Birkin's Bend

Birkin's Bend

Birkin's Bend on the A3 Castletown to Ramsey Road looking towards Rhencullen (1) and Kirk Michael Village.
Coordinates 54°17′34″N 4°34′41″W / 54.29278°N 4.57806°W / 54.29278; -4.57806Coordinates: 54°17′34″N 4°34′41″W / 54.29278°N 4.57806°W / 54.29278; -4.57806
Location of Birkin's Bend in Isle of Man

Birkin's Bend, [1] previously Orrisdale South or Rhencullen, is situated between the 15th and 16th Milestone road-side markers on the Snaefell Mountain Course, between Kirk Michael village and Bishopscourt, on the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey road with the side-road junction of the tertiary C19 Orrisdale Road, in the parish of Michael, Isle of Man.

This series of bends was part of the Highland Course and Four Inch Course used for the Gordon Bennett Trial and Tourist Trophy car races held between 1904 and 1922. Birkin's Bend is part of the Snaefell Mountain Course used since 1911 for the TT races, and from 1923 for the Manx Grand Prix races.

During an early morning practice session for the 1927 Isle of Man TT, Archie Birkin brother of Tim Birkin, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s and two-times winner of the Le Mans 24 Hour Race, swerved to avoid a fish-van travelling to Peel and crashed fatally.[2] The corner at Rhencullen on the A3 primary road where the accident occurred was renamed Birkin's Bend. From 1928, a significant change occurred for the TT races and Manx Grand Prix, in that the public roads comprising the Snaefell Mountain Course were closed to other traffic for the practice sessions.[3]

The Rhencullen complex of bends including Birkin's Bend was subjected to road widening and re-profiling by the Isle of Man Highways Board during the winter of 1953/1954 prior to the 1954 TT races.[4]

Sources

  1. ↑ TT 100 The Official Authorised History of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Racing page 71 by Mick Duckworth (2007) Lily Publications Ltd ISBN 1 899602 67 4
  2. ↑ Isle of Man Weekly Times 11 June 1927 page 7
  3. ↑ MOTOCOURSE History of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Races 1907–1989 by Nick Harris page 34 (1990)(1st Edition) Hazelton Publishing ISBN 0-905138-71-6
  4. ↑ Isle of Man Weekly Times dated 29 May 1954

External links

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