It seems to me that this is yet another area where it would be worthwhile to involve riders and perhaps travelling marshals in the risk assessment.
Is that too much to hope for... hmmm..

I think Barry makes a fair point too

Over zealous restrictions on viewing points ruin it for everyone.

There has to be common sense applied.
And certainly people need to see advanced information on where they can or cannot watch.
Nothing worse than turning up at a spot only to discover it's restricted............and marshals have enough to do without constantly chasing people from prohibited areas.

I do think it's important for spectators to take some responsibility as to where they watch from we get some real idiots at Gorse Lea.
Lurking behind crash protection is not very clever.

Real Idiots at Gorse Lea???
I thought it was a bucolic backwater peopled by entomologists and aficionados of the pastry cook's art. A quiet place for the practice of Peasantry, Pheasantry and Pedantry.

We get the occasional escaped lunatic as well.

I have to say the funniest "idiot" we ever had was the day a "youth" stuck his head out from the hedge in a prohibited area and JF recognised him as one of his pupils from school..............JF of course called his name and said "youth" vanished never to be seen at Gorse Lea again

Quote from Barry..."But to make the whole length of the road down towards Bedstead out of bounds to fans to watch is totally over the top. There was NEVER any incident that would have endangered spectators sitting in that area during my lifetime, or having spoken to people a lot older than me, ever before that either, which would have been deemed to be high risk to spectators. "

I have been informed the reason this area is prohibited is because the land owner has forbidden access. This, of course, is another reason why some areas are out of bounds.

By the way... TMs, Police, ACU, DOT and rider's rep Johnny Barton are discussing this currently. I'm sure, if anyone has a view on a particular area, they would be welcome to speak to one or other of these people, esp Johnny as rider's rep.

I agree that we need to inform spectators well in advance of the new restricted areas. Some spectators were very angry at the Manx last year on being told, no you cant watch from there where you have watched the races since 1947. Admittedly this was due to the foot and mouth restrictions but Im not looking forward to telling people to walk away from their favorite spots and walk along to the new "safe" areas. If the new grandstand areas are to be paid for we will hear cries of rip off TT.

Fly Wrote:If the new grandstand areas are to be paid for we will hear cries of rip off TT.

I know what you mean, but if they are provided they will cost somebody something, and give a better view presumably. There have always been some paid areas, usually churches etc, and personally, I have never had a problem with paying. Why should everyone else but the spectator pay? Every other sport or entertainment has a payment of some sort.. rugby, pop concerts, etc etc
There will always still be free areas too.
(Oh, dear, better build a nice protective spell around myself....)

What Iff

We all know that its requied that all marshalls must be within line of sight, But what happens when a Land owner says sorry you cant stand and marshall from or on my land.

The QB and Braddan Bridge have been looked at by H&S and last week I spotted the same guys down at Greeba area and Ballacrain.

Who is deemed to be the "landowner" here then Helen? The path is a public right of way. I know this because I erected the signposts when I worked for the D.O.T. Surely the roadside hedge is the responsibility of the D.O.T. also? All that should be necessary is the metal cage to extend for around 40 metres past Signpost Corner exit.
Anybody coming over for the day to watch and walking up to the circuit off the boat, so that they can get back easily to return home, is going to be extremely hard-pressed to find ANYWHERE to watch from.........

I fully agree that there are places where the public shouldn't be for safety's sake, but this is totally over the top. Basically these days you cannot watch from anywhere between Hillberry (assuming you will still be allowed to do so) right back down to the finish.
I am glad to hear that the situation is being discussed but I won't be holding my breath.

But as I say, the main flavour of my original posting is that the TT spectators should be made aware of the situation sooner rather than later.