In a newspaper from 1959 there is a report about a racing crash on the TT course at "Edgar's Corner". A Matchless sidecar unit came off there. No one was badly hurt. Is it known where that corner is, please?

Hi, in 1959 I think the sidecars were still run on the clypse circuit .there is a edges corner ,still looking

I believe that the sidecar race 1959 was on Clypse Course and that will fit with your suggestion Edges Corner.  It's a probably a miss spelling or miss hearing. I don't know in what newspaper Edgar's Corner was mentioned but it seems that it wasn't a local one. If a reporter from England reported home by phone it's easy to hear the name in a wrong way.

I would say definitely Edges Corner, it's a right hander just after where the Cat with No Tail Pub now stands on the way towards Cronk Ny Mona, and to this day is still a slightly awkward corner even in the car at normal speeds, it tightens up and the bank tends to come out to meet you if you are not careful.

There is a problem now and then with internet. As soon as you publish something new it's very often copied to other sites without checking if it's true. Good method to spread lies! Maybe I've found such a problem now. It's about Edges Corner. In many places you can find something like " Of those 200 corners, around 60 have been named after some true legends of the TT event. Many of these corners have been named in tribute to fallen riders, whilst others are named to honour some of the names that have really lit up this tiny island. Once such corner is Edges Corner, between Cronk-ny-Mona and Ballanard Road, which was the first corner to be named after a competitor in 1920."

First of all, Edges Corner is not on the TT-course. It's at the older Clypse Course that was used latest 1959. I've checked some of the databases for the TT carefully and the occation that named Edges Corner must have happened latest 1920 when it got its name. From the start of The TT 1907 and up to 1925 there is no one who competed with the surname Edge or Edges. So now I wonder, does somebody know who this Edge or Edges was and what happened to him at that spot that still is called Edges Corner?

Hmm well the Clypse course was only in use for a few years during the 1950's, BUT, when the Mountain course was first used around 1911 they turned off at Cronk Ny Mona and Arrived at St Ninians crossroads at the top of Bray Hill via Ballanard Road so it could be that stretch of road was used during those years but in reverse direction to the Clypse course.

Edit- This info found on the net confirms the above, but the route was only used from 1911 to 1914, after which the current layout was used.


The original Mountain Course measured 37 1/2 miles, the difference being that riders turned right at Cronk-ny-Mona, down Johnny Watterson's Lane, to Ballanard Road, turned left again along Ballanard Road to St Ninian’s, where they turned right down Bray Hill.

The start was on Quarterbridge Road, with refuelling depots at Braddan and Ramsey.

Yes I know almost all of that you write. But at several places on the net it's written about Edges Corner that got its name in 1920. Its said to be the first corner that got its name from a rider. The problem is that there is no rider named Edge or Edges in any of the databases. I wonder who he was and what happened to him at that spot on Johnny Watterson's Lane between Ballanard Road and Cronk-Ny-Monain 1920 or earlier? Is the story about Mr. or Mrs. Edge only some fantasies?

The reason why this task came up is that I got a question concerning Edgar’s Corner and a sidecar crash on the TT Course in the 1959 TT races.
 
I soon remembered that the sidecar race 1959 took place on the Clypse Course. A map of that course showed a bend named Edge’s Corner on Johnny Watterson’s Lane between Ballanard Road and Cronk-ny-Mona. It’s easy to get the name Edgar’s wrong.
 
On several sites on the net I found that Edge’s Corner is the first corner on the TT Course to get a name from a rider. That happened 1920.
 
I asked for more information about Mr. Edge and here it is!
In May 1905 Cecil Edge driving a Napier motor car was engaged in a morning practice session for the forthcoming motor car race and whilst in the process of overtaking another car he crashed into the hedge at full speed. The front of his car was buried three feet into the earth bank. Neither he nor his passenger sustained injury. It would seem that from that point the bend was known as Edge’s Hedge or Edge’s Corner. 
 
The reason why he wasn’t in the database for the TT is that he was a driver and not a rider!
 
Racing at St John’s Corse stopped 1910. For some years in the beginning of the TT Course, 1911 – 1920 (there was no racing 1915 – 1919 because of the First World War) the bikes turned right after Hillberry and went on south on Johnny Watterson's Lane passing Edges Corner. Please note in the opposite direction compared to the Clypse Course. The racing direction on Clypse Course was north on Johnny Watterson’s Lane.
 
Later on from 1920 the competitors turned left at Cronk-Ny-Mona and followed Mountain Road to Governor's Bridge with a new start/finish line on Glencrutchery Road. As it is today. Conclusion it is correct to say that Edges Corner for some years was a part of the Mountain Course or as I always call it, The TT Course.

Ah, yes I never considered the early car events!!

Excellent post by a real enthusiast,  thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge. And a Johnny Foreigner at that. 

Thank you eman1948! The knowledge about Cecil Edge's accident comes from local newspapers from that time! Aviable at Manx Museum.

Silja you are a super sleuth! I knew of Edges corner, but NEVER knew that the name came from the car race, which of course, just as the motorcycles did, turned right at Cronk Ny Mona.  Well done.

Thank you Splashdown. I got a picture at the Manx Forum. It shows Mr. Cecil Edge on a postcard image taken at the 1905 Gordon Bennett event marked "Cecil Edge,  Queen's Pier Road, Ramsey". There is evidence of two Edges brothers, Selwyn and Cecil, competing in the Gordon Bennett Trials, driving Napier’s where Selwyn was a director. 

Brilliant work Silja!! I would say that is the at foot of what we know as May Hill

(04-02-2020, 12:03 AM)Moderator2 Wrote: Brilliant work Silja!! I would say that is the at foot of what we know as May Hill

Yes sure! I agree. If it's shot the same day as the crash that named Edge's Corner, it must be just before the crash into the hedge. Just over the mountain to go and right at Cronk-ny-Mona. Then it happened!

Fabulous photo. That is indeed May Hill.
Am I right in thinking that the Park that is on the inside of the corner is called Coronation Park? This would be built for the Coronation of which King? George V, (1910), or Edward V111, (1936), or George V1 (1937)? My guess is George V1.
I imagine that there will be a tablet as you walk around the Park.
I am sure that I have seen a photo of Eric Oliver, (E.S. Oliver sidecar TT winner), riding a solo Velocette in about 1938, where the newly opened park gets a mention.

I reckon that actual metal fence survived into the 1970's or later Nick, I will have to dig through some old photos and check.

(04-02-2020, 11:11 AM)Splashdown Wrote: Fabulous photo. That is indeed May Hill.
Am I right in thinking that the Park that is on the inside of the corner is called Coronation Park? This would be built for the Coronation of which King? George V, (1910), or Edward V111, (1936), or George V1 (1937)? My guess is George V1.
I imagine that there will be a tablet as you walk around the Park.
I am sure that I have seen a photo of Eric Oliver, (E.S. Oliver sidecar TT winner), riding a solo Velocette in about 1938, where the newly opened park gets a mention.

Hi Nick,

Quoted from the net "The Park is named for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth which took place at Westminster Abbey in London on 12th May 1937 which was the year when the park first opened." Cheers! Silja.

Some more info here

https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMV0...sle_of_Man