Ballacraine

Ballacraine (Manx pronunciation: [ɓɑlɘˈ'kɾɛːn]) (Manx: McCrayne or Craine’s farm) (archaic Manx: Ballagarraghan Beg) [1] is located between the 7th Milestone and 8th Milestone on the primary A1 Douglas to Peel road and the road junction of the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey in the parish of Kirk German in the Isle of Man.

Ballacraine
Location of Ballacraine in Isle of Man
Coordinates54°12′9.8″N 4°37′44.7″W

Location

As part of the wayside hamlet of St. Johns village, the Ballacraine Corner and road junction of the A1 and A3 roads is situated at the east end of the Ribbon development of the village. The road junction is the location for the Ballacraine Farm and the former public house the Ballacraine Inn, now a private residence.

Motor-sport heritage

Ballacraine was part of the 37.50 Mile Four Inch Course for the RAC Tourist Trophy automobile races held Ballacraine in the Isle of Man between 1908 and 1922.[2][3]

A section of the A3 Castletown to Peel road to Ballacriane and the Douglas to Peel road from Ballacraine to Quarterbridge, Douglas was used for the 1905 International Motor-Cycle Cup Races.[4]

The Ballacraine section of the A1 Douglas to Peel road including the A3 Castletown to Ramsey road was part of the St. Johns Short Course used for the Isle of Man TT races between 1907 and 1910.[5]

In 1911, the Four Inch Course for automobiles was first used by the Auto-Cycling Union for the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races.[6] This included the Ballacraine section[7] and the course later became known as the 37.73 mile (60.70 km) Isle of Man TT Mountain Course which has been used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT Races and from 1923 for the Manx Grand Prix races.[8]

  • Careful cornering at the former Ballacraine Arms pub
  • Careful braking for the right-hander at the crossroads

Sources
  1. Place Names of The Isle of Man – Da Ny Manninee Dooie Vol.1. Sheading of Glenfaba (Kirk Patrick, Kirk German, and Peel.) page 180 -182 Kirk German by George Broderick (1999) Manx Place- Name Survey, © Max Niemeyer Verlag GmbH & Co. KG Tübingen 1994 ISBN 3-484-40138-9 (Gesamtwerk) 3-484-40129-x (band 1) Druck und Einband: Das Weihert-Druck GmbH Darmstadt
  2. TT Pioneers – Early Car Racing in the Isle of Man page 22 Robert Kelly, Mercury Asset Management (1996)(1st Edition) The Manx Experience, The Alden Press ISBN No 1 873120 61 3
  3. The Guardian page 14 Tuesday 4 July 1911
  4. Manx Sun page 14 THE MOTOR CYCLES Saturday 3 June 1905
  5. Isle of Man TT page 49 Ch 3. COURSES FOR HORSES ! Charles Deane Patrick Stevens Ltd (1978) Cambridge ISBN 0850593131
  6. Round the TT Course with Harold Daniell R.R. Holliday Motor Cycling (c1947) Castrol Oils That Lap at 91! Harold L.Daniell, TT Record Holder. Tells How it was done.
  7. TT Special edited by G.S. Davison WHERE SHALL WE GO page 13 Saturday 5 June 1954
  8. The History of the Manx Grand Prix page 7, 8, 9 by Bill Snelling Amulree Publishing(1998) Manx Heritage Foundation ISBN 1 901508 04 8
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