IOM - Fairy Doors

Having said that the Manx take their fairies seriously, they also have some fun with them, especially in Castletown, where we stay.

Our mate Al has had a few wee fairy doors on his house for quite some time.  He says it is quite funny when sometimes inebriated people knock on them late at night.

On this visit we noticed a few along the street we stay in.

We even noticed three on the steps next to the Co-op in town.

We park our  hire car in a car park just down the road from our cottage.  We noticed a couple more down there.

Don't you love that one even has a front lawn.

Now, there is a row of businesses next to the car park, one of them being Craftworks Studio, a pottery painting studio.  I had an idea....... so I popped in and enquired if they had fairy doors to paint.  Yes, they do.  They then asked me if I have been following the Fairy Door Trail around Castletown? No, I didn't even know about it.  They then gave me two brochures.  The next morning I set off with my little brochure on a fairy door hunt.

This little one was made of timber.  Very cute.

The clock in the garden beside the castle had one.

A door most befitting of the setting.

See the tiny little door to the right of the photo.  The big door is rather lovely too.

There's another one.

There were a couple down by the harbour.  This one was rather elusive.

The pepper pot lighthouses are Castletown's special feature.

I walked around to the far lighthouse.

Yep, there is another fairy door on the big door.

More doors.  This last one was rather elegant.

I only followed one of the brochures and I didn't find all the fairy doors.  I think it would be a  really fun thing to do with little kids......and big ones too.

Now, while I was going for this little walk the boys had gone off on their own adventure and I had all the morning to myself, so I headed back to Craftworks Studio.

Time to make a fairy door of my own.  The only glitch in this plan was that, being school holidays, there were very few bisque fairy doors left.  I decided to paint a little sheep one.

Time to choose colours.  I don't think I've painted anything since early high school, but nothing ventured nothing gained.

Everything about the studio is fresh and bright and Martin and Viv were lovely.

There we go.  One little sheep fairy door ready to be glazed and fired.  I would be able to collect it in a couple of days.

When I went and collected it there were some more fairy doors ready for their bisque firing. There were ones that looked more like a Manx door in this new batch. I kept popping in and towards the end of the second week they were ready for painting and I was able to visit again and paint a second fairy door.   I forgot to take in progress photos.  Time was running out for us and we thought that the second one would have to be posted to me, but they were able to squeeze it into a firing and then got it out of the kiln for me on the evening before we left.  They really did go above and beyond.

So, I suppose I'd better show you the end products.

I'm not sure where I'll put my little sheep, but we have found a home for the red door.

Now, I'll be able to visit the fairies whenever I hang the washing.

It was a fun and totally unexpected activity on our holidays and sweet little mementos to bring home.