Venues

Jurby Airfield

Jurby Airfield, Jurby, Isle of Man, IM7 3JP, United Kingdom

RAF Jurby was built in the north west of Isle of Man and opened in 1939. Initially it was used as a training station for bomber crews. It became home to five fighter squadrons during 1940 and 1941. Pilots came from several countries including Czechoslovakia, Poland and Australia. Fighters from Jurby helped protect Belfast and Liverpool from German air raids. Three squadrons had Hawker Hurricanes and one squadron had Supermarine Spitfires. Jurby also provided five bombers for the 1,000 bomber raid at Essen in 1942.

After WWII finished RAF Jurby was used as a training station until it closed in 1963 then it became a diversion for Ronaldsway Airport. 

In the early 1970’s Jurby was used as a training camp by the Territorial Army. It finally closed in 1973 due to concerns about the running costs.

Jurby Airfield was home to the Jurby Festival which took place on the middle Sunday of the Classic TT (formerly Manx Grand Prix) from 2009 until 2019.

The main runway at Jurby is bisected by a road due to the runway being extended over it. Barriers were placed across the road and the road was closed whilst the runway was in use. Straightliners held a top speed and wheelie weekend at Jurby in 1997 after closing the road and using the full length of the runway. Jurby has been a popular venue with Straightliners events run there every year from 1997 until Covid-19 disrupted the 2020 calendar.

The prison at Jurby was opened in 2008, it replaced an old Victorian prison in Douglas. 

The Isle of Man Motor Museum at Jurby is well worth a visit, it has over 400 vehicles with 250 vehicles on loan including a cyclecar owned by a certain Mr Trevor Duckworth. There are over 200 motorcycles and there is a collection of various four wheeled vehicles etc.