Guthrie's Memorial, Isle of Man

Guthrie's Memorial

TT Race Marshall's signal box on the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road looking north (in the opposite direction to a lap of the course) towards Guthrie's Memorial on the left and the Point of Ayre in the distance
Coordinates 54°17′46.2″N 4°24′20.8″W / 54.296167°N 4.405778°W / 54.296167; -4.405778Coordinates: 54°17′46.2″N 4°24′20.8″W / 54.296167°N 4.405778°W / 54.296167; -4.405778
Built 1860–1870, 1939
Location of Guthrie's Memorial in Isle of Man
The memorial

Guthrie's Memorial (previously The Cutting[1]) is a S-bend corner between the 26th Milestone and 27th Milestone motor-cycle racing road-side markers used for the Snaefell Mountain Course on the primary A18 Snaefell Mountain Road in the parish of Lezayre in the Isle of Man.[2]

A18 Snaefell Mountain Road

The A18 Snaefell Mountain Road was developed in the mid-nineteenth century from a number of pre-existing roads, carting-tracks and bridle paths. This included installation of a number of sheep-gates, milestones, the building of a series of embankments, revetments, purpose built graded sections which reflected nineteenth century highway and railway building practices.[3] This included the distinctive road embankments which gave the S-bend corner the previous name of The Cutting. 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.[4] 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 winter of 2012/2013 the stone TT Marshall's shelter at Guthrie's Memorial was demolished.

Motor-Sport Heritage

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 crashing fatally during the 1937 German Grand Prix a memorial to Jimmie Guthrie was built in 1939 at the The Cutting at a cost of £1,500.[5] 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:

“

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 for his wonderful riding and great sportsmanship. He won the race six times, beat many world's records and was first in numerous foreign races. He died while upholding the honour of his country in the German Grand Prix, August, 1937.

 ”

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."

Gallery

Sources

  1. ↑ The Magic of The TT. A Century of Racing over The Mountain page 42 Mac McDiarmid (2004) Haynes Publishing. ISBN 1-84425-002-4
  2. ↑ Isle of Man Green Final page 3 29th April 1939 "Jim Guthrie Memorial"
  3. ↑ Manx Milestones pages 13–17 by Stuart Slack (1st Edition)(2003)The Manx Experience ISBN 1-873120-58-3
  4. ↑ Manx Milestones pages 57–58 by Stuart Slack (1st Edition)(2003)The Manx Experience ISBN 1-873120-58-3
  5. ↑ Isle of Man Weekly Times page 18 dated 17 June 1939

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/22/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.