Today, our final full day on the Isle of Man, was a free day for the clients to explore at leisure. As I write, they’re still out at somewhere unknown. Having Fun. Alone and unsupervised! Better hope that doesn’t catch on.
I planned out a voluntary excursion for those clients that had nothing better to do, and it worked out well. We took the Manx Electric Railway to connect with the Groudle Glen Railway for a steam journey.
The short journey winds through the wooded Glen before breaking out onto the cliff tops, finishing up at Sea Lion Rocks where coincidentally, there is a rather good Tea House & Garden. This made it possible to top up those critical blood levels of Tea, Ice Cream & Cake which had been depleted during the morning.
We were lucky. This happened to be the day that the Railway had organised one of their season of Cliff Top Concerts with local musicians playing for visitors, and for free. The sun came out. You couldn’t ask for better
I’d have to say that my favourites were the Ellan Vannin Pipes & Drums. The pipes are a glorious sound that never fail to stir my soul, and even more so when outdoors. There’s wildness and sadness that no other instrument enjoys. Here they are playing ‘Amazing Grace’.
Time to head back to the hotel. I need to pack and start the post-Tour paperwork. On the way back from Groudle Glen rail station I walked through the Glen and enjoyed peaceful views like this.
That’s pretty much a wrap for this Tour. All we have left is a final group Farewell Dinner this evening and the ferry back tomorrow. It’s a little tough trying to create an interesting blog post about a 4 hour Ferry journey so I think I’ll quit while I’m ahead. So, as I metaphorically leave the station, I’ll leave you with the Groudle Glen Railway literally leaving the station, a fitting close to this Tour of the Isle of Man.
TimOnTheTrain 