St Ninian's Crossroads (Manx : Ballaquayle, Quayle, or MacFayle's farm - the quarterland of Ballaquayle) [1] is situated between the TT Grandstand and the 1st Milestone road-side marker on the Snaefell Mountain Course on the primary A2 Douglas to Ramsey road in the town of Douglas in the Isle of Man. [2]
Manx, also known as Manx Gaelic, and also historically spelled Manks, is a Goidelic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, that was spoken as a first language by the Manx people on the Isle of Man until the death of the last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, in 1974. Despite this, the language has never fallen completely out of use, with a minority having some knowledge of it; in addition, Manx still has a role as an important part of the island's culture and heritage. Manx has been the subject of language revival efforts with estimates, in 2015, of around 1,800 people with varying levels of second language conversational ability. Since the late 20th century, Manx has become more visible on the island, with increased signage, radio broadcasts and a bilingual primary school. The revival of Manx has been made easier because the language was well-recorded; for example, the Bible had been translated into Manx, and audio recordings had been made of native speakers.
The TT Grandstand including the startline, pit lane, re-fuellers, merchandising and scoreboard for the Isle of Man TT and Manx Grand Prix races is situated on the A2 Glencrutchery Road, in the town of Douglas, Isle of Man.
Douglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 27,938 (2011). It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and on a sweeping bay of two miles. The River Douglas forms part of the town's harbour and main commercial port.
The St. Ninian's Crossroads is a major road junction of the A2 Glencrutchery Road with the A2 Bray Hill, the A22 Ballanard Road and Ballaquayle Road in Douglas. The area is dominated by St. Ninian's Church (dedicated to Ninian of Whithorn) designed by W.D.Caroe and is a major landmark on the skyline of the town of Douglas. The land to build the church in 1913 was bequeathed by Henry Bloom Noble through trustees of his estate. [3] In 1924, the Douglas High School for Boys was constructed on a nearby site by the Isle of Man Education Board and is now the coeducational St Ninian's High School (Schoill Ard Noo Ninian).
Bray Hill was formerly a country lane known as the Great Hill during the time of the ownership of the Duke of Atholl, and was previously known as Siberia, originally a triangle-shaped parcel of land in the Murray Estate.
St Ninian's High School is a secondary school located in Douglas and Onchan, on the Isle of Man. The School is set over two different sites, catering for different year groups.
The crossroads at St. Ninian's 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. The St. Ninian's Crossroads road is part of the Snaefell Mountain Course used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT races and the Manx Grand Prix since 1923.
The Four Inch Course was a road-racing circuit first used for the 1908 Tourist Trophy Race for cars, held on public roads closed for racing by an Act of Tynwald. The name of the course derives from the regulations for the 1908 Tourist Trophy adopted by the Royal Automobile Club, which limited the competitors' engines to a cylinder-diameter of four inches. The Four-Inch Course was adopted by the Auto-Cycle Club for the 1911 Isle of Man TT Races. The Four-Inch Course was subsequently known as the Snaefell Mountain Course or Mountain Course when used for motor-cycle racing.
The International Tourist Trophy is an award given by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) and awarded semi-annually to the winners of a selected motor racing event each year in the United Kingdom. It was first awarded in 1905 and continues to be awarded to this day, making it the longest lasting continually-awarded trophy in motorsports. Tourist Trophy events have been part of major national and international racing series, including the World Sportscar Championship, World Touring Car Championship, European Touring Car Championship, FIA GT Championship, and British Touring Car Championship. It has been awarded to races within a championship, and as a standalone event on various occasions. From 2013, It was announced that the Tourist Trophy would be awarded as part of the 6 Hours of Silverstone in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the first time it has been awarded as part of a sportscar world championship since 1964.
The International Isle of Man TT races are an annual motorcycle sport event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907, and is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world.
During the 1914 Junior TT race, Frank Walker's view of the A23 Ballanard Road was obscured by spectators who had encroached onto the road to watch the competitors. [4] Passing the Judges-Box at the finish-line, Walker continued at full racing speed through St. Ninians Crossroads, collided with a wooden barrier in Ballaquayle Road, was thrown from his motorcycle and later died of his injuries at nearby Nobles Hospital.
The 1914 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the last held before the outbreak of the First World War.
The Junior TT is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival; an annual event at the end of May and beginning of June. Between 1949 and 1976 this race was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.
Frederick James 'Frank' Walker Kingstown, County Dublin, Ireland was an Irish motorcycle racer who competed at the Isle of Man TT races.
The St Ninian's Crossroads as Parkfield Corner was part of the Clypse Course used between 1954 and 1959 for the Isle of Man TT and for the Manx Classic Races as part of the Willaston Circuit between 1988 and 2000.
The Clypse Course describes a motor-cycle racing course used for the Isle of Man TT Races between 1954 and 1959.
The Willaston Circuit is a 3.5-mile road racing course on the Isle of Man used for cycle racing and classic car racing. The inaugural race was in 1936 and the course was last used in 2000 by the Manx Motor Racing Club before the foot & mouth outbreak in the British Isles halted all motor racing on the Isle of Man in 2001.
In 1971 the first permanent site of traffic light signals in the Isle of Man were installed at St.Ninian's crossroads.[ clarification needed ] [5] Part of the road junction with Ballaquayle Road and St Ninian's church was widened and re-profiled in 2007 by the Isle of Man Department of Transport.
Traffic lights, also known as traffic signals, traffic lamps, traffic semaphore, signal lights, stop lights, robots, and traffic control signals, are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations to control flows of traffic.
