There was a point where I almost went to the Isle of Man previously. There was a 3 day weekend coming up for the early May Bank Holiday in 2015, I felt like I should make use of it and of all the things I could think of, the Isle of Man seemed like the top of the list. There were a few problems - I was looking at this trip about a week out from it potentially happening and accommodation was a bit pricey; I wasn't hugely flush with cash at that point, though could afford to go; the weather for that weekend was supposed to be crap; and it would be about 2-3 weeks too early for the steam trains to be operating, but other stuff would be. In the end, about the Tuesday before I decided I wouldn't do it because although it was the only opportunity I could see on the horizon, it didn't stack up. On the Friday, I got news that Grandad passed away. I spent the weekend at home feeling pretty sad, and also glad I wasn't in the Isle of Man coping with the news.
Although I kept an eye on an Isle of Man trip, there was never any other potential opportunity for a trip there - except for our End-Of travels. Part of the appeal admittedly was that we didn't know many other people who had been there either, because its a bit off the beaten path. Liverpool was a natural springboard location to go to the Isle of Man, as the ferries to the Island leave from there as well as flights. But the Isle of Man is known for something in particular - a motorbike race called the Isle of Man TT, which just happened to be on around the time we were looking at going. In fact, the TT is why we had time to do Snowdonia - going any sooner than we did would mean we'd arrive mid-race time when transport and accommodation were not only super expensive, but sold out. Going just afterwards gave us cheaper accommodation, but transport was still difficult and pricey - and we discovered the ferries left at inconvenient times for our travels. It took a lot of research and paper studies but in the end we cracked a way that would make it work, if somewhat unconventional. But we were going, and would have just enough time to tick off what I considered the main things on the Island. So, how did it go?
Day 1 - FLying and going to the Top
Dinner was nothing rather fancy - we went to a local supermarket, got a variety of food items plus a pack of 4 Strongbow and had a bit of a picnic on the Promenade in the evening sun. We didn't see what late night things Douglas had to offer, as we felt like relaxing in the room after an early start to the day and the rest of the day's activities!
Day 2 - To the South and to the North
For the trip back to Douglas, we rode in the open-sided trailer car but in the front seat right behind the windshield which helped protect us from the wind a lot while giving us the large unobstructed views. The guard of the tram kept pointing out various scenic areas of the coastline to take photos of, as he rode in the rear doorway of the tram itself. At one point when we were hurtling along the trolley pole which takes the electricity from the overhead wire for the tram became loose from the wire and bounced up into the holding wires for the main electricity wire. This can cause a lot of damage sometimes, but luckily for everyone there was no sign of damage and the pole still worked so we carried on. For dinner, Sasha found a venue for is in Douglas - it was kind of a Fish & Chip shop with a restaurant lounge attached, but it suited us quite fine as did the food. We hoped to try Queenies, a local scallop speciality but apparently they didn't do them there (even though online it said they did). However Sasha and I shared between us two dishes - Spuds and Herrin (Boiled Potatoes and Herring fish), and Chips, Cheese and Gravy which is very much like Canadian Poutine. We didn't stay out late this night either, as we had a fairly early start to the day the next day - to be detailed in the next blog post! |
Summing Up
Isle of Man has its own Goverment of sorts, just like Gibraltar and again like Gibraltar, while primarily it uses UK Pounds as its currency it also issues its own bank notes and coins. This has a particular relevance now since the UK changed from the old £1 round coin to a new two-metal, 12-sided £1 coin in 2017. In the UK, the old round £1 is no longer legal tender but while were were in Wales in amongst a handful of coins given to us as change we'd been given one of those old round coins, and didn't realise until later. Normally this would mean you were out of pocket by £1, but on the Isle of Man those old round £1 coins are still valid as they have their own round £1 coins which are in circulation. Therefore, we were able to spend this round £1 we were given in Wales in Isle of Man!
I've mentioned 3 of the Island's main rail-based public transportation options - the Steam Railway, the Manx Electric Railway and the Snaefell Mountain Railway, but there is a 4th that we saw but due to timing and days of operation we didn't manage to experience - the horse-drawn tram along the Douglas Promenade. In some ways this is a pity as it is in danger of being scrapped entirely, in fact they were going to do so but it got a last-minute reprieve for a year and who know's if its future is solid.
I'm so glad to have finally gone to the Isle, and seen somewhere not too many people seem to manage to get to - I can understand why, the transportation options of getting there are a bit annoying. Partly for that reason, and partly because we did everything we wanted to do there, as nice as Isle of Man was I'm not sure we'll ever really get a chance to go back there. I'd like to, but its not very high on the list despite the Isle's charms. That's fine by me too, but if you get the chance to go there, make sure you do!