Fairy Ground, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1932-34 (b/w photo)

On the back of this photograph John James Frowde writes, "Sport. (B.B.C.) In February 1933 I heard a curious story told by old Mr Corlett, cattle dealer, now at an advanced age, of a 'sporting event' that happened in Mr Corlett's early days. A local man, who fancied himself as a sprinter, undertook to run from the Bull's Head Inn to Castle Mona and back, in a stipulated time, clad in nothing but his birthday suit: the guerdon being a quarter cask of ale. He duly made the trip, and won the prize. It was some considerable time after the finish of the 'race' and the safe bestowal of the quarter-cask, that the then police got wind of the affair, and became busy. I have a clear recollection of the police of the late seventies, last century. There were but few of them, and mostly elderly and slow moving, with bells that sank deep into the rotundity of their equators." Additional note: "Mr Corlett died Apr/35."