Yes Ian i remember 98 as i am sure many do here the weather was horrible the whole period & the radio was appealing for people to offer there houses to get people in off the campsites who where having a dreadful time keeping dry , i think that is probably when the homestay thing kicked in .

Anyway back to my original gripe about people being fleeced , David you made a very valid point regarding the local children today , they have no real interest in the races , i have two kids , well 20 & 22 is not kids i would get a torrent of abuse for that , however my point is they have been brought up in a family , fanatical on the TT races having an uncle who raced , a hotel where many riders stayed & very many friends gained through the racing circle , no interest in the racing though in spite of my best efforts to get them interested its never happened .

I know when i was at school the TT riders where all heroes to us & we would regularly fight over who was going to be John Williams or Charlie Williams etc , we all knew there names & most of us went to the races .

Now there is no interest from the local kids who as you rightly say are going to be the future TT supporters , spectators , perhaps even riders , but they need there enthusiasm encouraged from a young age & given every opportunity to witness the TT , the grandstand offers the best possible viewing point for people with young families as it also has plenty of other facilities nearby for those that get fed up , the new policy of charging to sit in the grandstand is not going to give these kids the opportunity to see what we did no parents will pay to take there kids somewhere they are likely to get irratible & probably only pay attention for 10 or 20 minutes .

But if the seating was free that would not be a problem & who knows you may have the next Hizzy or Moly sat there , as it is it aint going to happen .