where art collides philosoperontap

Have donned my headphones to shut out the sound of the guy behind me telling a colleague he will have to prepare his presentation tomorrow as otherwise he won’t have any time before Monday. He doesn’t know when he is “on”. He is wearing ear buds and so speaking more loudly than he would otherwise be doing when just using the phone. Just prior to this I was just thinking to myself how train travel still retains an element of the romance of the days of old when steam engines would chuff chuff out of the station on their long haul north. Modern day travel is far more comfortable.

This train is quite full because of an East Midlands Railway cancellation out of St Pancras. I, however, am comfortable enough in my usual seat number E5 with no one else on the table. May this sitch continue. Long live the table for one.

I have boarded an earlier train than planned (19:47) and will get home at a sensible 16;35. The onboard wifi is gerfunkt, if that is a word, it is now, so I’m hitching an internet ride on my dog and bone. Mick mack paddy whack catch a world wide wave, Dave.

40 minutes later, during a pause in the music, I note the corporate guy is still talking away in his corporate language. Perhaps he is running things up the flagpole 🙂 I am feeling quite mellow, sipping away as I am, at a gin et tonique, slimeline.

Ahah! The noisy guy is getting off at Grantham, yay. May he drown in the memory of Margaret Thatcher, Mrs.  Grantham is a somewhat nondescript place. This is a direct train to Lincoln, meaning I don’t have to change. Often there are only a few of us left by the time we leave Newark, the penultimate stop. That can generate a degree of camaraderie amongst those who remain. The survivors. My mellowness is growing. The very nice member of staff has dropped off a second gin.

Lots of folk running on the platform in Grantham. I suspect they are East Midlands Railway passengers rushing to make a connection that might well have been held for them. The Wickes car park in Grantham is quite empty. Funny what catches your eye. 16:01. Obvs not a busy time for the diy trade.

THG picked me up at 16:35 fair play. I made her wait 60 seconds whilst I videoed a goods train coming through the stayshun. What’s not to like?

Knackering drive to East Midlands Airport and back yesterday afternoon to pick up our John. Hottest day of the year so far, peaking at 24 degrees Celsius. Couldn’t find my shorts or my shades. The traffic coming back from the airport was bad. Four hour round trip.

Prior to that I’d dug up a load of turf from the wildflower meadow in readiness for random seed scattering today. Has to be random as that is what happens in nature innit. Plus it’s a mix of perhaps 20 different seeds so the distribution of plant types is going to be random anyway innit. 

The act of removing the turf has lowered the level by an inch or more and I have decided to take advantage of the new topography by naming the strip the Central Valley. The wildflowers will grow in the plain that runs along the whole length of the valley. The valley has the lake at its head. Feels right.

Recorded 11 different birds around the garden yesterday: robin, wren, blackbird, blue tit, coal tit, great tit, dunnock, wood pigeon, sparrow, crow and yellow legged gull. This adds to the previously recorded chaffinch, magpie and goldfinch. Whether the Merlin app was getting confused by tits I’m not sure but I’m running with the list. The gull aside they have all been previously recorded so it is plausible that yesterday’s list is accurate and there was a real cacophony occurrin’. Even our Joe said he could hear it when I was chatting with him over WhatsApp.

Read in the news about BTS’ comeback tour. Arguably the world’s biggest boy band. Apaz. There are a couple of observations to be made here. Firstly I didn’t know they had broken up so I was somewhat nonplussed by the announcement of the comeback. Secondly I’d never heard of them anyway. Getting really out of touch here #oldfartsrus.

I, as usual, had the best gross in the golf but Coops edged it once handicaps were taken into consideration. I had a birdie on the 15th with a tee shot that pulled up a foot short of the pin. Our John made up the threeball. A weather front rolled by as we arrived at the ninth. The sky darkened but we cracked on and the rain eventually passed. Dinner afterwards in the Duke William.

Mannanana, do doo do doo doo. On the good ship Manannan of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. That’s a good name for a shipping line. Evokes visions of travel from the Victorian era. Port out starboard home. Not that it makes any difference on the Isle of Man ferry. Here it is more about ensuring you have a seat reserved in the Premium Lounge or, on the Manxman, a cabin. Unfortunately because we booked at the last minute we couldn’t get seats together. We will survive.

As we were boarding I noticed that the RNLB Betty Huntbatch moored in Douglas harbour. It’s a huge boat as lifeboats go. Betty was the person who paid for the boat through a £1.2 million bequest in her will, fair play. Her husband had been in the Royal Navy. Also as dawn came the sky turned a vivid pink. It lasted no more than five minutes. We are parked at the pointy end of the ship up the winding deck in the open. I don’t really like parking there. You are the last to get off. In the days of the Land Rover Defender they always put us near the front for a quick getaway because of the height of the car.

The sea looks pretty calm with a force 3 wind but the boat is still rolling a bit. Should be ok. I have a bacon roll coming.

Good news. The Robert Blane party is a no show leaving 4 free seats at the front of the cabin. THG and I are now sat together yay. Mind you there isn’t much dialogue going on. It’s still a bit early. I wonder what Robert Blane’s story is. Why did he not show up? I looked him up. There are loads of Robert Blanes. One of them is a horse trainer. Wonder if it was him. Thanks anyway Bob.

The bacon roll is taking its time.

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An uneventful sailing, which is good, a family visit on the Wirral and now the silver bullet is headed east with THG at the wheel. We traditionally stop at Heartshead Moor services to change over drivers. In the passenger I can now focus on ritin, social media and perhaps the build up to the Imps game at Reading. You will all undoubtedly be aware that we only need a point from this game to secure promotion to the lofty reaches of the second division. Reading will not be a walkover. They are in a very much insecure sixth place with Stevenage only a point behind them and with two games in hand. Reading will be desperate to take a point or three out of this game. Huh! Our in car guidance system tells us we arrive home six minutes after kickoff. There will be stuff to unload before I can settle in front of the big screen in the shed to watch the game.

Tis a bootiful day out there. I had to ditch the flannel shirt as it was too warm. This is the week I switch to summer attire. My shorts are all in a storage box under a bed in one of the spare rooms. Will need to dig em out. Although a few blokes were walking around in them the Isle of Man was very much not shorts weather. We have the AC on in the car.

Yesterday turned out to be a good Friday, ably assisted by a win for the Imps with a goal in the 88th minute. 23 games unbeaten, ten points clear of Cardiff at the top and eighteen points clear of Bolton in third place. We watched it in the cottage as the Marine turned out not to have sky sports despite the  sticker in the window.

I expect today will be a good Saturday. Gonna nip to the butcher’s first thing to source some bacon to take home. Seriously good stuff. I’ll have a couple of slices for breakfast this morning with a sausage, an egg and sourdough toast.

Meet THG for a cawfee at the breakwater caff after her swim and then a general amble around Peel. Again. FA cup action between Liverpool and Man City at the Etihad. We shall have to see how that goes. I remain hopeful. May watch that in the back room of the Creek. See how it goze. Then it’s the annual running race up Peel Hill. Tough lot those runners. Part of me thinks it may  get cancelled as we are expecting force 10 winds. 

Our boat did go this morning but everything else is cancelled. We are happy to have delayed our departure until Monday and are now going back to Liverpool. A two day holiday bonus that will hopefully include some spectacular wave action at Fenella Beach and definitely dinner at the Boatyard later on. By the time we go on Monday we (I) will have sampled all our regular eating and drinking spots: the Whitehouse, the Creek, the Peveril, the Marine,  Miller’s T’Ale, the Royal, Royal India and the Boatyard. The only place not visited will have been the Central but we don’t often go there anyway. Not bad going.

In assessing the pros of cons of staying an extra two nights I did take into consideration the remaining supplies of clean clothes. You will be pleased, nay thrilled to know that I have plenty of underwear and just the right number of shirts left. Of course we could have put a wash on but that doesn’t look like being necessary and we would in any event have had the issue of drying the clothes, remembering that the reason for our delayed departure being Storm Dave.

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Picked up the bacon and brought it home, as they say. Bought four varieties, as we might say. Unsmoked back and streaky, smoked back and black treacle cured. At least I think she said it was black treacle. Said it was da dogz. Been thinking about curing my own bacon and might well have a go when this batch has been consumed. Just like in the (very) old days.

So now I’m back in the cottage waiting for the right time to break the fast. There is no rush. We don’t need to hurry through life. Initially when I stepped outside I was wearing my love and peace suede leather jacket but realised it was drizzly so turned around and swapped it for my waterproof. Feels as if waterproof will be the order of the day.

Been trying to get hold of someone from the Ventosus winery in Peel. Noone answering the mobile phone and the shop has been closed all the time we’ve been here. The notice in the window says “we are probably out on deliveries”. Hmm. My backup plan is to swing by the deli at Tynwald Mills but they aren’t answering the phone either.

Tharrldofornow.

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Called in at the Ventosus wine shop. The owner of the bookshop over the road told me they opened nearer lunchtime most days and after visiting the Kissacks I swung by again and lo it was open. The owner told me the story of the building. It had apparently, during the heyday of the smuggling industry in the Isle of Man, been used as a store for booze. It would be brought in to the building through the solid oak front doors and taken to the cellar from where it would leave via side exits in the possession of said smugglers for dispatch to various places in the UK.

Bought a mixed case of tempranillo and cabernet/shiraz. With a housefull of visitors next weekend it will come in handy. Mind you some of them will be running the 10k on Sunday morning so they are likely to be fairly abstemious.

Good Friday, hopefully :).  Many of you will be familiar with the saying “it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive” but I am here to tell you that “no, it is good to have arrived at Friday”. Whether this Friday turns out to be a great one remains to be seen but we are optimistic,  hopeful. 

There is much about the day to look forward to. In anticipation of a Saturday morning departure from the island I’ve been running down the stores and had planned to finish off the bacon and the one remaining bread roll for today’s breakfast. This is still my plan though having pushed back our departure to Easter Monday the fridge stocks sitch will need to be revisited. 

We had always planned to pick up a couple of sourdough loaves, one white and one brown, ordered a couple of days ago from GG Bakery on Michael Street. Sourdough lasts, particularly as we mostly toast it, so we figured we would take it home with us. Now it will come in handy for our extra days. I am optimistic re this bread.  GG Bakery only opened last summer but our first foray, in which the bread was ordered and a sausage roll and two bread rolls were purchaysed was a successful one. The pastry was excellent and the rolls, or baps as they are called in these parts, were large meaning I only used one of them for our picnic lunch thereby leaving the other for today’s breakfast.

Plans for the day include watching the Imps at 3pm. I’m going to ask The Marine if they can show the game. No premiership matches on today so I am optimistic that they will agree. Dunno really. You will  note that optimism is part of a theme running through today’s post. The Imps could well secure promotion today. Proportion to the Championship as that league is known as today but in reality Division Two. The Imps’ highest ever league position was fifth in Division Two in 1902. In those days there were only two divisions. Now I’ve lost count how many there are. Fingers crossed re The Marine agreeing to put it on eh? 

Before the game we are planning to walk up Peel Hill. This won’t be a first but it will be the first time in years as the state of my hip joints have got in the way for a while now. I am excited about the challenge but realistic that it won’t be an easy one. Hopefully the wind and rain will stay away as it won’t be particularly sensible to go up there if the weather is too bad and we want the view to be there anyway.

To round off the day we are meeting @Richard and Jacqui in the Royal at 6pm before hitting the Royal India around the corner. No connection between the two joints. That was going to be our last day in town but now that it isn’t we have already booked The Boatyard for Saturday night which is a bonus.

So Good Friday, a day of optimism and hope should be a good one, at least in my good book 🙂 

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THG has returned from her morning run around Peel and reports that it is somewhat dank and drizzly out there. I think the outlook improves this pm but we vill wait and c. As Storm Dave approaches these isles we must expect the weather to be even more variable than is usual. Or is this our normal state anyway. What I quite like about Storm Dave is the name. I’ve often asked myself why on earth they come up with exotic names. Ok in the interest of accuracy and/or research I hereby present all the storm names for 2026: Amy, Bram, Chandra, Dave, Eddie, Fionnuala, Gerad, Hannah, Isla, Janna, Kasia, Lilith, Marty, Nico, Oscar, Patrick, Ruby, Steve, Tadhg, Violet and Wubbo. Hmm okay. A few outlandish ones in there but perhaps I’m looking at it from an old fogey perspective. Wubbo is certainly unusual so maybs I should hang my argument around that one. Dave meet Wubbo. You both have much in common. A bit windy around ere innit!

Good night’s kip, although some pesky gulls chose to have a chat at some point in the night, and then a good breakfast. The local butcher’s smoked bacon is seriously good and I added fried leftover spuds and an egg on top of avocado on toast. THG did an excellent of smashing the avo and left me some for my own use. Won’t need lunch now and I can save the remaining bread roll for a bacon butty tomorrow morning.

We are off on a steam excursion to Port Erin today. Train leaves Douglas at eleven fifty arriving an hour later. There is a nice little museum at Port Erin Station and a caff situated in the waiting room. Olde worlde railway vibe to it. On our last visit THG and I were sat in said caff having driven there from Peel. When the train arrived the place filled with passengers looking for the loo and some sustenance, probably in that order. The upshot was a long queue for the bogs. Knowing this I suspect we will go to the museum first and then do the caff before the return let at 2pm. I like steam trains.

Sat now sipping a cuppa whilst THG gets ready to hit the road. She is going on the bus as she likes to “do the shops” in Douglas. The place holds nothing of interest for me so I am following on in her car which does allow us to swing by Paul and Wendy on the way back to Peel. Assuming they are in obvs.

Interesting conversation in Greens caff in St John’s yesterday pm where we met Mike for a cuppa. I asked the woman at the till whether they took Amex to which the answer was no. I mentioned it was my preferred method of payment as we use the points for trips, quoting our visit to Malta in September as an example. Would you believe it she, the woman at the till, is also going to the same hotel for the first two weeks. They will be leaving as we arrive 🙂 Obvs running the caff must be good business, spending the profits on two weeks in a 5* hotel in Malta.

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Set off earlier in the car than I needed to with the expressed purpose of spending some time at Fenella Beach. A fair number of cars in the car park but they are parked near the mobile sauna that has appeared overnight so I guess they are punters of that gaff. A few people stood outside in those warm towelling coveralls that swimmers wear when they come out of the water on a cold day. Not really my thang. Cerainly not at this time of year.

The sea is pretty calm today (5mph West/Souwesterly) and the sun is making an effort to shine through. A woman walks her dog on the beach and a man runs around the outside of the castle. One ship visible on the horizon. Marine Traffic tells me it’s the Stena Forwarder sailing from Birkhenhead to Belfast. Must be nearly there. A bit cross I forgot my binocs on this trip. They are very hady things around the Peel Castle and Breakwater area. There is fishing boat just down the coast but I can’t see it from here. Tayrin, PL175.

Merry laughter coming from the sea down below. Four brave/mad/you choose lady swimmers of uncertain ages have entered the water. Eight minutes later they are wading slowly out. It’s just an ordinary day in Peel. An ordinary day. A totally gorgeous day now that the sun is fully out.

A Ferrari has just pulled up next to me. I heard it before I saw it. Throaty engine roar. Young bloke driving it. A few smaller boats are also now starting to appear.

I’ve moved to the breakwater. PL9 – Liam Joseph bobs gently up and down. Herring gulls announce their presence.

…

What an exciting day it’s been. The train journey to Port Erin was uneventful apart from the fact that whilst sat in the station in Douglas I received an sms from the steam packet company saying our sailing on Saturday was at risk of cancellation due to high winds. Turns out Storm Dave is rolling in with Gale Force 10 winds. Hmm okay. I checked and our cottage, #1 Charles Street was not rented out after us so there was the potential to extend the booking. I parked the issue until our return to Douglas when we could chat to the steam packet at the Sea Terminus.

Nice stopover at Port Erin where I bought two mugs: steam train and electric railway. I worked on the latter as a summer job before going to uni. Plum job. The station in Port Erin was v cosy with a coal fire burning in the grate of the waiting room. How often do you see that in the UK? 

The drama happened on our return journey. We stopped at Castletown but then stood there for ages. Took quite a while for the staff to tell us that the southbound train had broken down in Ballasala. Problems with the brakes. The engineer was on his way from Douglas but it would be a good half hour before we were on our way. Most of the line is single line working so we couldn’t overtake the broken down train.

We stopped for a total of around three quarters of an hour in Castletown but did eventually get going. The driver was obviously pushing the engine as hard as he could to try and make up time as the return journey thenceforth was quite bumpy. Made it back about 40 mins late but hey, it was an adventure. We could always have got off in Castletown and found alternative transportation home.

Back at the Sea Terminus we changed our sailing until Monday and have now extended the cottage booking until then as well. I am ok with this. We now have a table at The Boatyard restaurant for Saturday night and might well be doing something with Paul and Wendy on Sunday. Moreover we should be able to watch the Liverpool v  Man City FA Cup quarter final match on Saturday. I daresay we will find a pub showing it.

Gulls are a natural alarm clock when you come to peel. A constant cacophony as a backdrop to the trip. I tried the Merlin app to see if I could identify the bird types. It recognised the presence of birds but couldn’t decide what sort. You could almost hear its thought processes “hmm it’s a seagull but that’s too generic”. It kept stum.

Vicious things these gulls. They will swoop down and steal the ice cream cone out of your hand like one once did to our @hannah. Just stay alert :).

Loads of different types of birds around Peel and if you are lucky you will get to see some diving. They circle about 40m above the waves and then suddenly tilt and plummet. Plunge. It’s more common to see birds swimming and then suddenly dive, surfacing a few metres away. I’m not sure I’ve seen one come up with a fish in its mouth. Not v often anyway.

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THG has gone out for a run and I’ve just polished off a bacon and mushroom sandwich. Yanow it isn’t worth buying supermarket bacon if you can get the real stuff from a butcher. Yesterday on the way back from our swim I stopped by Tate’s on Michael Street and picked up some bacon (smoked and streaky) and sausages (cumberland). Just eaten some of the bacon now. Really top notch. Having the sausages tonight. The beauty of hiring a cottage is that you can sometimes eat in instead of having to do pubs and restaurants every night.

Anyway I’d originally stopped by the butch for some ham for lunch but the ham wasn’t going to be available until today. Now some of you might think that isn’t very good stock planning but Peel is a small place and folk will get used to when certain things are available. For example he was making more sausages today but had enough for our needs in the fridge. So presumably the ham comes in today. I was happy enough to wait another day. I figured the ham would be far superior sourced from the butcher. I’m going to nip out in a bit to buy some to go with our picnic on Glen Maye beach today. It’s a beautiful walk down to Glen Maye beach. If you’ve never been, get on down there. Been going there for years.

The butcher was in the throes of making burgers to service his contract with the Glen Helen Hotel. Mincing the beef and mixing it up with seasoning. Everything prepared in front of you. His shop was nothing fancy but you just felt right about buying from him. The bacon was wrapped in greaseproof paper and then put in a paper bag. No plastic in sight. Had a nice chat with him.

There’s also a new bakery on Michael Street. We will have to call in. Quite a few empty shop premises though. You don’t get quite the same sense of prosperity here as you do in Jersey where the high street of St Helier is rammed with stores.

It’s Wednesday so almost half way through our visit already. Still three action packed days to go. Stay tuned for updates. You’ll be the first to hear.