Our visit to The Isle of Man (Manx Country) was most enjoyable except for the weather we had a few good laughs even though we had to leave Shefford for an early start. We were soon put at ease when the coach arrived on time with our cheerful driver called Max and was with us for the duration of our holiday. Max proved very kind, helpful and had a good sense of humour which helps!
Everyone was on time and we were soon heading along the M1 and onto the M6 en route to Heysham for the ferry called ‘Ben-My-Cheee’ making our way to Douglas Bay on the Isle of Man and to our hotel ‘The Rutland Hotel’ which faced the beautiful bay and sea. All the buildings had the ‘Victorian’ flavour and all were beautifully kept. The hotel was spotlessly clean, with large rooms. There was a good choice of food from which one could choose (carvery fashion).
The next day we could please ourselves and quite a few of us used the Manx Electric Railway and travelled from Douglas to Ramsey and back again. Unfortunately the weather was not kind that day so we were happy to stay on the train! Until we had descended to Douglas Bay. And we were pleasantly surprised when the Horse Tramway met us and we travelled the entire bay in a single coach pulled by a shire horse along the Promenade which is the world’s oldest continually operational horse tramway – what an experience! – and the horses are so well cared for.
Our second day was a circular tour by coach to the north of the island, First St Johns, which is the setting of an annual open air Manx Parliament on Tynwald Hill then the fishing port of Peel, with its ruined castle overlooking the harbour, There is also a traditional Kipper Smokery. Later we went to Ramsey and then returned to Douglas following the thrilling section of the TT motorcycle racing circuit! Wow! I was so pleased I was safely in the coach and not hanging on the back of a motorbike – those hairpin bends!!
The next day we visited the southern part of the island, there is a visitor centre where you can see the small island called Calf of Man which is full of wildlife, also a hotspot for seals, dolphins and basking sharks!! unfortunately we did not see any sunbathing going on as it was not warm enough for them!! On our way there is a small RAF Museum and at this time of the year it should have been closed at the end of the Season and only open weekends, however a telephone call soon altered that and the volunteers kindly came out of hiding to open up the small museum. It really was so interesting and looking at the collection of memorabilia, all of a sudden there was a gasp from one of our group, she had spotted a regiment she thought her Uncle served in and looking at the photograph there he was standing in front of her!!
Although personally this was my first visit to this lovely island and the weather although in the main was dry but a little on the chilly side, I was very impressed as I did not think there was so much to see and do. All the ‘locals’ are so very proud of their island and so they should be!! Our grateful thanks must go to Harold Burke and his team from ‘Just for Groups’ at Norwich for arranging this trip for our group.