We have been exploring a bit with a South African couple couple from work who also like to mountain bike so we have been seeing a bit of the island with them.
Chantel and Kyle
A few weeks ago we went to Port Erin and watched the soapbox derby (home made go-carts)then wandered around Bradda head, the tower and the ruins on the coast of the old mining buildings and tunnels.
Neil on the Bradda Head Tower
Karyn in the entrance to the Bradda Mines
Neil has just dispatched himself off to Scotland for the Six Day Orienteering in Tay. I hear the terrain is good though hopefully he has better weather as I'm not sure I would be so keen to be tenting now. Hopefully he will have luck in securing the place we are hoping to rent in Whitehaven on his way back as having a place to live from the weekend we head over will defiantly help the organising and planning side of things. At the same time he will start making enquiries about finding work - though at least he doesn't need a permit this time to wrestle with!
We managed to see a Shakespeare play the other week in the ruins of the old Peel Castle, Cymbeline wasn't one I had seen before and they made good use of the castle as props, all in the outdoors too so we packed a picnic and lots of warm clothes, shooed the sea gulls away. The setting sun was lovely even if the storm clouds were coming over the horizon!
The other day I went and explored the Laxey mine more - where the mountain bike race was that Fi and Stu did here. This was a nice piece of history as pretty much everything on the Island origionally came about due to the mines, the settlements, shipping to transport the metal, food grown to feed the families etc, some of the old structures were still about to explore a bit and the views from the top of the Lady Isabella (the giant wheel that pumped the water from the mines) was fantastic.
The Lady Issabella (The Great Laxey Wheel)
and Laxey town in the backgraound
