Travel solutions: Isle of Man

Long mocked as a Luddite backwater, the Isle of Man is now in regular demand as a film location and celebrity getaway. Time Out met the locals and got the gossip

To the lighthouse: Castletown harbour (© visitisleofman.com)

It’s way past midnight in the tiny village of Kirk Michael’s sole boozer, The Mitre, and I’m being taught a stern lesson in Isle of Man etiquette by the clientele. Many of them have had a little more of the lethal local whisky, ManX, than is advisable and are trying to teach me what to do if anybody should be foolish enough to mention the word ‘rat’ while on the island.

‘You absolutely have to whistle, then place your hand on the nearest piece of wood, and then turn around if you ever mention that animal’s name. You’re in big trouble if you don’t,’ says one particularly garrulous local. ‘We’re a suspicious lot here.’ Legend has it the word was considered unlucky by fisherman and banned from use on boats. Not for the first time in my stay, I’m reasonably convinced that the citizens of the Isle of Man are embroiled in a number of elaborate jokes at the expense of outsiders (or ‘come-overs’, as we’re known).

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Monks' Bridge

Poor old Isle of Man. Marooned in the Irish Sea, long derided as a windswept backwater populated by octogenarian Daily Mail readers and hand-knitted jersey-donning Luddites, the place has the demeanour of the bullied child at school, never invited to mainland Europe’s parties.

Sympathy, however, is not what the island is looking for. Without anyone realising, the Isle of Man has become a desirable destination for those seeking an escape; the Manx motto of ‘traa dy loor’ translates as ‘there’s time enough tomorrow’ – the island’s equivalent of ‘mañana’. Regular visitors include Jeremy Clarkson, Robin Gibb and ‘Morvern Callar’ author Alan Warner, who owns a lighthouse on the far north of the island.

The appeal of the Isle of Man is obvious within seconds of arriving, even in winter, and it’s impossible to drive for more than a few minutes without having an ocean view by your side. Untamed and independent (it is neither part of the UK, nor the EU, but is part of the British Isles), it’s a brooding landscape of verdant green and black fields that fall away to a constantly turbulent sea. It’s hard to believe you’re only an hour’s flight from London.

Bluebells in Sulby

The tiny towns and villages remain almost completely bypassed by modernity. Peel, situated on the west coast and technically the only city on the island (owing to its bijou cathedral), is an exquisitely preserved 1950s working fishing harbour. To stroll along the seafront is to experience a barrage of the senses as you pass the living museum of Moores, the last of the island’s curing yards, which produces oak-fired, chimney-smoked Manx kippers straight out of the adjacent River Neb.