First off we went to Glen
Mooar. The wind had been howling for
most of the night and it was still pretty windy out there today. It was grey and overcast, threatening to rain
but none fell. it was a short walk
through Glen Mooar as most of it was actually cut off due to trees falling down
in the high winds, however there was a trail still open to access the waterfall
which we phad come to see. The wind was
so strong that we couldnt actually define the sound of rushing water! The waterfall is called Spooyt Vane which
means White Spout, and it is the highest waterfall on the Isle of Man, and
apparently the most photographed too.
We made our way back to the car
and thought we could feel a few spots of rain, but nothing came of it. Onward we went to Peel where we drove along
the waterfront which was very pleasent - not crisp white Victorian terraces,
but still very well kept buildings, possible Georgian. The harbour which was chock full of
boats! We also had a great view of the
castle from here, combining with the grey overcast sky it made it look very
moody!
We walked along to the Castle and
in we went with our audio guides. We
dont usually go for audio guides much but this one was pretty decent, we didn't
have to do anything in any particular order, and each part lasted no longer than
1 minute. The Castle was originally
built by Vikings, later used as a fortification in the late 19th century and it
situated on St Patricks Isle which is connected to the mainland by a modern
causeway. Within the Castle grounds are
also ruins of the Cathedral St German including the crypt.
One interesting thing about this
Castle is that it is said to be haunted by a large black dog known as Moddey
Dhoo. There were a number of stories
about it being seen at sunrise and sunset in almost every part of the castle.
Leaving the Castle, we walked
around Peel looking for some lunch. It
struck us that Peel - although very pleasent with is small windy streets -
doesnt seem to have much of a town centre going on. Shops are not all in one place, they seem to
be spread out and there aren't a great deal of them to be honest. There wasn't much in the way of eateries
either, so we went straight to The House of Mannanan and ate in their
cafe. We had simple sandwiches (I went
for a toastie) and they had Twinings Redbush Tea which was great so I went for
that! But our sandwiches came with a
chunky salad in balsamic vinegar dressing and it was really nice! I couldn't resist something sweet - as it was
my Birthday - so I went for some millionaire’s shortbread which was just
yummy. I thought about having the white
chocolate version but I decided to stick with he milk chocolate one, mainly
because I didnt want to have to leave some because it was too sweet. It was a decent sized piece, so perhaps I
might try a white chocolate version when I can have a smaller slice...!
Moving on, we went around the
corner into the House of Mannanan. we
walked through some double doors and we had a number of rooms in which there
was either a scene played out by mannequins or a video on a loop - or both in
some cases. Information was very
simplified and the videos looked a little dated, but in general it was quite a
fun little museum which I would say is definitely worth visiting. There were a few interactive things to do as
well which were also quite fun, especially as we were literally the only people
there!
After the story of the Viking
settlers, we went through an exhibition which was set out like a ship and a
shipyard, which basically told the story of fishing, a nautical history of the
Island and a short history of the Island's "Steam Packet Company"
which still runs today - we sailed over with them. We stopped off at the shop which was the most
touristy / gifty shop we had seen on this holiday so far, so I took advantage
of it and bought the majority of my souvenirs there including a gift for myself
of a box of truffles from the Manx Fudge Factory. I thought I deserved it as it was my
Birthday!
Back outside in the wind which
seemed to be getting stronger, we went for a little walk up Peel Hill as Mathew
wanted to take a photo of the castle from there. Done, we went back to the car and returned to
the Cottage where we had a nice cup of tea and Mathew had a slice lf cake
whilst I tucked into my Birthday Manx truffles.
We decided to have dinner in the
Cottage today. Usually we would go out
for a meal, but nothing really ticked our fancy and also we had eat out pretty
much every day on our summer holiday - sometimes its nice just to have
something special at home. So Mathew
made his vegetable pasta bake and we finished it off a little later with
Birthday Lemon Cheesecake!
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