It’s difficult to pin an accurate date on this terrific old photograph, but it would appear to be around the turn of the 20th century.

The original copy is in the possession of Howard Callow and the only person we have been able to name on it is William Fozard, the gent wearing the bowler hat behind the third cyclist from the left. He is grandfather to Sylvia Skillicorn of Woodlands Close in Douglas.

William is the great, great grandfather of William Corkill, one of the island’s leading junior cyclists.

Sylvia said that this is the only photograph she has of her grandfather and asked if we could help with information on the location and what event it is.

Well, the location is a tricky one, there were thoughts of the Peel Road area (bottom of Belmont Hill), but it is so difficult to pick out landmarks other than the roofs of a couple of houses.

The quality of the image is impressive, almost certainly taken with a camera using dry plate negatives on thin glass plates, commonly used between 1880 and 1920 (the digital camera of its time!). The camera would have been mounted on a wooden tripod.

The photograph is signed by Ralph Butterworth and dated 1925. The first ’Push-Bike TT’ races round the Mountain Course started around then, but the major ’Bicycle TTs’ did not commence for another 10 years.

Howard’s sister Moira, who lives in the UK, did a bit more research on the photograph during the lockdown, via the extensive archives and newspaper libraries of the iMuseum. She now believes it could have been taken a quarter of a century earlier.

She found mention of W. Fozard officiating at bicycle races in the late 1890s. He was named as an official [either a marksman or telegraph - whatever they did?) at three meetings - dated August 18, 1897, August 16, 1899 (inset) and August 23, 1899. There were probably more.

The 1897 meeting was hosted by the Isle of Man Athletic Club but the 1899 meetings were organised by the Isle of Man Cycling & Athletic Club (was there an amalgamation or were cycles purely an add-on?). There is mention of more than 2,000 spectators. All the meetings were held at Falcon Cliff.

This ties in with Howard’s theory that the picture was taken at the top-end of Victoria Road/Governor’s Bridge area. He could well be right.

So perhaps the date of 1925 on the rear of photo is a bit of a red herring and possibly the date when someone got round to having it framed.

Sylvia and Barry Skillicorn agree as, looking at the face of William, he does appear quite young and a date in the late 1890s would seem to match better than 1925.

Howard also believes that this particular race was sponsored by Journeyman Butchers, which could explain William Fozard’s interest as he was a butcher in a shop behind the Castle Mona.

The business was very successful as he owned several farms in the Richmond Hill area. He married a Luft, from the Hamburg area of Germany, so Sylvia’s grandmother was a first cousin to former Deemster Arthur Luft. Sylvia was brought up at Ballaglonney farm near Mount Murray.

Can you cast anymore light on the photograph, or perhaps even recognise anyone else on it?

The report (not necessarily connected to this image) includes the following competitors’ surnames: Webb, Guy, Boulter, Gash, Marsden, Jackson, Burton and Ind. The name Evans (Barrow) also appears, so it is possible that some of the riders were from the northwest of England.

It really is a fascinating image of not only the half-dozen riders lined up for the race, but the hundreds of spectators in the background all dressed in their Sunday best.

Please contact John Watterson on 695654 or email [email protected] if you have anymore information.