Douglas, Isle of Man - For 50 weeks of the year the Isle of Man is one of the quietest places in the British Isles. Red telephone boxes still dot the landscape, horse-drawn trams meander alongside the harbour in the island's capital, Douglas, and half of the island's train network is driven by steam.
"It is," as TV personality Alan Whicker once said, "the way everything used to be."
Then for two weeks every June on this island midway between England and Ireland riders in the Tourist Trophy (TT) races make this one of the potentially most lethal roads networks on Earth, 60km of fatal accidents waiting to happen. And you don't usually have to wait long.
More than 200 bikers have been killed in the TT's 98-year history, a figure reflecting the fact that racing on the Isle of Man takes place not on a track but on the undulating, twisty, drystone-walled roads normally driven with justifiable care by residents.
Places such as Quarry Bend, where Stephen Henshaw died in 1989; Union Mills, where a stone wall claimed the life of John Clarke when he hit it at full speed; and Greeba Bridge, where Raymond Hanna crashed in 2000.
Perilous it may be, but thousands can't wait to get here every June to see if they can take it on and survive. Some don't. Two years ago Dave Jeffries, nine times winner of the Tourist Trophy, made the following observation of the course he had ridden so many times.
"To succeed on the island," he said, "you have to be totally at ease with yourself, know exactly what you're doing, and accept that you might be going home in a box."
Soon afterwards, after hitting a telegraph pole in Crosby village, he did just that.
Critics of the races, however, are not welcome, even those as elevated as the late Barry Sheene. This motorcycle legend led a successful campaign for the TT to be stripped of its World championship status after taking part once, in 1971, and concluding that the course was too dangerous.
"He either stopped or came off at the first bend," says Paul Speller of the Manx Independent newspaper. "He never even completed a lap."
But the prospect of going home in a box is not one that seems to bother many of the participants.
"It is inherently dangerous," says Albert Price, a mechanic from Wolverhampton in the English Midlands, "but that's all part of the experience. It's just genuine working blokes having a holiday."
And so, to this raucous festival of fear and challenge, come the leather-clad men and women every summer.
"It's anarchy," says Poppy, a driver with Bunty's Taxis. "The bikers go all over the place. You can't move for them in Douglas.
"They park in the middle of the street - they even ride in the nude."
Shorter circuit
Others on the island are more enthusiastic. Even on Thursday night, when the first few bikers arrive, there are signs welcoming them. Once they get here, they head for the paddock outside Castletown.
Luke Notton, 30, and his sponsor John Oldfield checked out the two Walmsley Seeley bikes Luke would be riding in the Pre-TT Classic races. These are run on a shorter circuit than the main TT events, which go over the mountain in the middle of Man.
But even the Pre-TT course goes past front doors and over railway crossings. There are bends as sharp as those on the mountain circuit and an unseated rider is likely to find himself hurtling towards a fence or a wall at high speed.
"I don't think about it," said Luke, a European champion. "I've broken ribs. When I broke my shoulder, I rode the next day."
'Watch for yer bike'
John Oldfield used to ride in the TT races until he crashed and broke his back in 1981.
"When you fall off," he said, "the first thing you should do is find out where your bike is. I thought I'd got away with it then the bike went straight into my back. Took a year to heal."
Speller conceded that the festival was not to everyone's taste.
"Some local people don't like it," he admitted, "so they book holidays to avoid it." - The Independent, London