Nick off to the Isle of Man and some regular bird visitors.

Nick - ready for his trip to the Isle of Man.

 

 

 

Have a safe journey!

 

 

A Jay.  The Jay is known for being a noisy but a shy, cautious bird. This one however is a regular feeder at our feeding station, and seems to enjoy the bread on offer!  It is quite remarkable that the Jay buries hundreds of acorns every year in autumn. It remembers where most of them are, and digs them out to eat them late in the winter or spring, when food is scarce.  Clever!

 

 A young Nuthatch. A family of them have just arrived. 

 

 A house sparrow feeding its young.  The house sparrow
 population has supposedly declined, but not here they haven't!

 The grey squirrel still arrives for meals. They are destructive though, and they often damage the peanut feeders.

   Robin    -    Still my favourite!  Male and female are similar.  The young have spotted, brownish feathers.  

Blue Tit feedings its young.                                  

 

 The Wood pigeon. Nice markings, and generally known as a pest in rural areas!

 A collared dove.  These birds usually arrive in pairs, and seem to come quite frequently now.

Coal Tit - with a sunflower seed.   Quite tricky to get a good photo of this quick moving little bird!

A very enjoyable trip to the Isle of Man.

 

 

 

 

 

This was our first visit to the Isle of Man - and I do hope that it won't be our last. What a lovely island to visit. Our trip was with Majestic coach tours and our main reason for going was to see and familiarise ourselves with the TT race course. Motor cycling takes over the Island for 2 weeks every year.

Many famous names are linked with the island. Norman Wisdom had a house here, as did Nigel Mansell. Jeremy Clarkson owns a  lighthouse home, with a section of coast. Mollie Sugden lived here and Russell Grant, as did Ronnie Ronalde - who remembers him? (He could really whistle!)  The Bee Gees were all born on the Island. I have to mention Mark Cavendish as well of course!

The Island is self governing and the current rate of income tax is 10%  - 20%  and no corporate tax. Quite a good reason to reside on the Isle of Man!

Our trip started at the Moto Services, Exeter on a Sunday. We met the coach at 8.15 hrs. and after several stops we arrived at Blackpool for our overnight stop.

                       Blackpool sea front.   No swimmers!

                       A deserted Blackpool promenade!

After breakfast, we travelled to Heysham to catch the ferry to the Isle of Man.

We were lucky to sail on the fast catamaran ferry  'the Mannaman' 
This ferry takes 2 hours, whilst the larger ferry, (the Ben-my-Chree)  takes nearly 4 hours!


We stayed at the Rutland Hotel in Douglas. The quiet end of the promenade - but the furthest from the shopping area!

                    One way of travelling to the shops!

   Our train ride to Castletown

 

A view of  the square from the Castle Rushen, at Castletown

A Manx cat. There are 2 types. A stumpy and a rumpy tailed cat. Nearly everyone on our coach took a photo of this one!

.

       Another tourist attraction. An untouched, remote farmstead. 

                            Many Seals on the Calf of Man

       Friends from the coach trip, with the Calf of Man in the background.

       The Laxey Wheel. Nearly everyone climbed to the top!

 Waiting for the Snaefell mountain railway train. The railway took just 7 months to complete, and runs for a total of 4 miles to the top of the highest mountain on the island, Snaefell at 2,036 ft.

Pointing to the Lake District. On a clear day you can see Scotland, Ireland and England. Scotland is the nearest land to the Isle of Man.

The electric train.

       The Bungalow. Just below Snaefell. A frequently mentioned place for the TT races, and I would think a very good place to view the races!

 The Parliament House in Douglas. Locally named 'The WeddingCake'

                 Home from home! There is even a Costa on the island.

           Preparing the Grandstand ready for the TT  races.
              

 

 The Timing Boards opposite the Grandstand.  Manually operated
by the local Scouts, as 100 years ago.   But not by the same Scouts!

 

Tynwald Church, Located in the village of St John, near Peel, in the mid-west part of the island. A place of great historical interest.  

 

               Inside the Church, our coach trippers sat on the pews, where members of the House of Keys hold court each year on the 5th of July.                    

View of Douglas - taken from Douglas Hill. Very Nice!

 

 

John - our guide for 3 days on the island tours. Both he and Andy, our coach driver, were as good as they come. The fellow coach travellers were all very pleasant - hence, I think that our trip to the Isle of Man has been one of our most enjoyable and interesting short breaks with Majestic Holidays.

 

Have a good day.

 

 

Photos taken around the farm.

 

It is one of life's sayings that  'as soon as one door closes another one opens'   But the tragedy is that we keep looking at the closed door and disregard the open one!

 

 

 

Charlies Hide.   On the edge of the woods we put an old caravan for Charlie to use to photograph the wildlife. A good spot for the buzzards.  (Charlie , our photographer friend - Not Charlie, our dog!) 

Bluebell time in the woods. Sometimes one has to just stop and stare - and think!  It's quite peaceful here.

Teddy. An Arab cross Welsh Stallion. Teddy won the Hunter class at Taunton last week.

                                The flies are annoying.

     Most of the trees are in leaf and blossom now. What a nice time of the year.

 

Charlie has chosen another chair to supervise from. What a good companion he is. We are very, very  fortunate to have adopted such a  loving ShihTzu dog!

This scruffy robin is always watching and waiting for food. My aim is to get it to feed from my hand. But after several days of trying - no success at all!   It remains cautious and just looks from a distance!

                    A colourful male chaffinch.  A pretty bird.    

              He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who doesn't ask remains a fool forever!  

A Day out to Haytor, near Bovey Tracey, and Torquay Resevoirs, near Bridford.

The weather was not very kind to us today. Overcast, and as the day went on, the rain came down relentlessly. The weather had no regards what so ever for our day out!
Our first stop today was to Newton Abbot, for a bit of shopping! I found the craft shop to be very interesting. What a lot of stock they have in the Hobby Craft store!



The shopping didn't take long - and so off to Bovey Tracey and  to Haytor, near Manaton.  When we first arrived there, it was dry and ideal for a walk up to the Tor. There were many dog walkers, and Charlie loved it!

                               
          Haytor  -  near to Manaton, Widdecombe and Bovey Tracey.

Lovely views on a clear day - but not for us today! We just returned back to the car for our picnic, and the Heavens opened. It poured down! 
 So - next stop was to Hennock / Torquay Resevoirs.

We parked by the fisherman's  permit hut. There were warning posters there informing people that there had been numerous break- ins to parked cars recently. Be warned if you plan a visit!

I hoped that the rhododendron's would be flowering - but no. Perhaps a week to early. I intend to visit again next week on a sunny day. I love the reflection of the flowers in the water. Makes a very good photo!

Tottiford  Reservoir is almost empty. Construction work in progress!

Final stop to Sylvia and Peters bungalow in Bridford.

What a well kept garden. Lovely to see!

Have a good day.

A day out to Sticklepath, Okehampton and Meldon Resevoir.

This week on our day out  we first went to Sticklpath. Joan and I  had both been there before - but many years ago. 
I wanted to see the Finch Foundry, which was the last working water - powered forge in England.
It is now owned by the National Trust, and is very well kept and well presented to visitors. It was a pleasant stop - and Charlie loved the walk by the nearbye river.

 

The Finch Foundry at Sticklepath.

 

An inside view of the working area. I don't think it's up to todays health and safety standards!

 

A walk by the river. Charlie loved it!

 

Our next stop was Okehampton. We parked by Waitrose, which is next to the Lidl store. Very busy everywhere! We had a look around the shops, and our next stop was to be the Castle - but we couldn't find it! I expected it to be at the top of the hill (where Castles are usually) but we have since learned that it is on the left just as you are leaving Okehampton going towards Meldon. I think we will find it now on our next visit!

 

Walkway with shops on the way to main road. Very clean and welcoming!

 

The White Hart in Okehampton.   A very well known landmark. Is Wetherspoons going to buy it? 

 

 

Next stop Meldon Reservoir. A large car park, with toilet facilities, Plenty of picnic areas, and a very pleasant place for walks.

 

This moorland pony looks well! 

 

A  view of Meldon Resevoir. A very pleasant location, and a recommended place to go for a walk and relax.

 

 

A view down the Meldon valley taken from the dam. You can have a nice walk along the river here.

 

Have a nice day.