Rain, rain, rain. That’s what greeted me Friday morning, but with it clearing up somewhat (hopefully !) for the afternoon. So plan B came into action. That meant a visit to the Isle of Man Motor Museum (at Jurby)+ The Point of Ayre ( most northerly point on the island) in the morning and the Snaefell Mountain Railway in the afternoon.
The Point of Ayre was both wet and extremely windy, isolated and stoney beach. There were seals frolicking though, to bring a bit of light relief and another lighthouse. To get there, you go through a small village called Bride. Right in the middle of nowhere – but good public loo’s !! Here comes some “connection” information…….I’ve just finished a novel by ex-MP Michael Dobbs (A Ghost at the Door) whose main character’s father seemingly is living his last days in an isolated IOM village called Kirk Michael. Yes you guessed correctly, it was based on Bride. Just to complete the connection, Bride was the village where (according to the book notes) Mr Dobb’s own father ALSO ended his days……. strange.
On to the museum. The museum was interesting, in that some of the exhibits were left in the state received into the museum. Loads of old Humbers – somebody must’ve had a link into the Rootes Group at some stage. The inevitable Peel micro-car and tons of bikes. See slideshow of some of the machines that I found interesting.
With part of the Mountain Road closed (fog, etc), I ventured across the middle of the island via Sulby back to Laxey. Some beautiful scenery with a large reservoir nestled in the hills – a bit like the Lake District. Plenty of future scope for decent walking, methinks. By this time the weather was bordering on the reasonable, but still windy/cold.
At Laxey, I ventured onto the Snaefell Mountain Railway – more trams ! The weather got better, but was still cloudy (AND DAMN COLD !), so the views were breathtakingly spectacular, but a bit misty. Shame that. MY tram was full (I mean full !) of (how shall I put this ??) middle-aged ladies. I thought I might’ve stumbled on the local WI branch having a trip out, but it turned out they were a group of nurses who all started their training on the same day 40 YEARS AGO !!!! An entertaining half hour ensued……. One of them was local, so knew all the views, etc. I latched onto that, as local knowledge always trumps a guidebook. They had a group photo at the top and then took over the summit cafe for tea and cakes.
The weekend of the 15/16 September saw the annual running of the IOM Food and Drink Festival in the Villa Marina Gardens in Douglas. I had hoped to blend this in with the IOM car rally, but that was cancelled at the last moment, much to the chagrin of the local populace. One estimate concluded that the island had lost about £1M of extra tourist type revenue, with hotels, B + B’s, etc full to the brim.
Anyway, the main guest at the Food Festival (and presumably opening it) was Adam Henson, he of Countryfile fame and manager at the Cotswold Farm Park (his Dad started it up apparently). On the Friday evening there was a Manx NFU evening at the farm where my campsite was located. The farm owner (Brian) had been a previous NFU Chairman, so the Silly Moo’s Barn was ideal. Hog roast, chat by Adam, who then hosted an auction for the agricultural benevolent fund, a band, etc. They took pity on me and I was invited as a “very special guest” and ended up eating and drinking for nothing ! Items for the auction included shearing ewes, 2 boxes of IOM lamb, 100 sheep sheared for free, trailer loads of straw – only farmers on the IOM……..
What was even funnier was that the main guests and entourage plonked themselves on the big table where I usually had my breakfast, to discuss tactics and other stuff ref the auction. Amongst the personnel was the aforementioned Mr Henson, the IOM Minister of the Environment, Food and Agriculture ( Geoffrey Boot, sat next to me) and his lovely wife Suzie (sat opposite). So instead of thinking I might’ve been at a bit of a loss with all these farming types, I ended up on the top table ! Politics ref Brexit figured briefly, but most of the time I spent chatting with Suzie, about the island, etc. I think she was quite happy to talk to somebody who had no connection with farming, for a change – must sometimes be a bit of a drag married to a Minister and all that entails. Turns out she was born in Sandgate in Kent ! I was born in Tunbridge Wells, not too far away. Seems that Geoffrey also has been/is still involved with flying. His website gallery certainly also includes many of the good and great in the Conservative party !
Just to top the evening, Adam borrowed my bottle opener…….
So what I thought was going to be a drag turned into a surprisingly entertaining evening. You never know do you ?