Newsletter No 29 - VMCC - Isle of Man

From there things progressed. He entered the Harley sidecar in the 1920 Hill Climb
in Co. Wicklow and made the fastest time in the sidecar class. Next he went with
Paddy Johnston to see the 1921 Isle of Man Senior TT and they decided there and
then they could do that and they did! So started his illustrious racing career.
Stanley Woods entered his first TT race in 1922 when he was eighteen years old.
He competed in the Junior on a Cotton and finished in fifth place, whilst his friend
Paddy Johnston was a contender in the Lightweight on a New Imperial, but retired.
Stanley competed in the TT consecutively from 1922 – 1939 on nine different
manufacturers bikes, listed as follows:-
Cotton, Scott, New Imperial, Royal Enfield, Norton, Guzzi, D.K.W. and
Velocette.
He was once asked which was his most memorable TT. He
replied “They were all memorable in one way or another,
though on looking back, I well remember the 1938 Senior
TT, when riding a Guzzi. I snatched victory from Jimmy
Guthrie by four seconds on the last lap. “
His TT record was impeccable. He rode thirty seven races,
finished in twenty one, achieved eleven fastest or record
laps, won ten,
was placed
second twice and
third once. He was never lower than sixth
and in 1932, 1933 and 1935 won two TTs
in a week.
In 1925 Stanley Woods became a
Mackintosh's rep himself, but after after a
couple of years left and with the
assistance of his father they opened their
own TTToffee Works in Grandby Place,
Dublin. This however didn't last all that
long, from 1927 till the early thirties,
when the general recession began biting
deeper. Seeing the writing on the wall
they closed the factory down. Though he
had raced in various events he was now
free to pick and choose.
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