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Training on the track - the first of a new series shows the Isle of Man Railway at (what is now) the National Sports Centre. Its pretty close to where the Manx Harriers clubhouse is sited but at the time the Manx Agricultural Show was being staged where the all weather pitch is now. (Bill Lambden slide collection).
For several years Western AC organised their round of the cross country at the White Strand. Most athletes would be unaware that for very nearly 100 years a railway line passed by on the other side of the fence. In the early 1960s, shortly before the demise of the line, the Isle of Man Railway Company tried to save costs by using a diesel railcar purchased from the Donegal Railway instead of the steam engines. They are pictured near to the cross country in 1963. (Bill Lambden slide collection)
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Back to the training on the track series of photos. This one is on the site of what is now one of the Island's top sports sponsors, Ramsey Bakery. At the time it was the Isle of Man Railway Station in Ramsey. I don't have the exact date but it I believe that it is almost 50 years old. Earlier pictures from the Bill Lambden slide collection.
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Returning to a series I started a few months ago, and then forgot about, here is number four in the training on the track series. One of the interval sessions I organise with my group is to run up and down to Port Jack from where the Summerland bridge used to be. Since Summerland was demolished it is hard to work out the markers but this picture goes back long before Summerland had even been thought of. My late father, Bill Lambden, pictured the Manx Electric Railway tramcars at the old Derby Castle in 1963. I wonder what the white line on the road was for. Parking? Earlier training on the track photos
Thirteen years later, and just a few yards up the road, here I am about a mile from the end of the Parish Walk. The picture was by my dad again (it was certainly him I took after with the camera if not the sport). I was only 19 in May 1976. I can't believe it was more than 30 years ago - I can still remember the blisters (and the Hillman Super Minx)!
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