Adam Easton

The death of Adam Barnes Easton at the age of 71 in a motorcycle racing accident on the famous Tourist Trophy circuit on the Isle of Man has shocked aficionados of vintage and classic motor cycles.

His passing has also stunned his neighbours and many friends in Musselburgh, where he was born and raised, and to where he returned after a stay in Edinburgh during his working life.

Adding yet another layer of tragedy to his untimely death is that Easton was to have been ordained an elder at North Esk Parish Church next Sunday after years as a member of the Congregational Board. It is perhaps typical of a man described as self-effacing yet also larger than life that he had only recently allowed his name to go forward for election as elder at the church where the Rev Alison McDonald is the minister.

Easton was always proud of his roots in the Honest Toun, where he attended the local Grammar School and was a stalwart figure in the 61st Edinburgh (Musselburgh) Boys Brigade attached to North Esk Parish Church, in which he rose to the rank of staff sergeant.

Perhaps it was the discipline of the BBs which attracted him to the police, and growing to over 6ft tall and being well-built, it seemed a natural progression for him to become a “bobby”. Easton duly served a full career, much of it based in Edinburgh, with the local force.

After his police service he became a taxi driver and latterly worked in the airport taxi service. However, it was motorcycling that had been his passion from a young age, his father Andrew being a keen motorcyclist who would pack his wife and son on to the pillion and sidecar for trips and holidays.

Easton owned motorcycles from his teens, but as he grew older he became hugely interested in classic and vintage motorcycles such as the beautiful Norton 500cc racing bike on which he lavished his attention and money.

He was very much at home with fellow enthusiasts such as the Melville Motor Club, who race at East Fortune in East Lothian, and as is so often the case, owning a classic bike is often the first step to racing them, and having previously visited the Isle of Man for Tourist Trophy events, in 1983 he raced in the Manx Grand Prix, known as the Amateur TT.

He would go on to perform well in various races on the island, competing in 34 races in all, and notching up a best-placed 11th in the Manx Grand Prix.

An only child, Easton’s mother died at a young age but his father lived until October, 2009, after which Easton found some clues in his father’s papers about the hero of the family, Andrew Easton’s brother John.

Last year, Easton revealed the remarkable story behind his uncle John Easton’s wartime bravery, which had led to the Thistle Foundation naming John Easton House in Craigmillar, Edinburgh, after him.

It emerged that John Easton had been a member of the Long Range Desert Group, forerunners of the SAS. He was wounded in the throat during a raid on an enemy fortress in 1941 and, despite his injury and with only two gallons of water between them, John Easton and three companions trekked almost 300 miles across the desert to safety only for John to die of his wounds. He was mentioned in despatches and it was one of the proudest days of Adam Easton’s life when the Ministry of Defence last year presented him with his uncle’s wartime medals that he had not lived to collect.

It was for his own motorcycling exploits that Easton became well-known, both in Scotland and the Isle of Man. A familiar figure at the Manx Grand Prix, which he attended for 28 years, Easton was believed to have been the oldest competitor in this year’s race.

He had told some acquaintances that this year’s event might be his last if he could break his own record for the circuit, though others think he might never have broken the habit of attending the races.

What did indeed prove to be Easton’s final race in the Manx Grand Prix was the 500cc Classic last Wednesday in which he competed on his beloved Norton. He came off his bike at Lambfell on the approach to the Cronk-y-voddy Straight, which is such a famous section of the circuit. He suffered multiple injuries and, after being attended to by the race marshals and medical staff, he was rushed to Noble’s Hospital in Douglas where he was found to be dead on arrival.

An inquest was begun but the coroner adjourned it until a later date. Easton was the third competitor to be killed during the week of racing on the Isle of Man.

Tributes to him were paid by Manx Motorcyle Club chairman Bill Bennett: “I knew Adam well from when he first competed at the Manx Grand Prix. He was very much part of the Manx Grand Prix family, well liked by everyone in the paddock and one of the real characters involved with the event. He will be greatly missed.”

One motorcyclist friend and fellow competitor said simply that Easton had died “doing something he loved”.

Easton never married and is survived by his cousins, one of whom, John, is named after Easton’s brave uncle. It was to him that Adam Easton gave the hero’s medals, but to the rest of his family and friends he leaves the memory of a respectful gentleman who loved his motorcycle racing.

MARTIN HANNAN