麻豆社

I鈥檓 different to everyone else. My prices don鈥檛 go up in TT. They stay exactly the same. Most of these TT visitors aren鈥檛 made of money. They just love the bikes and they want to see them race.

Why should they have to get ripped off for their boat ticket or accommodation or food? They鈥檙e not larger louts who spend their hard-earned cash in the pub all year: it all goes on their hobby.

Then there鈥檚 a lot of people who leave their own homes, rent them out for a fortune and go away on holiday for the TT fortnight. What they come back to, God only knows.

Here鈥檚 another thing: lots of听 places will charge a fortune but they won鈥檛 give them breakfast. I鈥檓 up at 6 o鈥檆lock and I鈥檒l do breakfast. Some places won鈥檛 do breakfast until 8 o鈥檆lock. But what鈥檚 the point of that if your visitors want to be up really early for a blast round the course before all the idiots come out?

My lot get breakfast, they get an evening meal if they want it and they get cocoa with their cheese and biscuits or flapjacks and cake before they go to bed. I normally have taped the Superbikes for them so I leave them watching that and I just tell them, 鈥淩ight lads, switch the lights off and the TV before you go to bed.鈥澨� Here, it鈥檚 more of a home for them.

Cameron Donald by Ron Clarke

Most of them, they鈥檝e been coming for nearly forty years. They鈥檙e from the Essex/Kent area. Robert has stayed with me since he was engaged and his eldest boy is now 23. Big John and Alan aren鈥檛 coming this year as they haven鈥檛 been too good. They鈥檙e in their 60鈥檚 now.听 Old Bill has died.

Things have changed since they used to come to us. Nowadays, it鈥檚 all fire regulations, health and safety. Then, we used to squeeze them in. People used to put a board over the bath and have them sleeping on the living room floor.

We used to have them in bunk beds in the cellar, down with the potatoes and the home brew. Don鈥檛 you be putting my name to this article! I only take four now.