Well spoken Colin!!
I used to cycle up to Castle Coombe ( just noticed the spelling mistake above ...oops!!
) in my teens with a packet of cheese sandwiches and a bottle of squash. I would be there early to watch practice/qualifying and the races returning home late in the evening. That was around the mid sixties...I got my first car in 1968... then I got lazy and drove there
Ron Fry ( King of the Coombe) with his Ferrari 250LM and Mike Sanger with his Cobra, along with Vince Woodman's Capri and Brian Cutting's (?) V8 Vauxhall Viva plus many more legends!! the noise was part of the spectacle!!
Then ( alledgedly ) it appears that some very wealthy and influential persons moved into the Castle Coombe village, where house prices are off this planet because of it's chocolate box charm. The local council was lobbied and threatened, until they slapped the noise order on the track so that it did not "offend" the new residents. Who incidentally, bought their house knowing full well that a race track sat on top of the hill
. Then they modified the track with 2 chicanes, which reduced max speed and further lowered noise levels!! at least we can drive the "fast" version of the circuit.
Incidentally I did read that many of the top TT riders hire the circuit for testing and run without the chicanes, as it is reckoned to be the closest to the Isle of Man in terms of fast flowing bends and undulations. If you can discover when these guys are planning to test...entry appears to be free
If you attend a race meeting there these days, the noise level is 50%less than rush hour traffic in central Bristol
and many of the cars ( and bikes) feel sort of neutered??. I will be turning the volume on my rig up to max for this race in protest