Loaghtan Books

As we publish Brian King's book The Wreck of the Racehorse , we were invited to attend the ceremony to unveil a plaque marking 200 years since the boat sank.  We were incredibly lucky with the weather.  It was very cold - hey, it's December - but not raining or windy.  Gorgeous day. Racehorse , as many of you know, was one of the two wrecks - the other one was of Vigilant , which Racehorse was supposed to be escorting home - which prompted William Hillary to found the RNLI. The plaque was unveiled, as it says, by the Isle of Man's Lieutenant Governor, Sir John Lorimer.  Sir John represents the Lord of Mann on the island:  the Lord of Mann is better known elsewhere as King Charles III. What is particularly nice about this photograph is that the gentleman reflected so prominently on the left is Sir John.  Having done his unveiling he stopped to chat. (Am I allowed to say here that, according to the Admiralty, Racehorse was a sloop not a brig?  Yes, I think I am...)

While the rest of the UK has been smothered in snow, the Isle of Man has only really had a smattering.  The picture is of Snaefell, the Manx mountain.  Appropriately the name means 'snow mountain'.  The picture was taken from the path to North Barrule. The line running across the mountain is the track of the Snaefell Mountain Railway, while the building and masts are part of the air traffic control system.  From this angle you can't quite see the Summit Hotel.  Although we don't get much snow, we do get ice, so book deliveries have been quite exciting.

No pic this time, mainly because I couldn't think of an illustration. We had a stall at the Laxey Christmas Fair last weekend.  While it's always excellent to talk with real readers, we also get some very odd comments, particularly when you bear in mind that we're surrounded by the books we've published and are trying to sell.  For example: 'Do you sell chocolate?'  (Er... no.) (Aggressively)  'I don't like "Lady Chatterley's Lover".'  (Um... we don't publish that one...) 'Can you recommend a good church for my sister to go to?'  (The local vicar was manning a stall upstairs.) 'Are you my mummy?'  (From a lost child of about two - we helped.) 'If I buy one of your books do I get free coffee?'  (No!) 'I don't like cabbage.'  (No idea where that one came from.) 'Are you the chutney lady?'  (Not as daft as it sounds as the junior partner does make and dispense chutney to favoured victims tas