I heard an interesting story from Brian Harris who lives in Port Erin.

With his brother Tony, they competed in the Sidecar TT races.

In the 1969 500cc event won by Klaus Enders and Ralf Engelhardt, second place was taken by Siegfried Schauzu and H Schneider, both with the mighty BMW machinery.

Third came Helmut Fath and Wolfgang Kalauch URS mounted and the Harris brothers finished a very creditable 10th against such tough international competition on a Triumph.

Brian told me that Geoff Cannell used to wander up and down the pit lane during TT practice and he stopped the brothers after they had pulled in.

They had a chat and then Geoff used to ask the riders he spoke to to pick a piece of music, which was then played on Manx Radio.

They picked Only the Lonely by Roy Orbison and Brian told me that every time he hears it wonderful memories of TT racing come flooding back!

Like me Brian says he has spent hours over the years talking motorcycle racing, usually accompanied by a glass of red… very civilised!

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Let’s have a look back in history from this week.

On June 26, 1906, the first Grand Prix car race was held in Le Mans.

Of course, on the Isle of Man in September 1905, the first International Tourist Trophy car race on closed roads was held on the Highroads course, a lap of which was 51.125 miles. The race consisted of four laps.

Prior to that the island had hosted trials for the Gordon Bennett Cup as the English government had banned motor racing on its roads.

In 1909 Colonel Tom Parker, remembered mostly as the manager for Elvis, was born.

In 1925 Charlie Chaplin’s film The Gold Rush received its premiere.

In 1945 the United Nations Charter was signed.

On June 27, 1954, the world’s first nuclear power plant was activated in Russia and remained operational for 48 years.

Today there are some 400 atomic power plants worldwide.

In 1956 the movie Moby Dick was premiered.

In 1991 Yugoslav troops invaded Slovenia, the first of the Yugoslav wars, a number of ethnic conflicts leading to the break up of Yugoslavia and resulting in at least 140,000 deaths.

June 28, 1838, saw the coronation of Queen Victoria in Westminster Abbey.

In 1919 the Treaty of Versailles, ending the First World War and establishing the League of Nations, was signed in France.

In 1926 Mel Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter and actor, was born and in 1971 Elon Musk was born.

June 29, 1613, saw Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London burn down during a performance of Henry VIII.

In 1964 The US Civil Rights Act passed after an 83-day filibuster in the Senate.

This day in 1966 saw US planes bomb the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi and the port city of Haiphong for the first time.

On June 30, 1885, French acrobat Charles Blondin was the first person to cross the Niagara Falls on a tightrope.

In 1914 Mahatma Gandhi was first arrested after campaigning for Indian rights in South Africa, in 1941 Ukrainian nationalists declared Ukraine independent, in 1966 the Beatles landed in Tokyo for their first concert tour there, in 1990 East and West Germany merged their economies, in 2016 British political candidates announced their bids to be leader of the Conservative Party, including Theresa May and Michael Gove. Boris Johnson ruled himself out.

On July 1, 1867, the Dominion of Canada was formed, 1903 saw the first Tour de France (Good luck Cav!) in 1961 Diana Princess of Wales was born, in 1968 the US, UK, USSR and 59 other states signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, in 1979 Sony began selling its Walkman, a portable cassette player (an international sensation), 1997 saw the Crown colony of Hong Kong reverting to Chinese sovereignty, ending 156 years of British rule, in 2004 Marlon Brando, the famous actor, died aged 80.

These are only a very small number of events from this week in history.

The most important thing for me is that we must always learn from history!

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I was out for a few drinks a couple of Saturdays ago and we ended up in the Old Market.

It is a ‘proper’ old-fashioned pub, which is full of characters. There’s a great juke box in a small room and it was a good evening with nostalgic tunes.

The lady serving us was really enjoying her job and dancing around to the music.

I met a couple I haven’t seen for a long time and I’m glad I did.

At least 10 years ago, probably more, I was doing a disco in the Royal Hall of the Villa Marina with Chris Williams.

We did lots over a number of years and had good fun.

Sometimes in those days I would have a drink at the same time as doing the Cave Reunions and I was reminded that I had been requested to play Erasure and I had refused.

Not only that but I had said I didn’t like them!

I can’t believe now, looking back how rude that was – paying customers asking for music and me refusing.

So I took the opportunity to belatedly apologise and thankfully it was accepted.

We went on to talk about discos and recalled Allsorts, about which I’ve spoken here before, and was asked if I could remember one which was upstairs and had a bouncy floor.

Do you remember Barry Noble’s MGM?

Let me know if you have any special disco memories!

Hopefully the couple will come along to one of the ones I do these days at the Old Friends’ Club in Finch Road where I always have Erasure on the play list and I can make amends!

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The Rotary Club of Douglas, of which I am a member, recently held a barbecue and fun day at Douglas Rugby Club on a Sunday afternoon.

It was to thank carers who use three local charities – Crossroads Carers, Decaf and Mannin Cancers.

About 250 people attended the event, which included games, crafts, face-painting, bouncy castle and a football dart board.

Roc Vannin choir entertained, alongside DJ Allan Vannin, and Tina Jauncey brought along two beautiful owls.

Ivan Bratty the chair of the community service committee, said: ‘We were delighted to host this event and thank carers for their invaluable work.’

Coming up on Saturday, July 15, at 11am starting at the Tynwald Fairfield, then into the arboretum, is this year’s Douglas Rotary Club Mini Parish Fun Walk.

Last year children from across the island raised more than £30,000 for more than 60 different causes of their own choice and had a lot of fun doing so!

Entries close on July 11 at 5pm so there’s still time to register on https://my.raceresult.com/239679 there are four age group categories. (A) Four- and five-year-olds (to be accompanied by an adult). (B) Six- and seven-year-olds (C) Eight- and nine-year-olds (D) Ten- and 11-year-olds.

Medals and certificates will be given to each entrant.

Come along and join us and raise money for your favourite charities with sponsor forms available.