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°WCoordinates: 54°12′50.9″N 4°28′47.1″W / 54.214139°N 4.479750°W
Built 1860–1870
Location of Keppel Gate in Isle of Man

Keppel Gate, Isle of Man[1] along with the nearby Kate's Cottage is adjacent to the 34th Milestone racing 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.

The word Keppel [2] is 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.[3] The sheep-gates at Keppel Gate were part of the Highland Course and Four Inch Course used for the Gordon Bennett Trial and Tourist Trophy automobile car races between 1904 and 1911. Also, Keppel Gate is part of the Mountain Course used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT and from 1923 for the Manx Grand Prix Races.

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.[4] This section of the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road from the Keppel Gate to Park Mooar / Park Llewellyn (North Barrule) was built on common grazing land that were transferred to the UK Crown following the sale of the Islands feudal rights by the Duke of Atholl after the Disafforesting Commission of 1860.[5]

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, for the 2009 Manx Grand Prix a section of grass bank was removed from the southern side of Keppel Gate. This was to provide a run-off area after a practice crash by Cameron Donald and a further incident involving a TT Travelling Marshall, John McBride, at Keppel Gate during the 2009 Isle of Man TT Races.

Gallery

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. ↑ Place Names in the Isle of Man page 126 by George Broderick ISBN 978-3-484-40130-3, 1851 Kippal's Gate
  3. ↑ Manx Note Book
  4. ↑ Isle of Man Examiner page 5 dated 5th June 1969
  5. ↑ Manx Milestones pages 13–17 and pages 57–58 by Stuart Slack (1st Edition)(2003)The Manx Experience ISBN 1-873120-58-3

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