Fifty years ago this month in 1966 Bob Farmer, a 27 year old gas fitter from Charminster, was one of only a handful of amateur motorcycle riders from the Bournemouth area to win the lightweight Manx Grand Prix on the Isle of Man, the longest and most notorious circuit in the country.

"It was the second time I had raced in the Manx Grand Prix. When I competed the year before the bike broke down on the last lap and I also missed out on winning the best newcomer trophy", said 77 year old Bob who now lives on Castle Lane, Bournemouth and still follows the Isle of Man races.

Riding his new Italian machine, a 250cc Aermacchi, Bob took the lead in the last of the four laps when the leader, John Wetherall, a plumber from Reading retired with engine trouble.

High winds and wet roads were among the hazards with which the 86 starters had to contend but Bob who had been lying sixth at the end of the first lap, third in the next lap had managed to move up to second berth the third time round.

Wetherall's retirement left Bob with a clear road to complete the race comfortably at an average speed of 86.20 mph. His time for the four laps was one hour 45 minutes 3.6 seconds, compared with D. Craine's winning time the year before of one hour 45 minutes and 29 seconds.

"On the last lap the bike suffered 13 broken spokes in the back wheel but I made it to the end of the race to win", said a proud Bob.

The love of motorcycles is heredity. His parents George and Beatrice were motorcycle enthusiasts and so was his grandfather Alfred. Neither of them took up racing like Bob, preferring to use it as a form of transport for work or for the occasional weekend trip. George and Alfred were master joiners for the Rutland Joinery Works.

Bob started work for the Southern Gas Board when he was 15 and the following year bought his own motorcycle. By 1963 he was competing in road races and won about ten trophies.

The following year he sold his 'pride and joy', a B.S.A. Rocket Goldstar motorcycle, for a bike that was specially made for long distance competitive racing.

His first racing meeting was at Thruxton where he finished eighth in the heat and eighth in the final on a 250cc Greeves Silverstone machine.

"My parents didn't attend any of the races, especially on the Isle of Man. They were frightened I was going to get killed", said Bob.

They had good reason. The Isle of Man races for amateurs and professionals are run on a long challenging circuit with 250 corners and bends, going through towns and villages and needing 520 marshals. Since racing began on the island there have been about 270 recorded competitor deaths, including five earlier this year.

After winning the lightweight Manx Grand Prix he returned to the Southern gas showrooms where he worked on Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, to meet the public, sign autographs and show them the £385 Italian motorcycle on which he won the race.

Ex-racer Reg Marsh, owner of Marsh and Fry Ltd at Bargates, Christchurch, sponsored Bob in small way, even though he was sponsoring another rider. Frank Fry, the co-owner of the firm and another racer was sadly killed on his Norton 500cc on a practice run on the Isle of Man in 1952. Some years after Bob's race Reg sold the business and emigrated to New Zealand.

In 1967 Bob became a professional racer. Unfortunately, when he competed in the Manx Grand Prix the Yamaha 250cc motorcycle he was riding developed a misfire. Nevertheless, he succeeded in finishing ninth out of 84 starters in the six-lap, 226 mile race. His average speed was 86.70mph.

"Soon after that race I gave up racing as I couldn't afford the expense. I didn't have a sponsor and the upkeep of the machine was too much, so I sold it", said Bob.

On a visit to Sammy Miller's Motorcycle Museum earlier this year to celebrate 50 years since Bob won the Manx Grand Prix trophy, he met David Smith from Poole with the motorcycle Bob had competed with in 1967. David won the same lightweight Manx Grand Prix 23 years later in 1989 on Bob's former 1967 machine.