TT stories come to life: Isle of Man TT Gallery officially opens at the Manx Museum

Thousands of Isle of Man TT visitors have been learning about the history of the road racing festival at a new interactive exhibit at the Manx Museum.

Located in Douglas on the island, the TT Gallery officially opened at the end of May and is the result of around 30 years of collecting, and thousands of hours of dedication from the Manx Museum team.

“We’ve been collecting since the 1990s and we didn’t have a single place where we could display it all,” Curator of Art and Social History, Matthew Richardson said.

“This gallery, which is the biggest one in the museum, hadn’t had any investment since the 1960s and the wiring was poor, the access was poor, and the lighting was poor.

“It urgently needed something doing, so we thought we could kill two birds with one stone by bringing together our collections and renovating this gallery.”

He continued: “Our approach is not to polish bikes to concours; we want them as close to racing condition as we can get – including the flies. It’s that authenticity that we’re trying to preserve.”

Included in the museum are artefacts from as far back as 1907 – including past racing machinery, memorabilia, parts of the old score board, and even the genuine collection of TT trophies.

“They’ve done a good job and I like all the history of where it all began,” visitor Joe Middleton from Sydney, Australia told MCN. “If you know the history of something then it gives you more of a feel for it. I think it draws you back.”

Of the machines included in the display, visitors can also get up close with everything from Mike Hailwood’s 1979 Senior TT winning Suzuki RG500, to the sidecar outfit driven to victory by Dave Molyneux at the 2007 Centenary TT, to Carl Fogarty’s 1992 Yamaha OW01, and even a Mugen electric machine ridden by John McGuinness.

“We’ve met a few people along the way who’ve got absolutely no interest in motorsport whatsoever, but the space encourages them to actually have a look and read a little bit and then they go away with a bit of respect, and that’s a tick,” Head of Collections at the museum, Kirsty Neate added. 

Further back than that, there’s also an AJS motorcycle ridden in the 1914 Junior TT, which was located thanks to help from the British Motorcycle Conservation Trust charity. It’s one of a handful of pre-WW1 race bikes still in existence.

Plans to develop the site began back in 2016 and is now open daily from 9.30am to 4.30pm, with donations welcome upon your visit. For more information, visit the Manx Museum website.