Wednesday 18th September 2019, Isle of Man
Tonight we find ourselves back on the same site alone in the total darkness with just an invisible creature for company outside, noisily licking out our empty tin of beans.
We continued northwards on a near deserted road running alongside the west coast, with wonderful views across golden fields dotted with hay bales. Through wooded glens, at one of which we stopped to explore, finding the sandy cliffs to be eroding rapidly. Large boulders had been brought in to help hold back the power of sea storms. This far-north area is the most deserted part of the island and we saw almost nobody. Seeing a direction sign for the Isle of Man prison Jill recalled having read somewhere recently that it had been voted by its resident guests to be the best small prison in Britain.
Tonight we find ourselves back on the same site alone in the total darkness with just an invisible creature for company outside, noisily licking out our empty tin of beans.
Peel. Isle of Man.
We have spent the day exploring the west and north coasts of the island, First making our way to Peel where we left Modestine in the curiously named Boilly Spittal. Then down to the harbour of what is the main fishing port of the island. We walked along toward the quayside to St Patrick's Isle, topped by the ruins of St German's Cathedral and the impressive Castle.
Harbour, Peel. Isle of Man.
Harbour, Peel. Isle of Man.
Harbour, Peel. Isle of Man.
Castle, Peel. Isle of Man.
Fish ladder, Peel. Isle of Man.
Poster at the harbour, Peel. Isle of Man.
Castle, Peel. Isle of Man.
Castle ruins, Peel. Isle of Man.
Castle looking back to Peel. Isle of Man.
Peel. Isle of Man.
Castle walls, Peel. Isle of Man.
Sea front, Peel. Isle of Man.
Justice, Peel. Isle of Man.
Beach, Peel. Isle of Man.
Castle walls, Peel. Isle of Man.
Castle walls, Peel. Isle of Man.
Memorial, Peel. Isle of Man.
We climbed Peel Hill to the west of the town for wonderful views over the castle and across the harbour to the bay to the north, fronted by hotels and with the tower of the modern St German's Cathedral inland. We explored the steep narrow streets of the centre of the town lined with independent shops, some dating from the early 20th century when Peel was the haunt of artists and other visitors. The triskel of the three-legged man was everywhere and so it came as no surprise to us to discover that in the shoe shops footwear is sold in threes rather than pairs!!
Isle of Man shoe shop, Peel
Needing to use the cash machine outside the IOM bank we discovered their banknote are all overprinted with the three legged triskel! Even the £1 coins are different from those in mainland Britain and they are still circular. One lady we met told us that the islanders couldn't care less what happened in the EU with regard to money. They just got on and lead their own lives here, ignoring Brussels just as they had always done. They have apparently never been in the European Union and consider themselves to be an offshore island much as they do in the Channel Islands.
Peel. Isle of Man.
Manx banknotes and coins
We continued northwards on a near deserted road running alongside the west coast, with wonderful views across golden fields dotted with hay bales. Through wooded glens, at one of which we stopped to explore, finding the sandy cliffs to be eroding rapidly. Large boulders had been brought in to help hold back the power of sea storms. This far-north area is the most deserted part of the island and we saw almost nobody. Seeing a direction sign for the Isle of Man prison Jill recalled having read somewhere recently that it had been voted by its resident guests to be the best small prison in Britain.
According to the article the problem is more a case of getting the inmates to leave rather than locking them up. Outside is a bus stop which, assuming the article was genuine, collects the prisoners each morning and takes them to their workplaces in the Island's towns and returns them to the prison at the end of their shifts. Seeing a sign for visitor parking we stopped with the intention of asking if we could see this amazing jail. At visitor reception we found nobody at all and search as we might could find no way into the prison. We were reluctantly obliged to relinquish our quest, shut out from prison as we were. We must try to refind the article, if sounded amazing - more like a reward than a punishment!
Our next stop was at Bride where we found some Norse carved crosses inside the 19th century church. They dated from the 8th to 10th century. They were awesomly inscribed with knotwork, mystic creatures and one even had runic script along its outer edge.
Bride. Isle of Man.
Bride. Isle of Man.
Bride. Isle of Man.
Bride. Isle of Man
.
.
Bride. Isle of Man.
Bride. Isle of Man.
We stopped in the village teashop for afternoon coffee and found it to be crowded with grey-haired elderly holiday makers, rather like us. One even accused us jokingly of following him around as he'd seem us at several other points around the area.
We continued along the narrow roads to the northernmost tip of the island, the Point of Ayre. Here there are a couple of low lighthouses, one actually on the pebbled beach. The low cliffs are a riot of yellow gorse with areas of purple heather bursting through.
Point of Ayre. Isle of Man.
Point of Ayre. Isle of Man.
Point of Ayre. Isle of Man.
Point of Ayre. Isle of Man.
Reluctantly we moved on, leaving nature's splendour behind and heading for the late Victorian resort of Ramsey with its promenade, opened in the late 1890s, and its seaside guest houses, some still quite ornate, others sadly decayed.
Ramsey. Isle of Man.
Ramsey. Isle of Man.
Ramsey. Isle of Man.
Ramsey. Isle of Man.
Ramsey. Isle of Man.
Ramsey. Isle of Man.
In need of food for supper we scoured the town for shops. All we found were a very few tiny stores with limited choices where we were hard put to find anything suitable to cook in Modestine. Is this a forewarning of what we can expect post Brexit?
It was time to seriously seek out somewhere for the night. In the end we decided we could do worse than return to the site we used last night. The lady in the office had been very pleasant and helpful this morning and it is convenient for a bus into Douglas tomorrow morning.
Heading back along the coast road we turned off to seek out the Laxey big wheel, originally used as an undershot waterwheel to keep the lead mine there pumped free from water. It has a diameter of 72ft and is the biggest water wheel in the world! By the time we reached it everyone had gone home for the evening so we could only see it from the site perimeter. A couple of lasses climbed over the barrier and set off to climb the steps to the top of the wheel. We were sorely tempted to follow them and in younger days would have done so. A certain sense of responsibility is one of the afflictions of advancing years and we decided to act our age rather than end up discovering for ourselves exactly what it was gave the IOM prison its special reputation!
Waterwheels. Laxey. Isle of Man.
Waterwheels. Laxey. Isle of Man.
It was rush-hour back in Douglas but Ian navigated us through its countless roundabouts and awkward junctions to arrive safely back here where everywhere is deserted. We will retrospectively ask if we can stay tonight when the owner arrives in the morning. Outside there is still the sound of a creature snuffling its head into an empty food can. Time to find the torch and take the dirty dishes and the can across to the campsite kitchen while Ian sorts out our bed for the night. An extra blanket will be essential as evenings are really very chilly - as we discovered yesterday.
