Public Transport on the Island is excellent, with one ticket valid for all buses and trains (steam and electric). A day pass was about £12
The Electric Railway to Snaefell first...
While waiting for the train to leave, I had a pint of local ale. And made a new friend...
We went through some stations that I can only describe as adorable.
On the way, the train slowed to a halt. One of the fuses had blown. Thankfully they carried spares, and we were on our way. Just one of those considerations that you really don’t think about, when it comes to maintaining a Victorian-built electric tramway!
From the Summit you can see the Seven Kingdoms: the Kingdom of Ireland, the Kingdom of Wales, the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Scotland; the Kingdom of Man, the Kingdom of the Sea and the Kingdom of the Sky.
But possibly not all today…
After a quick bite to eat I headed back on the next service to Douglas. The ever changing sky had a nice affect on the scenery….
I was particularly taken by Laxey, home of the famous Laxey Wheel. I didn’t get a chance to visit this time… but just at that sky!
The weather could not have been better. It was the very definition of “picture postcard”.
We changed at Laxey from the Snaefell Mountain Railway to the Manx Electric Railway.
On the way to Laxey, I sat in the “open” carriage – big mistake. Despite the blue sky and sunshine, it was cold. Thankfully there were nice comfy seats in the other carriage.
Douglas
From Douglas I jumped on a bus all the way to the south of the island, to a little town called Port Erin.
It was a lovely little place, and after watching the sun go down from the beach, I had dinner in a local hotel. It was OK.
On my last day, I wanted to try the other transport option the island has: The Isle of Man Steam Railway.
It was very much like Thomas the Tank Engine (for all the right reasons).
Here are the names of the stops:
I was delighted to see that Ronaldsway Halt was an option – the ticket office told me it was walkable from there to the airport – however I really wanted to see Castletown. It wold have been a lovely addition to the report to say that I had taken a steam train to the airport. However, the bust to Port Erin had gone through a lovely little town called Castletown, which deserved a visit. Steam Train to the airport? Next year….
Douglas Station was very grand… as befits a capital city! ☺
All the stations were very well maintained. I was surprised to find that the service was not just treated as a tourist attraction – lots of locals were making short journeys.
And then the airport station!
Castletown Station was really quite impressive. A solid building, with a little museum and ticket office…
Castletown deserves another visit, rather than me just passing through…
In the pub that you can see in the above pic I made a new friend…
All good things must continue however and I jumped on the bus to the airport.
I looked out the window. No, it can’t be! Can it? Yes!
An old aeroplane in Manx Airlines livery! Who remembers Manx Airlines?
What a lovely blast from the past. They became subsumed in ‘British Regional Airlines’, along with Loganair and Brymon Airways, and eventually became British Airways Express. Only Loganair still exists. I digress..
Ronaldsway Airport is a lovely little airport.
I was wished a pleasant flight by the security team, which, by the way, took SEVEN SECONDS. I am not making it up.
I went into the queue with all my worldly (travel) belongings, and jacket all ready to go in the cart. I was the only one there. Seven seconds later, I’m through the scanner and off to the lounge and some plane spotting.
The lounge was reassuringly purple
This turned out to be Aer Lingus…
easyJet has arrived to disrupt the local market, with daily flights to Bristol. Liverpool and London.
We were bussed to the aircraft, an immaculate looking Saab 340, operated by Eastern Airways.
This flight was much quieter than the one on Friday evening.
Service was efficient, not as friendly as Friday’s but nothing to complain about.
This plane seemed to have better legroom that Fridays…
Soon we were above the clouds….
Inflight service…
We were treated to some spectacular views of London on the approach to London City. This is a poor pic, however the intensely white bit in the middle is in fact Piccadilly Circus.
Lower and lower…
Arrival at London City.
And ready to go on the DLR five minutes later… with happy memories of the Isle of Man and British Airways, and already planning my next trip….!
Last edited by Sealink on 29 Nov 2015, 21:27, edited 1 time in total.
