SARAH'S COTTAGE

Sarah's Cottage ( otherwise known as Sarah's by locals and Motorcycle Fans) is an iconic landmark corner and Vantage Point situated between the 9th Milestone and 10th Milestone road-side markers on the Snaefell Mountain Course used for the Isle of Man TT Races on Creg Willey's Hill on the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey Road in the parish of German in the Isle of Man.

In the 1890's the cottage was occupied by Sarah Corlett of Cronk Dhoo.  As part of 'The Long Round,' the journey  from Castletown to Ramsey using the primary A3 road made by horse-drawn carriers and later by Charabanc many residents on the route provided food by the roadside to travellers and the stop at Greg Willey's Hill by Sarah Corlett's cottage was a popular one for refreshments. The many hill-farms in the area also provided passing trade as school children attending the last school on the Isle of Man to still teach Manx Gaelic at the old Cronk-y-Voddy School and they referred to Sarah Corlett in Sarah's Cottage as Sarah Vilyn ('Sarah of the Sweets').^[2]

The Glen Helen section of the A3 Castletown to Ramsey road including Sarah’s Cottage was part of the St. Johns Short Course used for the Isle of Man TT races between 1907 and 1910.^[3]

The Glen Helen section of A3 Castletown to Ramsey including Sarah’s Cottage was part of the 37.50 Mile Four Inch Course for the RAC Tourist Trophy races held in the Isle of Man between 1908 and 1922. ^[4]

In 1911 the Four Inch Course for automobiles was first used by the Auto-Cycling Union for the Isle of Man TT Motorcycle Races. This included the Glen Helen section^[6] of Laurel Bank, Black Dub, Sarah’s Cottage and Creg Willeys Hill and the course later became known and the course later became known as the 37.73 mile course which has been used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT Races and from 1923 for the Manx Grand Prix races.

During the 1965 Isle of Man TT, heavy rain and strong cross-winds on the A18 Mountain Road section of the course dominated the Senior TT race. The notoriously difficult uphill section of the Mountain Course at Sarah's Cottage and the heavy rain and slippery conditions caused Giacomo Agostini to slide-off on lap two. This was followed on lap three when his MV Agusta teammate, Mike Hailwood crashed at the same spot at Sarah's Cottage.[8Hailwood bump started  his damaged machine, pointing in the wrong direction along the course downhill, turned around and went on to win the race.

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During the early 1960's the cottage was un-occupied and fell into disrepair, until 1975 when it was purchased by then, Wirral Grocers James Henry & Betty Shuttleworth after their son Roy, who had been working the summer seasons at White City Amusement Park in Onchan , mentioned the derelict cottage to them on his return back to Wirral.  Following major restoration work Jim and Betty registered with the tourist board as a bed and breakfast establishment, taking in their first guests, the Smith family from West Kirby, in the summer of 1976. Betty died tragically aged 62yrs of a heart attack in the car park of the old Peel surgery in 1988 and Jim carried on the B&B business into the late 1990's, when he eventually retired aged 75yrs. Jim passed away in 2014 aged 95yrs.

The cottage is still in the Shuttleworth family as son Roy along with his wife Alma and their youngest daughter Ellen moved to the Island in 2016 and with the support of their other children Jenni, Roy, Abigail and Fiona, they began yet another major renovation of Sarah's, which is now registered with the tourist board as 4 star self catering accommodation. 

Sarah's is a popular vantage point for motorcycle enthusiasts to watch the TT and Manx Grand Prix Races, free of charge and Roy, Alma and Ellen have carried on the family tradition of offering snacks and drinks at sensible prices. for spectators