Disused lido at Port Erin
Port Erin Lido was built in the Victorian period. It was filled with sea water as the tide came in. It was emptied and refilled with fresh seawater periodically. It was very popular up to the 1960s but has been derelict for many years. It is located on a network of delightful footpaths that run between Port Erin and Bradda Glen. Although in some ways it is an eyesore, it is interesting to look at.
Milner's Tower, Bradda Head, Port Erin
Milner's Tower was built in 1871 to honour William Milner. He was a safe maker from Liverpool who retired to the Isle of Man in around 1860. He set up several charities to help local residents, particularly fishermen. The tower is built in the shape of a key and has a spiral staircase inside. It was open when I visited I climbed up to the roof. The views from the top on clear day are stunning.
National Dunkirk Memorial at Port St Mary
Eight of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company's ships sailed to Dunkirk in late May 1940 to help with the rescue British troops that were trapped on the beaches by the invading German army. Three ships were lost on 29th & 30th May: Mona's Queen III, Fenella and King Orry. The anchor of Mona's Queen III was raised from the sea bed on 29th May 2010 as part of the Dunkirk 70th anniversary commemorations and returned to the Isle of Man. On 29th May 2012 the National Dunkirk Memorial at Kallow Point, which features the restored anchor as a centrepiece, was officially opened.
The Ballaqueeney Cross
This cross, which dates from the Viking era, was a grave memorial and is the tallest of the Manx crosses. It was once covered with carvings and it originally stood near the ancient Ballaqueeney Keeill. It was erected on its current site between Port Erin and Port St Mary in 1951.
Magnetic Hill, Ronague
This stone, which is located between Ronague and the Round Table, marks the location of a magnetic or gravity hill. A gravity hill is an optical illusion where a slight downhill slope appears to be an uphill slope. They occur all over the world but are not particularly common - in the UK there are gravity hills in Ayrshire, Essex, Buckinghamshire, West Sussex, Powys and County Down.
Prehistoric Sites
Mull or Meayll Hill, Cregneash
There are 12 prehistoric burial chambers here arranged in a ring.
King Orry's Grave, Laxey
This site is the largest known megalithic tomb on the Isle of Man. It is said to belong to King Orry, a legendary figure regarded by the Manx as the founder of Mann and its greatest king. He is based on the Viking warrior King Godred Crovan, who arrived on the island in 1079 and created the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. He is said to have introduced the island's legal system and his descendants ruled the island for 200 years. There are two Neolithic chambered tombs, on opposite sides of Ballaragh Road. They were probably built c5,000 years ago and were probably once connected.
King Orry's Grave - part 2
Viking Boat Burial Site, Balladoole, Castletown
In 1945 a German refugee and a team from one of the internment camps on the Isle of Man discovered a 10th century Viking boat burial during a search for an Iron Age hill fort. The remains of a Viking longship, a man, a woman, a horse and various other animals were found. In 1918 an ancient keeill chapel dating from between 900 and 1000AD and a Bronze Age grave dating from c1000BC were discovered at the Balladoole site near Castletown. The site can be accessed from an unclassified road that runs south from the A5 to the west of Castletown down to the coast at Poyllvaaish. 
Site of an ancient keeill chapel at Balladoole
Cashtal Yn Ard near Glen Mona
Cashtal Yn Ard (which means Castle of the Heights in Manx) is a well preserved chambered tomb located on a narrow unclassified road half way between Cornaa and Glen Mona. It was probably constructed about 4,000 years ago.
Cashtal Yn Ard
Collection of Celtic crosses in the churchyard at Maughold
Langness
The Langness Peninsula in the south east corner of the Isle of Man is one of my favourite places on the island. It has many interesting natural and man-made features. It is also where the Derby horse race began. It was started by James, the 7th Earl of Derby some time after 1627. It was known as the Manx Derby and only horses that had been born on the Isle of Man or the Calf of Man could take part. The first English Derby was run in 1780 and named after the 12th Earl of Derby.
Memorial to Henry Madoc, west coast of Langness
He was Chief Constable of the Isle of Man for 25 years and also an eminent ornithologist. He died in 1957
Ruined farmhouse, Langness
Natural Arch, south west coast of Langness
Langness Lighthouse
This was built in 1880
Second World War gun emplacements, south east coast of Langness
Herring Tower, Langness
This was built in 1811 as a daymark
Provider Memorial, Langness
In 1858 a schooner called Provider, which was on her way from Liverpool to Glasgow with a cargo of salt, was wrecked on the east side of Langness. The captain of the ship and the 3 crew members were all killed. The simple memorial carved into a rock on the east coast of Langness near the Herring Tower simply says "All Lost".
Looking south down the east coast of Langness
Hango Hill between Derbyhaven and Castletown
Hango Hill was an ancient execution place (the name probably comes from the Old Norse for "gallows hill". In January 1663 William Christian of Ronaldsway (known as Illiam Dhone on the Isle of Man) was executed for his part in the 1651 uprising against the Derby family, who held the Isle of Man for the Royalists during the English Civil War.
Sculpture of Illiam Dhone in Malew Parish Church
This was created by Manx-born sculptor Bryan Kneale and unveiled in 2006.
Geology
Scarlett Point
This is a dyke of igneous rock, that intruded into the surrounding carboniferous limestone (c340 million years old) a mere c65 million years ago.
Niarbyl Fault
The Niarbyl fault is an exposed section of the Iapetus Suture, which is where the ancient continents of Gondwana and Laurentia, represented here by the dark grey mudstones of the Manx Group and the sandstones of the Dalby Group respectively, collided. The fault is the only remnant of the ancient Iapetus Ocean, which once separated the two continents. Southern England and Africa are part of Gondwana, while Scotland and North America are part of Laurentia.
Rock stack at The Chasms, Cregneash
The Chasms, Cregneash
Deep fissures have formed where large sections of the sandstone rocks are slipping slowly towards the sea.
Bay Stacka on the south coast of the Isle of Man
Memorial seat near The Sound
Amanda Jo Boyd 1971-2013
Sit, rest, breathe. Follow your dreams
Peel
Peel Cathedral
St German's Church was built between 1879 and 1884 but it was only consecrated as a cathedral in 1980. It is the cathedral for the Church of England Diocese of Sodor and Man. The island's original cathedral on St Patrick's Isle was a ruin by the 19th century. The gardens are being redeveloped to tell the story of Christianity on the Isle of Man from the arrival of the Irish missionaries to the present day. The redevelopment has been going on since at least 2016 and was not completed when I visited in July 2019.
Peel Cathedral Garden
Celtic Crosses outside Peel Cathedral
Peel Cathedral Garden
Camp X Memorial, Peel
During the Second World War "enemy aliens" were interned on the Isle of Man. One of the camps was in Peel.
Rainbow seat, Peel Seafront
Arboretum at St Johns
Tynwald National Park and Arboretum was opened on 28th June 1979 by the President of Iceland (Dr Kristjan Eldjarn), to commemorate the millennium of Tynwald. The word Tynwald means "Parliament Field" in Norse. The National Park covers 25 acres close to the site of the Manx Tynwald at St John's.
Parish Churches
The Isle of Man has many old parish churches, which are worth visiting, for example:
St Mark's Church
Kirk Malew near Ballasalla
Millennium Mosaics at Bride
The Manx Giant's hand
Arthur Caley was born at Sulby in 1824. He grew to a height of 7 feet 11 inches tall and became known as the Manx Giant. In 1851 he left the Isle of Man to seek fame and fortune in England. He then moved to Paris, where he apparently died a year later. However a few years later he reappeared in New York in P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth using the name 'Colonel Routh Goshen, the Arabian Giant'. He died in 1889. A model of his right hand is let on top of the gatepost of Rose Cottage close to the crossroads of the B7 with the B14 to the south of Andreas. The fingertips of the hand are at a height of exactly 7'11".
Close Sartfield Nature Reserve, Ballaugh
Close Sartfield Nature Reserve has a variety of different habitats: damp hay meadows, marshy grassland, curragh (willow scrub), birch woodland and bog. 6 species of orchid flower on the reserve from May to July. There is a bird hide and when I visited in early July 2019 the wild flower meadows were in full bloom. It is also a good place to spot wild wallabies!
Ramsey
Bleak House, Mooragh Promenade
The future of this semi-derelict house (formerly the Peveril Hotel) has been the subject of a long running and ongoing legal battle between the freeholders, the leaseholders and the Ramsey Commissioners and it is still under the threat of being demolished.
Vikings enjoying a game of hnefatafl in Ramsey
"When I Grow Up", Ramsey
A stray Viking, Ramsey Shopping Centre
Mural in Ramsey
Star of India Memorial, Ramsey
The iron-hulled fully rigged sailing ship Euterpe was built in Ramsey in 1863. She was one of the first iron-hulled ships. She circumnavigated the world 21 times and in the early 20th century she was renamed "Star of India" and re-rigged as a barque. She is now preserved as a museum in San Diego, California and is the oldest ship in the world that regularly puts out to sea.
Maughold Head Lighthouse
This lighthouse, which is located on a headland on the east coast of the Isle of Man at the southern end of Ramsey Bay, was designed by David A and Charles Stevenson and completed in 1914. The tower is 77 feet tall and it was automated in 1993.
Laxey
Minorca Station on the Electric Railway
Travel to the Balearic Islands without leaving the Isle of Man!
Lady Evelyn Waterwheel in the Valley Gardens at Laxey
This waterwheel, which was originally located at the Snaefell Mine at the head of the Laxey Valley, is the Laxey Wheel's lesser known relative. It was built by Leigh and Gilbert Howell in 1865 at the Hawarden Iron Works in Bagillt on the Dee Estuary in North Wales. It pumped water out of the mine and is 50 feet in diameter. When the Snaefell Mine closed in 1908, the waterwheel was dismantled and taken to Blisland in Cornwall where it pumped slurry from a china clay pit. It fell into disuse in the 1950s and in 1971 was dismantled again and put into storage by the Cornish Wheel Preservation Society. In 2003 it was returned to the Isle of Man and the Laxey Mines Research Group started the long process of rebuilding it on the former mine washing floors in Laxey. The task was completed in 2006 and the wheel was named Lady Evelyn.
Lady Evelyn Waterwheel, Valley Gardens, Laxey
Miners' Memorial Statue, Laxey
This statue was made in Bali, Indonesia by sculptor Ongky Wijana (his wife Hannah comes from the Isle of Man). It took him 10 months to complete it. It is made of Carlow Blue limestone and was paid for by a bequest from Phillis Tate, who died in 2012. The statue was unveiled in 2015.
Mosaic, Laxey
Orchid on the coast path near Maughold
Maughold Head from Port Mooar
Wizard sculpture in Ballaglass Glen
Monk's Bridge, Ballasalla
This was built in the 13th century over the Silverburn to the north of Rushen Abbey
Douglas and Onchan
Steve Hislop's statue, Onchan
Steve Hislop was a Scottish motorcycle racer. He won the Isle of Man TT eleven times. He died in a helicopter crash in 2003 aged 41. His statue is located on the cliffs at Onchan overlooking Douglas Bay.
Lourdes Grotto, St Anthony's Catholic Church, Onchan
This was built in 1951 by Father James McGrath. It is a replica of the grotto at Lourdes in France. It was used as the location for outdoor services in the summer months when so many visitors wanted to attend mass that they couldn't all fit in the church.
George Formby's Statue, Ridgeway Street/Lord Street, Douglas
The 1935 musical comedy film No Limit, starring George Formby and Florence Desmond, was filmed on location on the Isle of Man TT course.
Douglas Landplane Airfield Memorial, Douglas Seafront
Chequered houses, Upper Dukes Road, Douglas
Hand sculpture, Derby Square, Douglas
Unusual street sign, Douglas
Douglas Head and the Marine Drive
Grand entrance to the Marine Drive, Douglas Head
The Marine Drive was originally the route of the Douglas Southern Electric Tramway, which opened in 1896 and closed in 1939. It ran from Douglas to Port Soderick. In 1962 the Marine Drive opened as a road but was closed in 1977, due to frequent rockfalls and high maintenance costs. The road is now open for only 1.5 miles south of Douglas Head.
Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson's Memorial with the Camera Obscura behind, Douglas Head
Solway Harvester Memorial, Douglas Head
The Solway Harvester was a scallop dredger from Kirkcudbright, which sank in a storm off the east coast of the Isle of Man on 11th January 2000. All 7 crew members, who were from Whithorn, the Isle of Whithorn and Garlieston in Dumfries and Galloway, were drowned.
Sir William Hillary's statue, Douglas Head
He founded the RNLI in 1824
Memorial to Thomas Shimmin on the A36 to the north of Port Erin & Port St Mary
Thomas Shimmin (1800-c1876) was a Manx poet and Baptist preacher. His nickname was Tom the Dipper.
Sculpture by Tom Krazny at the First World War Knockaloe Internment Camp Memorial Garden in Patrick
In August 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, the British government began the internment of "enemy aliens" (mainly Germans but also some Austrians and Turks). Eventually over 23,000 men were held at a camp constructed at Knockaloe Farm on the west coast of the Isle of Man south of Peel.
Wallabies gone Wild
There are thought to be about 120-150 wild red necked wallabies living on the Isle of Man. They are descended from wallabies that escaped from the Curraghs Wildlife Park at various times after it opened in 1965 through to the 1980s and possibly from a private owner in the 1950s. The Close Sartfield Nature Reserve is a good place to see them, particularly at dawn and dusk but I came across this one taking a nap in a wildflower meadow at Close Sartfield in the middle of the day.
Wild wallaby at Close Sartfield Nature Reserve
Wild wallaby at Close Sartfield Nature Reserve
From 24th May to 1st September 2019 26 large individually decorated wallaby sculptures were on display at locations across the Isle of Man. In September 2019 they were auctioned off to raise money for Hospice Isle of Man. These are the ones I came across on my holiday:
Castletown
Peel
Port Erin
Onchan
Port St Mary
Maughold
Ramsey
Cows
Statue of a cow near Patrick
Cow in the ferry terminal at Douglas
Highland cow, Langness
Sheep
Manx Loaghtans are a small primitive breed of sheep. They are descended from prehistoric short-tailed breeds of sheep that were found in isolated parts of NW Europe where they were not replaced by other more productive breeds. Their numbers declined after the 18th century and by the 1950s there were only a few of them left. Since then a dedicated group of breeders has worked to increase their numbers, although they are still considered a rare breed.
Loaghtan Sheep mural, Castletown
Loaghtan Sheep, Spanish Head
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