Creg-ny-Baa, Isle of Man
Historic site
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Creg-ny-Baa (English: /ˌkrɛɡnəˈbɑː/, Manx: [ˈkʰɾɛɡ nə ˈbɛ]; 'rock of the cow')[1] is located between the 3rd Milestone and 4th Milestone of the primary A18 Snaefell Mountain Road and the road junction with the secondary B12 'Creg-ny-Baa Back-Road',[2] in the parish of Kirk Onchan in the Isle of Man.
| Creg-ny-Baa | |
|---|---|
| |
  Location within Isle of Man | |
| 54°12′24″N 4°28′7″W | |
| History | |
| Built | 1864–1866, 1892, 1935, 1954 |
Description
The former farm estate of Creg-ny-Baa[3] is located near to the current Creg-ny-Baa road junction. A new hotel, the Keppel Gate Inn[4] was built c.1885[5] now known as the 'Keppel Hotel' or Creg-ny-Baa public house and restaurant.[6]
The area is also the site of a radio and telecommunications station built in 1939 for the UK General Post Office near to the Creg-ny-Baa road junction.[7]
Motor-sport heritage
The Creg-ny-Baa section of the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road was part of the 52.15 mile Highland Course (amended to 40.38 miles in 1906[8]) 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.[9]
In 1911 the Four Inch Course was first used by the Auto-Cycling Union for the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races.[10] This included the Creg-ny-Baa section[11] and the course later became known as the 37.73 mile Isle of Man TT Mountain Course for motor-cycle racing which has been used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT and from 1923 for the Manx Grand Prix races.[12]
Clypse course 1954–1959
To enable motor-cycle and sidecar racing on the new Clypse Course for the 1954 Isle of Man TT Races, during the winter of 1953–54 road widening and re-profiling occurred on the TT Course at the Creg-ny-Baa road junction along with nearby Signpost Corner, Cronk-ny-Mona and the approach to Governor's Bridge by the Isle of Man Highway and Transport Board.[13]
Gallery
Steve Hislop riding the rotary-engined Norton RCW 588 at the Creg-ny-Baa in 1992, with the white building of Kate's Cottage visible in background
Keppel Hotel or Creg-ny-Baa pub
Looking down the steep descent towards the sharp right turn at Creg-ny-Baa, with the emergency slip-road to left of the pub and Kate's Cottage behind the camera position
