Liz Gill discovers that despite its small size, there is a wealth of things to see and do
There’s a Gaelic saying on the Isle of Man – traa dy liooar which translates as ‘time enough’. It’s a concept, one local told me, which by comparison makes manyana look like impatience.
The TT Races for which the place is famous are, of course, the antithesis of this notion with international riders hurtling their bikes round the countryside at speeds of up to 200 mph watched by the thousands of spectators.
Outside those two weeks though the island’s laidback ambience offers visitors the chance to both relax and to enjoy its varied attractions. For somewhere only 33 miles long and 13 miles wide with a population of 84,000 it packs a considerable punch culturally, historically and scenically.
For a start it is very beautiful. It has woods, glens, grasslands, uplands – the highest point Snaefell is at 2000ft – and over 3000 miles of hedgerows criss-crossing its farms and wild flower meadows. It has 99 miles of coast with cliffs and dunes and beaches both shingle and sand. The light is lovely and the night sky breath-taking: there are 26 official dark sky sites.
Its birdlife is impressive: 336 species have been spotted here with 166 regulars.
One historical quirk has been the presentation of two peregrine falcons to a new monarch though the modern version for Charles III was a suitably engraved bowl.
Marine life includes seals and dolphins and sometimes basking sharks.
It was in recognition of this richness of nature that the island was made a UNESCO Biosphere in 2016 – with the attendant obligations of education, conservation and sustainable development – making it the only entire nation in the world to have that designation. The nation status stems from the fact that the Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom but a self governing Crown dependency – the King is Lord of Man – with its own parliament, the Tynwald, the world’s oldest, and the first to give women the vote in 1881.
This independence is a source of great pride and any newcomer who refers to the ‘mainland’ soon learns to refer instead to ‘across’ and the traditional response to complaints or grumbling is ‘there’s a boat leaving in the morning’.
Those boats or ferries were a key factor in making the island a hugely popular destination in the late 19th and earlier parts of the 20th centuries when the mills of Lancashire closed down for maintenance and workers who had two ‘wakes weeks’ holidays sailed across the Irish Sea for fresh air and fun.
Mass tourism brought a rapid growth in boarding houses and hotels many of which grace the curve of Douglas Bay and in the construction of tramlines and railways, four of which are still going. We did not manage the trip up Snaefell and the horses which pull the trams for a mile and half along the prom were off duty for the winter. The massive Shire and Clydesdales work for 15 seasons and then retire to the Rest Home for Old Horses which you can visit at weekends.
We tried the charming old steam train said to have inspired the Rev. W. Awdry who visited in 1950 to write his Thomas the Tank stories. On another day we travelled on the immaculately preserved electric railway launched in 1893 and still running on its original line making it the oldest continuously used one in the world. The route climbs up onto the cliff tops with views out across the sea. At different points on the island you can see each of the Seven Kingdoms: Man itself plus England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the sea and heaven.
We started at Laxey, home to the largest working water wheel in the world, 72 and a half feet in diameter, a splendid monument to Victorian problem solving confidence. My confidence took a bit of a knock when I decided to climb its 95 steps – I hadn’t realised just how scary the over-hanging spiral staircase would feel.
If there hadn’t been people behind and ahead of me I might have duffed out but I pressed on and was rewarded with a panorama and a shaky sense of triumph. Jane, a guide, told me that top platform is a favoured spot for proposals of marriage.
Although the wheel functions the mines from which it pumped water to prevent the ever present risk of flooding have long closed but you can go about 30 yards into the entrance. The miners themselves went down 1600 ft into the ground to hack out zinc and lead.
From Laxey the train runs 17 miles to Derby Castle (named after the former island owner the Earl of Derby and the site of the first eponymous race) but we get off at Ramsey to sample some of the products of the Fynoderee distillery including a limited edition run of a gin created to mark the bicentennial of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute.
The RNLI was founded – one quickly learns that the Isle of Man seems to have a high percentage of ‘firsts’ and ‘onlys’ and ‘oldests’ – by Sir William Hillary, a soldier and philanthropist, who had seen the shipwrecks and the loss of life while living in Douglas. Two bottles of the gin will be donated to each of the lifeboat stations in the UK with others auctioned as fund-raisers.
The Isle of Man is an intriguing mixture of superstition and sophistication. It is, for instance, still the custom to say hello to the moorinjer veggey or ‘little people’ when crossing the Fairy Bridge on the main road between the airport and the capital. These are not sweet little creatures but mischievous even malevolent sprites who need to be placated.
It’s also forbidden to say the words rat or rats. They must instead be referred to as ‘longtails’. Even Bob Geldof had to perform here with the Boomtown Longtails. If the word is said inadvertently the speaker must immediately whistle or make some sort of gesture to stave off bad luck.
The origins of such customs are unclear as is that of the island’s wide-spread three legs symbol but this is an ancient place – there are Neolithic tombs here – with centuries of Celtic and then Viking cultures.
Their stories are told in places like the Manx Museum which also has a show case of exquisite artefacts by Art Nouveau innovator Archibald Knox; the House of Manannan in Peel with its Viking longboat and full size Celtic Round House; Castle Rushden in Castletown and the cluster of crofters’ cottages at Cregneash
More recent history can be found at the fascinating Knockaloe Internment Centre which tells how up to 23,000 ‘enemy aliens’ were housed on the site during WWI and how they kept themselves busy. One was Joseph Pilates who invented his exercise system after watching a Manx cat.
Many of the visitors here come in search of their forebears but there is also a wider interest in family history on the island. The end of mining and the harshness of farming and fishing meant thousands left: there is a Manx diaspora in most corners of the world. One of its most famous sons is Fletcher Christian, leader of the mutiny on the Bounty and the founder of a dynasty in the Pitcairn Islands.
We also fitted in a tour of the Gaiety Theatre, a gorgeously over-the-top Frank Matcham design, where we learned that the working classes had to be seated in their hard benches at the back 15 minutes earlier than the toffs who could then sweep in through the main doors to their upholstered seats. Below the stage we were shown the Corsican trap invented for the ghost in the popular Corsican Brothers play and – yes -the only one left in the world.
For anyone interested in politics a visit to the Tynwald – there are free tours on Mondays and Fridays – is a must. Not only does a well-informed guide tell you how this three chamber system works but you’re also allowed to take a selfie in the Speaker’s Chair.
Another highlight which I had not expected was how much I loved the Motor Museum with its display over 500 vehicles: cars, motorbikes, scooters, military and emergency services vehicles, a Greyhound bus, even a Russian space capsule.
The decision by the collector Denis Cunningham to concentrate on quirky facts rather than statistics makes it fun for non petrol heads like me. I particularly loved the smallest car ever built, the Peel P50, the massive Chinese golden dragon topped hearse – they are always having to turn down requests to hire it – and the ‘flower car’. This was a massive American limo cut away at the back ready to be piled high with flowers for a funeral procession. They were particularly favoured by mobsters.
They also have Norman Wisdom’s Rolls Royce. The comedian who retired here was much loved on the island, always ready to open a fete or help with fund-raising. It’s also said he would occasionally get on the baggage carousel at the ferry and perform a prat fall.
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