Loaghtan Books

For those of you who don't know, the above is the largest Three Legs of Man in the world. Or it was. With a diameter of 100 feet, the Three Legs perched on the north-west shoulder of North Barrule, the Isle of Man's second highest peak, and was clearly visible from Ramsey and the North.  The design was created out of local rocks by Bryan Callister over twelve weeks in 2019. Unfortunately he didn't have planning permission, or whatever it was he needed.  Many people liked the proud display of the Manx emblem, but some objected and kept objecting to what they saw as illegal man-made items defacing the landscape. On 9 August 2024 the Department of Infrastructure removed the Barrule Three Legs.  They had to close the mountain road to do it.  It seems a poor use of tax payers money. Now the only place to see Mr Callister's creation is in historic photographs.  Or the second edition of our book Three Legs Good .

The Isle of Man's heritage railways have just finished a week of special events to celebrate... well, their existence really.  Nowhere else in the world has public transport still using its Victorian and Edwardian rolling stock. The heritage railways really pushed the boat out (pushed the tram out??) and showed off all sorts of vehicles which the public rarely see.  Above is a back view of car 34 towing trailer 51 and heading north round Bulgham; definitely NOT a normal combination. Car 34, sometimes known as the Flying Banana but officially called Maria, is a very odd vehicle not only to look at, but also in how she works.  She's powered by diesel - the only rail vehicle dedicated to the Manx Electric Railway which is - but is operated using the same sort of electric controller as all the tramcars.  The thinking is that anyone who can drive a tram can drive her without additional training.  She's a works car so can travel along the line when the electricity is ...

This is the main road between Douglas and Ramsey if you don't go over the mountain.  It's the Manx A2 and runs within a mile or so of the office.  OK, the photograph was taken earlier in the year - not even on the Isle of Man do daffodils flower in July - but the amount of traffic it gets is fairly accurately shown. We recently visited the UK and were horrified by the volume of traffic.  All the time!  We're what the Manx call 'come overs', in other words immigrants, so, moving from the UK, we were not unused to UK traffic.  But surely it's got a lot worse?  It's dangerous.  It's noisy.  It smells.  It wrecks the countryside.  It's unhealthy.  I had an asthma attack when we were there because of all the pollution.  The last time I had an asthma attack was nearly thirty years ago. It's not for me to say what should be happening in a country I no longer live in, but... come on!  How many ordinary people voted for turning Eng...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

Our farming neighbour thinks that the finest May tree on the island stands outside our office.  He estimated that it's probably carrying at least a million blossoms.  It's a lovely tree, particularly at this time of the year. The Hawthorn, as it's more usually called, is traditionally thought to guard one of the gates to the realm of the little people, and is also considered as a protection against evil spirits.  In Celtic cultures - and the Isle of Man has a strong Celtic tradition - it is treated with particular respect, with gifts hung on the branches to propitiate the fairy guardians. Perhaps because the trees are thought to belong to the little people, in some areas it was considered very unlucky to bring hawthorn blossom into the house.  Or perhaps it was merely because the blossom looks spectacular but smells 'like death' if cut - almost literally.  The chemical in hawthorn blossom is the same one as is in bad meat.  It was also unlucky to cut hawtho...