Guthrie's Memorial (formerly The Cutting) is a S-bend corner on the primary A18 Mountain Road in the parish of Lezayre in the Isle of Man between the 26th and 27th Milestone Isle of Man TT road-side markers on the Snaefell Mountain Course.
This S-bend corner was part of the Highland Course and Four Inch Course used for the Gordon Bennett Trial and Tourist Trophy automobile car races held in the Isle of Man between 1904 and 1922. Also, Guthrie's Memorial is part of the Mountain Course used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT and 1923 for the Manx Grand Prix Races.
The A18 Mountain Road was developed in the mid-nineteenth century from a number of pre-existing roads and bridle paths.[1] This included the building of a number of sheep-gates including the East Mountain Gate, the Beinn-y-Phott sheep-gate and Keppel Gate. The primary road A18 Mountain Road section from Keppel Gate to Park Lewellyn is a product of the Disaforesting Commission of 1860[2] which includes the distinctive road embankments which gave this S-bend corner the previous name of The Cutting. The nearby revetment and embankment at the 27th Milestone is sometimes informerly referred to as the Guthrie's Bridge. The western side embankment at Guthrie's Memorial was removed during the winter of 2004/2005 by the Isle of Man Department of Transport as a road traffic improvement, followed by a small section of the north-eastern embankment in April 2009.
During the 1937 Isle of Man TT Races, Jimmie Guthrie won the Junior TT, but retired, on lap 5 of the 1937 Senior TT race, at The Cutting on the A18 Mountain Road section of the course. After his death during the 1937 German Grand Prix a memorial was erected to him, in 1939. Paid for by public subscription, the memorial was built at the spot where he retired in his last Isle of Man TT Race. The inscription on the memorial reads as follows;-
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James Guthrie 1897–1937 Erected to the memory of Jimmy Guthrie, of Hawick, a brilliant Motor Cycle Rider, famous on the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Course from his wonderful riding and great sportsmanship. He won the race six times, beat many world records and was the first in numerous foreign races. He died while upholding the honour of his country in the Germany Grand Prix, August 1937. |
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A further memorial was created on the Hohenstein-Ernstthal or Sachsenring course, in 1949, at the site of the fatal accident. That memorial is called the "Guthrie Stone."
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