Manx for the memories

This series of photos were taken in the Isle of Man on a recent visit. I have been going there on holiday to visit family and friends for most of my life. As a place and a landscape it is part of my soul. It's been a Viking raiding post, an internment camp in both world wars and a popular twentieth century tourist destination. The boarding houses made way for the financial institutions and parts of the island are now showing the effects of the recession years. As a child I met Manx friends of my aunts who understood and shared their sense of their own past and folklore, inspiring me to explore those subjects in my own life. I have taken my children on holiday to the island . My godmother still lives there. I've been to the TT and the Manx Grand Prix. I have seen the fairies at Fairy Bridge. I've heard the story of the Black Dog of Peel Castle, the Moddy Dhoo. I've climbed the battlements of Castle Rushen and sung 'Ellan Vannin' in the Glue Pot in Castletown.I've watched the seals in Peel Harbour,collected delicately coloured snail shells from Niarbyl Bay and been amazed by the Manx crosses in Maughold churchyard.I've been to Tynwald and seen the oldest parliament at work.As a child I met Gerald Gardner, king of the witches,at Witches Mill. I have favourite rocks and and views. These photos hold the ghosts of past visits, holiday memories, loved ones. The island' fortunes ebb and flow. The three legs of man land on their feet, whichever way you throw them.

Fire and Rain

Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone. Early one morning, nearly ten years ago now, I got a phone call from my friend Joyce's sister, letting me know that she had passed away. There was relief in the shock and sadness.She had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour about eighteen months before. She was told to go out and do all the things she wanted to do before the symptoms caught up with her. She cashed in her pension and took a lump sum on her life insurance.She went to Venice for the last time. She made the most of life whist she could, until she became confined to bed at home and in a hospice. She was a remarkable and interesting woman and a great friend to me and my children. We met through an alternative health course I was teaching as an evening class. We bonded over many shared interests, and had some excellent adventures. It was through Joyce that I appeared on the Antiques Roadshow with my arts and crafts fire screen.Her mother had been an early star, with her Wheeldon exhibition tea pot,later sold to buy her council house in Liverpool. What a story! So we were treated as VIPs whenever we went to see it recorded. I still see us in the crowd if they show some repeats. One of our shared interests was the music of James Taylor. This was at a stage in my life, when as a single parent on a limited income, I was unable to go to live music concerts. Babysitters, transport, tickets, logistics - it was all too complicated.We discovered that James Taylor was appearing at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. It was sold out, but the box office suggested we phone on the day for late seats. We did, and we got two. Her husband came to babysit, we jumped in the car and raced over to Manchester for an unforgettable night. Over the next couple of years, we saw James Taylor twice more. I knew she had planned her funeral, a humanist service. I knew there would be a James Taylor song, and I expected to hear You've Got a Friend, the soundtrack to our friendship. I was caught up in the lyrics of Fire and Rain, 'I always though I'd see you again'. She had chosen 'Shower the people you love with love' and I try to live up to it. One of the sad things is that she has never appeared in my dreams, as far as I know, I never have seen her again, unless you count those occasional and accidental glimpses on an old Antiques Roadshow. The reason I am writing this is that I have just booked to see James Taylor in Manchester next month.Friends gave me a ticket voucher for my big birthday, and it has covered the cost of one ticket. Too expensive to invite anyone to come with me, so I am going on my own. Except I won't be alone. I know it will bring back so many memories. Joyce and I should have celebrated these big birthdays together. This is one way of doing it.