Welcome back to the adventures of Scotland The Brave . Scotty and his Guardians have arrived at Douglas in the Isle of Man which lies in the Irish Sea.
HINT: CLICK on the images to make them bigger on your device.
Bee Gees: And the first thing Scotty and The Guardians saw on The Promenade of Douglas? The Bee Gees! But why? Well it turns out that they were born in Isle of Man, that is to say, on Ellan Vannin (the Manx language name for Isle of Man). Perhaps you have heard the song of that name sung by the Bee Bees. When they were still little (Wee Bee Gees), their parents moved to Manchester, then to Queensland; then the boys moved back to England.
Clydesdales and Shire Horses: The next thing they could not help but see was the famous Douglas Horse Tramway clomping along. Scotty’s Guardian was curious about whether the horses worked in good conditions. It turns out these Clydesdales and Shires are loved and pampered.
At the end of each length of the Promenade they are unhitched and led around to be hitched up to the other end of the carriage for the return. We watched Torrin pretty much take himself around the tram and reverse himself into position. The ‘Trammers’ each pull the tram up and down the Promenade four times. That’s their work for the day.
After our ride, Ginger took over and Torrin was lead off to the heritage stable, with much big sloppy velvety nuzzling of his handlers, to be fed and groomed. In the evening, the ‘trammers’ are usually turned out for grazing. We saw younger horses in training too, being taken over the tidal flats.
Torrin and Ginger and the other tram horses are famous on Ellen Vannin and you can buy soft toys of them in the gift shops. You can follow their progress on this website here, and note which proud horse gets awarded Trammer of the Week. If you love horses, why not visit their heritage stables or take a look at the Home of Rest for Old Horses which lies a little out of Douglas.
Tower of Refuge: Out in the bay lies the Tower of Refuge built on a partly submerged reef which was responsible for many a ship wreck, especially when the big tides were running full. The tower was erected in 1832 to make the position of the reef obvious and also to provide a refuge for mariners to swim to until help could arrive. The driving force behind its creation was Sir William Hillary who also had been instrumental in the founding of the service now known as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
But what is this ‘Promenade ‘ of which I babble? It’s the long sweeping street along the arc of the seafront along which are built fine old Victorian hotels, guest houses and homes. Like this one:
In 1881, thanks to women like Sophia Jane Goulden, The Isle of Man was the first country to grant the right to vote to at least some women (based on property qualifications).*
Next Episodes: More sights of Douglas, then a tour of Ellen Vannin with our wonderful host Nigel on Albany Tours. We will see Manx cats, an old crofters village, climb Rushen Castle.
BOOKS with Scotland in them (our Scotty, that is)
Scotty is the star of a very special book called When A Brave Bear Fights Cancer: A Get Well Soon Gift by Carola Schmidt. In the book, Scotty a little bear who gets a bad sickness called cancer. The book is to help kids feel much more brave when they are getting treatment. Available in paperback and Kindle. Look for the brave little bear on the cover.
*Some territories of the USA and some European states granted the right earlier but then they rescinded it later or restricted it to local elections or else made the property qualification so high that few women actually got it.
You have wandered into Mawson Bear’s web-den. Mawson is the Writer-Bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In and Dreamy Days and Random Naps and She Ran Away From Love. Mawson’s Guardian is co-creator of When A Brave Bear Fights Cancer, by Carola Schmidt
Mawson Bear 