The Welbeck - Isle of Man Hotel of the Year 2010

Thank you to everyone for the congratulations about our award from Isle of Man Tourism for the 'Best Hotel' category for this year, not to forget to mention the kind word of our guests who filled out all the survey forms that enabled us to win.

Like many people I almost eschew the value of such ceremonies until we happen to win but I have to say that this year I was impressed that the criteria on which the presentations were made were explained far more clearly by Rod Nipper and Gary Roberts, the Deputy Chief Constable who was chairman of the judging panel.

Congratulations also to all the other winners.


Thanks to my Mum and Dad, Hilda & Peter George because they started us off on the right track to show how things should be done and also to Murray Lambden for his publicity on www.manxathletics.com surely the best website ever.

McGahan hits 60 (that's years not mph)

Welbeck Hotel sponsored daredevil classic racer, multi Manx Grand Prix winner and ace project manager (he does a good bathroom eventually,) Chris McGahan was 60 on Friday 26th November and Irene and I were fortunate enough to be invited to his birthday party at the Masonic Hall in Peel the day after.

Apart from supplying his guests with three brilliant curries, Chris also laid on three excellent musical acts. A dude on guitar kicked off the night with some great singer-songwriter numbers, including 'Candy' by Paolo Nuttini' which was my personal favourite, followed by a rock group who played mostly their own music but also some classic Led Zepellin covers to really get the crowd on the dance floor.

The Ballaghs with Katie the Fiddler who used to be in the band, guesting on the violin, rounded things off with their punk folk numbers and had the venue bouncing.

With the event taking place on the west of the Island, I drove our entourage over and then we took a taxi home. The weather was fine if a little cold, so it was a bit of a shock to see the amount of snow that had fallen when I awoke this morning.

Ignoring advice to wait for the weather to improve, I decided to head out along Peel Road to investigate whether it would be safe to drive the car home. Just as I was about to set off, I realised that my fell running shoes which would have given me decent grip were in the car.

The advantage of having a 13 year old Sasquatch for a son is that right now, we have the same size feet, so I decided to borrow his shoes and because the snow seemed so thick and I was wary of the ice, I changed his short spikes for long ones.

Big mistake! As soon as I went past the Quarterbridge, the amount of snow lessened considerably and all you could hear was the clack of my spikes hitting the pavement. To add to my problems, I also realised that I needed to answer the call of nature.

Leaving Union Mills, it became apparent that that call was a little more urgent than I'd previously thought and there was no way I could make it to the public loo at Crosby, two miles down the road, so am afraid that I had to vault a gate. After careful consideration and the fact that I didn't know whose field it was, I have decided not to invoice the farmer for the fertiliser he didn't order.

Those of you that know me well, will be aware that I'm more of a walker than a runner and this was the longest distance I'd attempted to run for more than two years. By St. Johns, despite the fact that I was wearing two pairs of socks, the meeting of metal on tarmac was beginning to announce itself as being quite painful and the prospect of blistering only a week before my last race of the year was not one that I relished. Luckily, I had packed a spare pair of trainers in my rucksack, so I was able to change and complete my journey in relative comfort. However, if my walk next Sunday along the same course takes anything like the same amount of time, I've no chance of winning what could be the last Peel to Douglas, one of the oldest events on the athletics calendar.

P.S. will fill in the names of the solo artist and the band later whenI find out.

Camp Elton John to Star in the Isle of Man's Big Top

It's pretty amazing that Elton John will be playing just up the hill, June 16th in the Valhalla Marquee and a very impressive coup for Jonathon Irving and the Bay Festival team.

Even more amazing and impressive was the way the tickets were snapped up. A friend of mine had no trouble obtaining six and was less than two minutes on the telephone, though my wife spent half the morning on the internet and trying to call and had no luck whatsoever.

Irene wasn't quite so keen to spend £35 to stand outside the tent to watch but I've already purchased a two man tent and I've decided to pitch it in the bottom field at Nobles Park and I'm only going to charge £20 for people to listen to the concert. V.I.P. passes will also be on sale at only £120 and the purchasers will be allowed under canvas should it rain and will also receive a free glass of pomagne.

Strong Winds on Facebook

Facebook

Since my last post, the 'facebook' thing has taken off a little bit and we now have 26 friends and 56 other people who 'Like' us (one of whom appears to be me) so we still have a long way to go before we reach the huge numbers that I noticed some other establishments have when I was researching.



I'm still finding the prospect of hearing the minutiae of someone else's life a little odd and I have 'blocked' one of my daughter's friends who was always effing and blinding and getting into online spats.

Like blogging, it is sometimes a little difficult to think of apposite suject matter and the other worry is that if you put out too much content, then you run the risk of boring everyone and unbefriended.

Weather

It's 'Batten down the hatches!' today with storm force winds of up to 80 miles per hour having been promised. Tonight's sailings have already been cancelled but hopefully the flights will remain in operation.

Facebook

Well we've finally been dragged kicking and screaming into social networking and set up the Welbeck Hotel & Restaurant page: http://www.facebook.com/WelbeckHotel

So far, I must admit, I'm yet to enter into the spirit wholeheartedly and can't for the life of me work out why someone would want to tell the world that he can't make up his mind what flavour ice cream he wants (sorry Johnny ((you have to be careful not to upset your online friends.)))

Maybe that was irony that I didn't pick up on and through my personal page(business pages have to be set up as part of) it is good to hear about people that you no longer see on a regular basis.

The technical aspects do not seem to be overly difficult to grasp even for a dinosaur like me, so we'll just have to see how the whole thing progresses.

Funeral of Sir Norman Wisdom

Friday saw the funeral of Sir Norman Wisdom and I was taken aback that the Promenade was lined with people all the way along, many of whom clapped as the beautiful horses drew the hearse past. Presumably the volume of the onlookers increased as the procession neared the Town.

Here is the report from Isle of Man Today and a link to their website:

HUNDREDS turned up to wave goodbye to comedy legend Sir Norman Wisdom today as the Isle of Man’s most famous resident was given a public funeral.


They lined the pavements along Douglas seafront as the funeral cortege made its way to church, with well-wishers breaking out in applause as the horse-drawn hearse carrying the popular star of films such as Trouble in Store passed by.

Sir Norman died at the age of 95 on October 4 at Abbotswood nursing home, Ballasalla, where he had spent the last three years of his life.

Stars who travelled for today’s service in St George’s Church included Todd Carty, of the Bill and EastEnders, comedian and former Coronation Street star Bradley Walsh, comic Stan Boardman and TV mogul Michael Grade.

The funeral cortege travelled along the promenades, before heading to St George’s Church, where a service was led by Archdeacon Brian Smith.

Scottish singer Moira Anderson, an island resident, sang Who Can I Turn To and Absent, while Sir Norman’s son Nick paid a personal tribute to the ‘family man’.

He said: ‘He would always make time for people, whatever the situation, which was time he didn’t necessarily have because he was usually running late!

‘He was a very caring and loving father.’

Sir Norman’s grandson Lawrence, read out a poem entitled Gratitude, written by the funnyman 15 years ago.

His agent Johnny Mans also paid a tribute to Sir Norman, the actor.

Hymns included Praise My Soul, The King of Love My Shepherd Is and Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer.

A retiring collection was taken for Sir Norman’s Isle of Man charity Wooden Spoon.

A private service takes place in the north of the island tomorrow (Saturday).

Sir Norman’s daughter-in-law Kim said: ‘We have given the public what they wanted, which is a very public funeral.

‘We are hoping that everyone will respect our privacy the following day as this will be when the family will say our final farewells.’

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/funeral_of_sir_norman_wisdom_1_2366199

I Think Used to be Indecisive. Now I'm So So Sure (I am.)

We have been wrestling with the possibility of no longer serving Weekday Lunches over the last couple of months. A combination of high costs, low profit margins, increased competition with a gradual reduction in custom led to our 'final' decision to close the Restaurant.

And of course, we have suddenly become busier with yesterday being the best day for quite some time with 30 diners making The Welbeck Hotel Restaurant their choice of venue to consume their midday day repast.

Therefore, performing a U-turn comparable with some of the recent about faces of our esteemed Manx Government, we've fudged the issue and with rubber resolve decided to open Wednesday, Thursday & Friday but to shut on Monday, Tuesday & Saturday.

Sunday Lunches & Dinners remain the same, the former from 12.30pm to 2.30pm and the latter 6.30pm to 9.30pm seven days per week.

Incidentally, the photograph above is quite an old one, taken in January 2007 when we first opened for lunch. Ironically, Ewelina, the waitress pictured at the time, visited us yesterday for a meal along with her husband, former Hotel resident, Peter McGarry and their new baby. There must have been something in the air really because Karen Needham, pictured at one of the tables, also has had another child since.

Death, Taxes & Price Rises

<

After three years without an increase, I'm afraid that we've had to bow to the inevitable and put the dinner prices up.

Because of the current financial climate, we had managed to avoid it until now but the constant inflation of world food prices hasve forced our hand.

The good news however, is that we'll absorb the extra 2.5% V.A.T. in the New Year rather than change everything again so soon.

It remains the best value on the Island though, comparing favourably with the cost and quality of most local restaurants and certainly in superior surroundings.

http://www.welbeckhotel.com/sampledinner.html

Good luck to Murray Lambden, an occasional diner at the Welbeck, regular correspondent, webmeister of ManxAthletics.com and just to prove he's a top bloke, the only current follower* of this 'Blog' who is leaving the Island this evening to compete in the Amsterdam Marathon on Sunday.

* Though many thanks to Atif who is the first person to leave a comment.

Late Great Summer

In the Isle of Man, we have been blessed with some fantastic weather in September and October.

Two weeks ago, Irene & I were having lunch at Niarbyl Cafe, Dalby when we noticed that a gentleman sat out at the front was becoming quite animated. He had spotted a minke whale (see picture) which was swimming perhaps half a mile out to sea.

It was the first that we'd ever seen and then just to put the icing on the cake, there was a basking shark considerably closer to the shore. Whilst that isn't unusual in itself, I don't think I've ever been witness to one so late in the year, as they aren't often sighted after August.


Sunday 10th October was another wonderful Autumn day and saw the annual Welbeck Hotel & Restaurant One Hour Challenge on the perimeter track of the National Sports Centre.

A record turnout of over seventy athletes of varying ages walked to see how far they could travel in an hour or half an hour and prizes were awarded to the three best men and women novices.

Parish Walk winner, Jock Waddington achieved the farthest distance with 11,287m, followed by Richard Gerrard and u15 National and Schools Champion, Alex Eaton with an excellent 10,535m. Alex's first ever racewalk was at the 2009 event, so his progress has been exceptional but it shows the potential that this fixture can unleash.

For full results and photographs, see http://www.manxathletics.com/manxharriers/MHonehourchallenge2010.htm


Picture by Mike Quayle

http://www.msportspix.com/

KEEP SUMMERLAND FOR RECREATIONAL PUPORSES

I didn't really envisage climbing on to my soap box when I set up this blog but there again, I didn't really envisage the sale of the Summerland site for possible residential development.

There has even been a facebook group set up in the name of 'KEEP SUMMERLAND FOR RECREATIONAL PUPORSES' and despite not being overly struck on networking sites, I decided to join up to that particular cause and below is my contribution:

It has been suggested that any leisure development should be on the former bus staion site. However, that area is already a bottle neck for traffic while Summerland has great accessibility for all.

Car parking could be incorporated into any scheme and the new bus service from the South runs right past. The service to the North could be re-routed and it surely wouldn't take a genius to link in the West too.

If it takes some residential accommodation/hotel/whatever to advance the project then so be it, as it is a massive site and tourists no longer visit in such great numbers but we must safeguard this as a national asset and provide the people of this Island with a facility of which we can be proud.See more

Let Blogging Become One of My Better Habits

Certainly, it would seem that if I am to succeed in achieving anything with this blog, it has to become a little more of a habit, though not necessarily take over my whole life as my 2008 Parish Walk Blog seemed to do.

The best mantra as with so many other things in life should be, 'Little and often.'

The summer months at the Welbeck Hotel have been busy, though this last couple of weeks has tailed off somewhat alarmingly and even for Manx Grand Prix for which we are usually nearly full by February it has been much slower this year and we still have some vacant rooms, even in race week.

Ironically, the main reason for this could be the atrocious weather that we've had over the last couple of years and this time around so far every practice session has gone ahead and the forecast for the near future is exceedingly good (well it's all comparitive) and it was with a certain sense of schadenfreude that I have been observing the lack of cricket at Lords in London today.

Good to see that manx athletics webmaster, uber blogger and competitor in both sporting and self-catering terms, Murray Lambden is the only follower of this blog, so I'll definitely have to make a little more effort in the future.

I'll try not to leave it so long before my next effort.

Heavily booked for parts of April, May & June

I am pleased to report that The Welbeck Hotel's advance bookings are looking fairly strong for the next few months.

However, do not be put off as we do have space for most weeks and availability can be checked by ringing us or checking on our website www.welbeckhotel.com and following the 'On-Line Booking' buttons.

The Importance of being Earnest

Hello,

Last Friday evening, we went to see the Importance of Being Earnest at the Centenary Centre in Peel.

Not having seen the play before, I thoroughly enjoyed it and particularly the performance by Tour De Force Theatre Group who were also staying in the Hotel.

Contrary to a much expressed opinion, the part of Cecily was played Arina Li and not Suchada Smith, our Head Housekeeper, though it has to be said that I would be very surprised if she hasn't modelled the role on Sha.

Toolbox Takes a Holiday

Welcome to my new Welbeck Blog in which I intend to share a few thoughts and funny stories (well in my opinion anyway.)

I have to admit, I'm not the keenest D.I.Y.er in the world but our Hotel is too small to employ a permanent maintenance man. It's also a little time consuming to explain exactly how and where you'd like something erected/attached/whatever, so on occasion, I just have to roll up the sleeves and get the job done myself.

On even rarer moments, I even in flashes of extreme weakness agree to do some minor act of workmanship for my Mother as happened about two weeks ago.

To assist me in my artisanship, I have all kinds of rubbish and a few useful items such as fixings, rawl plugs and a drill stuck on 'hammer' assembled in battered old plastic also known as a toolbox.

Of course, despite my reputation for efficiency, tidiness and lying about nonexistant attributes some unkind people suggest that I'm terrible for not putting things back where I'm supposed to and having taken the aforementioned equipment out of the Hotel, when I returned it I put it underneath the paper rack in Reception.

That was on Friday and it was still there when I came back to work that night but when I came to use it on Monday, it was nowhere to be seen.

In spite of a gestapo style search of the hotel and an inquiry encompassing staff and workmen in the Hotel, not a trace of it could be found and I was totally puzzled.

The only things I could possible think had happened were that somewhere on the Island was the most disappointed thief in history wondering what to do with a pile of junk or that somebody had removed it accidentally thinking that it contained their proper trade implements.

When in desperation, I finally remembered to ask Franklyn, the nightporter, his only suggestion was that it could have been a couple of chaps who'd left early on the Saturday morning.

I waited a few more days before eventually, feeling like Basil Fawlty, I plucked up the courage to give them a ring to see whether they'd mistakenly 'half inched' my box and when I mentioned that I thought they'd left on the sunday instead of the Saturday, I began to feel extremely embarassed that I'd even made the phone call, hanging up as quickly and as apologetically as I could. If they the gentleman could feel the heat from my red face over the telephone wire, I could hardly have been surprised.

However, about half an hour later, Irene received a call from the same chap also experiencing feelings of contrition as it turned out that they had indeed packed my toolbox into their van.

My toolbox is currently holidaying in Cumbria, though it has been promised that it will be home within the next few weeks.

It's an excuse for me not to do my chores, so I'm not too bothered and if the truth be told, I was actually looking forward to buying myself a fancy cordless drill.

At least I've learnt to always put things away after I've used them. Well maybe anyway......