Creg-ny-Baa, Isle of Man

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
Coordinates54°12′24″N 4°28′7″W
Built1864–1866, 1892, 1935, 1954
Creg-ny-Baa, Isle of Man is located in Isle of Man
Creg-ny-Baa, Isle of Man
Location of Creg-ny-Baa in Isle of Man

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]

  • 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
    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
    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
    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

Sources
  1. Place Names of The Isle of Man – Da Ny Manninee Dooie Volume Four Sheading of Garff (Kirk Maughold & Ramsey, Kirk Lonan and Kirk Connchan) page 419 Kirk Onchan by George Broderick (1999) Manx Place- Name Survey, Max Niemeyer Verlag Tubingen ISBN 3-484-40138-9 (Gesamtwerk) 3-484-10132-X Druck: Das Weihert-Druck GmbH Darmstadt, Eiband: Siegfried Geiger, Ammerbuch “….Creg ne baa ....small area round the road junction at 3787 in SC3981”
  2. An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of the Isle of Man page 42 by David T.Webber Revised by Frank Cowin and F.J.Radcliffe;- Editor Gordon N. Kniveton (1997) The Manx Experience ISBN 1-873120-25-7 "A road junction on the Douglas to Ramsey Mountain Road leading to Laxey."
  3. Manx Sun page 24 Small Estate Onchan Saturday 24 February 1883
  4. Isle of Man Examiner page 5 special Licensing Court Saturday 16 May 1885 The case of John Senogles, who had applied for a licensing for the Keppel Gate Hotel….
  5. Isle of Man Times page 20 Licensing Court 16 May 1885
  6. Manx Inns – A Pub crawl through History page 95 Suzanne Cubbon – Heron & Brealey Ltd (1998) Amulree Publications ISBN 978-1-901508-01-7
  7. Isle of Man Examiner page 1 Friday 20 January 1939 Creg-ny-Baa Radio Station
  8. TT Pioneers – Early Car Racing in the Isle of Man page 22 Robert Kelly, Mercury Asset Management (1996) (1st Edition) The Manx Experience, The Alden Press ISBN No 1 873120 61 3
  9. Isle of Man Car Races 1904–1953 page 30 by Neil Hanson (2015) Lily Publications ISBN 978-1-907945-36-6
  10. The Manx Experience. A Souvenir Guide to the Isle of Man. page 66-67 Gordon N. Kniverton 8th edition The Manx Experience (1987) Mannin Publishing Ltd
  11. Sunday Express page 106 Sunday 2 June 2002
  12. The History of the Manx Grand Prix page 7, 8, 9 by Bill Snelling and Peter Kneale Amulree Publishing(1998) Manx Heritage Foundation ISBN 1 901508 04 8
  13. Isle of Man Examiner page 1 THE NEW LINE AT CREG NY BAA Friday 21 May 1954
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