Independent book and art shop on the Isle of Man with shops in Port Erin & Ramsey
Port Erin now open Sundays 11 am - 4 pm !
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Ordering online?
Our website is mainly for Manx Books, if not listed here you can order any book, art materials, vinyl and guitar strings from us by: Phone : 01624 833376 (Port Erin) 01624 813374 (Ramsey) Email : mail@bridge-bookshop.com Use the CONTACT US form |
Or, to order books online from our Bookshop.org site for delivery anywhere...
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Books for ISLE OF MAN TT 2023...
The Life of a Racer by Michael Rutter (SIGNED)
£25.00
Only a few left!
SIGNED COPY - while stocks last
by Michael Rutter and John Macavoy
Foreword by John McGuinness
Hardback
See also Volume 2 : The Life of a Racer 2 : Flesh & Blood by Michael Rutter (SIGNED)
In 1992, when Michael Rutter was just 20 years old, he followed in his Dad's footsteps and began a career as a professional motorcycle racer, he has been racing ever since. This is his story of highs and lows, survival, luck and persistence, set against the raw, infectious atmosphere of the racing paddock. It is also a story of growing up with a global superstar for a father.
Read Michael's account of spending his childhood watching his dad's career - from fighting for world championships to fighting for his life after a devastating crash in 1985. Undeterred, Michael would go on to build his own career and forge his own unique path.
This is the remarkable tale of how Michael has stayed competitive for 30 years, and stepped out of his 4-time world champion dad's shadow to add his own name to the list of all time greats of the sport.
Michael has started 431 British Superbike races, 20 World Superbike races, and 16 MotoGP races while also competing in road racing, where he has started 90 Isle of Man TT, 83 Northwest 200 and 24 Macau Grand Prix races.
The Life of a Racer is a gripping journey into the mind and life of someone who was born in to the race paddock and who has been there ever since.
The Life of a Racer 2 : Flesh & Blood by Michael Rutter (SIGNED)
£20.00
Only a few left!
Signed copies available. Bridge Bookshop is proud to stock Michael's second book.
For the follow-up to his autobiography, Michael Rutter changes his focus and now reflects on his father's life - the victories, defeats, scrapes scrapes with the law and practical jokes. He also looks at his father's close brushes with death, including the horrific career-ending crash of 1985, and its aftermath.
The Life of a Racer, Volume 2: Flesh & Blood is a reflective and sentimental journey during which Michael tries to learn about his father's life and career in motorcycle racing, while at the same time asking himself if his own destiny was always to race too because of his DNA.
Tony Rutter (1942-2020) is best known for his four world TT-F2 championship wins, eight Isle of Man TT wins, nine North West 200 wins, five Ulster Grand Prix wins and two British Championship titles during his twenty-two-year career - but the man himself has remained something of an enigma to everyone including his own son, who himself went on to have a hugely successful career and has kept the Rutter name alive in the world of motorcycle racing to the present day.
Through his own memories, as well as those of longstanding teammates and friends, Michael pieces together his father's values, what mattered to him the most, and his odd - sometimes maddening - traits. What unfolds is a profile of the man behind the incredible talent and singular focus of an elite racer.
With a foreword by Carl Fogarty, this is the first-ever book about one of the finest racers in a great generation of racers, by those who knew him best and loved him most.
Authors: Michael Rutter & John McAvoy
Published by The Choir Press
Hardback
203 pages (20 pages of photos)
100 Years of the Manx Grand Prix by David Wright
£28.50
Celebrating 100 years of the Manx Grand Prix in 2023. By David Wright.
Hardback, 212 pages, published November 2022.
Published by The Manx Motor Cycle Club Ltd
NB. Price includes a postage supplement of £3.50 due to the weight of the book (1.5kg).
The Isle of Man Mountain Course is acknowledged as the most formidable of racing circuits. Best known for the annual Tourist Trophy (TT) meeting contested by professional motorcycle racers, for 100 years it has also proved irresistibly appealing to the amateur racers who contest the Manx Grand Prix (MGP), many of whom have gone on to success at the TT and a select few have become World Champions.
This is the story of the 'Manx', its riders, races, its organisation by the Manx Motor Cycle Club and its turbulent 100 years of challenging the Isle of Man Mountain Course. With a lap distance of 37.4 miles, the Course runs over the Island's ordinary roads, through towns, villages and open countryside, before climbing the side of a mountain and then plunging back down to sea level. Many consider it to be the ultimate bike ride!
That Near Death Thing : Inside the Most Dangerous Race in the World by Rick Broadbent
£10.99
Free delivery to Isle of Man addresses for orders of £20 or more. Enter code MANXSHIP at checkout.
The Isle of Man TT - the world's most dangerous race - as seen through the eyes of Cummins, Martin, McGuinness and Dunlop. THAT NEAR DEATH THING is a life-affirming journey to the heart of the world's most dangerous race. The Isle of Man TT is a throwback to a maverick era that existed before PR platitudes and PC attitudes.
WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR-shortlisted author Rick Broadbent gets inside the helmets of four leading motorcycle racers as they battle fear, fire and family tragedy for a gritty sort of glory. Guy Martin is a tea-drinking truck mechanic and TV eccentric who 'sucks the rabbits out of hedges', but must now deal with the flipside of fame; Conor Cummins is the local hero facing a race against time as he battles depression and a broken body after falling down the mountain; John McGuinness is the living legend fending off the ravages of middle-age for one last hurrah; Michael Dunlop is the wild child living with one of the most remarkable legacies in sport. They tell their astonishing stories in a book that provides the most rounded, intimate, behind-the-scenes account yet of the last great race.
Rick Broadbent has delivered the final word on the Isle of Man TT, one that really gets to grips with an event that continually pulls unsung riders and fans back year after year to witness That Near Death Thing.
At Speeds Approaching 100 Miles an Hour!
£33.50
Only a few left!
by Derry Kissack
The price of the book includes a postage supplement as this is a heavy book.
The story of the World famous Purple Helmets
A4 Hardback
Colour photos
Isle of Man TT Greats In Their Own Words by Dave Moore
£20.00
Hardback
'Isle of Man TT Greats' is a collection of recollections from those who have raced and won over the notorious thirty-seven and three-quarter mile long Mountain course, from multiple-World championship winners to the part-timers who scrape together what finances they can in order to compete.
Featured within this book are the memories of the most successful Grand Prix winner of all time and nine-times TT victor Giacomo Agostini, Kel Carruthers was also a World champion and TT race winner and fellow Australian Cameron Donald took two victories at the TT. There's also David Hickman, a Manx Grand Prix winner and father of TT lap record holder Peter, Jason Griffths, another to stand on the top step of the Manx Grand Prix podium and one of the best riders never to have won a TT. Dave Leach, who won four TT races or was it six? Rob McElnea triumphed three times in three years at the TT while Steve Plater won twice in a similar period of time. Brian Reid took five TT victories and lan Simpson followed in his father's footsteps by winning a TT race. Barry Wood was twice a Manx Grand Prix winner and although former TT commentator Murray Walker never raced at the Isle of Man; he remembers his father doing so and winning the Junior TT.
Many, many memories covering almost a century of racing at the Isle Man TT and Manx Grand Prix plus many other motorcycle races. Some happy, some not so happy but all part of one of the World's greatest motorsport events.
Ragged Edge by Stuart Barker
£22.00
£17.00
NEW - published 11/5/2023
The brutal true story of the Isle of Man TT - the world's most dangerous race.
One week in June. One small island. 40,000 annual visitors.
Raw speed. Numerous annual deaths. The Isle of Man TT motorcycle road race.
Five minutes to go. The claxon sounds, harsh as an air raid siren. Television crews attempt last-minute interviews with riders.
The thousand yard-stares give it away: they're really not listening now. Four minutes to go. The grandstand is packed.
Some racers tell their mechanics, 'I'll see you later for a pint' - just to make themselves believe they will. Three minutes to go. For the first man on the road, hidden dangers exist.
He will have no-one to follow. And he is the hare that the greyhounds will be chasing. Two minutes to go.
By the end of the first lap, riders will be howling past faster than a bullet from the barrel of a gun. A full 160pmh. And that's not even the fastest part of the course.
One minute to go. The atmosphere is palpably tense. It's like no other sporting event on earth.
Formula 1 drivers can crash spectacularly and just walk away. Everyone knows that's not the case here. Five seconds.
The starter raises the chequered flag, ready to snap down. No more time for nerves, for doubts. The race has started.
How it will end, no-one knows. The TT has begun. In Ragged Edge, Stuart Barker will write the definitive story of this unique event, from the tarmac up.
The history, the atmosphere, the heroes, tragedies and legends. And most importantly: our fascination with this seductive yet perilous test of skill and daring. This is the unvarnished, raw truth behind the world's most dangerous sporting event - in the words of those who ride it.
Format : Hardback 304 pages
Publisher : John Blake Publishing Ltd
Published : 11 May 2023
Weight : 520g
Dimensions : 163 x 243 x 32 (mm)
Joey Dunlop: The Definitive Biography by Stuart Barker
£9.99
With a foreword by Carl Fogarty. A worthy and fitting tribute to the King of the Roads' - Irish News Joey Dunlop's story is one of towering triumphs and desperate tragedies in almost equal measure. Born poor - dirt poor - with no running water, no electricity, he was the definition of the everyman hero, in what must be considered one of the world's most extreme sports - motorcycle road racing. He remains the most loved and most successful road racer of all time.
Joey Dunlop won the hearts and minds of millions during his thirty-one-year career, culminating in the year 2000 at the Isle of Man TT when, grey-haired and bespectacled, he cemented his reputation as the greatest TT rider in history by regaining the F1 crown for the first time in twelve years. But in road racing, tragedy is never very far away. Joey lost his life in an accident in July of 2000.
It was just weeks after his final TT victory. More than 60,000 people attended Joey's funeral. Over twenty years on, the sport has never truly recovered.
Every motorcycling lover knows the legend of Joey Dunlop but now, for the first time, they can get to know the man himself. This definitive new biography is by turns hilarious, triumphant and tragic; it is Dunlop's story as it has never been told before - by those who were part of it.
Format : Paperback / softback 384 pages
Publisher : John Blake Publishing Ltd
Published : 14 Apr 2022
Weight : 296g
Dimensions : 128 x 291 x 25 (mm)
Frank 'n Stan's Bucket List #6 Las Vegas by J C Williams
£11.99
Published 21/4/2023
For somebody so often the life and soul of the party, Dave Quirk is officially a bit down in the dumps.
And that’s because, after numerous trips to the estate agents, he’s realised that with his modest deposit, he might need to moderate his aspirations to something a touch less grandiose. Such as a Wendy house, for example.
Still, for now, there’s plenty going on to take Dave’s mind off such matters. First up, an all-expenses paid trip to the United States to attend the celebratory premiere of the upcoming TV documentary series, Isle of Man TT Aces, in which Dave will be prominently featured.
Along with Monty, Frank, and Stan, our boys were proving themselves to be, quite possibly, the most unlikely stars to ever be gracing the small screen. That is, if their ardent and ever-increasing American fanbase was anything to go by. In fact, viewers simply could not wait to see them!
And it’s over there in the good old US of A that an opportunity to bolster Dave’s bank balance presents itself. However, in doing so, the gang are pitted against a previous and particularly irritating foe in the process.
So, it’s passports at the ready, because the gang are off to Las Vegas, baby!
Oh, and if our intrepid quartet were making their way to Sin City, then, according to Stella, there wasn’t a snowball in hell’s chance that she wasn’t also coming along for a jolly…
Motorcycles, Mates and Memories : Recalling sixty years of fun in British motorcycle sport
£16.99
Only a few left!
Free delivery to Isle of Man addresses for orders over £20 using code MANXSHIP at checkout.
Format: Paperback / softback 144 pages,
Publisher: Veloce Publishing Ltd
Published:19 Nov 2020
Weight:254g
Dimensions:151 x 210 x 12 (mm)
Bill Snelling reflects on his lifetime passion for two-wheeling in this entertaining, motorcycle-themed autobiography. He recalls the decades of motorcycling mayhem, mud and madness that have characterised his 70-odd years iliving the dream, from the early days at Arthur Lavington's Velo shop to pounding the long-distance trials and the many race circuits he has ridden. Bill admits he was better off-road than on tarmac, but, he did win one race! He went on to work for Motorcycle Sport magazine, and as a despatch rider, before moving permanently to the Isle of Man.
A great read for anyone interested in British motorcycle sports.
Hutchy : Miracle Man
£8.99
by Ian Hutchinson & Ted Macauley
Paperback
Ian Hutchinson - 'Hutchy' to his many thousands of fans - is a motorcycle racer like few others. A road racer to the core, he has enjoyed spectacular success at the Isle of Man TT, the North West 200 and the Ulster Grand Prix, but his own story goes far beyond even those triumphs. In the summer of 2010, Hutchy set the record for most wins in a single Isle of Man TT festival - five in all - having already won the Supersport class at the North West 200 in Northern Ireland.
Then disaster struck. At a British Supersport round in September that year, he crashed heavily after being struck by another rider's machine, breaking his left leg so badly that at one stage it was feared it might have to be amputated. After many surgical operations and a long period of recovery, he fractured the same leg in 2012 while practising exhibition-riding for a motorycle show in London.
Yet not even these disasters could keep the Yorkshireman from racing. After modifications to the gear levers and rear brakes on his race machines, he went out and won the 2013 Macau Grand Prix.Two years later saw an even more staggering return to form, when he secured three wins, a second and a third place at the 2015 Isle of Man TT, also winning the Joey Dunlop TT Championship Trophy for that year. Hutchy: Miracle Man is a book not only for fans of motorcycle road racing, but for anyone interested in the life and career of a brilliant rider and an extraordinarily brave and enduring man, a hugely popular figure not just for his achievements, but for his unassuming modesty, kindness and humour.
All Round Guide to the Isle of Man 2023
£7.95
Free delivery to Isle of Man addresses for orders of £20 or more. Use code MANXSHIP at checkout.
This is Lily Publications’ best selling title and covers all you want to know about visiting and exploring the Isle of Man. A-Z gazetteer of towns and villages, car tours, street plans and places to visit and places to eat.
Author(s)
Miles Cowsill
Edition
Twenty-Third Edition 2023-2024
Format
Softback, A5
Pages
224
Publication Date
30th March 2023
Publisher
Lily Publications
A selection of new titles...
At Speeds Approaching 100 Miles an Hour!
£33.50
Only a few left!
by Derry Kissack
The price of the book includes a postage supplement as this is a heavy book.
The story of the World famous Purple Helmets
A4 Hardback
Colour photos
The Fairy Bridge Fairies by Anita Mulvey
£6.95
illustrations by Julia Ashby-Smythe
Welcome to the Isle of Man, a little island nestled in the Irish Sea between Scotland and England to the east, Wales to the south and Ireland to the west. Spend a full day in the magical, fairy kingdom of the Fairy Bridge. Discover how the tiny, mystical folk co-exist with all the nature around them. What do they do all day? Find out if all the human travellers over the Fairy Bridge will greet the fairies today. And what might the fairies do if anyone fails to hail them politely? Not only is this a story about the fairies, its also a colouring book. Bring the Fairy Bridge fairy-world to life with your own colours. Lots of line drawings to colour-in, on thick paper, plus pages to create your own fairies or write your own wishes.
Published May 2023
Author : Anita Mulvey
Illustrated by : Julia Ashby Smyth
Format : Softback 200 mm x 250 mm
Pages : 40
Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of the Isle of Man by Jonathan Kewley
£45.00
£38.00
Free delivery to Isle of Man addresses for orders over £20, enter code MANXSHIP at checkout - ensure country is Isle of Man.
The first Pevsner volume to explore the Isle of Man's unique architectural inheritance The Isle of Man has had many incarnations - a land of Celtic monks, the realm of the Norse sea-kings, the petty kingdom of the Earls of Derby, a nest of Georgian smugglers, the retreat of genteel Regency debtors, a major destination for Edwardian North Country holidaymakers, and more recently a "financial centre." All have left their mark on its architecture, from early crosses and medieval castles to the domestic architecture of M. H. Baillie Scott via thatched cottages, yeomen's farmhouses, and promenades of stuccoed hotels.
This unique inheritance has never hitherto been given its due either on or off the island. Drawing on much original research, set out in the usual Pevsner gazetteer format, this volume aims to rectify that.
Format : Hardback 524 pages, 113 color + 50 b-w illus.
Publisher : Yale University Press
Published : 28 Mar 2023
Dimensions:216 x 114 (mm)
The Magic of the Manx Glens by Susan Jellis
£10.00
From Victorian pleasure grounds to treasured green spaces, the Manx glens have enchanted generations of visitors.
The Magic of the Manx Glens reflects their varying character and amenities, and highlights the continuing appeal of the semi-wild seclusion to be found in many of them. The National Glens are in the care of the Isle of Man Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, which preserves their now semi-natural character and maintains the paths and bridges with accessible access where possible in mind.
Published April 2023
Paperback 20cm x 20 cm
96 pages
Manx Myths, Mysteries and Miscellanies by Robert Kelly
£14.95
Do you know what a Vitascope clock is? Or where you can find the remains of the Manx flax industry? Or what was the meaning behind Mabelreign? Robert Kelly does! Manx born and bred, Robert spent his entire life researching and writing about the Isle of Man, and amassed a huge fund of fascinating and little-known information. Sadly Robert died in 2018, but this collection of some of his unpublished work reminds us not only of his erudition and delight in detail, but also his love of the myriad stories which contribute to the identity of his homeland.
Whether he's writing about repurposing a concrete ship or the history of the Douglas mace, Robert Kelly writes with wit, individuality and style.
Published by Loaghtan Books 18/4/2023
Paperback
124 pages
20cm x 20cm
The Silence of Summerland by Ruth McQuillan-Wilson
£11.95
Although the diastrous and fatal fire at Summerland in 1973, and the enquiries that followed, offered valuable insights, it appears that much has still to be learned. The Grenfell Tower fire in London reminded us of the danger of overlooking what has gone before. Through personal experiences and recollections this book documents how far-reaching the consequences of Summerland have been and demonstrates why the lessons it taught must never be forgotten.
Author and Summerland survivor Ruth McQuillan-Wilson has spent nearly fifty years pondering the reasons behind the disaster while also examining similar events worldwide.
Format : Softback, A5
Pages : 248
Publication Date : 1st February 2023
Publisher : Lily Publications
100 Years of the Manx Grand Prix by David Wright
£28.50
Celebrating 100 years of the Manx Grand Prix in 2023. By David Wright.
Hardback, 212 pages, published November 2022.
Published by The Manx Motor Cycle Club Ltd
NB. Price includes a postage supplement of £3.50 due to the weight of the book (1.5kg).
The Isle of Man Mountain Course is acknowledged as the most formidable of racing circuits. Best known for the annual Tourist Trophy (TT) meeting contested by professional motorcycle racers, for 100 years it has also proved irresistibly appealing to the amateur racers who contest the Manx Grand Prix (MGP), many of whom have gone on to success at the TT and a select few have become World Champions.
This is the story of the 'Manx', its riders, races, its organisation by the Manx Motor Cycle Club and its turbulent 100 years of challenging the Isle of Man Mountain Course. With a lap distance of 37.4 miles, the Course runs over the Island's ordinary roads, through towns, villages and open countryside, before climbing the side of a mountain and then plunging back down to sea level. Many consider it to be the ultimate bike ride!
Gift vouchers for our shops...
£10 Gift Voucher to spend in store
£10.00
Purchase a gift voucher on our website for use in our shops in Port Erin and Ramsey. For free shipping, use code FREESHIPVOUCHER at checkout
New Isle of Man leisure maps...
Isle of Man Outdoor Leisure Map
£11.90
£8.90
New editions (2021) of the Isle of Man Outdoor Leisure Maps for both North and South of the Isle of Man available to purchase together at special price. Produced in full colour, scale 2.5 inches to 1 mile.
Weather Proof Isle of Man Outdoor Leisure Map
£19.98
£15.95
Free delivery to Isle of Man addresses for orders of £20 or more. Use code MANXSHIP at checkout.
Weather proof editions (2021) of the Isle of Man Outdoor Leisure Maps for both North and South of the Isle of Man available to purchase together at special price. Produced in full colour, scale 2.5 inches to 1 mile.
FREE SHIPPING to Isle of Man on orders over £20
Use code : MANXSHIP
Use code : MANXSHIP