This week I’m time travelling back to 1966, 1976 and 1986 for a bit of TT and music nostalgia…

May 16 to July 1 1966 saw the UK National Seamen’s Strike.

This came about because of deep-seated grievances regarding gruelling maritime working hours, stagnant pay and rigid discipline.

Ultimately, the strike secured improvements, but on a tourist island with rather limited flights it had an immediate impact, with food rationing and the historic forced postponement of the 1966 TT from the scheduled date in June by the Auto Cycle Union.

The TT was rescheduled to run from August 28 to September 5 1966. The Manx Grand Prix would have clashed, so the Manx Motorcycle Club worked with the ACU and the events were run back-to-back, with the TT races first, followed immediately by a shortened MGP, and both events shared practice time.

Well done to all those who pulled together so this could happen. And for the first time ever, TT races were held on a Sunday.

The TT results were:

Lightweight 125cc 1, Bill Ivy; 2, Phil Read; 3, Hugh Anderson.

Sidecar 1, Fritz Scheidegger/John Robinson; 2, Max Deubel/Emil Hoerner; 3, George Auerbacher/Wolfgang Kalauch, with the top eight machines all being BMW outfits.

Lightweight 250cc 1, Mike Hailwood; 2, Stuart Graham; 3, Peter Inchley.

Junior 1, Giacomo Agostini; 2, Peter Williams; 3, Chris Conn.

50cc (remember them? Sounding like a load of bees with loads of gears!) 1, Ralph Bryans; 2, Luigi Taveri; 3, Hugh Anderson.

Senior TT 1, Mike Hailwood; 2, Giacomo Agostini 3, Chris Conn.

Was it really 60 years ago that I, like lots of other youngsters, went around the Grandstand and larger hotels around Douglas and Onchan seeking autographs of our heroes, souvenir badges, stickers, hats and more?

How about the charts?

Start of June 1966: 1, Frank Sinatra - ’Strangers in the Night’; 2, The Rolling Stones - ‘Paint It Black’; 3, The Troggs - ‘Wild Thing’.

End of August: 1, The Beatles - ‘Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby’; 2, The Beach Boys - ‘God Only Knows’; 3, The Troggs - ‘With a Girl Like You’.

Gigs in the Isle of Man included The Small Faces and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, both at the Palace Lido in July; The Moody Blues at the Villa Marina; The Kinks at the Palace Lido on August 11 and The Who at the Palace Ballroom on August 18. Were you at any of them?

On to 1976…

Some significant headlines include the debut of legendary Joe ‘Joey’ Dunlop in four races. He finished in the top 20 in two and did not finish in the other two. He went on to secure the first of his 26 victories the following year in the 1977 Jubilee TT Race.

The Production TT was again held over 10 laps, with two riders on each machine. Taking victory were: 1, Bill Simpson and Chas Mortimer; 2, Tony Rutter and Dave Hughes; 3, Frank Rutter and Mick Poxon.

The race commenced ‘Le Mans style’, with riders running from the pit side over to the scoreboard side where the machines were sited.

Very exciting, but a potentially more dangerous procedure, and the race took over four hours to complete.

The 1976 TT was the fifth round of the 1976 Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing season, the final time that was to be the case, as for 1977 the British Grand Prix was moved to Silverstone.

However, despite the doubters, the TT, as it had before 1949, continued as a unique stand-alone event.

No longer were riders forced to compete for Grand Prix points; they now compete of their own free will because it is the best road race in the world — the ultimate challenge.

Tom Herron won the 1976 Senior TT, with Ian Richards second and Billy Guthrie third.

The Junior 350cc TT result was: 1, Chas Mortimer; 2, Tony Rutter; 3, Billy Guthrie.

Lightweight 250cc: 1, Tom Herron; 2, Takazumi Katayama; 3, Chas Mortimer.

The 500cc Sidecar winners were Rolf Steinhausen and Sepp Huber, followed by Dick Greasley and Cliff Holland, then Mac Hobson and Mick Burns.

However, for many with long memories, like me, one of the most memorable moments was the drama around John Williams’s Senior TT race.

He had upped the lap record by nearly 3mph to 112.27mph and was leading Tom Herron by almost three minutes going into the last lap before slowing rapidly.

He was indicated on the scoreboard at Signpost Corner, but then appeared pushing his heavy Suzuki from Governor’s Bridge, having run out of petrol.

With cheers from the crowd encouraging him on, he pushed over the line, collapsing with exhaustion but finishing in a magnificent seventh position. He went on to take a well-deserved victory later in the week in the Classic TT, setting a new class and race record, with Alex George second and Tony Rutter third.

Music-wise, at number one in the chart was J.J. Barrie with ‘No Charge’, at number two The Wurzels with ‘Combine Harvester’, and at number three ‘My Resistance Is Low’ by Robin Sarstedt. For me, none were as exciting as the racing!

Gigs during 1976 included Status Quo at the Lido and Showaddywaddy in August at the same venue. One gig I will never forget was T. Rex on July 9, and I was also at the Lido for Chuck Berry on June 6 headlining ‘The Rock and Roll Spectacular’. With such an epic back catalogue, his only number one was the forgettable ‘My Ding-a-Ling’.

Finally, 1986. Was it really 40 years ago?

On Friday, June 6, The Duke of Kent opened the new TT Grandstand. It replaced the original, which was erected in 1926, and the new stand had been the subject of £500,000 approval by Tynwald for the land, design and construction.

A long-standing fund was established in memory of Rob Vine, who was tragically killed at the Black Dub on June 7, 1985. Dr David Stevens was involved from day one of this fund, which has provided invaluable medical assistance since.

Results from the 1986 TT include:

Formula One 1, Joey Dunlop; 2, Geoff Johnson; 3, Andy McGladdery.

Senior TT 1, Roger Burnett; 2, Geoff Johnson; 3, Barry Woodland.

Junior TT 1, Steve Cull; 2, Phil Mellor; 3, Manx ace Graham Cannell.

Sidecar A 1, Lowry Burton and Pat Cushnahan; 2, Warwick Newman and Eddie Yarker; 3, Michael Burcombe and Steve Parker.

Sidecar B 1, Nigel Rollason and Don Williams; 2, Derek Plummer and Brian Marris; 3, Warwick Newman and Eddie Yarker.

Formula Two 1, Brian Reid; 2, John Weedon; 3, Neil Tuxworth.

In the production classes:

Class A 1, Trevor Nation; 2, Manx Yank Kevin Wilson; 3, Brian Morrison.

Class B 1, Phil Mellor

Class C 1, Gary Padgett, after an epic battle with Malc Wheeler

Class D 1, Barry Woodland, ahead of Graham Cannell

Music offerings?

At number one, Dr and the Medics with ‘Spirit in the Sky’ (my favourite version is by Norman Greenbaum); at number two, Simply Red ’Holding Back the Years’; and at number three, ’The Chicken Song’ by Spitting Image.

Popular venues included The Cave, Caseys, Continental, Academy, Lido, Jimmy B’s, Hawaiian Bar, Toff’s, Studebakers and Paramount… remind me of any others!

Since then for me?

1996 to 2006 - Minister of Fun and chair of the TT… lifelong fan, ‘putting it mildly’…