TT star Jackie still doing 100.. but this time without the bike

THE world famous Isle of Man TT motorbike races are currently marking their centenary year.

And so is the oldest surviving competitor, as former Edinburgh bike racer Jackie McCredie celebrates his 100th birthday today.

Mr McCredie was born on March 17 1908, less than a year after the motorcycle races were first staged. The former mechanic started riding motorbikes in 1929 and entered his first TT ten years later, finishing a respectable 13th out of 26 riders.

He competed on his Excelsior motorcycle – the only bike he would ever take to the TT throughout his career. It is now kept in a museum in England, alongside two of his TT trophies.

However, that first race proved to be his last for almost a decade following the outbreak of World War II, when the TT was suspended and Mr McCredie was employed as a mechanic fixing army vehicles.

That job took him from his home town of Bo'ness to Edinburgh, to work out of a garage on Semple Street, and he has lived in the Capital ever since.

He said: "After the war I went to work in a garage at Jock's Lodge, which I later took over once the owner retired. In 1947, the TT started up again and I took the Excelsior back down to the Isle of Man, but I failed to finish the race that year."

The following year he finished sixth in the TT48 Lightweight competition – his highest ranking – and went on to compete in a further four TTs before retiring from racing in 1953.

Longtime friend Eddie Ewart added: "After the war, when all of the former army dispatch riders started riding competitively, Jackie found it hard to keep up. These guys were mental! They knew no fear and Jackie, who was by now in his mid-40s, decided it wasn't worth the risks he was having to take and called it a day."

Mr McCredie settled down in Edinburgh and, after almost 50 years in the fast lane, married his childhood sweetheart Marian in 1956.

He retired from his Jock's Lodge business in 1985 and Marian died ten years later. He now lives in The Royal Blind's Braeside House care home in Liberton, but despite being seriously visually impaired he is still able to enjoy some of the old photos from his riding days.

Mr McCredie added: "I am the oldest living TT rider and have been invited to be an honorary member of the TT Riders Association, because of my long association with TT stretching back to the pre-war years and, interestingly, because they are also celebrating their centenary year."

Adrian Earnshaw, Isle of Man minister for tourism and leisure and head of the TT, said Mr McCredie was a valued member of the TT family. He added: "We wish Jackie all the best for his 100th birthday and we are delighted to hear that he is doing so well."

Staff at Braeside House are holding a birthday party at the home for him today, and have invited several of his old friends along to the bash.

Matron Marilyn McCann said: "Jackie is well liked in the home, a real gentleman and always looking out for others."