PART 4 OF CANON STENNINGS COURSE GUIDE FROM THE 1958 TT PROGRAMME

Immediately after after the road leaves Ramsey comes the HAIRPIN another of the major spectacles of the races, and the road proceeds onward and upward to the WATERWORKS Corner (the Ramsey reservoir lies a few hundred feet below) and to the GOOSENECK, a nasty right-hand turn on a steep gradient. For a few hundred yards the road runs in the parish of Maughold and is steep up to the Cutting, the old name for the bend in the road where the GUTHRIE MEMORIAL now stands.This memorial is where Jimmy Guthrie came to a stop when leading the race in 1937, his last appearance on the island before the end of his delightful, happy and amazingly successful career.

On the left hand is North Barrule, the hill of Watch and Ward guarding the north of the island.Above Guthries is the mountain straight, uphill but very fast.
At the end of this straight comes what used to be called the East Mountain Gate, a complete misnomer since the road runs from north to south...
Ahead to the right is SNAEFELL the highest mountain on the island, now crowned with a multitude of buildings. The course runs along the "VERANDAH" a sort of small corniche road looking down on the village of Laxey. It passes the shelter erected to the memory of R.L.Graham, one of the most poular riders of his time and 1953 125cc Lightweight winner.
The next landmark is the BUNGALOW, which was a most untidy looking sprawling building built as a place of refreshment. The building survived fifty years of TT racing but now with no regrets it has been demolished and replaced with the small stone building there today.
The course comprises a gentle left-right S-bend over the railway lines, a popular vantage point with its long sweep of view. The mountain on the right is Beinn-y-Phott (more commonly Penny-Pot -Scand: turf mountain) named from its mass of peat, formerly used as fuel.
The right-hand sweep carries the machines round to BRANDYWELL and then immediately the road descends by gradual degrees all the way back to the Start. To WINDY CORNER it is comparatively steep and away on the right is Garraghan ( the rough hill) across the East Baldwin valley. Garraghan is a witches hill, a place of ill-repute and evil fortune, where lives the "Little Red Witch", to see whom presages the most terrible misfortune..

WINDY CORNER at the bottom of tyhe descent has a very fast right-hand bend. This corner gets its name from the fact that if there is any wind a-blowing , and on the island it is rare indeed to have no wind, then Windy Corner has the full force, and gives the most unpleasant twists to the handlebars.
The descent continues alongside the East Balwin valley to the 33rd Milestone. For many years this is a corner with an evil reputation, causing many a spill because of its awkward bends and adverse cambers on a very fast piece of the course. Following a long gentle right-hand bend the road turns rather sharply to the left. This section is called the "KEPPEL GATE" a name which has nothing to do with gates but is a combination of two scandinavian words, Kapla and Gata meaning the road to the summit, giving a proper name. From this point the rapid descent gives machines a terrific speed, but the corner at the bottom, CREG-NY-BAA, is so severe that in spite of its straw bales it cannot be taken at speed which means so heavy braking. Creg-ny-Baa (Celt: the hill of the COW (not sheep!) is in the parish of Onchan.
St. Conchen is in the dedication of the church, an Irish equivalent of St Christopher.

From the Creg there is a two mile run downhill to HILLBERRY, formerly Knockberry (Celt: Knock and Celt: Berry both mean hill).
Hillbery a right hand bend ia rare thrill at speed and from here the road rises a little to CRONK-NY-MONA where it runs on to SIGNPOST CORNER and then right, down to BEDPOST or BEDSTEAD CORNER, so called from the early days when a farmer used an array of old bedframes as fencing and they showed up on the skyline.
From Signpost to GOVERNORS BRIDGE speeds are greatly reduced by narrow roads and well-marked corners. Governors Bridge is so called because of its proximity to Government House. The actual "bridge" well after the hairpin corner is actually over the stream flowing down GLENCRUTCHERY, starting from the spring or Chibbyr, famous in bygone days for its use by farmers wives who found that a few drops in the churn would bring along the butter rapidly. From here, down the Glencrutchery Road a short straight completes the lap..........

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