Stuart Slack

Stuart Slack

Personal information
Full name	Stuart George SLACK
Born	25 January 1935 [1] Douglas, Isle of Man
Died	5 December 1998
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Amateur team
Manx Viking Wheelers/Ellan Vannin CC
Medal record Cycling Representing  Isle of Man British Empire & Commonwealth Games 1958 Cardiff road race

Stuart Slack (25 January 1935 – 5 December 1998) was a racing cyclist from the Isle of Man. He was part of the first ever Manx team to participate in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games.[2]

Slack participated in the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, taking part in the road cycling event. He finished third in the event, arriving in a five-man group nearly three minutes behind the race winner, Ray Booty[3] winning a Bronze Medal after a photo-finish.[4][5] In 2011, this result was described as being "against all expectations" and was credited with increasing the popularity of cycling in the Isle of Man.[6]

Later in his life, Slack published two books about the island. He was also a noted Manx musician and Isle of Man folk songwriter.[7] This including the popular folk song ‘The Laxey Wheel’ (1957).[8] A number of different recordings of Stuart Slack's folk songs were banned by the local commercial radio station Manx Radio for being too "risqué."[9]

Since his death in 1998 there is an annual cycle event in his memory.[10]

In 2002, the Isle of Man Post Office issued a set of postage stamps for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester including a 22 pence stamp depicting the photo-finish of Stuart Slack's third-place finish in the Men's Cycling Road race at the 1958 Empire Games.[11]

Published works

• Slack, Stuart (2003). Manx Milestones. The Manx Experience. ISBN 978-1873120583.
• Slack, Stuart (1996). Streets of Douglas – Old and New. The Manx Experience. ISBN 978-1873120279.

Discography

• Wreck of the Herring Fleet
• The Laxey Wheel
• Bulgham Bombshell
• The Foxdale Miner
• Laxey Girls are the Boys
• Ride the Rails
• Give Me the Bus Fare to Laxey
• Illiam Done
• Ballamodha Dragoons
• Effort
• My Little Home at Port-e-Chee
• The Port Erin Breakwater Disaster

45 rpm single

• Isle of Man TT Hall of Fame (David Collister) / The Laxey Wheel Song (Stuart Slack) David Collister/Athol Moore Manx Radio Recordings (c.1972) Hillary Productions
• Mannin Folk – Mannin Folk Sing / Track 1. The Laxey Wheel Song (Stuart Slack) Kelly Recordings (1976)
• Give Me The Bus Fare to Laxey (Stuart Slack) / Smugglers Lullaby (Traditional) Mike Williams/Laury Kermode – Kelly Recordings

[12]

Sources

1. "Stuart George Slack's Personal Data". museocyclismo.it. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
2. The Manchester Guardian page 6 Monday 28 July 1958
3. The Daily Express page 8 Monday 28 July 1958
4. Isle of Man Times page 7 THIS PICTURE MADE GAMES HISTORY Friday 1 August 1958 “Stuart Slack Wins a Bronze in Photo-Finish.”
5. "Commonwealth Games Federation – Commonwealth Games – Event Results". thecgf.com. Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
6. "Tour de France hero Mark Cavendish leads Our Sporting Life at Isle of Man's Manx Museum". Culture24. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
7. Bazin, Fenella (1 April 2001). Belcham, John (ed.). A New History of the Isle of Man, Vol. 5. p. 393. ISBN 9781781387788.
8. Isle of Man Weekly Times page 4 12 August 1984 ".....Stuart also wrote the music and words of that well known song the Laxey Wheel."
9. Manx Independent page 53 STUART SLACK – THE CYCLIST Friday 11 December 1998 Isle of Man Newspapers Ltd (1998) Johnson Press Publishing
10. "Stuart Slack memorial ride this Sunday". IOM Today. 13 October 2003. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
11. Stanley Gibbons: Collect Channel Islands and Island of Man Stamps 2016 page 212 Stanley Gibbons Limited; 30th edition (2016) ISBN 0-85259-962-5 " 17th Commonwealth Games, Manchester Photographic Montages 2002 (11 Mar.) 976 937 22p. multicoloured."
12. "Stuart Slack". www.discogs.com. 10 August 2019.

External links

• No details listed, Stuart Slack at Cycling Archives (archived)