Patrons:	Hon.Treasurer	Hon. Secretary
THE EARL OF MARCH	JOHN KIDSON	FRANCES THORP
MICHAEL SUTTON	Thrupp Farmhouse	Mountain View
MURRAY WALKER O.B.E.	Thrupp Lane	Glen Maye
	Stroud GL5 2DF	Isle of Man IM5 3BJ
President;	Tel/Fax 01453 762255	Tel/Fax 01624 843695
Jack Wood		E.mail francesthorp@manx.net

Hello Members and Friends

I cannot believe that the Isle of Man TT is almost upon us and I have been the Secretary almost 12 months. My year certainly has had some testing situations and of course the main one was when I learned of the tragic fire at the National Motor Cycle Museum and how much it affected us all.

A letter of sympathy was sent to Mr Richards and his staff and many of our members who were local to the area did try to assist where possible in the clearing up operation, which was appreciated. He intends to rise from the ashes and certainly has worked at it and we have been informed that the venue is hoping to re-open December 2004.

"Thank you" to John Kidson our Treasurer for all the hard work and effort he put into finding a Venue at such short notice last year, which was not an easy task and especially when one of the conditions was that the President be allowed to drive into the Dining Room on a historic motorbike. It was very gratifying to know that everyone who attended the Luncheon thoroughly enjoyed the day and the venue and thank you to many of you who wrote or telephoned to say so. One of the highlights of the day was that Mr Murray Walker OBE was our guest speaker which was very amusing and informative about how much time he had spent at a very early age in the Isle of Man being involved with the TT Riders of his fathers era. We were also delighted that he accepted our invitation to become one of our Patrons.


T.T.RACES 2004

The organisation of the TT Races have been changed for this year with Laps for the races being reduced from 6 laps to 4 laps for all races. This has been changed as Marshals for early morning practice has become difficult to fulfil. The idea now is that there will be practice on race days following the actual races. This in turn has made a problem with the running of the " Lap of Honour" and it has become necessary to move it on to Friday June 11TH at 3.15pm, which is historically known as Senior Day.
The " LOH Presentation Party" is being held on the same evening 11.6.04 with a buffet and the venue is at the re-furbished Villa Marina. Riders tickets will be handed out when Signing On.
If extra tickets are required they will be available from Frances Thorp at the 38 Milestone from Saturday June 5" until Thursday 10th after signing on. Numbers for catering need to be given by Friday morning.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

We hereby inform you of the forthcoming A.G.M. which will be held on June 9th 2004 at 7pm at the Masonic Hall, Woodboume Road, Douglas, I.O.Man.

The Agenda.
1 Minutes of the last AGM
2 Apologies
3 Amendment- New Rule 14 reads as follows;
" The President and General Committee may from time to time determine to pay an Honorarium to the Secretary and/or Treasurer of the Association. Such honoraria, the combined total of which will not exceed £2500 in any one year, being put as a resolution to the next following AGM or EGM for determination and requiring approval by 75% of those voting members in attendance, The Treasurer and/or Secretary not participating and absenting themselves when any discussion or voting takes place in committee AGM or EGM meetings"

4 Hon Secretary's Report
5 Hon Treasurer's Report
6 Election of President
7 Election of Committee
8 Election of Hon.Secretary
9 Election of Hon.Treasurer
10 Any Other Business
(Copies of Accounts and Association Rules available on request from Hon Secretary). The meeting will be followed by a supper, which is free to members, and guest tickets can be purchased from Frances Thorp at the 38th Milestone.

" FRIENDS OF THE T.T.R.A."

Tony East -The Chairman reports that the "Friends" are progressing and following a suggestion from Joe Wood (recruiter in chief) he asks that you all make an effort to recruit members for the "Friends". As you know the "Friends" objects are to assist with TTRA fundraising which enables us to be more generous in the grants we can make to help our injured members and families suffering hardship etc. Nominations can only be made by a member of the T.T.Riders Association. Members of the TTRA are of course able to join the "Friends Association" themselves. The Life subscription is £150 and a Tie and Certificate are provided. The "Friends" new Secretary is David Plant, Kionlough Farm, Kionlough, Bride, Isle of Man. Tel 01624 882468 who will be pleased to let you have information and membership forms.

" GET WELL WISHES "

These last few months we have had quite a number of members with bad health problems and without giving names I would like to send them all our very best wishes. These members will know whom I am referring to.

At this point I would ask if any member knows or hears of a member who needs assistance of any kind we would appreciate being informed so that we can look into the situation diplomatically and with no fuss, that is the purpose of our Association for injured riders and their families.

" Special Birthday wishes" to George Ridgeon who has just celebrated his 60th. George had a Ridgeon party and requested money not presents to enable him to donate to his chosen charities. Well done George

Where are you now ?

If you know the following members or their addresses please can you let me know as the previous Bulletin was returned.

Eamon McHenry - Dublin. Martin Rodgers - Dublin. Eddie Laycock - Dublin
Alan Archibald N.Ireland.- Tom Finley - N.Ireland. John McNeil - Glasgow P.Hennan -California. Michael Stirner- Vienna. Toni Rechberger -Austria. Harold Gasse - Frankfurt Germany. Gerhard Heukerott - Linsengericht.,Germany. Gosta Jensen - Brenshoj - Denmark. Eric Pickup - Bahamas.
Paul Randall -Kent. D.Mason Tamworth.Staffs. Doug Lunn - Wellingborough.Northants. R. Hardy - Woodbridge.Suffolk. Mac McDiarmid - Chapel-en-le-Frith. Colin Homby - Formby.Merseyside_ Robert Eva - Cheltenham.Glos.
Alan Capstick - Leyland.Lancs. David Wood - Douglas IOM and M.N.Prince Douglas IOM Stuart Applegate. Robbie Boland. Graham Brown. Norman Dunn. David Goodley Roy Godwin. Peter G.Gerrish. John Harrowell. Stan Jones. Bill Kirkwood. Godfrey Nash. Brian Sapsford. J.Sparrow. L.Williams.Alan Smith.

Obituaries

Norrie Whyte 61 yrs. For over 30 years he was the face of the Motor Cycle News, a larger than life figure and always worked quietly but with professionalism.

Fred Hardy. A well respected short circuit rider of the 60's who raced an NSU at Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Aintree and many more... He entered in the TT in the late 60's on a Frank Sheen Bultaco but retired.

Rex White - Ex Racing Team Manager for Suzuki and put a lot of energy into making a success of the task.

Denis Parkinson - Well known for racing on the Island in the Manx Grand Prix but equally respected for his Radio Presenting in the Yorkshire area.

Gordon Cobbold - Reached 100 years and will be well remembered as the President of the British Motorcycle Racing Club.

Dave Browning 59yrs -He was a TT/MGP rider and also short circuit rider until a bad car accident stopped many more years of a promising racing career.

Brendan "Wings"Fortune - 89 yrs. A well known successful Irish Road Racer who had the distinction of winning the very first motorcycle race he competed in. That was the Dublin and District MCC "Dublin 1 00"in Jul 1936. He also race in the Isle of Man Senior TT in 1939 but had to retire.

Ken Wills - passed away 5 years ago but we have only just been informed.

lan Waqar - passed away in the USA at the beginning of this year.


Very strong supporters of the TTRA who have sadly passed away were

Rosetta Hardinq the dear wife of ex travelling Marshal Jack Harding and
Father Noel Jones a great friend of the late Cromie McCandless and his wife the late Phoebe McCandless who spent hours working in the Manx Motor Cycle Club Souvenir shop behind the Grandstand.
Sympathy was expressed to all the families concerned and I would like to thank everyone for keeping me informed. Members past and present must not be forgotten.

T.T.RIDERS ANNUAL LUNCHEON

We are able to give you the update for the "High Spot " of our calendar and ask you to make a diary note for Wednesday November 3rd 2004.

We are returning to the same venue as last year, which is the Centennial Centre,
100 Ickneild Port Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham. Further details and application forms will be in your next Bulletin.

If any member has any Auction items we would be very grateful and it would be appreciated if you could inform us before the day.
We all look forward to the event and trust that it will be as successful as always.

PRESIDENT 2004-2005

Tony Rutter - A great TT Rider and Winner of many TT's has been nominated for President and will be elected and installed at our AGM by Jack Wood our outgoing President who has been hands on and so helpful in his year of office. A very big Thank You Jack.


NEWS ITEMS OR STORIES.

I am always keen to receive items of news or interesting snippets for the News Bulletin remember we have members all around the world who love to receive the bulletin and hear what is happening they were once " The Heroes "

BOOK SALES.

Each year in the 38th Milestone we have various new books that we sell with a percentage of the selling price going to the funds of the TTRA. If you are interested in any of the following titles please contact me.

TT. Heroes
Honda -The Winning Years Tommy Robb - Tokyo Rod Coleman Story Michelle Duff Story Jim Redman Story
History of the Manx Grand Prix 1923 - 1998 TT Heroes
TT 2003 Result Books Between the Hedges
75 yrs Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club
Please ask for other publications they maybe available.

TT Regalia
Also we have the T.T.R.A. members only Ties, Lapel Badges and Windscreen Stickers.

Hope you have enjoyed the Bulletin.

Hope you have enjoyed the Bulletin.

Frances Thorp. (Secretary)