2023: The Isle of Man

Did you know that the Bee Gees (the famous singing group from the 1960s) came originally from the Isle of Man? No, neither did I.

Rewind slightly .... we had often said that we would love to visit the Isle of Man, but we never got around to doing so. Then, after last summer's wonderful trip to Jersey with Newmarket Holidays we decided at fairly short notice to book one of their trips to the Isle of Man and, taking advantage of the last two available places on their next tour, we were soon on our way

There was a storm blowing in from the Atlantic so we were delayed for a few hours at Birmingham Airport. Apparently the little high-wing aircraft which fly to the Isle of Man are particularly affected by cross-winds when landing, and the pilot did a superb job of landing us at extremely high speed and then braking very hard to stop in time. We could tell the airport had every confidence in him too, judging by the line of fire-engines and ambulances that were standing by at the end of the runway.

Soon we were in our seafront hotel, in an excellent room, watching the waves breaking over the promenade and over anybody who was walking there. During the afternoon the weather had greatly improved, so we could have a most enjoyable stroll along the seafront  There were some beautiful gardens, including one dedicated to the work of Sir William Hillary who was one of the principal founders of the RNLI. His story is fascinating: when a ship was wrecked on a small rocky island near Douglas harbour, he organised a rescue mission during which the lifeboat capsized and cast everybody (including Sir William) into the water. Somehow there were no casualties, and both  the shipwrecked sailors and the rescue crew were able to wait on the rocky island to be brought ashore when the weather improved, Following this incident, Sir William established a shelter on the island and kept it stocked with food and water, so that if anybody was shipwrecked there they could wait safely for better weather; that shelter still exists today, as of course does the RNLI

It was on the same afternoon stroll that Debbie found the statue of the Bee Gees.

The Isle of Man has a wealth of historical modes of transport. The following morning we were taken to the station for a trip on the steam railway which runs for 15 miles from Douglas to Fort Erin. This railway was the inspiration for Rev W Audrey's "Thomas the Tank Engine" stories.

On the way we stopped at Casletown for a highly enjoyable visit to the Old House of Keys, where the Tynwald used to meet. The Tynwald is the oldest continuously-serving Parliament in the world; established by the Vikings, it originally met at a field elsewhere on the island until the Middle Ages when Castletown was declared the Island's capital and the Tynwald moved there.. As a tour group we sat in the old chambers and debated a number of actual historical cases before voting on them and comparing our modern viewpoints with those of the original Tynwald.

Also at Castletown there is (would you believe?) a very fine castle. Castle Rushen is regarded as one of the world's best-preserved mediaeval fortress, and we had an excellent guided tour around it before we climbed to the very top of the castle for the magnificent views across the town. The historical atmosphere in the castle is very well created by the use of mannequins to illustrate everyday castle life.

The original Tynwald field. A ceremonial meeting is still held there once a year.		The 19th century Tynwald meeting place, the Old House of Keys	Inside Castle Rushen	Debbie with James Stanley, 17th century Lord of Mann

Continuing our rail journey, we spent the rest of the afternoon at Port Erin. There was a beautiful beach there, and many people were enjoying the beautiful sunshine. It all had a wonderfully old-fashioned atmosphere: children were building sand-castles or playing ball-games, groups of people were splashing about in the gentle waves, and older people were relaxing in deck-chairs. There were also modern activities such as crazy golf and a children's singing competition, and the busy promenade was lined with stalls selling everything from ice-cream to doughnuts, from souvenirs to home-made jewellery, from clothing to toys, and so on.

Finally after visiting Port Erin's railway museum  we boarded the steam train for our return to Douglas.

The beach at Port Erin	Debbie has found a maritime friend	I loved this old sign	Inside the Port Erin railway museum

The next day our coach took us across the island to Peel, passing numerous road-signs which reminded us of the island's most famous sporting event, the TT motorcycle races. Peel itself has a superb museum, which presented us with a comprehensive view of the island's history from Viking times until the present day. As well as static displays such as the replica Viking long-boat (which had actually been rowed to the island from Norway), there were a number of interactive tableaux which really brought the stories to life, and a couple of hours passed in seemingly no time at all.

There are road-signs such as this one on many of the roads	Vikings outside the museum at Peel, hauling on the ropes of ...	... a replica Viking longboat inside the museum ...	.... with a fearsome emblem on its prow.

After a brief stroll around the ruins of Peel fortress, we found a small seafront stall selling the most superb freshly-cooked snacks. We sat at a small table in front of the stall eating a couple of burger-buns filled with a simply delicious local speciality of Queen Scallops, before visiting a nearby public-house to sample a glass of the local beer.

Our journey back to Douglas was on a vintage electric tram, which we joined at Ramsey. We chose an open carriage so that we could enjoy the breathtakingly beautiful coastal scenery. The downside of this choice was the rather cold wind blowing strongly at us from the sea, but we had brought suitable clothing to wear so we very much enjoyed the trip.

The following day was fine and clear as we excitedly boarded one of the magnificently-preserved coaches of the fascinating Snaefell Mountain Railway. It is said that you can see seven Kingdoms from the mountain's summit: Mann, Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, Heaven, and Neptune. The views were superb as we climbed the mountain to a height of 2000 feet - but unfortunately the cloud base was also at 2000 feet and the summit station, which is at a height of 2020 feet, was totally surrounded by cloud so we had no views at all. Luckily the cafe there was open so we could enjoy their coffee and home-made cakes before catching the train back down to Laxey.

Electric carriages of the tramway and of the mountain railway	The mountain railway carriages are beautiful inside	There are spectacular views as we climb the mountain	The view from the summit is rather less impressive!	The mountain railway coach

The Laxey wheel is rightly regarded as one of the great engineering marvels of its age, and is an iconic tourist attraction for the island. At over 72ft high, the wheel was built to pump water out of the nearby mines; powered by water which is piped down from the mountain, it drives the pumps by means of a long drive-shaft which is supported by an impressive viaduct leading to the mines.

So far our vintage travels had included a steam train, an electric tram, and an electric mountain railway. This left one major mode of transport for us to experience: the horse-drawn tram. After returning from Laxey, to Douglas, instead of walking back to our hotel or travelling by coach we opted to catch the horse-tram which runs along the promenade. In fact we stayed on board past our hotel to the tram terminus where the horse is detached and then re-attached to the other end of the tram so that there is no need to turn the tram around, and then back again to the hotel

And so, after a thoroughly enjoyable short stay on the Isle of Man, we flew back to Birmingham and caught a modern train down to Milton Keynes; my goodness it did seem to travel quickly after the leisurely pace of the past few days!

All pictures on this site are © Allan Jones unless otherwise stated