Clady Circuit

The Clady Circuit lies in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, where public roads once carried the Ulster Grand Prix. Between 1922 and 1939 the full 33-kilometre course ran from Loanends Primary School past Christy’s Brae and through RAF Aldergrove to Muckamore Corner. In 1947 organisers shortened the route to 27 kilometres, removing the Aldergrove section and finishing at Nutts Corner instead. Riders set remarkable records on these roads. Les Graham averaged 170 kilometres an hour in 1952 to lap the short circuit in nine minutes and twenty-one seconds. Dorino Serafini reached 161 kilometres an hour on the longer route in 1939, while Cromie McCandless claimed the race record at nearly 161 kilometres an hour the same year the short course closed. Today the roads still carry the shape of the old track. Sections of the B39 and A52 show where bikes once raced, and the straight from Antrim to Clady Corner remains a fast run. Greenmount and Muckamore Corner mark the limits of the earlier laps, while Nutts Corner marks the finish of the later races.