Truly Haute Cuisine on Snaefell

Over the last few years, Isle of Man Transport has been having quite a turbulent time trying to reduce their losses and it is now under more pressure than ever to produce more value for the taxpayer's money. May of the changes have been most controversial, though in my opinion many of the bus route alterations have been excellent, most notably, the Airport and the South buses also serving the airport.

Also extremely innovative have been the 'Train Specials' with trips for Hop-tu-Naa/ Hallowe'en, Rail Ale, Wartime Weekend, Star Gazing on Snaefell etc. and now during the Mountain Railway Season, there are evening meals in the highest licensed premises in the British Isles, at the Summit Hotel. Caroline Cain, chief routemeister and social secretary of the Parish WAGs (Parish Walk team which includes the wives of Julian Thomas (12 finishes)David Cain (6 finishes)Jock Waddington (8 finishes including 4 consecutive wins) and me (7 finishes) organised for Irene, Louise, Teri, herself and luckily the Parish HABs to have dinner up there a few weeks ago. There are two sittings and they require you to order in advance (which fortunately Caroline made a note of) and it was our immense fortune to have perhaps the most beautiful evening of the summer and we congregated outside the Terminus Tavern for pre-train drinks, which were consumed gratefully by Irene & me, having had a rather fraught afternoon of arrivals which at one point made it look as if we'd have to drive up the Mountain. We were able to sit on the outside carriage which underlined our luck with the weather and the 35 minutes to Laxey disappeared in no time at all, especially as I was still having to conduct business on my telephone, trying to resolve a miscommunication with a taxi company.

There was a very short wait for the Snaefell train and we ascended through the picturesque Laxey Valley before winding up around the Mountain itself with views of Ireland, Scotland and Cumbria in evidence. The food was excellent, as was the company but I the main feature was the excitement of our Haute Cuisine. It doesn't get much hauter than that in our neck of the woods ;) Such was the mildness of the evening, we were able to stroll around in our coats between our main course and sweet which improved our digestion but didn't go down quite so well with the staff as we were on the later sitting and we all had a train to catch. At £40 including the meal and fare, it was really good value and definitely something I'd recommend.