Just up from Kates Cottage (the white building - middle right in gdi's photo) I spent a happy hour laid on the stonewall watching the '63 TT races, sitting on or near this wall would now be strictly forbidden and if just one stone had loosened I could have been responsible for a number of deaths but heck I was a teenager (no excuse).
Believe it or not the bikes were passing me at about THREE feet away and changing from up from third to fourth gear at about 110 to 115 mph, after maybe 20 mins acclimatization I could actually see the riders eyes and in particular Mike Duff who was wearing a very unusual yankee type helmet.
The faster competitors and machines of that day were John Hartle (Gilera 4), Mike Hailwood (MV Agusta 4), Phil Read (Gilera 4) and of course M.A.Duff on his long range Tom Arter G50 Matchless - tanked up for a non stop 226 mile ride.