IOM - The People

One thing that stands out in our visits to the Isle of Man is the people we have met and the hospitality we have received.

This year there was one glaring omission, Loulee, who blogs as Manxgirl.  We first met back in 2009. Neither of us had met another blogger up until then.  It was the start of a lovely friendship with her and Tony.  Lou has since emigrated to New Zealand and we missed spending time with her on the IOM.  

We met Big Al on our first visit to the IOM back in 2007.  Mick was overlooking a card game being played at the local pub when Al explained the game to him.  He and Mick keep in touch all the time.  Since then, Al has been a wonderful friend on the island, taking us to some amazing places on each of our visits, teaching us so much about the island, introducing us to many of his friends and taking Mick fishing and trials riding.  His shed is a real tardis, so organised and compact.  

This year Al introduced us to some old mates of his.  They gather each Saturday morning at "The Smithy" for a brew (and the accompanying toddy of rum) and morning tea.  It is all rather civilised.  They are mainly old sailors and boat owners.  I'm sure they have solved many of the world's problems down here.   

I particularly like the old flags they have hanging up.  No polyester here.  

It was a privilege to be made so welcome.

Al also introduced us to his mate Lawrence, who is a very skilled craftsman in timber.  He works out of a small workshop above his garage.  In this small space he creates all sorts of things.  At present he is making timber window frames for a house restoration and making replacement timber work for a historic church.  If you look closely at the bottom left of the photo you will see a strip of carved timber.  This was his practice piece for the edge of a board room table.  He not only built the table, but the matching ten chairs.  Chairs and table all have carved ball and claw feet.  The entire project took nine months to complete.  He has even built staircases in this space.  He is a quiet, humble man, with his work being featured in magazines.  He also specialises in restoring grandfather clocks.  It was a pleasure to meet him.

The next person Al introduced us to was Jack Fowler.  Al has been a mate of Jack's dad Neil for years.  Neil used to race in the Manx Grand Prix and this is Jack's first year racing on the island.  It was great to meet him and to also have someone to barrack for in the racing.  He did rather well too, coming fourth in the Newcombers B race on his Kawasaki 600.

We got chatting to this old bloke and his wife at the back of the grand stand one day.  It turns out that he was the Guest of Honour for the Manx Grand Prix.  His name is Frank Whiteway.  Back in 1967, on a Suzuki, he was the first person to reach 90 mph on a 250cc bike.  We had a really nice chat.  I went on to read a bit more about him here.

While wandering around Ramsey one day we noticed that "Master Frank" was in town. (The Green one.)  This is the historic sailing vessel owned by Lou's dad, Joe. 

As we walked past, we noticed that he was on board.  It was lovely to briefly meet him. You can read a bit about "Master Frank" and Joe here.