Thursday 2nd MarchWe limit our main shop to every 10 days (roughly), but need to get milk and bread more often. We get through a lot of milk and a lot of eggs. Charlotte has always been vegetarian (well, pescatarian as we do make her eat fish). Alex has also gone mainly vegetarian, including drinking soya milk and avoiding fish. We now eat very little meat, which is no consolation when I walk past the butcher and see very enticing joints and well-aged steaks in the display. Alex does make exceptions: Toad in the Hole and fajitas being the main ones.
So we had a family excursion to Marks and Spencer. The promenade is just down the hill, so off we went. The little castle is the Tower of Refuge on Conister Rock, built by Sir William Hillary the founder of the RNLI after he witnessed a shipwreck on it (and participated in the rescue of stranded sailors). At the height of the Isle of Man's tourism industry 100 years ago, a cafe operated from there (people could rent rowing boats to row round the bay).
The offices of Utmost, a financial services company. Used to be Axa International. I've never been inside but it is an interesting building given it is only 20-something years old.
We headed off around the harbour, passing the older piers on the way, and Douglas Lifeboat station which houses the 'Sir William Hillary'. His former residence overlooks the station. The RNLI boots are a fitting display!
Douglas Head was a major tourist site. The bay in front of the lighthouse was full of cafes, an open air pool, landing jetties for rowing boats. There was even a furniclar up the hill (long gone). The Camera Obscura still operates and opens in the summer (in normal times).
This is a memorial to the men from the Isle of Man who died at Trafalgar. There were a disproportionate number of Manxmen in the British fleet, perhaps understandable given the IOM is a seafaring nation with a long tradition of producing mariners. Fletcher Christian of Mutiny on the Bounty fame, whilst not born on the Isle of Man, came from a Manx family and moved back in his teens. Captain Bligh was married in Onchan on the island. Captain John Quilliam was First Lieutenant on HMS Victory at Trafalgar.
Further round the headland is Marine Drive. Now closed to traffic, the road follows the cliff and is spectacular in places. This is the former tollhouse.
Retracing our steps and the sun came out. The red shape in the foreground is a huge poppy memorial.
Back down the headland and into town down the long steps. Easier going down, but many people run up and down these for exercise. A few times up and down gets the heat beating!