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isle of man TT

Astoness

Astoness

TRUE BRUMMIE MODERATOR
Staff member
hi all..thought all you bike enthusiasts may like to see some pics of my late hubby steves dads scrap album..he raced during the 40s and 50s and early 60s all over the country and also the isle of man..and ireland....his name was eric hardy and he also owned a bike shop on the hampstead road..handsworth and rode many makes of bike encluding nortons...most of the pics are of eric who rode on number 15 most times but the ones that are of his fellow riders are named so who knows..maybe some of you may recogise a name....

the first pics are of eric outside his shop on hampstead road and some of his mechanics...these are reposted pics that we lost when the forum was hacked...as most of you know my husband passed away in 2010 so i have passed erics scrapbook of original photos onto his brother...

lyn

hope you enjoy them...
 
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we do have some trophies that eric won over the years.. when i have time tomorrow i will post couple of pics of them....

astoness:)
 
Hi Lyn, fabulous pictures--keep 'em coming.Wonder how many times your other half's dad stood in Bracebridge Street scrounging parts ( in the nicest possible way ) out of Norton's 'back door'? I believe the Norton management turned a bit of a blind eye at times, according to legend , Mal.
 
hi mal...lol reckon he must have been there many times....the photo album goes on forever...but as long as folk dont get bored with them i will scan some more tomorrow...sorry the quality is not to good but they are a few years old....:rolleyes:

lyn
 
mal..me otherhalf has just told me that he remembers his dad going down to the bsa to get parts for the shop...while him and his brothers caused chaos round the place......also they went to su carboreters down witton....

lyn:)
 
Hi Lyn,

What great photos! I was lucky enough to visit the I.O.M. on a school trip in 1955 and 1956 and we were taken round the T.T. circuit in a 'sharra'. Little did I know then that I would be racing round that same circuit in 1968 not on a motor bike but on a racing cycle! The professional cycle race held on the T.T. circuit was in those days one of the most important on the calendar and the 80 mph descent off Sneafell on 22 mm cycle tyres was really hair raising! We had one fatality:(.

Graham.
 
Yes Lyn,give us all you've got, love to see 'em.Can you blow that newspaper article up a bit, love to read it.I googled evc hardy, and there's a bit about him in the '52 and '53 tt's, I presume it's him, he was riding a Dot, and a Rudge. Was this him ? Mal.
 
Just a little bit of info. on the TT, the first race was held in 1907, and won on a Norton with Rem Fowler riding it. He must have been a local chap because he is buried in St. James church, Shirley.
 
Hi John,a bit of info. on Rem Fowler.He was indeed from Birmingham,and the race he won in 1907 was the twin-cylinder race,which he completed at a slower pace than Charlie Collier, on a single cylinder machine,so in actual fact,he came second.Great achievement all the same.His machine,incidentally,was a peogot-engined Norton,that name again,and his restored motorcycle is on display in the national mototcycle museum.He passed away in 1963,the same year that Norton ceased production in Bracebridge Street,quite fitting in a sad sort of way, Mal.
 
thanks everyone for the info..its makes very interesting reading....

graham...glad you like the pics...one of them was taken at silverstone and it looked so sparse then..what a change from todays track...and imagine these days riding with a ciggarette in yer mouth:rolleyes::rolleyes:

mally..we didnt think to google evc hardy..will have a look...there are a few written articles so i will try and put them on larger so that they are readable....along with some IOM trophies....

lyn:)


 
as promised a few of evc hardys medals he won for the IOM TT races....hope you can read them ok...

astoness:)
 
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