Thursday 5 September 2013. Isle of Man. Douglas, the Laxey Wheel and drive around the TT course.

This was posted from the ferry the Ben-My-Chree en route from Douglas, Isle of Man to Heysham UK across the Irish Sea.

The BBC weather report had predicted a very wet, cold change and the day started cold and windy but around lunch time the sun came out.

We drove down to Douglas which is the largest town in the Isle of Man and also where the ferry port is where we landed on the ferry.

It is quite a pleasant town and we walked around for a while before dropping into to the ferry terminal to have a Costa coffee and use their free WiFi. Lyn had attempted to buy some wool on her Travel Card the previous day at Port Erin and it had been declined so we were keen to see if the problem had been finger trouble by the shop assistant or something more sinister.

The shop assistant had said that she was new and wasn’t sure how to work the card reader and this in fact turned out to be the case. She must have pressed the wrong key as the transaction showed up as “pending’ meaning it had not been completed.

We then went into the gift shop to buy some Isle of Man TT gifts and Lyn’s card worked fine there.

We then did some more exploring around the Marina before going to Tesco to buy ingredients for Lyn to cook a couple of evening meals.

It was then home for Lyn and Davina to have a break and cook tea whilst Roy and Mick went off to look at the Great Laxey Wheel and Mines which is one of the Islands greatest pieces of Industrial Archeology.

The wheel, which was built in 1854, is known as Lady Isabella and uses the water from a river to turn a huge flywheel which is reputed to be the largest operating water driven flywheel in Europe.

The wheel drives a huge crank which converts the circular motion of the wheel into horizontal motion of the rods which were used to operate pumps to keep the Laxey Mines free of water.

When the mines closed in 1922, the wheel was left to decay until it was bought and refurbished and operated as a tourist attraction from 1946 until 1965 when it was sold to the Isle of Man government.

In 1970 after a complete refurbishment by Manx craftsmen, it was again set in motion as a tourist attraction.

About this time, Roy and Mick could just about smell the dinner cooking so we headed home for dinner. And a great meal it was.

As the day still had some time to run, the sun was shining and the air was clear (we could clearly see the British mainland from out cottage), we decided to drive around the 37.7 mile (60klm) course where the TT and Manx GP motorbike races are run.

Starting from the start finish line near Douglas, the course is marked out with mile post markers going from 1 to 37 and all of the features such as bends, curves, hairpins and humps likely to cause the bikes to become airborne are clearly marked and named. Also many but not all of the roadside walls and posts are covered with rubber to reduce damage to riders and bikes although none of this would be any use if hit at speed which they often are.

Apparently “only” 3 riders were killed this year as the course uses the normal roads which are closed when races are running. We pity the residents whose houses are on the course.

It certainly was a fascinating course and we were sure riders would find it an exhilarating if not very dangerous place to race. In fact several motorbike riders passed us at speed whilst we were driving around the course. MA (Motorcycling Australia) would never allow races to occur on open roads like these, much too dangerous.

 On the seafront at Douglas

 The Laxey Wheel

 Peacock on Buddleia

 Red Admiral

 Down the Laxey mine

 Seafront at Douglas with the Tower of Refuge in the background