT). Woods went on to win the race on a Guzzi.
This image of the TT scoreboard and startline shows police and fire personnel in attendance and the Scouts in uniform, who operated the scoreboard.
Since the first TT in 1907 the scoreboard has had several iterations in multiple locations. Between 1907 and 1911 it was located at St John's, before the Mountain course came into use. Between 1911 and 1913 the scoreboard was on Bray Hill, Douglas and was also used for motorcar races. In 1914, the scoreboard moved to St Ninian's crossroads before finally relocating to Glencrutchery Road, opposite the current Grandstand.
The TT scoreboard was operated by hand, by volunteers and the Isle of Man Scouts Association. Each rider had a section of the scoreboard dedicated to them, showing their number. In this section there was a clock, a 'tear-off', the lap time and a light. The ‘tear offs’ indicated which lap each rider was on (including an ‘R’ for ‘retired’) and the lap time was hand painted on a slate in a box below. Above the tear-off section was a clock face with four sections: Grandstand, Glen Helen, Ramsey Hairpin and Bungalow, indicating which section of the TT course a rider had passed through on their lap. Underneath was a light, which showed when the rider had reached Cronk Ny Mona and was therefore shortly due at the Start/Finish line, to warn crews to be ready for a pit stop. The entire board was split into two halves, with each half displaying the same information, so that it could be viewed from each end of the Grandstand.
The scoreboard was deemed unfit for continued use and its last year of operation was 2019. Sections of it are now in the Manx Museum's TT Gallery.
Language: eng
Extent: 8.5 x 14 cm
Item name: photograph
Collection: Photographic Archive
Level: ITEM
ID number: PG/8319/28
Record class: Private
Subject tags : #TT&MOTORSPORT