Ramsey Hairpin (in ) is a point on the

Snaefell Mountain Course The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or ''TT Course'' or ''Snaefell Mountain Course'' or ''Elmo’s Mountain Course'' is a street and Road racing, public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle ''T ...

used for the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

races on the

Snaefell Mountain Road The A18 Snaefell Mountain Road or ''Mountain Road'' () is a primary main A-road of in length which connects the towns of Douglas and Ramsey in the Isle of Man. Description The Mountain Road is part of Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or TT C ...

, designated as A18, in the parish of

Maughold Maughold (also known as Macaille, Maccaldus, Machalus, Machaoi, Machella, Maghor, Mawgan, Maccul, Macc Cuill; died c. 488 AD) is venerated as the patron saint of the Isle of Man. Tradition states that he was an Irish people, Irish prince and c ...

in the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. It is situated between the 24th and 25th Milestone road-side markers used for the races on the 37+ mile circuitous-course, measured from the startline at the

TT Grandstand The TT Grandstand including the startline, pit lane, re-fuellers, merchandising, scoreboard and paddocks for the Isle of Man TT and Manx Grand Prix races is situated on the A2 Glencrutchery Road, in the town of Douglas, Isle of Man. Histor ...

. The A18 Snaefell Mountain Road – linking the towns of

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Companies *Ramsey (retailer), Turkish clothing retailer People * Ramsey (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Ramsey (surname), including a list of people with the surname * Baron de Ramsey, a title i ...

and

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

– was developed in the mid-nineteenth century from a number of pre-existing tracks and

bridle path A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider ...

s. As this section of road was purpose-built from Whitegates, in the Ramsey outskirts, to the Gooseneck at the start of the Snaefell mountain slopes, it reflects typical highway and railway construction practices of the time, including establishing a purpose-built

hairpin turn A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal ha ...

at Ballacowle Glen on the outskirts of Ramsey. The Ballacowle Glen, later renamed as Elfin Glen to attract tourists,''An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Isle of Man'' by David T.Webber Revised by Frank Cowin and F.J.Radcliffe page 54 (1997) The Manx Experience was purchased by the Isle of Man Forestry, Lands and Mines Board in 1963 along with the nearby Lhergy Frissel and Claughbane Woods. The combined glens, including a disused

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

quarry, cover an area of on steep mountain-side slopes with many different species of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

and

coniferous Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

trees. The Ramsey Hairpin was part of the

Highland Course Highroads Course was a road-racing circuit used for the Gordon Bennett British Eliminating Trial held in the Isle of Man for the 1904 and 1905 Tourist Trophy Race involving touring automobiles and cars. The events were held on public roads clos ...

and the

Four Inch Course The Four Inch Course was a road racing, road-racing circuit first used for the 1908 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (automobiles), 1908 Tourist Trophy Race for cars, held on public roads closed for racing by an Act of Tynwald (the parliament of the I ...

used for the Gordon Bennett Trial and Tourist Trophy car races held between 1904 and 1922, and is part of the Snaefell Mountain Course used since 1911 for the TT and 1923 for the

Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or ' Mountain Circuit') annually, usually at the end of August and early September. Traditionally the event has been staged over a two week period but this was reduce ...

races.

Sources

External links

Elfin Glen at IoM guide
{{coord, 54, 18, 49, N, 4, 23, 01, W, display=title, region:IM_type:landmark Ramsey Hairpin Corners of the Isle of Man TT