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Laxey

Laxey (Laksaa) is a village on the east coast of the Isle of Man. Its name derives from the Old Norse Laxa meaning 'Salmon River'. Its key distinguishing features are its three working vintage railways and the largest working waterwheel in the world. It is also the location of King Orry's Grave.

The village lies on the A2, the main Douglas to Ramsey road, and on the vintage Manx Electric Railway, and Snaefell Mountain Railway. Laxey Glen is one of the Manx National Glens; another glen, Dhoon Glen, is about 1$1/4$ miles away. The Raad ny Foillan long distance coastal footpath, opened in 1986, runs along the coast of Laxey Bay through the village.

History
In the 19th century lead and zinc mining began; it became the largest industry in the village, but ended in 1929. The village also had a fishing industry.

In the late 1800s the Manx Electric Railway line was built through the village, opening it up to tourists. Other attractions were built at that time, including Snaefell Mountain Railway and the Laxey Glen Pleasure Gardens.

Laxey village is now a mainly residential and tourist area. There are several public gardens, primarily Laxey Glen Gardens. There is also a handweaving mill which sells its own products and many others. The village has five pubs and a microbrewery, The Old Laxey Brewing Company.

The village is built around a wooded glen with a number of steep winding streets and paths leading to the floor of the glen, from where one can walk by the side of Laxey River to its outflow to the sea at the small harbour, and onto the beach and promenade. One can also walk around the cliffs to the north of the beach from opposite the "La Mona Lisa Restaurant". This walk goes over the cairn (kern), from where there are views of Laxey Bay and Clay Head to the south. A Laxey-born and bred person would say, "I'm going over the kern for a walk".

Many of Laxey's buildings were built as mining cottages in the traditional Manx style. To the southeast of the village centre, above the left bank of the Laxey River, is the Minorca area. Old Laxey has winding streets around the harbour. The village centre is a newer, late Victorian section further inland is the area of shops and services around the railway station.

Mining
The Great Laxey Mine was a silver, lead ore and zinc mine. The mine reached a depth in excess of 2,200 ft (670 m) and consisted primarily of three shafts: the Welsh Shaft, the Dumbell's Shaft and the Engine Shaft, each of these shafts being connected by a series of levels. There is no exact date for the start of mining at Laxey, but by 1782 workings were being opened. The mine yielded zinc, silver ore, copper pyrites and hematite iron in significant quantities; and by the 1830s over 200 men were employed in the mines, the figure rising steadily until over 600 were employed by 1900.

Following various short-term closures, by May 1929 rumours had begun to circulate about the future of the mine. By then, most of the miners had left, with many emigrating to South Africa, Australia or the United States of America. Continued flooding in the lower reaches of the mine combined with antiquated pumping machinery finally led to the end of mining operations at Laxey, and on the Isle of Man. However some of the spoil residue was brought to the washing floors to extract any remaining worth from it. It is thought that this continued until 1934, when all working finally ceased.

Demographics
The Isle of Man census 2011 lists the village district population as 1,705. It is the fourth largest village on the island.

Governance
Historically, Laxey was in the parish of Lonan within the sheading of Garff.

Until 2016, Laxey was a village district with its own commissioners. From 1 May 2016, it merged with the parishes of Lonan and Maughold to form the new parish district of Garff, within which it is a ward.

Laxey is also part of the Keys constituency of Garff, whose representation increased in 2016 from one to two members.

Laxey Wheel
Laxey Wheel, also known as Lady Isabella after the wife of The Hon. Charles Hope, then Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, was built in 1854 to pump water from the Laxey mine shafts. Now a tourist attraction, it is claimed to be the largest working waterwheel in the world. Designed by Robert Casement, it is 72 ft in diameter and 6 ft wide. It revolves at about 3 rpm. The wheel was owned by Edwin Kneale from 1939 to 1965; he saved it from being dismantled and ran it as a tourist attraction, before passing it on to the Manx nation, with the agreement that it should be kept in perpetual running order for the people of the Isle of Man. In 1965 the Isle of Man Government bought the wheel and the site. Restoration work began, and in 1989 it was put under the control of Manx National Heritage.

The Great Laxey Mine Railway re-opened with two small steam engines in September 2004 to carry passengers along the restored route.

Laxey Woollen Mills
The Laxey Woollen Mills were founded in 1881 by Egbert Rydings, supported by John Ruskin, and were originally water powered. The mills are known for producing Manx tartan which is used to make a variety of items from hats, scarfs and kilt skirts to capes and rugs. The cloth is made of fine Manx Loaghtan wool and woven on traditional-style looms. One loom operates by bicycle-power. The mills are now mainly a working shop, but still weave the Manx tartan and other cloth. The Laxey Woollen Mills also contain a busy craft shop, a tea-room, and the Hodgson Loom Gallery, which holds monthly arts and crafts exhibitions.

Laxey Harbour and Bay
The village has a small harbour at the river mouth which was built in the 1850s to service the mining industry. It is now used by leisure craft and inshore fishing vessels that utilise Laxey Bay and further offshore. Laxey Bay is a protected Marine Nature Reserve.

Ancient monument
Laxey is the site of King Orry's Grave.

Conventions
The Isle of Man is a popular venue for conventions. As an example, Laxey was the venue for the Linux Bier Wanderung in 2016.

Transport
Laxey lies on the Manx Electric Railway line, a vintage line which runs for 17 miles along the coast, between Douglas and Ramsey. Laxey station is in the north of the village and is also the southern terminus of the Snaefell Mountain Railway which runs for five miles between Laxey and the top of Snaefell mountain.

Laxey is also on the route of most buses between Douglas and Ramsey.

Religion
Laxey had a number of Methodist chapels. Shore Road Primitive Methodist Chapel was built in 1825, and closed in 1870. Glen Road Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was opened in 1850. It closed in 1966. Minorca Primitive Methodist Chapel was opened in 1870 and Sunday School was built in 1898 in land across the road; the chapel closed in 1966 when Glen Road and Minorca combined. In 1970 Minorca's Sunday School building became the new Methodist chapel for Laxey.

Christ Church, the Church of England parish church, was built to a design of Ewan Christian and constructed by the mining company at a cost of £950. It was consecrated by the Bishop of Sodor and Man, Lord Auckland, on 27 May 1856.

Education
Laxey School is a primary school located on Quarry Road.

Twinnage
Laxey is twinned with Bagillt, North Wales.

Sport
Laxey F.C., based at Glen Road, play in the Isle of Man Football League.

Notable people

 * Thomas Grindley (1864 in Laxey – 1929 in Vancouver, British Columbia) a politician and municipal councillor in Canada, was educated in Laxey and emigrated to Canada in 1882
 * Mark Cavendish MBE (b.1985 in Laxey) is a British professional road racing cyclist
 * Samantha Barks (b.1990 in Laxey), actress and singer, was born and brought up in Laxey
 * Billy Redmayne (1991 in Laxey – 2016 in Middlesbrough) was a Manx soldier and motorcycle racer

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Laxey


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Biogeochemical cycle

A biogeochemical cycle, or more generally a cycle of matter, is the movement and transformation of chemical elements and compounds between living organisms, the atmosphere, and the Earth's crust. Major biogeochemical cycles include the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle. In each cycle, the chemical element or molecule is transformed and cycled by living organisms and through various geological forms and reservoirs, including the atmosphere, the soil and the oceans. It can be thought of as the pathway by which a chemical substance cycles (is turned over or moves through) the biotic compartment and the abiotic compartments of Earth. The biotic compartment is the biosphere and the abiotic compartments are the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere.

For example, in the carbon cycle, atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants through photosynthesis, which converts it into organic compounds that are used by organisms for energy and growth. Carbon is then released back into the atmosphere through respiration and decomposition. Additionally, carbon is stored in fossil fuels and is released into the atmosphere through human activities such as burning fossil fuels. In the nitrogen cycle, atmospheric nitrogen gas is converted by plants into usable forms such as ammonia and nitrates through the process of nitrogen fixation. These compounds can be used by other organisms, and nitrogen is returned to the atmosphere through denitrification and other processes. In the water cycle, the universal solvent water evaporates from land and oceans to form clouds in the atmosphere, and then precipitates back to different parts of the planet. Precipitation can seep into the ground and become part of groundwater systems used by plants and other organisms, or can runoff the surface to form lakes and rivers. Subterranean water can then seep into the ocean along with river discharges, rich with dissolved and particulate organic matter and other nutrients.

There are biogeochemical cycles for many other elements, such as for oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus, calcium, iron, sulfur, mercury and selenium. There are also cycles for molecules, such as water and silica. In addition there are macroscopic cycles such as the rock cycle, and human-induced cycles for synthetic compounds such as for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In some cycles there are geological reservoirs where substances can remain or be sequestered for long periods of time.

Biogeochemical cycles involve the interaction of biological, geological, and chemical processes. Biological processes include the influence of microorganisms, which are critical drivers of biogeochemical cycling. Microorganisms have the ability to carry out wide ranges of metabolic processes essential for the cycling of nutrients and chemicals throughout global ecosystems. Without microorganisms many of these processes would not occur, with significant impact on the functioning of land and ocean ecosystems and the planet's biogeochemical cycles as a whole. Changes to cycles can impact human health. The cycles are interconnected and play important roles regulating climate, supporting the growth of plants, phytoplankton and other organisms, and maintaining the health of ecosystems generally. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels and using large amounts of fertilizer can disrupt cycles, contributing to climate change, pollution, and other environmental problems.

Overview

Energy flows directionally through ecosystems, entering as sunlight (or inorganic molecules for chemoautotrophs) and leaving as heat during the many transfers between trophic levels. However, the matter that makes up living organisms is conserved and recycled. The six most common elements associated with organic molecules — carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur — take a variety of chemical forms and may exist for long periods in the atmosphere, on land, in water, or beneath the Earth's surface. Geologic processes, such as weathering, erosion, water drainage, and the subduction of the continental plates, all play a role in this recycling of materials. Because geology and chemistry have major roles in the study of this process, the recycling of inorganic matter between living organisms and their environment is called a biogeochemical cycle.

The six aforementioned elements are used by organisms in a variety of ways. Hydrogen and oxygen are found in water and organic molecules, both of which are essential to life. Carbon is found in all organic molecules, whereas nitrogen is an important component of nucleic acids and proteins. Phosphorus is used to make nucleic acids and the phospholipids that comprise biological membranes. Sulfur is critical to the three-dimensional shape of proteins. The cycling of these elements is interconnected. For example, the movement of water is critical for leaching sulfur and phosphorus into rivers which can then flow into oceans. Minerals cycle through the biosphere between the biotic and abiotic components and from one organism to another.

Ecological systems (ecosystems) have many biogeochemical cycles operating as a part of the system, for example, the water cycle, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, etc. All chemical elements occurring in organisms are part of biogeochemical cycles. In addition to being a part of living organisms, these chemical elements also cycle through abiotic factors of ecosystems such as water (hydrosphere), land (lithosphere), and/or the air (atmosphere).

The living factors of the planet can be referred to collectively as the biosphere. All the nutrients — such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur — used in ecosystems by living organisms are a part of a closed system; therefore, these chemicals are recycled instead of being lost and replenished constantly such as in an open system.

The major parts of the biosphere are connected by the flow of chemical elements and compounds in biogeochemical cycles. In many of these cycles, the biota plays an important role. Matter from the Earth's interior is released by volcanoes. The atmosphere exchanges some compounds and elements rapidly with the biota and oceans. Exchanges of materials between rocks, soils, and the oceans are generally slower by comparison.

The flow of energy in an ecosystem is an open system; the Sun constantly gives the planet energy in the form of light while it is eventually used and lost in the form of heat throughout the trophic levels of a food web. Carbon is used to make carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, the major sources of food energy. These compounds are oxidized to release carbon dioxide, which can be captured by plants to make organic compounds. The chemical reaction is powered by the light energy of sunshine.

Sunlight is required to combine carbon with hydrogen and oxygen into an energy source, but ecosystems in the deep sea, where no sunlight can penetrate, obtain energy from sulfur. Hydrogen sulfide near hydrothermal vents can be utilized by organisms such as the giant tube worm. In the sulfur cycle, sulfur can be forever recycled as a source of energy. Energy can be released through the oxidation and reduction of sulfur compounds (e.g., oxidizing elemental sulfur to sulfite and then to sulfate).

Although the Earth constantly receives energy from the Sun, its chemical composition is essentially fixed, as the additional matter is only occasionally added by meteorites. Because this chemical composition is not replenished like energy, all processes that depend on these chemicals must be recycled. These cycles include both the living biosphere and the nonliving lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere.

Biogeochemical cycles can be contrasted with geochemical cycles. The latter deals only with crustal and subcrustal reservoirs even though some process from both overlap.

Hydrosphere

The global ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface and is remarkably heterogeneous. Marine productive areas, and coastal ecosystems comprise a minor fraction of the ocean in terms of surface area, yet have an enormous impact on global biogeochemical cycles carried out by microbial communities, which represent 90% of the ocean's biomass. Work in recent years has largely focused on cycling of carbon and macronutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and silicate: other important elements such as sulfur or trace elements have been less studied, reflecting associated technical and logistical issues. Increasingly, these marine areas, and the taxa that form their ecosystems, are subject to significant anthropogenic pressure, impacting marine life and recycling of energy and nutrients. A key example is that of cultural eutrophication, where agricultural runoff leads to nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment of coastal ecosystems, greatly increasing productivity resulting in algal blooms, deoxygenation of the water column and seabed, and increased greenhouse gas emissions, with direct local and global impacts on nitrogen and carbon cycles. However, the runoff of organic matter from the mainland to coastal ecosystems is just one of a series of pressing threats stressing microbial communities due to global change. Climate change has also resulted in changes in the cryosphere, as glaciers and permafrost melt, resulting in intensified marine stratification, while shifts of the redox-state in different biomes are rapidly reshaping microbial assemblages at an unprecedented rate.

Global change is, therefore, affecting key processes including primary productivity, CO2 and N2 fixation, organic matter respiration/remineralization, and the sinking and burial deposition of fixed CO2. In addition to this, oceans are experiencing an acidification process, with a change of ~0.1 pH units between the pre-industrial period and today, affecting carbonate/bicarbonate buffer chemistry. In turn, acidification has been reported to impact planktonic communities, principally through effects on calcifying taxa. There is also evidence for shifts in the production of key intermediary volatile products, some of which have marked greenhouse effects (e.g., N2O and CH4, reviewed by Breitburg in 2018, due to the increase in global temperature, ocean stratification and deoxygenation, driving as much as 25 to 50% of nitrogen loss from the ocean to the atmosphere in the so-called oxygen minimum zones or anoxic marine zones, driven by microbial processes. Other products, that are typically toxic for the marine nekton, including reduced sulfur species such as H2S, have a negative impact for marine resources like fisheries and coastal aquaculture. While global change has accelerated, there has been a parallel increase in awareness of the complexity of marine ecosystems, and especially the fundamental role of microbes as drivers of ecosystem functioning.

Biosphere
Microorganisms drive much of the biogeochemical cycling in the earth system.

Reservoirs
The chemicals are sometimes held for long periods of time in one place. This place is called a reservoir, which, for example, includes such things as coal deposits that are storing carbon for a long period of time. When chemicals are held for only short periods of time, they are being held in exchange pools. Examples of exchange pools include plants and animals.

Plants and animals utilize carbon to produce carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, which can then be used to build their internal structures or to obtain energy. Plants and animals temporarily use carbon in their systems and then release it back into the air or surrounding medium. Generally, reservoirs are abiotic factors whereas exchange pools are biotic factors. Carbon is held for a relatively short time in plants and animals in comparison to coal deposits. The amount of time that a chemical is held in one place is called its residence time or turnover time (also called the renewal time or exit age).

Box models

Box models are widely used to model biogeochemical systems. Box models are simplified versions of complex systems, reducing them to boxes (or storage reservoirs) for chemical materials, linked by material fluxes (flows). Simple box models have a small number of boxes with properties, such as volume, that do not change with time. The boxes are assumed to behave as if they were mixed homogeneously. These models are often used to derive analytical formulas describing the dynamics and steady-state abundance of the chemical species involved.

The diagram at the right shows a basic one-box model. The reservoir contains the amount of material M under consideration, as defined by chemical, physical or biological properties. The source Q is the flux of material into the reservoir, and the sink S is the flux of material out of the reservoir. The budget is the check and balance of the sources and sinks affecting material turnover in a reservoir. The reservoir is in a steady state if Q = S, that is, if the sources balance the sinks and there is no change over time.

The residence or turnover time is the average time material spends resident in the reservoir. If the reservoir is in a steady state, this is the same as the time it takes to fill or drain the reservoir. Thus, if τ is the turnover time, then τ = M/S. The equation describing the rate of change of content in a reservoir is

 * $$\frac{dM}{dt} = Q - S = Q - \frac{M}{\tau}.$$

When two or more reservoirs are connected, the material can be regarded as cycling between the reservoirs, and there can be predictable patterns to the cyclic flow. More complex multibox models are usually solved using numerical techniques.

The diagram on the left shows a simplified budget of ocean carbon flows. It is composed of three simple interconnected box models, one for the euphotic zone, one for the ocean interior or dark ocean, and one for ocean sediments. In the euphotic zone, net phytoplankton production is about 50 Pg C each year. About 10 Pg is exported to the ocean interior while the other 40 Pg is respired. Organic carbon degradation occurs as particles (marine snow) settle through the ocean interior. Only 2 Pg eventually arrives at the seafloor, while the other 8 Pg is respired in the dark ocean. In sediments, the time scale available for degradation increases by orders of magnitude with the result that 90% of the organic carbon delivered is degraded and only 0.2 Pg C yr−1 is eventually buried and transferred from the biosphere to the geosphere.

The diagram on the right shows a more complex model with many interacting boxes. Reservoir masses here represents carbon stocks, measured in Pg C. Carbon exchange fluxes, measured in Pg C yr−1, occur between the atmosphere and its two major sinks, the land and the ocean. The black numbers and arrows indicate the reservoir mass and exchange fluxes estimated for the year 1750, just before the Industrial Revolution. The red arrows (and associated numbers) indicate the annual flux changes due to anthropogenic activities, averaged over the 2000–2009 time period. They represent how the carbon cycle has changed since 1750. Red numbers in the reservoirs represent the cumulative changes in anthropogenic carbon since the start of the Industrial Period, 1750–2011.

Fast and slow cycles

There are fast and slow biogeochemical cycles. Fast cycle operate in the biosphere and slow cycles operate in rocks. Fast or biological cycles can complete within years, moving substances from atmosphere to biosphere, then back to the atmosphere. Slow or geological cycles can take millions of years to complete, moving substances through the Earth's crust between rocks, soil, ocean and atmosphere.

As an example, the fast carbon cycle is illustrated in the diagram below on the left. This cycle involves relatively short-term biogeochemical processes between the environment and living organisms in the biosphere. It includes movements of carbon between the atmosphere and terrestrial and marine ecosystems, as well as soils and seafloor sediments. The fast cycle includes annual cycles involving photosynthesis and decadal cycles involving vegetative growth and decomposition. The reactions of the fast carbon cycle to human activities will determine many of the more immediate impacts of climate change.

The slow cycle is illustrated in the diagram above on the right. It involves medium to long-term geochemical processes belonging to the rock cycle. The exchange between the ocean and atmosphere can take centuries, and the weathering of rocks can take millions of years. Carbon in the ocean precipitates to the ocean floor where it can form sedimentary rock and be subducted into the Earth's mantle. Mountain building processes result in the return of this geologic carbon to the Earth's surface. There the rocks are weathered and carbon is returned to the atmosphere by degassing and to the ocean by rivers. Other geologic carbon returns to the ocean through the hydrothermal emission of calcium ions. In a given year between 10 and 100 million tonnes of carbon moves around this slow cycle. This includes volcanoes returning geologic carbon directly to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. However, this is less than one percent of the carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.

Deep cycles
The terrestrial subsurface is the largest reservoir of carbon on earth, containing 14–135 Pg of carbon and 2–19% of all biomass. Microorganisms drive organic and inorganic compound transformations in this environment and thereby control biogeochemical cycles. Current knowledge of the microbial ecology of the subsurface is primarily based on 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences. Recent estimates show that <8% of 16S rRNA sequences in public databases derive from subsurface organisms and only a small fraction of those are represented by genomes or isolates. Thus, there is remarkably little reliable information about microbial metabolism in the subsurface. Further, little is known about how organisms in subsurface ecosystems are metabolically interconnected. Some cultivation-based studies of syntrophic consortia  and small-scale metagenomic analyses of natural communities  suggest that organisms are linked via metabolic handoffs: the transfer of redox reaction products of one organism to another. However, no complex environments have been dissected completely enough to resolve the metabolic interaction networks that underpin them. This restricts the ability of biogeochemical models to capture key aspects of the carbon and other nutrient cycles. New approaches such as genome-resolved metagenomics, an approach that can yield a comprehensive set of draft and even complete genomes for organisms without the requirement for laboratory isolation have the potential to provide this critical level of understanding of biogeochemical processes.

Some examples
Some of the more well-known biogeochemical cycles are shown below:

Biogeochemical cycles always involve active equilibrium states: a balance in the cycling of the element between compartments. However, overall balance may involve compartments distributed on a global scale.

As biogeochemical cycles describe the movements of substances on the entire globe, the study of these is inherently multidisciplinary. The carbon cycle may be related to research in ecology and atmospheric sciences. Biochemical dynamics would also be related to the fields of geology and pedology.

title: Biogeochemical cycle


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Onchan

Onchan is a large village in the parish of Onchan on the Isle of Man. It is at the north end of Douglas Bay. Administratively a district, it has the second largest population of settlements on the island, after Douglas, with which it forms a conurbation.

In Manx the name for the village is Kione Droghad meaning "bridge end".

Early history
In the 1890s, a 5,000-year-old stone age axe was found in the Cassa Field by Onchan wetlands. In the Viking reign Onchan became part of Middle sheading. The name of the village is identified with St Connachan who was Bishop of Sodor and Man in 540 and the church named after him, Kirk Coonachan. An early name for the village is Kiondroghad which literally translated means "bridgehead". The earliest written record of Kiondroghad was in the 1643 Manorial Roll, when it was very small. The name Kiondroghad appeared on the 1841 census but not the one in 1851.

The Butt
Gradually the village spread beyond Church Road, known locally as The Butt. At the junction with the track that led towards the mountains (Avondale Road) a few more cottages appeared in the early 19th century. In the late 19th century land was sold off for terraces of houses to be built. The area surrounding Church Road is today the village's heritage area and the location of Molly Carooin's Cottage, which is maintained by the Friends Of Onchan's Heritage, a local volunteer group. The area features period lamp standards, and since 2001 has been home to the newly developed Village Green which links Church Road with the Onchan Wetlands to the north west. There is also a vehicle garage, a highways department depot, a barber shop and several residential dwellings in the area which leads to St Peter's Church via the one-way road. The Jubilee Lamp was erected in this road in 1987 after relocation from White City, and this was the first electrically lit lamp standard on the island.

20th century development
In the early 20th century the Port Jack area was being developed in connection with the Douglas Bay Estate Company's promotion of land sales on the Howstrake Farm. They also built an electric urban railway which later became a coastal railway to Ramsey. There was then a mixture of private houses, terraced houses and guest houses to take the overflow of visitors to Douglas. There was further development in the 1930s. During the Victorian and Edwardian tourism boom Onchan made a bid to become the island's second resort, encouraging the building of hotels and guest houses. The Manx Electric Railway was constructed in 1893, but never achieved its goal of connecting with the heart of Douglas for commuter journeys. In the early 20th century Lower Onchan, around the Port Jack area, was the first area on the island to have electric-powered street lighting, powered by the Manx Electric Railway generators. After World War II development gradually continued, and in the 1960s the village commissioners built local authority housing.

Government House
The official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, the representative on the Isle of Man of the Lord of Mann, currently King Charles III, is Government House on Governor's Road. Originally named Bemahague House, the house was leased to Governor Henry Brougham Loch in 1865, and purchased by the Isle of Man Government in 1903 as the official residence for the Sovereign's representative.

Transport
There are ten Manx Electric Railway stops in Onchan. Onchan Head railway station was the first official stop on the line and served the former White City pleasure grounds. There are also stops at Port Jack Halt, Gandhi Indian Restaurant, the former Majestic Hotel, Braeside, Far End, Howstrake, Groudle Old Road, Groudle Glen and Eskadale. The village has a frequent bus service of Bus Vannin: there are several local services in Onchan and Douglas; these serve the various housing estates including Ballachrink, Lakeside Gardens, Birch Hill and Governor's Hill. The last of these is in Douglas, but through services often link all estates. There is now a regular through service to Nobles Hospital, north-west of Douglas. Onchan is also served by buses to Laxey and Ramsey as well as by local taxi firms.

Religion

The Church of England parish church in Onchan is St Peter's on Church Road. The original church, dedicated to St Conchan, dated back to the 12th century. By 1760 the walls and roof had become dangerous and it was condemned in 1771. But nothing was done until the Bishop of Sodor and Man, Bishop Ward commissioned a new church. Its foundation stone was laid in 1830, but due to pressures from the parishioners, it was moved to its current position. The church was built by John Samuel Skillicorn, and was consecrated in 1833. It was dedicated to Saint Peter. The church was refurbished in 1863. In 1897 it was the first church on the island to be lit by electricity, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria; the electricity was supplied by the Isle of Man Tramways and Power Company. St Anthony's Roman Catholic Church is located on Ridgeway Road. Onchan Methodist Church, part of the Douglas and Peel circuit, is on Main Road. Onchan Baptist Church is on Whitebridge Road.

Facilities and accommodation
The main shopping areas are The Village Walk, a small shopping arcade and Avondale Court, both off Avondale Road, Main Road and Port Jack. A house on the Whitebridge Road at one time had its own (private) miniature railway in its grounds. This was never a public railway. Onchan Community Centre is located off School Road with a community hall, sports hall, games room and committee room. There are a number of hotels and guest houses in the village and the Glen Dhoo and Lower Ballacottier campsites. DHSOB FC operate a campsite each year during the annual Isle of Man TT motorcycle racing. The area has a number of residential housing estates including a large collection of local authority housing at Nursery Avenue, an estate at Ballachrink which also houses more local authority dwellings, Lakeside Gardens to the north east side of the village, Birch Hill, which can be found above the core village area and a number of older residences in the centre, notably Royal Avenue, Port Jack and Alberta Drive all of which were developed in the earliest years of the twentieth century.

Demographics
The Isle of Man census 2021 lists the population as 9,039, down from the 2016 figure of 9,128, which was a decrease from the population of 9,273 in 2011, and an increase from the population of 0 in 1. It is the largest village on the island. It also has a higher population than three of the four towns - Castletown, Peel and Ramsey, making it the second largest settlement on the island. Onchan is now principally a dormitory village, providing homes for workers in nearby Douglas.

Education
There are two primary schools in Onchan, Onchan Primary School on School Road with nearly 400 pupils and Ashley Hill Primary School (Scoill Cronk Ashley) on Ashley Road which was opened in 1972 and has about 350 pupils. For secondary education children in Onchan usually go to either Ballakermeen High School in Douglas or St Ninian's High School which has a lower school (years 7–9) in Onchan and an upper school (years 10–11 and sixth form) in Upper Douglas.

Notable people

 * Vice-Admiral William Bligh FRS (1754–1817) was an officer of the British Royal Navy, and best known as "Captain Bligh" of Mutiny on the Bounty fame, married Elizabeth Betham, the daughter of a Customs Collector, on 4 February 1781 in Onchan.
 * Sir John Charles Ready Colomb KCMG (1838 in Onchan – 1909 in London) was a British naval strategist. He was returned to parliament (1886–1892) as Conservative member for Bow and Bromley, and afterwards (1895–1906) for Great Yarmouth.
 * Joseph Clayton Clarke (1857 in Onchan — 1937 in Hammersmith, London) who worked under the pseudonym "Kyd", was a British artist best known for his illustrations of characters from the novels of Charles Dickens.
 * Harry Korris (1891-1971) - actor, comedian, star of Happidrome
 * Colin Hardman (1947 in St Helens – 2006 at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough) renowned sidecar racer, who in partnership with Dave Molyneux was the winner of the 1989 Sidecar TT Race 'A'.
 * Martin Rowe (born 1971) rally driver

Football
Onchan is home to two football clubs, both of which compete in the Isle of Man Football League. Douglas High School Old Boys F.C. (DHSOB FC) are based at the DHSOB Football Ground, Blackberry Lane and are in the Premier League. Onchan F.C. are based at Nivison stadium, Onchan Pleasure Park and are in Division 2. The stadium was opened in 1952.

Stock cars
There is stock car racing held each week in the summer months in the Pleasure Park organised by the British Stock Car Association. There is also bowling, tennis and kart racing at the park as well as the Onchan Squash and Social Club.

Equestrian
The Abbeyland Equestrian Centre is on Scollag Road, but this has been knocked down and built over by houses.

Golf
King Edward Bay Golf Club is an 18-hole golf course located in an elevated position on the east side of the village off the A11 King Edward Road.

Pleasure Park
Onchan Pleasure Park is a leisure park which has a boating lake, miniature golf course, football pitch, tennis courts and a British Stock Car Association stock car racing track. Onchan Village Commissioners purchased farmland after World War II to build new homes and a recreation area with a large park containing a stadium with the first ever banked cycle track which was opened by Reg Harris, World Champion Sprint Cyclist and Britain's Sportsman of the Year, on 19 June 1951. The park cost £50,000 to build. The stadium is no longer used for cycling.

Groudle Glen
Groudle Glen and Molly Quirk's Glen meet at the Whitebridge, at the northern edge of the village on the main A2 coast road to Laxey. Groudle Glen extends right down to the coast and has been described as one of the most spectacular of all the island's glens. It was developed in the 1890s as a pleasure glen, with trees planted and long winding paths added. A bandstand, swings and various other minor attractions were also added. On the rocky headland, a small inlet had been dammed off to form a deep pool, which became the centre of the small headland zoo which exhibited sea lions and polar bears. To get visitors out to the highland zoo, the glen owners built a miniature railway. Today, the attractions have all but disappeared apart from the Groudle Glen Railway, which still runs during the summer months operated by a group of local railway enthusiasts, who in the 1980s completely re-built the line after it was closed and ripped up in the early 1960s.

Molly Quirk's Glen
Molly Quirk's Glen was reputedly named after a woman who was murdered in her cottage. The glen covers about 5 acre. At the far end of the glen the Clypse and Kerrowdhoo reservoirs now have a series of footpaths and ancient tracks for walkers.

Bibaloe Glen
Bibaloe Glen was named after a ford at the bottom of Whitebridge Hill.

Raad Ny Foillan
The Raad ny Foillan (Way of the Gull) long distance coastal footpath opened in 1986, and runs along the coast in the village. It starts at Port Jack where it connects with Douglas, and runs as far as Howstrake Head before continuing into the neighbouring parish of Lonan.

Onchan wetlands
The Onchan wetlands (Curragh Kiondroghad) is a 1 acre nature reserve in Onchan village that contains a variety of habitats. The site was donated to the Manx Wildlife Trust in 1988 and is open to the public for viewing and has a footpath which is suitable for wheelchair users. The site contains curragh (wetlands - willow scrub), broadleaved trees, dub (pond), neutral grassland and embankments of tall grassland. This variety of habitats leads to a diversity of wildlife and plant life. Some of the plants and trees that grow in the wetlands are silver birch, ash, holly, rowan, marsh marigold, yellow flag, reed canary grass, hemlock water-dropwort, woody nightshade and cuckoo flower. Birds recorded on the site are the grey wagtail, heron, mallard, goldcrest, woodcock, chiffchaff and hen harrier (rare) along with invertebrates and bats. There are also many frogs and spawn in early summer.

Societies
Onchan Silver Band is a community-based fourth section brass band. It was founded in 1937.

title: Onchan


text:
Peel, Isle of Man

Peel (Purt ny h-Inshey 'port of the island') is a seaside town and small fishing port in the Isle of Man, in the historic parish of German but administered separately. Peel is the third largest town in the island after Douglas and Ramsey but the fourth largest settlement, as Onchan has the second largest population but is classified as a village.

Until 2016 (when it was merged with Glenfaba) Peel was also a House of Keys constituency, electing one Member of the House of Keys (MHK), who, from September 2015, was Ray Harmer.

Peel has a ruined castle on St Patrick's Isle, and a cathedral, seat of the Diocese of Sodor and Man (the diocese was founded when Mann was ruled by the Norse).

Name
The English name for the town, Peel, means 'palisade, fortification' comes from Middle English peel ~ pele, ultimately from Latin pālus 'stake'. It is a shortened version of the earlier Peeltown 'town of the fortification' in reference to Peel Castle. An earlier name for the settlement was Holmtown meaning 'island town', coming from Old Norse holmr 'island', in reference to St Patrick's Isle, where Peel Castle is located. This is the same referent of the Manx name Purt ny h-Inshey 'harbour of the island', sometimes Balley ny h-Inshey 'town of the island'; inshey comes from the genitive of a hypothetical Manx *insh 'island' (related to Irish inis) and only appears in toponyms.

Geography
Peel is on the west coast of the Isle of Man, on the east side of the mouth of the River Neb. To the north west is St Patrick's Isle, connected to the mainland by a causeway, and to the west across the river is Peel Hill. The A1 road connects Peel with Douglas. The A4 and A3 roads connect it with Kirk Michael and Ramsey. To the south of Peel is Castletown, the former capital of the island, and to the SE is Douglas. Ireland to the west and Scotland to the north may be seen on a clear day.

The older part of Peel is built of reddish Peel Sandstone, mostly the original homes and businesses of fishermen and merchants with narrow winding lanes by the quayside. Before 1765, the town had a busy import-export trade importing goods from ports such as Amsterdam; in the mid to late 19th century the town was a busy fishing port.

Demographics
The Isle of Man census 2016 lists the population as 5,374, an increase from 5,093 in 2011.

Governance
The local authority is Peel Town Commissioners who are based at the Town Hall on Derby Road. There are nine commissioners. The day-to-day activities of the authority are run by the clerk.

Town history
Peel was the capital of the island before the King of Mann moved his home and military base from Peel Castle to Castle Rushen. The last King of Man, Magnús Óláfsson, is recorded in the Chronicle of Mann to have died at Rushen Castle in 1265.

Peel is the island's main fishing port and Peel Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Sodor and Man.

Peel is sometimes referred to as the "rose red city", due to the red sandstone used to build the castle and other important buildings. As it is in the west, it is also called the "sunset city". Peel is a popular seaside destination for Manx residents and visitors in summer. It has narrow streets of fishermen's cottages and a Victorian promenade which was built on reclaimed land and a small construction line built for this purpose, as well as sandy beaches. For many years the main industries in the town were fishing, trading and shipbuilding.

There is evidence of local settlers in the Mesolithic Age on both St Patrick's Isle and the nearby Peel Hill, and Neolithic farmers are believed to have settled in the area.

About 550, a Celtic monastery was founded on St Patrick's Isle. Excavations in the 1980s found a large early Christian burial ground, many of the burials dating from around 550. Some later graves had Norse burial goods: e.g. the 'Pagan Lady'. The ruins of the original Peel Cathedral (c.1250) can be seen within the walls of Peel Castle on St Patrick's Isle. This replaced an earlier church.

Norsemen first came to Mann around the year 800, and ruled the island for four-and-a-half centuries before finally ceding it to the King of Scotland in 1266. Norsemen settled in Peel and used the harbour on the River Neb as a shelter for their longships. In 1228 Olaf the Black, King of Mann and the Isles, beached his fleet in the inlet. It was attacked and burned by his half-brother Ragnald. In 1266, as agreed in the Treaty of Perth, Norway's King Magnus VI ceded the Isle of Man to Scotland. The island came under English control in the 14th century.

The town of Peel developed on the east bank of the river and the settlement was known as Holmtown until the 17th century. Later development, apart from the late 19th century guest house building on the sea front, has been inland, away from the coast. The name Peel was given to the castle by the English rulers, and the settlement then became Peeltown until about 1860. By the time the local councils were established in 1883, the name Peel referred to the town rather than the castle. In the 19th century, schooners built in Peel traded around northwest Europe and Peel fishing boats fished around the island and further afield to the southern coast of Ireland and near to Shetland. The harbour and breakwater were gradually improved, with much of the local income derived from the export of salted herring. By the 1880s, fishing was the main employer with about 3,000 men and boys employed, with ancillary businesses such as shipbuilding providing employment to hundreds more. However, with what is now seen as over-fishing, the number of boats leaving for Ireland dwindled from 300 in 1880 to a handful by 1915.

After the railway arrived in Peel in 1873, Peel started to develop as a tourist resort, with guest houses and hotels built along the shoreline and headlands, and then the promenade was added. Tourism gradually grew in the town. During World War I Knockaloe Farm, at Patrick to the south of the town, was made into the Knockaloe internment camp and housed up to 30,000 German, Austrian and Turkish civilians. In 1940, guest houses at one end of the promenade were requisitioned to become Peveril Internment Camp, housing those suspected of having sympathy for the Nazi regime under Defence Regulation 18B. By the late 1960s the Peel to Douglas railway line had closed and tourism declined. Fishing from Peel has seen periods of upturn and decline. For a number of years the annual Viking Festival has attracted visitors to the resort. In 1979 Odin's Raven, a replica of a Viking longship, sailed from Norway to Peel to commemorate the millennium of the legendary first sitting of the Isle of Man's Parliament, Tynwald. In 2005, a new floodgate was installed at Peel to retain the waters of the River Neb and thus enable the moored boats to float at low tide.

Peel is the birthplace of Peel microcars, made by the Peel Engineering Company in the 1960s, the only Manx cars ever built.

Amenities
Peel has a campsite, swimming pool, tennis courts, BMX track, football ground, golf club, bowling green and various other amenities.

House of Manannan Museum
The House of Manannan Museum was built in 1997, costing £5.5 million, partly new and partly in the old Peel railway station. The museum covers the past and present of the island and houses Odin's Raven, a two-thirds scale replica of a Viking longship which had been built in and sailed from Norway, arriving on 4 July 1979 to celebrate the millennium of the High Court of Tynwald, the legislature of the Isle of Man.

Manx Transportation Museum
The Manx Transportation Museum, which opened in 2002, is housed in the former Brickworks building near the harbour.

Leece Museum
The Leece Museum was established in 1984 and relocated to the Old Courthouse building in East Quay in 2000. The museum is devoted to objects, photographs and documents specifically relating to the town. The museum now has a large display of TT and Manx Grand Prix racing bikes, on and off-road and vintage bikes along with memorabilia from the TT races.

Peel Castle
Peel Castle is on St Patrick's Isle, a small island connected to Peel Hill by a causeway. It is thought that the castle was started by Magnus Barelegs (King Magnus III of Norway, also known as Magnus Barefoot) and then extended in 1392 by William le Scrope, 1st Earl of Wiltshire. The castle is now a tourist attraction open in summer. There is a public footpath around the castle. Archaeological investigations have uncovered evidence of a cemetery dating to around AD 550, and Norse fortifications. The "Pagan Lady" burial discovered within the castle grounds was a Christian-style grave but with various grave goods in the Norse style, including a necklace of beads traded from various countries in Europe and the Mediterranean. No pagan Viking-age burial in the British Isles has produced grave goods of such high quality.

Events
Regular events from spring to autumn based in Peel include: the Isle of Man Art Festival (WOSAT) in May; Peel Day during TT fortnight (May/June); Peel Secret Gardens (usually July); Yn Chruinnaght Inter-Celtic Festival (July); Peel Viking Longboat Races (July), and Peel Carnival.

Kipper production
Kippers have been produced in Peel since at least the 19th century. Two kipper houses remain: Moore's Kipper Yard (established 1884) which provides tours of the factory demonstrating the preparation and smoking processes, and Devereau's (also established 1884).

Peel Centenary Centre
Peel Centenary Centre (Ynnyd Keead-Blein) is an arts and community centre based at the Centenary Hall. It runs a programme of films, live concerts (local, British, and international acts), and other community events.

Douglas to Peel railway line
Peel railway station opened on 1 July 1873, beside the harbour, as the western terminus of the Isle of Man Railway's Douglas to Peel line. The station closed to passengers on 7 September 1968. The station site is now a car park and boatyard, and the station building is used as part of the House of Manannan Museum. The former railway line is now a footpath and cycleway: the path is close to the main road and leads to St John's, from where it continues to Douglas, the island's capital.

Peel Harbour and Marina
Peel Harbour is the most active fishing port in the Isle of Man and is also used to import fuel oils. There is a fish and shellfish processing industry as well as the traditional art of kipper curing. The breakwater has deep-water berths with a lighthouse situated at the end. Fishing boats are usually berthed on the breakwater.

The castle overlooks the entrance to the inner harbour, which is tidal. However a water retention scheme was built in July 2005 with a jetty from East Quay toward West Quay with an automatically operated gate-flap and a pedestrian swing bridge above it. The gate-flap enables a half tide dock, similar to one at Douglas, and Padstow. As a result, in Peel, inner harbour boats remain afloat even at low water, whereas before boats would settle upon the hard or exposed seabed.

Yachts may be moored in Peel Marina, which was constructed in the inner harbour at a cost of £3.1 million. 124 new berths have been installed by reclaiming part of the top end of the harbour for a boat park, with construction of a new harbour office.

Sport and recreation
Peel A.F.C., who compete in the Isle of Man Football League, are based in Peel. They play their home games at the Peel FC Football Ground, Douglas Road. Formed in 1888, they are the most successful club on the island with 29 league titles and 32 victories in the Manx FA Cup. They were the first winners of the Isle of Man Football League in 1897. Peel Cricket Club are also based in the town, they are members of the Isle of Man Cricket Association.

Valkyrs Hockey Club play their home matches at the Queen Elizabeth II High School astro turf pitch. Peel Golf Club is an 18-hole golf course, totalling over 5870 yds off competitions tees, located on Rheast Lane which was established in 1895. The clubhouse was opened in 1977 by Peter Alliss. Western Athletics club is based at Queen Elizabeth II School. Western Swimming Pool is located on Derby Road.

The Headlands Field has a BMX track, football pitch, park and coastal pathway. There is also a telescope on the headlands which overlooks Peel promenade. The coastal path starts on the Headlands and leads all the way to Kirk Michael beach. Also on the Headlands is the park which has swings, climbing frames and exercise machines installed into it.

The Raad ny Foillan long distance coastal footpath opened in 1986 runs along the coast through Peel.

Astronomy
Peel Castle/St Patrick's Isle is a Dark Skies astronomy site, meaning that there are low levels of light pollution, so that fainter night sky features such as the Milky Way may be seen on a clear night. Peel Head has been used as a vantage point for viewing the Northern Lights when conditions are favourable, as it has a clear and elevated view to the Northern horizon. Peel is well known for sunsets over the sea (hence its moniker "Sunset City"): sometimes these outline the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland, directly to the west of Peel.

Wildlife
The seas by Peel are home to basking sharks in early summer. These sharks are seen occasionally from the land and more often from boats. Seals are often to be found around the breakwater by the castle. A variety of seabirds live and feed around the harbour, castle and headland.

Religion
Peel Cathedral (the Cathedral Church of St German), built in 1884, became a cathedral in 1980. It is the cathedral church for the Anglican diocese of Sodor and Man and is located in the centre of the town. Just outside the cathedral are stone reproductions of a few of the many medieval Manx Celtic and Norse crosses. One of these is Thorwald's Cross which shows symbolism of both Christianity and the Norse myths. Another has runes down the side.

The ruins of the original Peel Cathedral (c. 1250) can be seen within the walls of Peel Castle on St Patrick's Isle. This replaced an earlier church.

Before Peel Castle was built on St Patrick's Isle, there was an early Celtic Christian religious community. Excavations in the 1980s found a large early Christian burial ground, many of the burials dating from around 550. Some later graves had Norse burial goods: e.g. the Pagan Lady.

Peel Elim Community Church holds meetings at the Philip Christian Centre.

Grace Baptist Church, founded in 1974 as an outreach of the Grace Baptist Church in Onchan, is located in the former Peel Mathematical School building. It was purchased in 1984 and renovated in 1997, and is listed as a "heritage building".

Peel Methodist Church is located in Athol Street. There have been a number of Methodist chapels in Peel. The first one was Shore Road Wesley Methodist Chapel, built in 1777. It was used as a fishing-net factory between the 1850s and 1870s, and is now the Peel Youth Centre. A Primitive Methodist Chapel was built on Kirk Michael Street in 1835. It became a public hall when the Christian Street Chapel opened and is now used, after much redevelopment, as a showroom. Peel Centenary Wesley Methodist Chapel was built in 1839 on Athol Street. Peel Primitive Methodist Chapel, built in 1878, has now been converted into flats. The organ is now in Jurby parish church. The Isle of Man Christian Fellowship are based at the Philip Christian Centre on Christian Street. St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church is on Patrick Street.

There is also another Evangelical church in Peel named Living Hope which is now held in QE2 High School. It was formerly (until mid 2011) held in the Philip Christian Centre.

Education
The local secondary school is Queen Elizabeth II High School, which is on Douglas Road at the eastern edge of the town. It was opened on 5 July 1979 by Queen Elizabeth II, during her visit to the island to celebrate the millennium of Tynwald, and since then has grown to about 850 pupils with about 50 staff. The school is one of five main schools in the Island, the others being Ramsey Grammar School, St Ninians High School, Castle Rushen High School and Ballakermeen High School.

Peel Clothworkers' School is a primary school on Derby Road, which was founded in the 17th century after Philip Christian, a successful expatriate Peel businessman, bequeathed a sum of money in his will to provide for the education of the children in Peel. After changing sites in the town a number of times, as it grew and developed, it finally moved to Derby Road after World War II and officially opened there in 1953. It is the third largest primary school in the Isle of Man. On 23 April 2008 new £3.3m facilities at the school were officially opened. New dining/assembly hall, kitchen, reception/office complex, meeting room, library, special needs unit, ICT suite had all opened in June 2007, while a refurbished sports hall, staff facilities, two more classrooms and a permanent nursery were added in 2008.

Christian's Endowed National School was built in 1860. It was closed for some time in the mid-20th century before it was refurbished and became the Philip Christian Centre, and a registered building.

House of Keys Elections
This list is incomplete.

The Peel constituency was amalgamated with Glenfaba for the 22 September 2016 general election to form the constituency of Glenfaba & Peel.

Notable people

 * Isla Callister, folk musician
 * Betty Hanson (1918 in Peel – 2008 in Douglas) was a Manx politician and teacher.
 * Stewart Stevenson Moore QC (1860 in Peel – 1951 in Chelsea, London) was a Manx lawyer, who was the First Deemster and Clerk of the Rolls in the Isle of Man.
 * Sophia Morrison (1859 in Peel – 1917 in Peel) was a Manx cultural activist, folklore collector and author.
 * Bernard Moffatt (born in Peel 1946) Founder member of Mec Vannin, the Manx Nationalist Party and Trade Union official.
 * Millie Robinson (1924 – 1994) Irish-born Manx racing cyclist lived in Peel
 * James Teare (1872 in Peel – 1909) was a Manx merchant navy officer who served on numerous Isle of Man Steam Packet Company vessels. Capt. Teare is best known as the Master of the RMS Ellan Vannin on her ill-fated voyage from Ramsey, Isle of Man to Liverpool on 3 December 1909.
 * James Kewley Ward (1819 in Peel – 1910 in Westmount, Quebec) was a Canadian lumber merchant and politician, educated at May's Academy in Douglas, Isle of Man, he emigrated to the United States in 1842.

In popular culture
Govags or gobbags, among other spellings, was a word used by Peel people to describe others, but nowadays more often used by others to refer to people from Peel (see Manx English and Lesson 2 - Where do you live? | Learn Manx)

Other sources

 * Ingram, Michael (1983) Voyage of Odin's Raven (Clearwater) ISBN 978-0-946363-00-1

title: Peel, Isle of Man


text:
Port St Mary

Port St Mary (Purt le Moirrey or Purt-noo-Moirrey ) is a village district in the south-west of the Isle of Man. The village takes its name from the former Chapel of St Mary (Keeill Moirrey) which is thought to have overlooked Chapel Bay in the village. Its population is 1,953 according to the 2011 census. In the 19th century it was sometimes called Port-le-Murray.

Etymology
The English version Port St Mary comes directly from the Manx version, originally purt kill Moirrey 'harbour of/by St Mary's church' most likely in reference to the former Chapel of St Mary. The vowel and lateral /l/ of kill was metathesized into le (documented as ) or alternatively it could have been borrowed from French le 'the'.

Geography and communications
Port St Mary is located in the south-western part of the island, near Port Erin. A railway station is just north of the village, one of the stops on the surviving section of the Isle of Man Railway between Douglas and Port Erin. Steam trains operate on the line several times a day during the summer season, and stop at Port St Mary. The village is served by Bus Vannin services to Port Erin, Castletown, Douglas and Onchan.

Recreation
Once a fishing and trading port, the village is still popular with tourists and fishermen, especially during the summer. The inner harbour, with its pier created in 1812, is tidal and dries out from half-tide. The outer harbour was created when the Alfred Pier got built in 1882, is accessible at all tide states - unique amongst the Manx ports. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has a lifeboat and station in Port St Mary since 1896. The current lifeboat, the Gough Ritchie II, lies to a permanent floating mooring inside the outer breakwater.

The village is home to the Port St Mary Golf Links, the Island's sole 9-hole golf course, and also Scoill Phurt le Moirrey, a primary school opened in 1993–1994. The Isle of Man Yacht Club is also based at Port St Mary harbour.

Chapel Bay, a sandy beach in the upper part of the village, is used for recreation and bathing in the summer months.

Churches and other notable buildings
Port St Mary Town Hall is an imposing stone building situated on the village's Victorian promenade at the upper end of the village and houses local government offices and a tourist information point, as well as the hall itself, which is used for performances and community gatherings and is available for private hire. The building is thought to stand on the site of the original Keeill Moirrey.

The Anglican St Mary's Church lies in the centre of the village and is a chapel of ease dedicated to Mary of Nazareth lying in the parish of Rushen and diocese of Sodor and Man.

Just north of St Mary's is the Port St Mary site of the Living Hope Community Church (formerly known as Port St Mary Baptist Church). The current church building was built in the early 2000s on the site of the former Port St Mary Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, which was completed in 1895, closed in 1970 and was demolished in 2000.

In the lower part of the village, near the port, lies the current Port St Mary Methodist Chapel, built in 1903 as a Primitive Methodist chapel and known as Mount Tabor. Another smaller former Wesleyan chapel, on the High Street, opened in 1835 and was demolished in the 1970s, with the village's garden of remembrance and war memorial occupying the site.

Port St Mary is served by St Columba's Catholic Church, which lies just outside the village and is shared with Port Erin. It is a chapel of ease in the parish of St Mary's with St Columba's in the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

There are two pubs in Port St Mary - the Albert and The Railway Station, the Bay View Hotel having closed a number of years ago. The Railway Station Pub being adjacent to Port St Mary railway station on the main road to Port Erin.

A small 1860s "pepperpot" lighthouse of the end of Alfred Pier was destroyed in a storm on the night of 11/12 January 2009. It was replaced by a temporary beacon until a permanent replacement was constructed in 2018 although there is some controversy over whether it can withstand a storm.

National Dunkirk Memorial
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of her sinking, the starboard anchor of Mona's Queen, an Isle of Man Steam Packet Company vessel lost off Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo on which many seamen from the Port St Mary area served, was raised on 29 May 2010 and returned to the Isle of Man to form the centerpiece of a permanent memorial. On 29 May 2012, a memorial featuring the restored anchor and commemorating the losses in 1940 of Mona's Queen, King Orry and Fenella was opened in a ceremony at Kallow Point in Port St Mary, attended by representatives of local and national government, the Lieutenant Governor, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and the French Navy.

Local government
Port St Mary became a village district for local government purposes in 1890, for which Port St Mary Commissioners are responsible. The local government district is adjacent to the village district of Port Erin and the parish of Rushen.

It was claimed in Tynwald on 18 July 2018 that "it appears that Port St Mary Commissioners lurch inelegantly from one crisis to another".

Famous people

 * Colonel John Dale Lace (1859 in Port St Mary – 1937 near Johannesburg) was a South African gold and diamond mining magnate. His wife Josephine was a flamboyant Johannesburg socialite who was often seen in a carriage drawn by a team of zebras.
 * Mollie Sugden (1922 in Keighley – 2009 in Guildford), actress, lived in Port St Mary for several years before returning to the United Kingdom.
 * Quintin Gill (born 1959 in Blackburn), former Member of the House of Keys for Rushen between 2001 and 2011, now resides in Port St Mary.
 * Juan Watterson SHK (born Isle of Man 1980) brought up in Rushen, Speaker of the House of Keys, resides in Port St Mary.
 * Davy Knowles (born 1987 in Port St Mary), blues/rock guitarist and singer, currently based in Chicago, US, but returns 'home' regularly.
 * Vincent Peter Patrick Karalius (15 October 1932 – 13 December 2008) Famous Rugby League player "..one of the most revered figures in the history of rugby league."
 * John Gell (1899 – 1983) was a Manx language teacher and author who lived in Port St Mary from the 1940s until his death.
 * Juan Cottier (extant) "The Geologist Who Ruins Everything" - social media phenomenon.

title: Port St Mary


text:
Port Erin

Port Erin (Purt Çhiarn 'lord's port' or originally 'Irish port') is a seaside village in the south-west of the Isle of Man, in the historic parish of Rushen. It was previously a seaside resort before the decline of the tourist trade. Administratively it is designated as a village district, with its own board of commissioners. The district covers around 1 square mile, and is adjacent to: Port St Mary to the south-east; the main part of Arbory and Rushen parish district to the north and east; the sea to the west; and an exclave of Arbory and Rushen parish district (including the village of Cregneash) to the south. Following recent residential expansion, the settlement is now contiguous with that of Port St Mary, and on 18 July 2018 Tynwald authorised a public enquiry into the proposed expansion of the district boundary to include some of this expansion.

The village was twinned with Latour-de-France.

Etymology
The English toponym Port Erin means 'Irish port', coming from "Gaelic" (named as such in the source) port Éireann, which then was anglicized. The Manx version Purt Çhiarn is explained through the palatalization of plosive /t/ into affricate /tʃ/, resulting a pronunciation like [poːrˈtʃɑːrn]. The -eann ending was reduced due to its unstressed nature. The Éi- /eː/ lowered into /ɛː/ in the presence of /r/ and was thereafter confused with the existing Manx word çhiarn 'lord'.

The toponym has variably been spelt , possibly from an earlier form Port Yiarn (showing no palatalization of /t/). Cregeen's Dictionary (1835) writes Erin as  ~ , which Kneen speculates must have been confused as a derivation from Manx sheear 'westerly'.

History
The outer breakwater, visible at low tide only, was an abandoned project constructed in 1863 using the Port Erin Breakwater Railway and saw the first steam locomotive used on the island; a severe storm of 1884 later destroyed the breakwater and it was never rebuilt. Today, a marker buoy shows the extent of the breakwater, and the landward end is still clearly discernible. To the north-east, by the A7 road, are the earthwork remains of a motte-and-bailey castle known as Cronk Howe Mooar, possibly the site of a timber fortification built by Magnus Barelegs [Barefoot] c. 1100.

The oldest building in the village is known as "white cottage" or "Christian's cottage"; it was built by William Christian and his family in 1781. The Christian family still own the cottage today.

During World War II the village was the location of Port Erin Women's Detention Camp.

Demographics

 * Population (2011 census) 3,530
 * Adjacent village: Port St Mary
 * Largest settlement by population in the south of the island. Thus it has a higher population than Castletown, which has the status of a town.
 * House of Keys constituency: Rushen (two seats)
 * Sheading: Rushen

Road
Port Erin is linked to the rest of the island by three roads:

 * A5 Shore Road (the coast road, as the name implies) east towards Castletown
 * A7, the inland road leading east towards Ballabeg and Ballasalla
 * A36, leading north through a sparsely-populated area towards Foxdale and Glenmaye.

Railway
The steam railway station forms the western terminus of the Isle of Man Railway and sits in the centre of the village. The station is built of distinctive red Ruabon brick in an unusual design specifically to fit into its diagonal site between the platforms and the nearby road. The station is now a fraction of its original size, with the former bay platform and sidings now occupied by the storage yard for Bus Vannin, whilst an additional area once used for maintenance has been replaced by The Haven public house. More recent developments have seen the platform shortened and a carriage shed constructed in the yard, capable of storing eight carriages. Prior to this the rolling stock was stored in the open.

Buses
Bus services operate directly via a stop outside the village's railway station to the island's capital Douglas via Port St Mary, Colby, Castletown, Ronaldsway Airport and Ballasalla, using route numbers 1, 2, 11 and 12; these run about every twenty minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, with a less frequent service on Sundays and after 6.00pm. Some of these services (1c and 11b) use an alternative coastal route. The route is the island's busiest, partly because it calls at the island's airport. A late evening service also operates on Friday and Saturday evenings, called the Night Owl (Hullaid Oie), which charges higher fares. There are also occasional buses to Peel (Service No. 8) via Foxdale; all these buses are within the island's transport network Bus Vannin, a government-run service which replaced the railway-operated Isle Of Man Road Services in 1976, itself a subsidiary of the railway.

Other
There is a coach park to the rear of the railway station, formerly occupied by Tours (Isle Of Man) Limited, though more often used by visiting coaches in recent times. A number of private taxi services operate from the village into the later hours, though other Douglas-based hackneys will serve the south on demand.

Geography
The beach is sandy and is on a bay bounded by two headlands which (on windy days) funnel the prevailing westerly wind towards the village. On sunny days, the bay acts as a suntrap. To the north of the promenade is Bradda Glen, one of the Manx National Glens. The northern headland, Bradda Head, has an iconic memorial tower called Milner's Tower. The promenade, on the east side of the bay, is somewhat higher than the seafront, and primarily consists of hotels, mostly built in the Victorian era, although due to changes in taste among tourists, many of these are being converted into flats and apartments. The town is famed for its views, including spectacular sunsets over Port Erin Bay and Bradda Head, as well as glimpses of the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland in the distance.

Church of England
The largest church in the village is dedicated to St Catherine and located on Church Road at its junction with the upper promenade and lies within its own grounds. The church was built in 1880 with funds donated by local locksmith William Milner. In addition to regular community services the church is also well known for its summer concert series that runs on a Wednesday evening throughout the summer months from May to September, featuring local talent.

Methodist
This church is at the junction of Droghadfayle Road with the main road entering the village, and has a mid-sized, modern built community hall annexed to it which hosts the Over Sixties club regularly in addition to services. To the rear of the church lies the village's branch of the Royal British Legion in the same cluster of buildings.

Grace Baptist
Constructed in 1980 at the same time and in a similar architectural style to a surrounding housing estate, this church began life in neighbouring Castletown before relocating and expanding its current headquarters in 1985; since this time the building has also been modified and expanded subject to demand.

Catholic
Found on the outskirts of the village on the main road to Port St Mary, another modern build small church with its own parking area; it can be found at the same site as the community gospel church. It is dedicated to St Columba and was built in 1923 to replace a temporary chapel on the shore line beneath the Bellevue Hotel previously used as a marine biology station and converted to a chapel in 1903. In 1989 the building was extended and re-orientated to provide a larger church with a church hall.

Free Presbyterian
Located at the same site as the Catholic Church, this is a further modern-build small church. It was founded in 1991 and later came under the auspices of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. This is one of the only churches on the island which continues to use exclusively the King James Version of the Bible. It is titled as Port Erin Gospel Church and has an emphasis on evangelism with people travelling over from Ulster regularly to oversee the work.

Landmarks

 * Fish Hatchery, a building (formerly a fish hatchery) in the outer harbour close to the wrecked breakwater. This was home to a University of Liverpool Marine Biology department which closed in 2006.
 * Milner's Tower, a distinctive key-shaped building that stands on top of Bradda Head, a memorial to a locksmith, only reachable on foot. It features on the village's crest and coat of arms.
 * Railway Museum, in the centre of the village and housed in the former bus garage of Isle of Man Road Services; open seasonally whenever the railway is in operation and accessible via the main road.
 * Museum Building, originally constructed as a cinema but more recently used as office space and retail accommodation.
 * Erin Arts Centre in a converted church on Victoria Square. The building is host to annual musical competitions and often to other events; it is one of several small centres for the arts on the island.
 * Railway station in the centre of the village and built of distinctive red Ruabon brick. Open seasonally; winner of an Ian Allan Heritage Award in 1991.
 * Herdman House, now a private residence but built as the village's public library and gaming room, it at one time included a billiard hall and extensive library section before conversion to its present use.
 * Collinson's Cafe, an unusual building which is currently empty; it has several unusual architectural features including a rotunda and a large sprung dance floor from its time as a dance hall. It is above the promenade on the road leading to the golf course.
 * Lifeboat Station, on the south side of Port Erin Bay. Extended in recent years, it retains its slipway and deco architectural style, and is open to the public when staffed.
 * Police Station, closed in 2014. The closest staffed police station is in Castletown. A public desk is located here.
 * White Cottage, or Christians Cottage, was built by the Christian family on Shore Road in 1781. Above the door is a plaque that says: "Edmund and Margaret Christian, 1781". The Christian family still own the cottage today and it remains the oldest building in the village.
 * Kishtey Çheh, a beach spa with sauna, hot tub and cold plunge pool on the beach at the Cosy Nook.

Notable residents

 * Nigel Mansell (born 1953) Formula 1 racing driver, was one of the more famous residents during most of his F1 career when he lived on the headland to the north of the bay. He left in 1995.

Films
The 2006 film Stormbreaker, starring Ewan McGregor, was filmed on Port Erin beach; the village has also been used by various production companies including the BBC whose serialised drama The Ginger Tree was filmed at the railway station in 1989, and the cinematic adaptation of Five Children & It. An episode of the BBC documentary marking 20 years since the end of steam trains in the UK, The Train Now Departing, filmed extensive scenes in and around the station, interviewing the station master. The village has also featured in the holiday series Wish You Were Here...? and Holiday '91 with Judith Chalmers. In 2011 an episode of the British TV documentary Coast was filmed here. They also filmed in the White Cottage front garden.

title: Port Erin


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Ramsey, Isle of Man

Ramsey (Rhumsaa) is a coastal town in the north of the Isle of Man. It is the second largest town on the island after Douglas. Its population is 8,288 according to the 2021 Census. It has one of the biggest harbours on the island, and has a prominent derelict pier, called the Queen's Pier (currently under restoration). It was formerly one of the main points of communication with Scotland. Ramsey has also been a route for several invasions by the Vikings and Scots.

Ramsey is also known as "Royal Ramsey" due to royal visits by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1847 and by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1902.

History
The name of the town derives from the Old Norse hrams-á, meaning "wild garlic river", More specifically, it refers to the plant known as ramsons, buckrams or wild garlic, in Latin Allium ursinum.

The Isle of Man has been an important strategic location in conflicts between the Norse rulers of Man and the Isles, and the Scots and English. Smugglers and pirates were also common at many times in Manx history.

Ramsey was the landing place of the Viking warrior Godred Crovan around 1079: he was determined to subjugate the island and make it his kingdom. On Sky Hill, 2 mi inland, an important battle was fought; this resulted in a period of Viking rule, influencing the development of the Manx nation and many of the traditions that continue today.

Godred's son, King Olaf, was murdered by his nephew Reginald near Ramsey harbour in 1154, and two years later the Chronicle of Man states that the ships of Somerled came to Ramsey during a conflict which would lead to the division of the kingdom of Man and to Somerled taking the Kingship of the Isles (the Hebrides).

On 17 May 1313 Robert the Bruce landed at Ramsey "with a multitude of ships" from the fleet of his friend, Angus Og Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, on his way to capturing Castle Rushen.

Captain François Thurot, a then-famous French privateer, and notorious scourge of the British fleet, was defeated off the north-west of the island in February 1760. His badly damaged, captured ship was brought into Ramsey Bay after the battle. Thurot's actions had been part of a planned French invasion of Britain. In previous years Thurot had traded between Ireland and the Isle of Man and had been well liked by many Manx people, and regarded as an intelligent gentleman. Several cottages and bridges were built using timbers from the wrecked ship: hence Thurot Cottage and Thurot Bridge.

Pirate radio station Radio Caroline North was based in Ramsey Bay from 1964–68 and supplied with provisions from Ramsey.

During World War II, thirty boarding houses on the North Shore were requisitioned for the Mooragh Internment Camp.

Climate and geography
Ramsey is in the sunniest area of the Isle of Man, with relatively low rainfall. This is because Ramsey is in a 'rain shadow' just to the north-east of the Manx hills, on the edge of the northern plain of the island. Rain clouds coming from the prevailing wind direction, the south-west, tend to lose most of their moisture over the hills before they reach Ramsey.

Ramsey is built mostly on sandy ground and has miles of sandy beaches. To the north of Ramsey the beaches run continuously to the north tip of the island. On the southern edge of Ramsey, at the edge of the hills, are a network of woods and glens: Ballure Walk, Lhergy Frissel and Elfin Glen. The Millennium Way and other paths and roads lead up to and across the upland heath ('the tops' and 'the hills'). The new 'Ramsey Forest' project aims to increase the tree cover in this area and connect areas of woodland.

Shipping
Ramsey is home to the second busiest port on the island, handling a wide range of general cargo. The port was formerly used as an operating base by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company for both cargo and passenger services. The company operated scheduled services to Liverpool and Whitehaven in addition to which during the summer months steamers would call at the Queen's Pier whilst en-route to Douglas from Belfast and Ardrossan.

The port is the headquarters of the local shipping line Mezeron, as it was formerly for the Ramsey Steamship Company, until it ceased trading in 2014.

Buses
Ramsey serves as the main terminus for the northern network of Bus Vannin, providing local services to Andreas, Jurby and Bride. In addition it provides an on-demand service to Ronaldsway Airport and main services to Peel and to Douglas via Laxey.

Rail
At one time the town was served by both the Manx Electric Railway and the Isle of Man Railway. The first rail link was established by the Isle of Man Railway in 1879, transferring to the Manx Northern Railway in 1880. The line ran via Sulby, Ballaugh and Kirk Michael to St John's, where it connected to the main Douglas – Peel line and with the Foxdale Railway. The railway was largely financed by the prosperity of the Foxdale Mines for which it was used to haul ore trains from Foxdale to the Ramsey quayside for shipment. Return trains would haul coal back to Foxdale to power the pumping houses of the mines.

Ramsey is also the northern terminus of the Manx Electric Railway. Initially linking Douglas to Laxey, the line from Laxey to Ramsey was opened on 2 August 1898 by the Lieutenant Governor, John Henniker-Major, 5th Baron Henniker. At that date the line ran as far as Ballure, on the outskirts of Ramsey. The final extension to the centre of Ramsey was opened on 24 July 1899.

Air
For a period between 1935 and 1937 Hall Caine Airport just outside the town operated scheduled air services to English, Scottish and Irish airports. Both Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine's sons, Gordon Hall Caine and Derwent Hall Caine, were particularly keen on the development of an aerodrome on the site, as they saw it as another memorial to their late father. They also wished to involve the Ramsey town commissioners in the project, as they felt the aerodrome would bring immense benefit to the town. Hall Caine Airport officially came into being on 30 April 1935. Scheduled services proved successful in 1935 and 1936, with Hillman's Airways and later British Airways Ltd and Northern and Scottish Airways providing scheduled services to Belfast, Glasgow, Blackpool and Liverpool where the passenger could connect with services to London. There was also an air link between Hall Caine and Ronaldsway Airport for air mail. The primary reason for the cessation of services from Hall Caine was a rationalization of services operated by Northern and Scottish. Northern and Scottish and Manx Airways Ltd entered into an undertaking at Ronaldsway. This resulted in Manx Airways covering the schedules to Liverpool, Blackpool, Carlisle and Belfast which were formerly operated by Northern and Scottish, leaving only the Glasgow service being operated from Hall Caine. This was a severe blow to Ramsey, coming as it did at the beginning of the tourist season. Services from Hall Caine to Glasgow resumed in early June, aimed primarily at the increased traffic as a result of the TT Races which continued throughout the month.

The Ramsey Ratepayers Association petitioned the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, Sir Montague Butler, with a view to his intervening to preserve commercial air operations from Hall Caine. The cancellation by Northern and Scottish Airways also led to a special meeting of the Ramsey Commissioners. It was hoped that Railway Air Services would have commenced operations from Hall Caine, but any hope proved unfounded.

Piloted by Capt. McGeow, the final commercial flight from Hall Caine Airport departed at 4:15 pm on Saturday, 2 October 1937.

Sights
Ramsey (Plaza) tram station is the northern terminus of the Manx Electric Railway, and Ramsey is the start of the mountain section of the Snaefell Mountain Course used for the annual Isle of Man TT and Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races. A popular vantage point is Ramsey Hairpin, where enthusiasts gather to watch the racers. Another popular spot is Parliament Square in the middle of town. There are also opportunities for walking, cycling, kayaking, and other outdoor activities.

The Millennium Way footpath ends 1 mi from the centre of the town on the A3 road at the foot of Sky Hill.

Mooragh Park, on the north side of the Sulby river, is a 19th-century park with a large boating lake where boats (canoes, pedaloes etc) are available for hire. It was originally part of a salt marsh but was purchased and developed by the town to encourage visitors. Mooragh Park has a small water park, two cafés, a BMX club, skate park, tennis courts, basketball area, outdoor exercise equipment, and a children's playground. The park is mostly on the level and has disabled toilets.

Ramsey's original swimming pool in the town centre was converted into a ten-pin bowling alley in 2010. The new Northern Swimming Pool opened in January 2009 on the Mooragh Promenade.

The Albert Tower was built to commemorate the royal visit of Prince Albert on 20 September 1847. Queen Victoria's Royal Yacht anchored in the bay, when heavy seas made it impossible to enter Douglas Harbour. Recovering from seasickness, Victoria remained on the yacht, leaving Prince Albert to venture ashore. He climbed to the top of the hill, from where he viewed the town of Ramsey and the northern plain. The hill was renamed Albert Mount and a year later the tower's foundation was laid. The tower is made of granite and rises 45 ft high. It is a landmark not only for the town of Ramsey, but also for the north of the Isle of Man. There is a public path leading up the hill for people to visit the tower.

Another distinctive landmark of the town is the Queen's Pier, an iron pier which was built in 1886. It is about 650 metres or 700 yards long. As well as recreational purposes, the pier had a landing stage for visiting ships. It has been closed for many years due to health and safety concerns, although subject to many re-opening appeals. It had its own tramway. The Queen's Pier has had significant renovation work, and is open for visitors on Sunday afternoons in the summer. The lease has been taken on by the Queens Pier Restoration Trust, who aim to restore it gradually.

The Grove Museum of Victorian Life (Manx National Heritage) is located in the northern suburbs on the A9 (Andreas Road).

Leisure amenities and sport
Among the various leisure venues in Ramsey are a swimming pool, bowling alley, a rural museum (the Grove Museum of Rural Life), and Milntown House at the western edge of the town.

There are several sports clubs, including a rugby club, a football club and Ramsey Youth Centre and Old Boys F.C., a hockey team, a Gaelic football team, Ramsey Ravens swimming team and a golf club. There is an active sailing club, the Manx Sailing and Cruising Club, which promotes an annual Round the Island sailing race as well as regularly scheduled dinghy and cruiser races. Ramsey Angling Club holds regular sea angling competitions.

Health and education
Ramsey has a modern junior school, a secondary comprehensive school, and the Ramsey Cottage Hospital.

Places of religious worship
The town has a number of churches, including: Our Lady, Star of the Sea & St Maughold Church and St Paul's.

Industry and commerce
Ramsey has a small shipyard and some small industrial workshops. The main street has a range of independent shops, including a butcher, ironmonger, and shops selling clothes, gifts and homewares. There are pubs, cafes, restaurants and a Farmers' Market every Saturday.

The harbour is used by fishing and small leisure boats, and small freight boats from the Mezeron shipping company. There is a swing bridge for pedestrians and vehicles, built in 1892, that crosses the harbour.

Wildlife and nature
Wildlife around Ramsey reflects the mix of landscape: with sandy coast and estuary at Ramsey, wooded glens and rocky coasts just to the south-east, and hills and moors to the south-west, plus Ballaugh Curragh (wooded swamp) and productive farmland inland, and isolated sandy shores and dunes to the north.

Ramsey Bay was the island's first Marine Nature Reserve, set up to protect fisheries and marine wildlife. The protected area acts as a 'nursery area' for fish and other creatures and plants, which can then move out to restock surrounding areas.

Ramsey shore and estuary provide a feeding area for birds, including oystercatcher, redshank and ringed plover on the shore, and geese, swans and ducks in the harbour. The inner harbour footpath (toward Mooragh Park) is a scrap of rich original saltmarsh habitat plus many land plants (also a sun trap). There is a big patch of salt marsh in Poyll Dooey park up the harbour.

Just south-east of Ramsey, in Maughold, are rugged wooded glens open to the public, and rocky coasts, headlands and beaches, with much of the area accessible by road, footpath, and electric tram.

Inland wildlife areas include Sulby Glen (a rugged grassy glen full of bluebells in spring) and Ballaugh Curragh: a wildlife-rich patchwork of semi-wilderness, swamp, woodland and agriculture, continuous since the last Ice Age.

Wildlife hotspots around Ramsey
Maughold Head

Seals, cormorants, chough, wildfowl and seabirds, coastal wildflowers.

The Ayres/Point of Ayre

Lichen heath, sand-dunes, little terns, Arctic terns, winter migratory geese, divers, gannets, other wildfowl, basking sharks, seals, lizards, various butterflies and moths. Includes the Manx Wildlife Trust Ayres Nature Discovery Centre and Nature Trail.

Music, culture and events
Ramsey has been a centre for the revival of Manx traditional music and culture. 'Shennaghys Jiu' ("Tradition Today") Celtic music festival runs in springtime, usually late March. There are two separate live folk music nights at the Mitre Hotel, on Thursdays (singaround) and Fridays (Irish session).

The busiest times of year are Shennagys Jiu in March, Cyclefest in May, TT fortnight in late May / early June, (especially Ramsey Sprint Day, when thousands of biking fans visit to watch motorbike drag sprints on Mooragh Promenade), Manx Grand Prix/ Manx Classic motorbike race fortnight in late August, Ramsey National Week in early July, with many music and culture events, and 'Ramsey Rocks' held on the Quayside one Friday in summer.

Politics, civic authority and local government
The local authority is the Ramsey Town Commissioners. Ramsey is also a House of Keys constituency electing two MHKs. As of 2021, these are Alex Allinson (independent) and Lawrie Hooper (Liberal Vannin).

MHKs and Elections
This information is incomplete.

Election results since 2016
In 2014, Tynwald approved recommendations from the Boundary Review Commission which saw the reform of the Island's electoral boundaries.

Notable people

 * William Gill (1795 in Ramsay – 1858 in Douglas) was a Manx merchant navy officer who served as commanding officer of numerous Isle of Man Steam Packet Company vessels. Gill was the first recognised captain of the line, retiring with the rank of Commodore
 * Andrew Roche (born 1971), road cyclist
 * Beckii Cruel (born 1995), businesswoman, YouTuber, singer and dancer

title: Ramsey, Isle of Man


text:
Yasumi Matsuno

Yasumi Matsuno (松野 泰己) is a Japanese video game designer and writer. Matsuno was first introduced to video games in arcades while waiting for the train, and first played Space Invaders and Xevious there. He attended Hosei University for foreign policy but dropped out, and after working for a time as an economic reporter, he joined Quest Corporation.

As an employee at video game companies Quest in 1989 and later Square in 1995, Matsuno became well known for his work in the tactical role-playing game genre, specifically the Ogre Battle (1993) and Final Fantasy Tactics (1997) series, in addition to Vagrant Story (2000) and Final Fantasy XII (2006). After disruptions from staff leaving his development team, he resigned from Square Enix due to prolonged illness. During a freelance period, he worked on games for Nintendo's Wii such as MadWorld (2009). He joined Level-5 in 2011 where he helped create Crimson Shroud for the Nintendo 3DS.

In 2016, he created his own company called Algebra Factory, and during this period was asked by Square Enix to create a scenario for Final Fantasy XIV expansion Stormblood (2017). He created a raid called "Return to Ivalice", the land of Ivalice being a setting from previous Final Fantasy games he had worked on. Matsuno was subsequently asked to create another scenario, which was titled "Save the Queen: Blades of Gunnhildr" and included in Shadowbringers, another expansion for the game.

Early life
Matsuno grew up in a rural area, where he felt his only entertainment were movies, television, and books. His hobbies included making dioramas. He was particularly fond of World War II dioramas, that he used to make by researching at the local library. He would incorporate story elements into each of his creation.

His introduction to video games was playing Space Invaders and Xevious at the arcades while waiting for the train. He was fond of The Legend of Zelda and Dragon Quest on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and played heavily on the Amiga and PC, including Ultima Online. He attended Hosei University for foreign policy but dropped out after three years. Shortly thereafter he found work as an economic reporter but found the work unfulfilling. In 1989, Matsuno left his job as a reporter to work at Quest Corporation.

Quest
Matsuno began his career at the Japanese video game developer Quest Corporation. In 1993, he served as the director of Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen for the Super NES. It is the first installment of an episodic series of tactical role-playing games. Matsuno was inspired by the British rock band Queen's second album, which contained the songs "Ogre Battle" and "The March Of The Black Queen". A sea in the Ogre Battle universe was also named after "Seven Seas of Rhye". The next game he worked on was Tactics Ogre, released in 1995 for the Super NES. The political narrative of the game revolving around the reality of war were inspired by the Bosnian Genocide and Yugoslav Wars at the time.

Square and Square Enix
In 1995, Matsuno joined Square after quitting Quest. At Square, Matsuno directed and wrote Final Fantasy Tactics for the PlayStation. Similar in design and gameplay to Tactics Ogre, it was lauded for its highly intricate story. After the game's release, Matsuno and his team began development on Vagrant Story. Smaller in scope than Final Fantasy Tactics, it was highly regarded by critics and has gained somewhat of a cult following since its release. Matsuno supervised PlayOnline, Square's online multiplayer gaming software prior to its first beta release in 2001. He then served as producer for Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the Game Boy Advance system, which shares the Final Fantasy Tactics system but has an entirely different storyline.

In 2001, Matsuno was assigned to work on Final Fantasy XII as director together with Hiroyuki Ito. He came up with the game's original concept and plot. Matsuno reportedly was temperamental and refused to come to work for a month after part of the Final Fantasy XII team had left Square Enix to join Hironobu Sakaguchi's new company Mistwalker. In August 2005, it was officially announced that he had stepped down from his position on the project due to a prolonged illness.

Freelance period and Level-5

In 2006, Matsuno expressed his interest for Nintendo's Wii console in a promotional video, stating that he was impressed with the intuitive functionality provided by the remote controller. He was approached by his friend, the PlatinumGames producer Atsushi Inaba, to work on the scenario for the Wii game MadWorld. While developing the setting, story and script, Matsuno often consulted with the development team and received conflicting orders from the staff members: the game designers wanted to emphasize extreme violence but the producers wished to tone it down instead. Matsuno's ideas and writing for the game were influenced by the necessity to balance these two different points of view. When the original developers of Tactics Ogre were assembled to work on a reimagined port for the PlayStation Portable. Matsuno was called upon to handle the game design and new story elements.

Soon after the port was finished, Level-5 president Akihiro Hino entered talks with him to convince him of joining the company. In June 2011, it was announced that Matsuno had entered Level-5 based on his impression of the Professor Layton and Inazuma Eleven series and in order to create the games he wanted to. During his stay there, he developed the fantasy RPG Crimson Shroud for the Nintendo 3DS, which is part of the collaborative project Guild 01 of Grasshopper Manufacture's Goichi Suda, Sega's Yoot Saito and comedian Yoshiyuki Hirai. Matsuno left Level-5 in October 2012 and explained "With my work done on the domestic and overseas version of my latest 3DSWare game, it was good timing for me to step down and take a short break in order to recharge for my next project." In September 2013, he announced a partnership with the American company Playdek to develop Unsung Story, a strategy game similar to Matsuno's previous titles and set in a medieval fantasy world. In 2020, Matsuno revealed that he had left the project before it was handed off to Little Orbit, the company currently developing the game; calling Playdek's version a "Final Fantasy clone". He met with Little Orbit, and they confirmed that the current game was based on Matsuo's original concept, however he had no influence on the current game; stating that "I look forward to enjoying it with the same fresh eye as any other gamer".

Algebra Factory
Matsuno founded a "planning, screenplay, and production" oriented company named Algebra Factory in 2016. During the Algebra Factory era, he was hired by Square Enix to produce the "Return to Ivalice" raid for the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV's expansion Stormblood and once more for the "Save the Queen: Blades of Gunnhildr" storyline for the Shadowbringers expansion, and by Cygames Corporation for game drafts and management for the mobile game Lost Order.

Game design
His games usually feature story driven adventures with tactical or strategical combat. He has described the development culture at Quest as having been a "kind dictatorship" while Square's was more "democratic", and is not personally fond of other team members having input on his narrative work.

title: Yasumi Matsuno