Keppel Gate, Isle of Man

Keppel Gate

Keppel Gate TT Mountain Course Sign on the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road with a southerly aspect looking towards Slieau Ree and Keppel Gate.
Coordinates 54°12′50.9″N 4°28′47.1″W / 54.214139°N 4.479750°W / 54.214139; -4.479750Coordinates: 54°12′50.9″N 4°28′47.1″W / 54.214139°N 4.479750°W / 54.214139; -4.479750
Built 1860–1870, 1922-23, 1992
Location of Keppel Gate in Isle of Man

Keppel Gate, Isle of Man[1] along with the nearby Kate's Cottage are near to the 34th TT Milestone road-side marker used for the Snaefell Mountain Course, situated on the primary A18 Mountain Road in the parish of Kirk Onchan in the Isle of Man.

In a 1967 interview with Bob Currie of Motor Cycle, former TT rider Howard R. Davies, who also manufactured HRD Motorcycles, stated that Keppel Gate was originally situated at the side of Kate's Cottage, closing-off the mountain road, and the corner now known as Keppel Gate was originally termed as Clark's Corner, named after historic TT rider R.O. Clark, where he dropped his Levis in 1920.[2]

The left-hander in the direction of the TT course[3][4] at 1,100 feet (340 m) above sea level[5] demarks the start of the steep descent off the Mountain[6] towards the finish line in Douglas a few miles away,[7] and the transition from moorland grazing to arable farmland at a lower altitude.[8]

Origin of name

The name Keppel [9] originates from the Scandinavian for Kappafjall (The champion or hero's mountain). This is probably the Scandinavian name for the nearby Slieau Meayll or Slieau Ree mountains.[10]

A18 Snaefell mountain road

The A18 Snaefell Mountain Road was developed in the mid-19th century from a number of pre-existing roads, carting-tracks and bridle paths. This included installation of a number of sheep-gates including the East Mountain Gate, the Beinn-y-Phott sheep-gate at Brandywell and Keppel Gate.[11]

The section of the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road from the Gooseneck corner near Ramsey to Keppel Gate was built on common grazing land that were transferred to the UK Crown following the sale of the Island's feudal rights by the Duke of Atholl after the Disafforesting Commission of 1860.[12]

Keppel Gate and Keppel Park showing the 2015 landscaping.

The Keppel Gate section of A18 Mountain Road was subject to road re-surfacing work during the winter of 2006–2007 by the Isle of Man Department of Transport. In August 2009, before the 2009 Manx Grand Prix, a section of grass bank was removed from the southern side of Keppel Gate to provide a run-off area after a practice crash by the Australian TT competitor Cameron Donald and a further incident involving a Travelling Marshal, John McBride, during the 2009 races. In April 2015, the Highways Section of the Isle of Man Department of Infrastructure instigated a programme of landscaping at Keppel Gate, including the removal of a small grass bank on the north-eastern side of the corner, road re-profiling and re-surfacing work.[13]

Motor-sport heritage

TT Race Marshall's Shelter at Keppel Gate with adjacent historic stone gatepost relocated from its original site as a memento

The Keppel Gate section of the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road was part of the 52.15 mile Highland Course (amended to 40.38 miles in 1906) and the 37.50 Mile Four Inch Course used for car racing including the 1904 Gordon Bennett Trial and the RAC Tourist Trophy car races held between 1905 and 1922. In 1911 the Four Inch Course for cars was first used by the Auto-Cycling Union for the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races. This included the Keppel Gate section and the course later became known as the 37.73 mile Snaefell Mountain Course which has been used since 1911 for the TT and from 1923 for the Manx Grand Prix races.

Sources

  1. ↑ TT Special page 15 Editor G.S.Davison 16th June 1933 "....The view is perfect; not only can we see Kate's Cottage at Keppel Gate, but also the outline of the Snaefell Hotel...."
  2. ↑ Motor Cycle 15 June 1967, Diamond TT number, pp.798-801. Flashbacks over 60 years. Howard R. Davies of HRD Motorcycles interviewed by Bob Currie. "See that shot [img] of Kate's Cottage, with the gate across the road? That was Keppel Gate, a very real gate as also was the East Mountain Gate, near where the Mountain Box now stands. Nowadays the left-hander above Kate's is called Keppel Gate but that is wrong. That is (or was) Clark's Corner, where R.O. Clark dropped his Levis two-fifty while lying second in the 1920 Junior TT. I could tell you stories about those Mountain gates. It's quite true that, very often, the first man over during the early morning practices had to get off and open the gates when the marshall had failed to get up in time. The Mountain road was narrow at the best of times, but it narrowed still more to pass through the gates. Naturally, the gate-posts were a danger and, anyway, we thought they were an eyesore. So one year Jack Watson-Bourne and a couple more sneaked up to Keppel during the night, uprooted the post and left it, tied in a blue ribbon, in the Sefton Hotel! ". Accessed 20 June 2015
  3. ↑ Isle of Man TT, by Charles Deane, 1975, p.43, (a Patrick Stephens publication) "The surface is extremely bumpy on the narrow line into the corner which widens considerably before the right-hand bend leading to Keppel Gate. Over this section of the Mountain, the bike tends to run away from you and it takes extra concentration to bring the bouncing, bucking machine under control as you brake hard for the right and then tight left-hand corner at Keppel Gate". Accessed 27 May 2016
  4. ↑ The TT Mountain Course, 1975, Fred Hanks (sidecar racer), a TT Special publication, p.37 "...right leading into KEPPEL GATE, a tightening left continuing. Sharp drop down to KATE'S COTTAGE, a less severe left...". Accessed 28 May 2016
  5. ↑ The Lucas Contour Map of the TT circuit, The TT Mountain Course, 1975, Fred Hanks (sidecar racer), a TT Special publication, p.45 Accessed 5 June 2016
  6. ↑ The Lucas Contour Map of the T.T. Circuit (based on Ordnance Survey), The Lucas Electrical Company Ltd, 1975. Accessed 28 May 2016
  7. ↑ Isle of Man TT, by Charles Deane, 1975, p.43, (a Patrick Stephens publication) "...and then tight left-hand corner at Keppel Gate. Here the road really begins to plummet down the Mountain and a few hundred yards ahead you see the whitewashed walls of Kate's Cottage". Accessed 27 May 2016
  8. ↑ Domesday Reloaded BBC, [img] VIEW OF FARMLAND "Taken by C.Williamson, June '85. Looking down Honey Hill towards the sea from the Creg-ny-Baa road. It shows the variety of crops in area"". Retrieved 28 May 2016
  9. ↑ Place Names in the Isle of Man page 126 by George Broderick ISBN 978-3-484-40130-3, "1851 Kippal's Gate, 1956 Keppel Gate....'big-trunk, stock, post hill, or looked like a tree-stump' ON keppa-fjall."
  10. ↑ Manx Note Book
  11. ↑ Isle of Man Examiner page 5 dated 5 June 1969
  12. ↑ Manx Milestones pages 13–17 and pages 57–58 by Stuart Slack (1st Edition)(2003)The Manx Experience ISBN 1-873120-58-3
  13. ↑ Manx Independent – Manninagh Seyr page 4 Isle of Man Newspapers Ltd (2015) Johnston Press Publishing – Newsprint (Knowlsey) Ltd   4 April 2015

External links

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