Thursday, November 27, 2008

Beryl.

Via: topfoto

"Beryl Swain riding her 50c.c Itom Motorcycle in the 50 c.c.on the Isle Of Man TT in June 1962. Beryl was the first women to race a solo in a TT"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There was an article about Beryl on BBC Radio 4 this week. She finished the race 4th from last with an average speed of circa 48mph, if I recall correctly, and became known as The Blonde Bombshell. When she applied to race against he following year, the bike racing authorities decided it wouldn't be "appropriate" for women to race - mostly as it would be bad PR for the sport should something untoward happen. Despite a great deal of effort on her behalf she never got anywhere fighting this decision and gave up, turning her back on the sport for a career in commerce (I think).