Stan left us on Monday, having organised the only remaining taxi in Peel, “ Terrys taxis” . For some reason he seemed reluctant to rely on public transport ( buses) to get him to the airport In time. The designated meeting point was the painted dolphin. Realising at a latter hour that there were quite a few painted dolphins in Peel, we just hoped it was the right one! The sun was still shining and it was a hot day! We had a coffee whilst awaiting Terry who did arrive on time at the anticipated dolphin! After saying farewell to Stan, J and I made our way to lovely Fenella beach under the medieval walls of Peel castle. We spent a happy hot day, swimming and reading and generally chilling out. The only downside was an occasional wiffy smell which I eventually found out was because we were upwind of a dead seagull. ☹️. Otherwise a perfect day. The beach is surprisingly covered in scallop shells. Wondering why? 🤔 Strange but much nicer to sit on than sand which just gets everywhere!! Late afternoon We had a beer at the Creek inn … still in the hot sun…which is fast becoming our local, followed by supper on board. Maybe watched some TV. Signal is good here.
What I have learned today…… that there are 33 painted dolphins across the Isle of Man, as part of a charities fund raising plan.
Sue x
Peel castle in background 
Note brown knee 
Scallop beach 
Fenella beach foreground, Beyond is Peel
The following day, Saturday, we also spent on the beach. We weren’t being lazy, just sensible! It was sooooo hot, anything else would have been difficult. The rest of the country are suffering 30 +++ degrees. At least we are by the sea. We found a less smelly bit on the scallop beach and settled ourselves for another relaxing beach day. Pictures show just how idyllic . Read books, relaxed. Kept 😎 cool. This is the problem when I leave a couple of days unbloggged …. can’t remember! 😳. Think we didn’t do much else.
The next day ( Sunday) dawned bright but a bit less hot and sunny. I decided to address the backlog of washing and as we’d noticed a laundrette next to the public toilets in the front, got to it. Brilliant! A warm fast wash which took 20 minutes and took 5 x £1 coins. Easy peasy! Whilst that was doing, I went to the tourist office and purchased an ordnance survey map from the house of mannanan , which is basically the “i” centre. Washing fine, I put it all out on the guard rail, since it was such a good drying day. Using our newly acquired map we did a lovely walk over the hills to the seaward side. Up the hill above Fenella beach and into the top , we followed the broad grassy track up the hill. Past the place where the original Fenella hotel had burned down. It was hot but not as bad as yesterday. Despite it getting a bit hazy, we could still see all the way down to the Calf of Man at the south of the island. We reached Corrins tower and then dropped down to the path which led back to Peel. Such a lovely walk with stunning views. We got back to Fenella beach and met up with Will and a couple of his pals. Will is Alices BF who lives and works here. It was still a beautiful day. We chatted a while for an hour or so, then we went off to see the sailing club, as it had advertised “ mad Sunday!” Unfortunately they all seemed to have gone home 😳. A chilled evening followed.
What I learned today … Sadly Will told us that the reason Fenella beach is covered in scallop shells is that the scallop processing factory drive to the cliff and lob over the shells into the sea onto the west coast…. and the tides seem to dictate that, once the seagulls have cleaned them, they get washed up on Fenella beach. Will knew this as he’d been kayaking nearby once an witnessed the act and the smell 😳.
Sue x
Peel 
Corrins tower 
South to the calf of Man 
Looking North
Monday morning and the weather is breaking. The hot temperatures that have been throughout the country have certainly now deserted the Isle of Man. No worries. We sped our way after breakfast to the house of manannan. (The tourist info place) and purchased our seven day “ GO” tickets. For £50 each we get 7 days of bus/ steam train/ electric railway / horse drawn tram/ ….. that seems like a bargain, and we’re determined to make good use of it! First thing is the Peel museum in the house of manannan. An AMAZING , interesting and interactive depiction of life through the ages in The Isle of Man. One really good thing is that (finally) the bringing of our National trust cards with us has paid off! It seems there is a reciprocal arrangement, and we can use them on a lot of similar premises. We spent the morning in the museum which is very interactive and really informative. Telling the story of how the Celtic people basically had to accept?? The vikings into their DNA?? Rape and pillage seems to be a politically incorrect mode of thought at present time. Apparently they were rather nice. Particularly loved the scene of kipper prep. Looks so realistic. One of the other really interesting displays was that of the voyage if aiding Raven. The replica of a Viking longship manned by a 21 st century crew. The actual boat that was used in the adventure was on display. Hats off! Once we had exhausted our museum brains, we subjected them to Isle of Man bus timetables. Setting off from the town hall in Peel, we went across to Douglas on the 5. Arrival at the sea terminal and “ i” desk , meant we could actually acquire a bus timetable, which opens up a world of adventure and opportunity 😊. From there we traveled north to Ramsey. Maybe it was the weather but Ramsey just seemed a bit run down and had seen better days. We walked across the amazing Victorian swing bridge, towards the swimming pool. Now indoors and modern but presumably been there prior to that. A lido type? Anyone? We walked back through a rather yucky sixties shopping precinct and bought a loaf of bread . Will had told us that some multi millionaire, had offered mega money to develop a marina here. With massive breakwaters etc. The vision had been rejected… too much change………🤔 sad. We made our way back to Ramsey bus station and momentarily thought we’d missed our connection. However a friendly soul who was on his way to peel to run up the mountain to the pillar, along with loads of others…….confirmed the accuracy of our bus navigation. An exciting day, finding out a bit more about this island, it’s history, people and customs.
What I’ve learned today….. well J thank goodness has the bus timetable sussed ! basically navigation on land.
Sue x
Pouring with rain! 
Angelique 