Ramsey Archives • Folksy Travel by Bill Smale

The Isle of Man is a financial Haven, a tourist destination for the British or over 100 years and it shows. The infrastructure is very good, the promenade in the main town of Douglas is several kilometers long with giant buildings ( England resort style) and some interesting landmarks including the old theater which they still use. In a way it’s kept a lot of of its 1920s charms with the old Steam and electric trains supplemented on the promenade with a horse drawn tram. You can buy a ticket for a few days unlimited rides on those old forms of transport which I really recommend. It’s so much fun going on a steam train or an old electric on the old tracks.

Douglas to Snaefell

from Douglas you can start your trip to the summit with a horse drawn tram, Clydesdales included. You can continue on the Douglas electric train to Ramsey or you can get off halfway at Laxey and go up to the summit, snaefell.

Horse drawn tram Isle of Man — The horse-drawn tram now only goes halfway along the promenade in Douglas to connect to the electric train. The other half of the Promenade which leads to the Steam train on the other end of the promenade is for walking and cars.

Electric train Isle of Man — Get off the horse drawn tram at the north of Douglas and get on the electric train to Ramsey

The Isle of Man logo

Original trains Isle of Man — Everything is very well maintained on these trains, Clean and seem to be original

Douglas view Bill Smale — A view going out of Douglas

Waiting for the summit train Bill Smale — Halfway to Ramsey you can get off at Laxey and take the electric train to the Summit which I highly recommend recommended

Water wheel Bill Smale — This is the old water wheel which I think is the largest one in the world

Beautiful farm land Bill Smale — Beautiful farm land

Mining areas — Going up to the summit you see some old mining areas

The TT rally is held here every year and is purported to be the oldest rally race in the world for motorcycles

Near the top — Almost at the top of the summit

Valley River — You can see a river which at one time was large enough to create the valley contour

Man-made lake — A man-made lake on the way to the Summit

Gelato shop — I had an interesting conversation with the Filipino fellow at the very delicious gelato shop in Laxey

Douglas building — An interesting building at the edge of Douglas

Self commentary — A car with a self commentary

Laxey to Ramsey

Small station — One small station on the way

Safety baton — On the way to Ramsey trains going each way will stop and hand this baton to the other train engineer as a safety measure to confirm each train so they don’t meet head on somewhere

Many train stations — There are at least 28 stations between Douglas and Ramsey but they only stop when somebody is waiting at the station or if somebody indicates they want to get off. This is very handy for those who want to walk around since there are so many walking trails on the island

Changing the ties — The trains have to share a track at some points and this is just one reason. They are taking out the old wooden ties and changing them with concrete ties for stability and longevity

Coin drop at the ferry — The coins from the island are exactly the same dimensions as those in England but they have a different logo and are not legal tender in England. You can just dump your coins in here at the ferry terminal or you can take them to England, change them at a bank or you can use them in England and hope that people don’t notice they are from the Isle of Man.

the first thing you will see below is the money which is created for the Isle of Man. This money has the three legs of man on the front and the denomination. These pounds are equivalent to the pounds of England. You can use the England money in the Isle of Man but you cannot use the Isle of Man money in England so make sure you change it somewhere before you leave or use it all up. I have been told that you can take these notes to a bank in England and exchange them for England pounds. Scotland has their own notes as well and that is why I say “England“ pounds. This Scotland pound also is not usable in England. You will also notice some coins which have the emblem of the Isle of Man and people on the island have explained legally these are not usable in England but they are the exact same dimensions as the England coins so there’s a very good chance people in England will not notice if you use them.

again, traveling around it’s a good day deal if you get the pass that gives you unlimited travel on transport on the island if you’re going to be there for three or four days or if you plan to make three or more train trips.

something else to note is the north of Douglas is the departure of the electric train which goes to the junction for the Summit train and then ends up in Ramsey. That train is on the north of Douglas quite a distance from the Steam train which starts on the south end of Douglas going to the port of Erin. There used to be a horse drawn tram going from the north to the south of Douglas so along the promenade, connecting the two train systems. However, they redid the road to make it easier for pedestrians so the horse-drawn tram only goes halfway from the north, the electric train terminal to the south along the promenade. That promenade is a few kilometers long so get out your walking shoes.

Douglas to Peel

to get to peel from Douglas you take a bus