Kate's Cottage, Isle of Man a former Mountain Shepherd’s cottage is situated adjacent to the 34th TT Milestone racing road-side milestone marker used on the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course near to Keppel Gate on the primary A18Snaefell mountain road in Kirk Onchan parish, in the Isle of Man. The A18 Snaefell Mountain Road was developed in the mid-19th century from a number of pre-existing roads, carting-tracks and bridle paths. This included installation of a number of sheep-gates including the East Mountain Gate, the Beinn-y-Phott sheep-gate and Nobles Gate at Brandywell and Keppel Gate. This section of the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road from the Keppel Gate to Park Mooar/Park Llewellyn 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 in 1829 and the Disafforesting Commission of 1860.
Origin of name
It has often been alluded to that a BBC commentator mistakenly referred to Tate's Cottage as Kate's Cottage. The name may have originated as a printers typesetting error with the mountain cottage at the Keppel mountain accidentally being transposed to Kate's Cottage during the printing process. The property, formerly owned by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, was sold at public auction and is now in private ownership.
Motor-Sport Heritage
Contemporary photographs of the RAC Tourist Trophy races for automobiles held in the Isle of Man 1905–1922 and the Isle of Man TT races in the 1920’s, show sheep-gates at Kate's Cottage and also at Keppel Gate, with the name Keppel Gate in general referred to both locations. The Keppel Gate section of the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road was part of the 52.15 mile Highland Course 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. In 1911, the Four Inch Course was first used by the Auto-Cycling Union for the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races. This included the Keppel Gate section and Kates Cottage 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.
