__NOTOC__ Ballaugh Bridge is located on the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey road and adjacent to the road junctions with the A10 Ballaugh to Ramsey coast road and the tertiary C37 Ballaugh Glen Road in the parish of Ballaugh in the Isle of Man.

Description

Ballaugh Bridge is a hump-backed road bridge over the Ravensdale River, located in the village of Ballaugh.

Motor-sport heritage

Ballaugh Bridge was part of the 52.15 mile Highland Course (amended to 40.38 miles in 1906) and the 37.50 Mile Four Inch Course used for automobile racing including the 1904 Gordon Bennett Trial and the RAC Tourist Trophy car races held between 1905 and 1922. It was also the western edge of the ''Sandygate Loop'' for the 1904 Gordon Bennett British Eliminating Trial and the 1905 Tourist Trophy Race for automobiles. The 1906 Tourist Trophy Race used the Short Highroads Course, with the abandonment of the ''Sandygate Loop'' in favour of the A3 Castletown to Ramsey Road from

Ballacraine __NOTOC__ Ballacraine (, "McCrayne" or "Craine's farm"; archaic ) is located between the 7th and 8th milestones of the TT course, at the junction of the A1 Douglas to Peel and A3 Castletown to Ramsey primary roads in the parish of German in t ...

corner to Ramsey. 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 motor-cycle races. This included Ballaugh Bridge and the course later became known as the 37.73 mile 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 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.

Road improvements

The Bridge was subject to road widening and reprofiling 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 including the removal of a garden wall of the adjacent Ballaugh Railway Hotel (now the ''Raven Hotel''). Ballaugh Bridge is the only remaining hump-backed bridge on the TT Course after the removal of

Sulby Bridge Sulby (; glv, Sulby) is a village in the parish of Kirk Christ Lezayre that is located on the A3 Castletown to Ramsey in the Isle of Man. Location Historically containing the ''Treen of the Curragh of Kirk Christ Lezayre'' and the ''Land o ...

in the 1920s and Ballig Bridge in 1935.

Roadside memorial

Located near to Ballaugh Bridge is a road-side memorial to Karl Gall, a member of the pre-war works BMW motor-cycle team who died from injuries suffered after crashing near to the bridge during evening practice for the

1939 Isle of Man TT The 1939 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the last races until 1947 due to the interruption by World War II. It was also the last of ten Isle of Man TT victories for the 34-year-old Stanley Woods in which he won the Junior TT on a Velocette at 83.19 ...

races.''Daily Express'' page 1 Wednesday 14 June 1939

Gallery

File:HerveGantnerTouristTrophy2010 BallaughBridge.jpg, alt=Hervé Gantner wearing a orange high-visibility vest riding a motorcycle on Ballaugh Bridge, Hervé Gantner riding a motorcycle on Ballaugh Bridge.

Sources

External links

{{Isle of Man Racing Circuits Ballaugh Bridge