|
from
Luton. Traditionally the August bank holiday weekend is a quiet
one in our cycle shop, so it
|
|
is
a good time to plan a long weekend break. As is often the case,
all the cheaper advertised tickets
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|
had
been sold when I attempted to make a booking by phone, but we were
not to be deterred
|
|
having
decided to go whatever the cost. Booking the flight was the easy
bit, trying to find hotel
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|
accommodation
on the island the next day was virtually impossible. We were soon
to be informed
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|
by
hotel staff that "The Manx Grand Prix" had been
organised to take place over that bank holiday
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|
weekend
and most hotels were already fully booked. Previous experience has
taught me that two
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|
ageing
pedal cyclists would not feel at all comfortable riding amongst
hundreds of motor bike boys,
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|
speeding
around the island at 100mph. Anyone can make a mistake and that
one could quite easily
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|
have proved to be
fatal. So I conceded defeat gracefully
and phoned the airline office to change our
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|
our
departure date to Thursday the 6th of September
returning the following Tuesday. It then
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|
became
very easy to find a hotel in Douglas for three nights and one in
Peel on the west coast for
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|
the
other two.
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|
London
– Luton airport as the authorities now insist on calling it,
is a pleasant
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|
seventeen
mile cycle ride from our village of Clifton along minor country
lanes. Only for the last
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|
two
miles as we approached the airport from Cockernhoe was it
necessary to ride through a busy
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|
built
up area. We had allowed plenty of time to check in and prepare the
bikes for the flight. On
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|
our
way to the departure lounge we passed through the usual security
check. I remember
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|
remarking
to the lady who opened all our hand baggage and took everything
out for examination,
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|
how
stringent and thorough the whole process was just for an internal
flight. I commented that we
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|
were
all in favour, as it was done for our own protection and safety.
Looking back with hindsight
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|
it
now seems to be incredible that only a few days later, the true
relevance of that conversation
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|
with
the security officer, would be rammed home with such earth
shattering consequences.
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|
In
contrast to the busy London airports, Ronaldsway on the south
eastern tip of the
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|
Island
is a delightful airport for a cyclist to arrive at. Our twin
engine propeller aircraft, touched
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|
down
on time at 2-15pm. The arrival hall was soon cleared as the other
passengers collected their
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|
bags
and departed in waiting buses or cars. Richard and me were left
alone in the terminal to
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|
assemble
our bikes and get ready to leave. The Isle of Man terrain varies
from hilly to almost
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|
mountainous.
This results in a shortage of quiet lanes to ride along, as there
is only a selection of
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|
A
and B classified roads with traffic flows that range from light to
busy. After a short section of
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dual
carriageway the fairly busy A5 heads out into open country towards
Douglas. We passed
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through
the village of Ballasalla then turned onto the A25 an almost
deserted alternative road that
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|
runs closer to the coast for
the remaining eight miles to Douglas. It was not until we were
halfway
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|
that a barrier and a road
sign clearly saying "ROAD CLOSED" explained why there
were no other
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|
vehicles about. Remembering
the motto of the Caistor life boat crew " Never turn back"
we
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|
continued on our way,
passing some very deep excavations to allow a large bore blue
water pipe to
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|
be laid along the whole
length of the road. Sadly on the verge at the side of the road, a
small
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|
bouquet of flowers had been
left to mark the place where a young man had lost his life two
days
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|
previously in a tragic
accident while at work on the project.
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|
Douglas
the islands capital did not disappoint us one little bit. In early
September
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|
(without
the motor bikes), it portrayed all the charming features of a
quiet English seaside resort.
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|
A
sandy beach and the promenade follow Douglas Bay for one and a
half miles, from the sea
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|
terminal
to the electric railway station at the north end. On the wide
promenade pavement two
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white
lines one metre apart mark out a cycle route. Along the centre of
the adjacent road a horse
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|
drawn
tram transports visitors to various attractions on the front. The
other side of the road is
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|
lined
with an assortment of hotels, guest houses, restaurants,
shops, the theatre and casino. Our
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|
accommodation
for the next three nights was a private hotel in a side road close
to the casino.
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|
That
evening to celebrate our arrival we took a leisurely stroll along
the brightly illuminated
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promenade.
Then enjoyed dinner which was accompanied with a bottle of house
red wine in the
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|
Brasserie
Restaurant situated on the ground floor of the rather grand
looking Empress Hotel. Later
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|
we
retired to the Piano Bar one floor above, here we supped a pint of
Murphy's stout and listened
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|
to
soft relaxing music performed for us by the hotels resident
pianist. Full English breakfast was
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|
prepared
next morning by Mrs. Ryan who had recently become the new owner of
The Chesterton
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|
Hotel.
This was a meal of enormous proportions that took ages to consume.
Consisting of a choice
|
|
of
porridge or other cereals, to be followed by a large plateful of
fried bacon, sausage, egg, tomato,
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|
hash
brown and black pudding, with plenty of toast and marmalade all
washed down with fresh
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|
pots
of tea. Not to be recommended as a recipe for healthy eating, but
excellent fuel to sustain a
|
|
couple
of saddle tramps along the extremely undulating roads of the Isle
of Man.
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|
Friday
morning started dull and overcast with light drizzle, low misty
clouds drifted
|
|
over
the summit of Snaefell mountain. We cycled north along the A11
with the electric railway
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|
running
parallel only a few metres away. After three miles we joined the
A2, at this point the
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|
railway
takes a flatter route to its terminal at Ramsey. Like the majority
of main roads the A2 is
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|
single
carriageway, Richard remarked that it reminded him of the mainland
trunk roads during the
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|
late
fifties before the motorways were built. Most of the milestones
were still preserved, sometimes
|
|
stating
the distance between places down to a fraction, 7/8
of a mile in some cases. We climbed
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|
steadily
away from the railway for two miles riding over the hills that
stretched down to the sea, at
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|
one
hundred metres we began to descend for another two miles into
Laxey. This village is home for
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|
two
of the isles major tourist attractions. The Great Laxey Wheel was
built in 1854 and
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|
affectionately
nick named Lady Isabelle after the governors wife I am not sure
whether that was
|
|
was
meant to be a compliment or not. A mechanical marvel and a
monument to Victorian engineering is
|
|
how
the brochures describe it. The wheel is 721/2
feet in diameter
and was used to pump water from
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|
Laxey
mine that once produced vast quantities of zinc, lead and silver.
Visitors to the mine can pay
|
|
the
entrance fee that entitles them to take a walk around the old mine
shaft and climb to the top of
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|
the
wheel to admire the views of the surrounding hills and coastal
scenery. Time had passed
|
|
quickly,
it had been planned to be in the islands second largest town by
lunchtime. Richard took
|
|
the
photo used to illustrate the wheel, then it was time to move on
and continue our ride for the next
|
|
ten
miles up and down the long coastal hills to our mornings
destination. Ramsey was the only town
|
|
on
the Isle of Man that did disappoint us, after Douglas it appeared
dull, grey and depressing,
|
|
with
an uninteresting industrial feel about it. To be fair on the town
it could have been the weather
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|
that
was responsible for creating this negative impression. Anyway it
was decided over a liquid
|
|
lunch
taken in a pub close to the harbour, to retrace our route back to
Laxey and take a ride on the
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|
second
famous tourist attraction the Snaefell mountain electric train.
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|
For
many years like the great majority of people, I have associated
The Isle of Man
|
|
with
motorbikes and the TT races. Coming from a cycling club background
I can be forgiven for
|
|
believing
that the TT stood for time trial, as the motorbikes are set off in
two's and they race
|
|
against
the clock. I have since been reliably informed that this is not
the case and that TT stands
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|
for
Tourist Trophy, which to me is incomprehensible as I fail to see
the connection between
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|
touring
as I have come to understand it, and racing around the island
risking ones life on a super
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|
charged
motorbike at 125mph. However on Saturday morning we set off around
the 39 mile TT
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|
circuit
to compete for our own tourists trophy. Finding the start of the
TT circuit in Douglas should
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|
have
been easy, but as so often happens in an unfamiliar town we became
lost. A kind man who
|
|
was
cleaning his car, outside of his house in the middle of a fairly
large estate of council houses,
|
|
gave
us directions and set us on the right track. Richard is fine out
in the countryside, with the help
|
|
of
an OS. map we ride for miles along narrow unclassified roads and
bridleways without getting
|
|
lost.
As soon as we enter a large town or urban area he will loose his
sense of direction and I never
|
|
know
where we will end up. Initially all we had been looking for was
the A1 to Peel, the TT racers
|
|
soon
sweep along this first section of the course as they travel west
across the island. Two miles
|
|
outside
of Peel they turn right and head off over the hills towards Kirk
St Michael. Then they race
|
|
along
the coast for two miles before turning inland once more, past the
half way marker close to
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|
The
Sulby Hotel, a good place to stop for lunch it was decided, as it
was about that time and the
|
|
benefits
of Mrs Ryan's second breakfast were beginning to wear off. After
Ramsey the climbing
|
|
starts
to get serious, during the TT races the motorbikes will roar out
of the town and head for the
|
|
the
mountain at 80mph then they negotiate The Ramsey Hairpin. Other
famous landmarks on the
|
|
climb
include The Waterworks, Tower Bend and Gooseneck. At Guthrie's
Memorial close to the
|
|
27
mile marker the steepest part of the climb is over. I am pleased
to be able to report that I
|
|
managed
to twiddle up the climb at 5mph in my granny gear with no problems
at all.
|
|
On
the right hand side of the road just before the railway crossing,
below the summit
|
|
of
Snaefell is Murray's Motorcycle Museum and cafe. I was sure that I
had worked hard enough
|
|
climbing
six miles from Ramsey up the mountain road to earn a cup of tea.
Richard took a photo
|
|
for
evidence while I locked the bikes, then we entered the museum. We
were straight away greeted
|
|
by
a stout, cheerful, elderly man who asked if we would like to look
through the museum. Feeling
|
|
somewhat
tired after the climb I answered "no but a cup of tea would
do nicely." "Certainly!" he
|
|
exclaimed
"take a seat in the cafe" and beckoned us to sit on a
bench by the door. The bench ran
|
|
along
two sides of an old rectangular table, a small dog slept in his
basket at one end, there didn't
|
|
appear
to be any more tables or seating in the cafe. A second elderly man
who had been sitting
|
|
A
young lady who had entered the cafe with her partner and sat down
with us on the bench, saw
|
|
the
jug and hastily declined the offer of tea. The cheerful stout man,
(I never asked his name he
|
|
could
have been Mr Murray himself) was a walking, talking encyclopaedia
of motorbikes and their
|
|
riders.
Over the the next thirty minutes he was responsible for a
considerable improvement to
|
|
my
knowledge of TT racing, great names from the past including Mike
Hailwood, John Surtees and
|
|
Jimmy
Guthrie, a six times winner in the thirties, who's monument we had
passed as we rode up the
|
|
mountain,
all entered into the conversation. Before leaving we were kindly
presented with a TT
|
|
circuit
certificate, usually only reserved for the motor bikers. During
the real races the fastest riders
|
|
will
complete a lap in 19 minutes, by the time we had descended from
the mountains and arrived
|
|
back
at the start in Douglas our leisurely lap had taken 5 hours and 19
minutes, which includes our
|
|
stops
for refreshment of course.
|
|
sides
of a piece of land that juts out into the Irish Sea forming The
Isle of Mans big toe. Both
|
|
overlook
beautiful bays that have created natural and very picturesque
harbours for the boats.
|
|
Further
over to the east is Castletown complete with another castle and a
harbour, this town was
|
|
once
the islands capital before Douglas assumed the role. Weather
conditions had improved
|
|
considerably
for our tour of the south, on the last full day of our long
weekend break. Lunch was
|
|
eaten
in a Castletown Hotel lounge bar, then we cycled back to Peel
along the A3 that runs through
|
|
the
centre of the island.
|
|
Unfortunately
our visit to The Isle of Man was drawing to it's end, in the
morning
|
|
we
said farewell to June and Rachel (mother and daughter) owners of
the Fernleigh Hotel, who had
|
|
looked
after us so well and then it was time to ride back to the airport.
By 1.30 in the afternoon
|
|
we
had landed at Luton and were enjoying a peaceful ride through the
country lanes in the warm
|
|
sunshine.
About the same time that we were descending Gravel Hill between
the villages of Lilley
|
|
and
Hexton, a highjacked airliner on the other side of the Atlantic
Ocean was descending from the
|
|
sky
above Manhattan on a collision course for the north tower of The
World Trade Centre. By the
|
|
time
we had reached Shillington village, virtually the whole world was
able to watch live pictures
|
|
of
the second airliner as it crashed into the south tower. It was
Tuesday September the 11th, like
|
|
millions
of other people we will remember forever, where we were and what
we were doing, on the
|
|
day
that those terrible and tragic events unfolded. Would we ever be
able to travel the world safely
|
|
in
an airliner again?
|
|
(Christine
Byers)
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|
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