ISLE of MAN - Trains, Buses and Trams

The day started with a couple of things that are a bit different over here:

Firstly the money - I knew that they were not changing to plastic banknotes but I was surprised to find that the new issue Manx £1 coins are still one metal and round.

Secondly although I have used my phone all over Europe and North America, outgoing calls here are barred - apparently it's something to do with the fact that the island is part of the UK dialling system (i.e. normal phone numbers) but the charging is at International rates (I've had the "Welcome to France" type message).

Anyway enough of those things, what have I been up to today? 

I'm staying in Castletown in the south, so first of all, I caught the train north to Douglas and was very amused to find that Douglas railway station has a Platform 9 3/4. Whats even better - unlike King's Cross - there is no queue and no charge to take a photo.

Next it was a bus to St John's (I have a GO smart card that allows me to travel anywhere). St John's is the site of Tynwald Hill the traditional meeting place of the Manx parliament. Tynwald is an old Norse word that appears in other places where parliaments have met - Tingwall in Shetland and Thingvellir in Iceland. The Manx parliament still meets here, in the open air to enact new laws in a ceremony on the July 5th - a national holiday.

From St John's it's a short hop to Peel the principle settlement on the island's west coast. Here the main site is St Patrick's Isle with the ruins of both a castle and cathedral.  With the weather being clear blue skies today there were good views of the Irish coast.

I returned to Castletown the long way via Ramsey the island's second biggest settlement at the north end. This was so I could return to Douglas by electric tram. The tram service runs late into the evening on Fridays and Saturdays with the last one getting back to Douglas at 11:40pm! I was lucky to have the open sided car at the rear all to myself and it was a lovely ride along the coast - this time with views across to Cumbria.