HUGH ORAMfirst went to the Isle of Man to get married – and he and his wife fell in love with the island as well as with each other. The tiny city of Peel is just one of the attractions
FEW HOLIDAY destinations have a greater contrast between image and reality than the Isle of Man, yet it’s a wonderful spot for a quiet coastal and country holiday, almost on our doorstep.
The popular impression of the island is of a small-scale kiss-me-quick Blackpool, with dodgy financiers toting suitcases bursting with cash, but that’s only part of the story.
My first encounter with the Isle of Man came about in unusual circumstances. When my wife and I decided to get married, we wanted to go outside Ireland, so that we could avoid the fuss and expense of a big wedding in Dublin.
We looked around for somewhere with the minimum residential qualifications. We discovered that in the Isle of Man we could turn up and get married the following day, which we did at the Cathedral Church of St German, in Peel.
The vicar doubled as best man, and one of my sisters was bridesmaid. The meal that night was for three, in a Chinese restaurant – certainly very cost effective. We stayed in digs run by a local postman and his wife, where we received a real failt Mannanagh (Manx welcome). For the rest of their lives we remained good friends.
Since then we’ve been back to the Isle of Man many times, falling in love with Peel, the most Manx of towns.
On one of our visits we met up with the late Theodora FitzGibbon, one-time food writer for this newspaper, and her then husband, the film-maker George Morrison.
As we tootled along country lanes in their hired car, the expedition became ever more bizarre. We ended up in a jazz restaurant in Tholt-y-Will Glen, which was great fun, as the anecdotes flowed like the wine.
Along the way we had more entertainment. At one point Theodora, an imperious lady at the best of times, demanded that her husband find somewhere to stop the car, immediately, if not sooner. “If you don’t I shall wee-wee in the back seat,” she declared.
The Isle of Man is small, at just over 50km long and 20km wide, so it’s easy to get around its nearly 1,000km of roads by car, bicycle or bus. (The Explorer ticket from the tourism centre in Douglas gives useful access to all public transport.)
Yet it’s a small, distinctive country in its own right, with its own government, independent from and outside the UK and the EU. You’ll find strong emphasis on Manx food, beer and even whisky, its own stamps and currency and a revival of Manx Gaelic, similar to Irish.
But of all the times we’ve been to the island we’ve only once stayed in Douglas, the capital. The big hotel we stayed at there turned out to be a disappointment, so since then we’ve always stuck to Peel.
Admittedly, Douglas has all the facilities visitors need, such as restaurants and shops, including branches of British retail chains. The town also has its own Gaiety Theatre, restored to its original late-Victorian splendour, having been designed by Frank Matcham, creator of the Grand Opera House in Belfast.
But Douglas still has an aura of the Blackpool boarding house, especially down at the hotel- and guest-house-lined promenade. (In compensation, it does have a camera obscura, on Douglas Head, and coastal cruises that depart from the promenade.) Peel, on the other hand, is far more laid back and relaxing. It’s classed as a city even though, at the last count, it had a mere 4,300 or so residents. The centre is clustered around lanes where the street names are bilingual.
It has several museums, including a transport museum that houses the world’s smallest car, the P50, made in Peel in the early 1960s. There’s even a kipper museum, while you can sample the fish smoked here – a true delicacy. The House of Manannan museum gives a good multimedia insight into Manx heritage.
One of the red Victorian postboxes sums up the flavour of the place. It announces: “The Postmaster General of Peel begs to inform the good inhabitants of this fair city that collections from this box are made Monday to Saturday, 7.30am and 6.30pm.”
The place has great walks along the promenade and the breakwater, around the harbour and across the river to St Patrick’s Isle and the ruins of a mediaeval cathedral.
Peel is timeless. In all the years I’ve been visiting the place the only big development has been the marina. Douglas has experienced some building in recent years, but the developers have largely shunned Peel.
Off the west of the island, especially close to Peel, you’ll often see basking sharks, which come in very close to shore. Peel, as well as Douglas and Ramsey, have recently had sightings of large pods of dolphins.
The west side of the island is gloriously unspoilt; only about half the island is inhabited. Many walks have been developed, such as the herring walk from Peel to Castletown, once used by the hundreds of fishermen who worked out of Peel harbour.
The island has about a dozen glens, all of them great walking spots, although footpaths in some are closed at the moment because of damage done by heavy rains earlier this year. The Raad ny Foillan (Road of the Gulls) is a 150km waymarked path around the coast.
It’s a good place for cycling, too, and my wife and I – two of the most unlikely cyclists you could hope to meet – have tried out cycling trips in the west and south of the island. Many of the moorland roads here are bereft of traffic. The island is criss- crossed by many cycle routes.
From Douglas down to Castletown, the ancient capital of the island, there’s an antique steam railway; an electric railway runs to the top of Snaefell, which at 621m is the island’s highest peak. The day we took that trip the mountain was wreathed in mist, but if it’s a clear day you’ll easily see Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.
Families with young children to entertain will also find plenty to do. True, the TT Races are the big event at the start of every June, but the island has countless other things to do.
One most unusual events we attended was Tynwald, the annual outdoor meeting of the Manx parliament, which is regarded as the oldest such gathering in the world. Iceland’s parliament is of similar vintage, but these days, of course, there’s not too much mention of Iceland or its financiers.
This island’s a great spot to disappear into total tranquillity, especially outside the capital, and it’s easy to get to, just 40 minutes flying time from Dublin.
** Isle of Man Welcome Centre, Douglas, 00-44-1624-686801, www.visitisleofman.com
Where to stay, where to eat and where to go if you're spending time on the island
Where to stay
Waldick Hotel. 9 Marine Parade, Peel, 00-44-1624- 842410, www.waldickhotel. co.uk. On the promenade, looking out across the beach to the castle, this very comfortable hotel has family rooms, a reading room and a conservatory. It serves a full Manx breakfast, which is even more elaborate than a full Irish breakfast, as it also includes kippers.
Colooneys Farm Cottages. Cooil, near Douglas, 00-44- 1624-611898, www.colooneys. com. A vast old barn on this working dairy farm has been converted into three luxury self-contained cottages, each sleeping four people. Each cottage has two bedrooms, an open-plan living room and kitchen and glorious views.
Sulby Glen Hotel. Sulby, 00-44-1624-897240, www. sulbyglen.net. This four-star inn at the foot of Sulby Glen, in the north of the island, has 11 en-suite rooms, serves a wide selection of Manx food, including cheese, fish and meat, and has twice been voted Camra’s real-ale pub of the year. It’s also biker friendly. The hotel is six kilometres from Ramsey, near Curraghs Wildlife Park and Jurby motor-racing circuit.
Where to eat
Tanroagan Seafood Restaurant. 9 Ridgeway Street, Douglas, 00-44-1624-612355, www.tanroagan.co.uk. Close to North Quay, this is considered by many to be the best of its type in the Isle of Man, with a wide selection of local seafood, but it also has a good vegetarian selection. It’s small and minimalist, and you’ll often see celebrities here from one of the island’s newest industries, film-making.
Swiss Chalet. Glen Helen, St John’s, 00-44-1624-801657, www.swisschaletrestaurant. co.uk. Designed in an Alpine style, this rural restaurant is noted for its fresh local fish and wide selection of Manx meat. Open in the evenings from Tuesday to Saturday, it also serves Sunday lunch.
The Hawthorn Bistro Bar. Greeba, 00-44-1624- 801268, www.thehawthorn. co.uk. Eight kilometres from Douglas, on the main road to Peel, this attractive but informal family-run pub has an extensive all-day menu, featuring Manx Queenies – queen scallops – for starters and Manx lamb for mains.
Where to go
Peel Castle. St Patrick’s Isle (just across the harbour from the main town), 00-44-1624- 648000, www.storyofmann. com. You can cross over from the promenade by the footbridge. The old St German’s cathedral is within the castle (the present one is in the town), where the ruins date back to the 10th century. They include an Irish-style round tower.
National Folk Museum at Cregneash. Near Port St Mary, 00-44-1624-648000, www.storyofmann.com. Here, on 120 hectares, the life of an old upland Manx village community has been preserved. Many old buildings have been reconstructed, and you can hear recordings of native Manx speakers and learn much about Manx folklore and farming.
Mann Cat Sanctuary. Santon, 00-44-1624-824195, www.manncat.com. Manx cats are famous for being tailless, and here you will hear many legends about why they lost their tails. The ones without tails are known as rumpies, while the stumpies have short tails.
Go there
Aer Arann (www.aerarann. com) flies to the Isle of Man from Dublin. Flybe (www. flybe.com) and Manx 2 (www.manx2.com) fly from Belfast. Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (www. steam-packet.com) sails from Dublin and Belfast.