Our Christmas party menu, priced at £29.00 which includes a Manx Loaghtan dish has now been published on this site!
Book now to avoid disappointment but we do still have dates available!
Archive for month: November, 2021
It might be fair to say that you cannot guarantee warm sunny days on the Isle of Man at this time of year. Indeed, you can’t guarantee warm, sunny weather at any time of year in the Isle of Man!
However, it is quite unusual to have whole days of absolutely teeming rain and even on the worst of them, you can still extract something despite a little dampness and a bit of a hooly.
Actually that’s what we had to do recently when our daughter and her family visited for half term. we picked the time when it was least likely to be most wet and headed off to Glen Helen, 9 miles along the TT course on the west of the Island.
The intention was to visit Spooyt Vane, arguably the biggest waterfall here, which is situated just beyond the glen on private land, so we set off inland, up river. And here’s the thing: Although it is a beatiful shady spot to visit in the summer, it’s just as beautiful but much more spectacular, especially after heavy rainfall in the winter and, as on many of our walks, you can see so much more without all the leaves on the trees.
The main path to the Rhenass fall (13 years, a tourist and 43 years living here and I have only discovered the name) is wide, with no major inclines or descents, so it is one of our more accessible glens and we had no trouble with the pram or any of our other two grandchildren, despite them starting to show the effects of a hard few days of holiday and there was certainly plenty of flow to the river, rapids and lots of contributary waterfalls.
What I had forgotten, is that there was no way that we could get the pram beyond the bridge, so Spooyt Vane will have to wait until their visit next year when the youngest is a little bit bigger.
There is also a little play park, near to the entrance of the glen which is always a great sweetener for the kids to have to do a walk!
The Swiss Chalet is being refurbished after a fire and the cafe by the yurts was closed but we could have gone to Tynwald Mills nearby and we ended up going to the Hawthorn which serves food all day but you can also pop in for a coffee or a drink.
A little while later and into November, following more rainfall, on one of our beautiful autumnal days, I took this photograph of another waterfall on the Calf of Man.
You don’t need to leave the Isle of Man until the summer because there’s no such thing as bad weather, only weather in all its differing forms. And even if, sometimes you don’t fancy going out in it, it doesn’t rain in the Welbeck Bar!
Book now to stay at the Welbeck!
For about 20 years, Irene & myself had been meaning to go on one of the Gaiety Theatre tours which are held every Saturday morning, from April to September (Though our’s was in October, so it might be worth checking if there’s one on, if you are coming over the winter) but failed uselessly until, a few weeks ago, our daughter, Lucy bought us a pair as a present.
I thought I had quite an extensive knowlewdge of our local masterpiece, designed by the revered specialist architect, Frank Matcham but soon discovered I really knew next to nothing and what I’d expected to be a swift 45 minute whizz around it, actually it was a fascinating two hour tour!
In this blog, I won’t go into too much detail but there are some unique features, such as the ‘Drop Curtain,’ and the ‘Corsican Trap,’ and the stories of its battle to survive through the 20th century (It is only here because of a quirk of Manx law and the refusal of one man to sign the warrant for its demolition) and the everlasting restorations, initiated and pushed through by the relentless enthusiasm of its former manager, Mervyn Stokes, make such interesting viewing and listening.
Bookings can be made at http://www.villagaiety.com and it costs £7.50 per adult, family tickets £15 though, as the theatre was built in the 1900s, some areas are not accessible for all.
Of course, don’t forget to book to stay at the Welbeck! Open nearly 12 months a year! Reservations