Choughs and rain - Thursday
Thursday most delegates are off to look at Manx Utilities – water, electricity etc, but Caroline and I are off to do our own thing – and intend to walk the line of the old Electric Tramway from Douglas to Port Soderick – long gone and now known as Marine Drive. We intend to return by Steam Train.
But it’s raining hard (a significant change from every other day so far) and so we wander the streets of Douglas waiting for the sky to brighten. It eventually does, but we don’t have the time for the whole route, so just do the first sections of the Marine Drive.
To get there we first go up to Douglas Head, home of the D H Hotel (formerly HMS Valkyrie – see blogs passim), Manx Radio and the Camera Obscura. This view is looking back to Douglas in the gloom.
The Camera Obscura is an unusual model, with multiple lenses giving a permanent 360 degree view, instead of the conventional single lens that has to moved round. Sounds good, and it’ been recently refurbished – but it’s closed today!
Here’s the start of Marine Drive, showing the arches formerly used by the Douglas Southern Electric Tramways. It’s an interesting road, now closed to through traffic because of cliff falls, but still open for walkers. We find its particularly popular with dog-walkers and driving instructors looking for a quiet place for their charges to practise 3-point turns.
The quiet cliffs here are obviously attractive to birds too – we first hear and then see several Choughs – a rare sea-cliff bird elsewhere in Britain which has a stronghold here (we heard several yesterday on the Calf). Being black crow-like birds they’re difficult to photograph – but there is one in the middle of this pic – pity about the low resolution.
On the way back, we stop to lok at the modern breakwater close to Douglas Harbour; the precast concrete shapes here were specially designed for this location, and to interlock and were named ‘Stabits’ to reflect their similarity to the Manx 3-legged emblem and accompanying motto "Quocunque Ieceris Stabit" – whichever you throw me I will stand (or words to that effect).
But it’s raining hard (a significant change from every other day so far) and so we wander the streets of Douglas waiting for the sky to brighten. It eventually does, but we don’t have the time for the whole route, so just do the first sections of the Marine Drive.
To get there we first go up to Douglas Head, home of the D H Hotel (formerly HMS Valkyrie – see blogs passim), Manx Radio and the Camera Obscura. This view is looking back to Douglas in the gloom.
The Camera Obscura is an unusual model, with multiple lenses giving a permanent 360 degree view, instead of the conventional single lens that has to moved round. Sounds good, and it’ been recently refurbished – but it’s closed today!
Here’s the start of Marine Drive, showing the arches formerly used by the Douglas Southern Electric Tramways. It’s an interesting road, now closed to through traffic because of cliff falls, but still open for walkers. We find its particularly popular with dog-walkers and driving instructors looking for a quiet place for their charges to practise 3-point turns.
The quiet cliffs here are obviously attractive to birds too – we first hear and then see several Choughs – a rare sea-cliff bird elsewhere in Britain which has a stronghold here (we heard several yesterday on the Calf). Being black crow-like birds they’re difficult to photograph – but there is one in the middle of this pic – pity about the low resolution.
On the way back, we stop to lok at the modern breakwater close to Douglas Harbour; the precast concrete shapes here were specially designed for this location, and to interlock and were named ‘Stabits’ to reflect their similarity to the Manx 3-legged emblem and accompanying motto "Quocunque Ieceris Stabit" – whichever you throw me I will stand (or words to that effect).
posted by Jonathan @ 10:04 pm
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