1. The races

By which, we mean, of course, the Isle of Man TT Races, which began in 1907, and have been running since 1911 on the same 37.73-mile mountain course they use today.

It's a BIG deal, and tens of thousands of visitors come each year. Today, Saturday, we watched hordes of motorbikes pouring off the morning ferry, their riders rapidly disappearing into the nearest breakfast cafes.

Residents have to be on the ball, as roads close, and bus routes change, and generally everything's at sixes and sevens. But most businesses are doing TT hours, which means they're open longer, and shops have flung themselves into the spirit of the thing by setting up TT-themed window displays. There's TT merch everywhere. And a massive funfair has gone up on the Prom. It's an exciting time, for sure.

The downsides are also in evidence, though. Several bikers have been caught for egregious speeding; there have been a few crashes among the competitors, including a bad one involving spectators; and there has been one fatality. And our Manx weather doesn't always play ball. After a glorious week, today's poor visibility meant the postponement of the scheduled race.

On Wednesday (27), we went down to Braddan Bridge to watch the practices. We opted for the GBP 5 seats in front of the church (all proceeds to parish funds). Nice. There's a big tree for shade; you can park your plastic seat where you like; there are toilets and refreshments available; and you get a good view.


Nigel got some impessive shots of the action:





The sidecars were always my favourite event, but sadly, what we saw that afternoon was almost their last hurrah. In the evening practice that same day, there was a big crash (the second involving sidecars), and the organizers have suspended further sidecar racing for the rest of the event. I hope, along with lots of others, that this is not going to spell the end of sidecar racing for good...

2. The horses

The Isle of Man Home of Rest for Old Horses is just a short walk from our house.

The charity has been going since 1950 (I used to love visiting as a child), and they look after about 60 horses and donkeys.


We'd been meaning to pop by, it being so near and all, but we were galvanized into action by their recent Facebook post: "Many of our older horses no longer have the teeth to chew hay properly, meaning they rely heavily on fresh grass to help keep weight on and stay healthy. To make sure our fields can provide the grazing they desperately need, we now face a fertiliser and lime bill of almost £10,000... We're really feeling the impact." Rising fertilizer costs, of course, are yet another effect -- one of billions -- of the ridiculous and counter-productive conflict the United States chose to ignite in the Gulf.

So we brought our visit forward to Thursday (28), toured the grounds, had coffee and cake in the cafe, and bought a few bits from the gift shop.

It's a really lovely, genuinely restful place, with fabulous views out over the hills:













Definitely a place to return to on another sunny morning.