Loaghtan Books

Last weekend was the island's Parish Walk.  It's always held as near to the longest day as possible as the walkers need all the help they can get. Visitors often think that 'Parish Walk' sounds like a pleasant stroll:  it isn't.  Walkers must visit every parish church in the Isle of Man - that's seventeen parishes - along a designated route which is 85 miles long.  They have 24 hours in which to do this, hence the need for as much daylight as possible.  The Manx Parish Walk is considered one of the most gruelling walking challenges in the world. Hundreds start, few finish and, while there is a lot to see at the start with hundreds of people, some in costume, by the time they get near here the field is sparse and very spread out.  This year 1,009 people started, 100 finished. The race begins at 8.00 in the morning at the National Sports Centre, Douglas, so walkers get to us about 12 hours later, or slightly less if they're in the lead.  This year's race w

I used to be a fan of the post office.  On a Junior School trip we were taken to see how the main post office in my home town worked.  Even this length of time afterwards I remember being ushered into a basement and the excitement of seeing tens of thousands of letters whizzing through machines being sorted and franked.  When I was a student, back in the early eighties (we're talking 1980s, by the way, not my age) I saw another aspect of the post office when I became a temporary Christmas postman.  THAT was hard work! Such 'back stage' views created a fondness for the post office which has lasted up until very recently. Unfortunately the post office itself has killed the respect I've had for it for decades. I'll give give you an example.  On 3 April a regular customer ordered one of our books.  We sent it out the same day.  On 3 June the book was returned to us, still with its original paperwork.  The recipient's UK address was correct.  The postage was correct.

The TT is upon us!  And before eagle-eyed readers of this blog get in touch, the combination speeding through Ramsey (above) is not from this year.  Similar scenes took place yesterday evening with local team the Crowe brothers emulating their Dad and winning in spectacular style. I've never understood why the acrobatic member of the combination is called the passenger.  It seems to me that he or she does most of the work. In a very real sense the Isle of Man's year revolves around TT.  Supplying books to our customers on the island we frequently hear 'we need to get stocks in before TT', or, occasionally (and sadly), 'we won't need the books until after TT'.  Delivering during racing week (this week!) is almost impossible due to road closures, and many businesses, like delivery firms, just shut for the week.  We don't have their excuse! Scheduling deliveries of supplies from across (i.e. the UK) is also interesting.  Senior race day - it's the most