For the first time the IoM Government offered financial assistance to the running of the TT as there had been a fear that the races would be ‘moved’ to the continent, with Belgium a likely host. £1500 was handed over to the ACU for the prize fund and £3,500 to subsidise the expenses of competitors from overseas.

An influx of foreign competitors… including the first rider to arrive from the land of the Rising Sun with Kenzo Tada competing in the Junior TT. Problems during practice meant he was off his Velocette machine at least twice – at Ballig Bridge and the Nook, the only damage being bent handlebars at the first incident. However, he was fit to race, finishing 15th, 21 minutes behind winner HGTyrell- Smith, in what was his only TT race.

Tyrell-Smith, along with his fellow competitors on Rudge machinery had a wonderful meeting, taking the first three places in the Junior and the first two in the Senior, thus recording the last two victories in these classes by push-rod engine bikes.

What was staggering about the Rudge 1-2-3 in the Junior is that it was the first time the machine had ever been entered in the event. Also an eye-opener was Tyrell-Smith’s first practice lap, of 31 minutes 29 seconds, an unofficial lap record, remaining the fastest for the duration of practice.

The race was a much closer affair as Tyrell-Smith and Charlie Dodson [Sunbeam] were dead level at the end of the second lap, only for Dodson to retire at Kirk Michael on the third circuit with valve spring problems. After seven exhausting laps, Tyrell-Smith led home Ernie Nott and Graham Walker for the Rudge 1-2-3.

Walker, who also secured a podium in the Senior when finishing in the runner-up position, was father to Murray – both men were to become TT commentators, dad in 1935 and son, in 1949. Coincidentally, it

was 1930 when the TT took a great leap into the world of radio media with the BBC broadcasting part of the Senior for the first time.

Back to the Junior… as the leaders were completing their first lap, Frank Longman finished his second with Jimmie Simpson as a pillion passenger! Tim Hunt came to grief at Quarterbridge, slipping off his Norton on the melting tar, but remounted to eventually finish ninth; no such luck for him in the Senior as, when his bike ‘cried enough’ at Ramsey – he then purchased a newspaper and a ticket for the Manx Electric Railway, enjoying the ‘scenic route’ back to Douglas.

Competitors from nineteen countries had entered the 1930 TT - Austria, Belgium, Egypt, Hungary, Iraq, South Africa, Sweden and FC Isaacs from Jamaica, who suffered cut toes after hitting the Braddan War Memorial during practice; undeterred, he started the Senior, but failed to make the distance after crashing into the telephone box at Creg ny Baa. Also unfortunate was Italian, Pietro Ghersi, hospitalised as a result of a practice crash at the Gooseneck, had to be escorted home by compatriot and fellow racer, Archille Varzi, better known for his exploits on four wheels with thirty-three major victories, including the GPs of France, Italy, Spain and Monaco, long before they became world championship events.

Wal Handley, who managed to secure a Rudge machine for the Senior after his Belgium FN failed to materialise appeared in white leathers. Handley had a runaway victory on his privately entered machine with over three minutes to spare on Graham Walker after being the first man to lap the course in under 30 minutes.

What should he do with the prize money? Easy - pay the High Bailiff the £1 fine he [and Ernie Nott] received for not having an efficient exhaust silencer on his motor-cycle.

Several ‘incidents’ during the Senior… on lap 3, J Duncan, Raleigh collided with the Union Mills Post Office, losing five minutes before continuing to finish tenth, but WL Birch, Excelsior, failed to proceed after colliding with a Flag Marshall at Braddan Bridge.

Jimmy Guthrie, AJS, took the Lightweight honours heading home Paddy Johnson, OK Supreme, by over two and a half minutes. Again, not much luck for our foreign friends - Jamaican, A Ennevor, Velocette fell on Creg Willey’s Hill on lap 3, but continued with a split lip, later to retire at the Grandstand and Swiss rider F.Franconi, riding a Universal, slipped off at Glen Helen.

1930 saw the debut of the CTS machine – Chris Tattersall, a more than competent engineer, felt he could improve on machines produced by the principle manufacturers and so from 1930 to 1953 he successfully competed on ‘home-built’ machinery with a best position of fifth in the 1932 Lightweight.