Greeba Bridge

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Greeba Bridge
Greeba Bridge IMG P 0004969.jpg
Coordinates 54°11′48.5″N4°36′20.9″W / 54.196806°N 4.605806°W / 54.196806; -4.605806 Coordinates: 54°11′48.5″N4°36′20.9″W / 54.196806°N 4.605806°W / 54.196806; -4.605806
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Location of Greeba Bridge in Isle of Man

Greeba Bridge [1] is situated between the 6th milestone and 7th road milestones on the primary A1 Douglas to Peel road and the junction with the Greeba Mill Road in the parish of Kirk German in the Isle of Man.

Douglas, Isle of Man Capital of the 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.

Peel, Isle of Man town on the Isle of Man

Peel is a seaside town and small fishing port on the Isle of Man, in the historic parish of German but administered separately. Peel is the third largest town on the island after Douglas and Ramsey but the fourth largest settlement, as Onchan has the second largest population but is classified as a village. Until 2016 Peel was also a House of Keys constituency, electing one Member of the House of Keys (MHK), who, from September 2015, was Ray Harmer. Peel has a ruined castle on St Patrick's Isle, and a cathedral, seat of the Diocese of Sodor and Man.

German (parish) parish in the Isle of Man

German is one of the seventeen historic parishes of the Isle of Man.

Contents

The A1 Greeba road bridge passes over the Greeba river, a tributary of the River Dhoo which flows eastward to the town of Douglas. [2] The Greeba river flows into the nearby Greeba Curragh or ‘Greeba Gap,’ a former pre-Ice Age river valley, [3] a low-lying watershed of the Douglas to Peel central valley. [4] [5]

The River Dhoo is a river on the Isle of Man. The river rises in Marown and flows east towards Douglas through the central valley of the island, passing Crosby and Union Mills before meeting with the River Glass on the outskirts of Douglas where it flows out to sea through Douglas Harbour. The Dhoo and the Glass converge to form the River Douglas. It has a length of approx. 6.5 mi (10.5 km).

Drainage basin Area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet

A drainage basin is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. The drainage basin includes all the surface water from rain runoff, snowmelt, and nearby streams that run downslope towards the shared outlet, as well as the groundwater underneath the earth's surface. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at lower elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins, which in turn drain into another common outlet.

Description

The area of Greeba /griːɓə/ (Old Norse : gnípa ‘summit, top’ or kúpa ‘bowl, bowl formed valley’) [6] is located in the Central Valley of the Isle of Man.

The nearby area to Greeba Bridge is mainly farmland, located in the former Cronkdhoo Quarterland. [7] The vicinity is dominated by the nearby mountain land of Greeba Mountain (422m) and the Greeba or Kings forestry plantation, along with the nearby summits of Beary Mountain (311m) and Slieau Ruy (479m). [8]

Motor-sport heritage

The Greeba Bridge section of the A1 Douglas to Peel road was part of the short Highland Course (40.38 miles) from 1906 and the also the 37.50 Mile Four Inch Course used for car racing including the RAC Tourist Trophy car races held between 1905 and 1922. [9]

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.

In 1911, the Four Inch Course was first used by the Auto-Cycling Union for the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races. [10] This included the Greeba Bridge section 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 races. [11]

The 1911 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races took place for the first time over the Snaefell Mountain Course. The whole organisation of the races was given over to the Auto-Cycle Union (ACU), which announced the use of the longer mountain course with a four lap (150 mile) Junior race on Friday 30 June, and five laps (189 mile) for the Senior race on Monday 3 July. In only five years the TT races had matured and commercialism had set-in. Grandstands were built by the Douglas Corporation in what had been popular and free vantage points in Douglas, to the displeasure of the public.

Isle of Man TT Motorcycle race held in the Isle of Man, a self-governing, autonomous entity within the British Isles

The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy 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. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world.

Isle of Man TT Mountain Course

The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or TT Course is a motor-cycle road- racing circuit located in the Isle of Man. The motor-cycle TT Course is used principally for the Isle of Man TT Races and also the separate event of the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling for the Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT Races held in September of each year. The start-line for the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course is located on Glencrutchery Road in the town of Douglas, Isle of Man.

During the 1929 Senior TT race, held in poor weather conditions and heavy rain, a number of competitors crashed on the narrow approach to Greeba Bridge. [12] This include the experienced motor-cycle racing competitor Doug Lamb, later dying from injuries suffered in the accident. [13]

Sources

  1. Daily Express page 8 Saturday 16 June 1923
  2. HM Ordnance Survey Landranger (1992) Sheet 95 ISLE OF MAN. Scale 1:50,000
  3. A Gazetteer of the Isle of Man page 132 Leslie Qulliam RBV The Manx Heritage Foundation - Eiraght Ashoonagh Vannin (2005) Quine and Cubbon Ltd ISBN   0 951 4539 12
  4. Evolution of the Natural Landscape Volume 1 The Holocene Page 311 edited by Richard Chiverrell, Dr. Geoff Thomas, John Belchem (2006) Liverpool University Press ISBN   0-85323-587-2
  5. Isle of Man: Celebrating a Sense of Place page 93 Vaughan Robinson & Danny McCarroll Liverpool University Press (1990) ISBN   0853232962
  6. Place Names of The Isle of Man – Da Ny Manninee Dooie Vol.1. Sheading of Glenfaba (Kirk Patrick, Kirk German, and Peel) page 253-255 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 “....Gnebe (Greeba) TR ”
  7. Plans: Parish of German General Registry: Isle of Man Courts of Justice. Plan No. 13 Scale 1:23 Originals coloured (decorative)
  8. HM Ordnance Survey Landranger (1992) Sheet 95 ISLE OF MAN. Scale 1:50,000
  9. 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
  10. The Manx Experience. A Souvenir Guide to the Isle of Man. pageS 66-67 Gordon N. Kniverton 8th edition The Manx Experience (1987) Mannin Publishing Ltd
  11. 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
  12. The Guardian Page 11 Saturday 15 June 1929
  13. Isle of Man Examiner page 2 SENIOR T.T. FATALITY Friday 21 June 1929


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