Michael's Welbeck Hotel & Restaurant Blog

Sunrise on Marine Drive

2012-02-08T13:06:00.001-08:00

This post is especially for our friend Caroline who is unfortunately, one of those SAD people whose mood is greatly affected by the long dark nights stealing our mornings and early evenings during the winter.

Spring is officially on the way! Over the last three weeks on Wednesday mornings, thanks to Alex & Nina taking the strain at the Hotel, I've been up and instead of going to work, hitting the road to go training.

One of my favourite place walk is the Marine Drive, so taking advantage of the quiet roads at such an hour, I usually I head out along the Old Castletown Road (Can the New Castletown Road really still be described as such. Perhaps they should be renamed the 'Ancient' and 'Middle-Aged') through Port Soderick Village, before turning on to the road where the railway station is and towards the sea.

For those uninitiated to the Island, the great attraction of the route for the sportsperson, apart from the beautiful views is that because of rockfalls in the 60s and 70s, a small section is closed to through traffic, so that you can exercise in pace and relative safety.

Unfortunately, it has also greatly restricted the bay as a tourist attraction and although it remains very pretty, there are now no facilities, the buildings deteriorate and childhood memories of a vibrant little resort fade in the memory.

Every Wednesday, it is brighter and so, Caroline, there really is light at the end of the tunnel; in fact a blooming great big one called the Sun. Not having to rush back home yesterday enabled me to take these photographs on my mobile 'phone but I can tell you that although we've been far luckier than the U.K. with our weather over the last few days, it was far too cold to hang around.

The last few pictures show the 'Broogs,' at Little Ness, the favourite place of my Dutch friends Martijn, Cisca and Alex who are returning once again to compete in the Parish Walk after being absent since 2009. This time they are bringing another of their compatriots who will be attempting our 85 mile course for the first time, Antoine Hunting. We will also be joined by Belgian walker, Ludo Schaerlaeckens who will be travelling with his wife Martine.

Overdue and Overdrawn

2012-01-30T04:10:00.000-08:00

As you may have noticed, I'm quite good at setting myself goals but not quite so good keeping scoring them. In April last year, I blogged to apologise that we hadn't made our quarterly Survey draw for six months so had to do two in one. Of course, I promised faithfully and possibly even believed at the time that I would be a good boy in the future.

The other day, it suddenly occurred to me that once again I'd lapsed and on further investigation, discovered that it was over nine months since our previous draw.

Therefore, this time our Friday lunchtime guests pulled out three forms from the bag. Congratulations to Deryn Preston, E.W.Perry and Mrs. Sloane & Hadwick all of whom were the winners of a free weekend at the Welbeck Hotel. And all they did was fill out our survey form.

From Quick wit to Dimwit in a Keystroke

2012-01-25T06:24:00.000-08:00

Beware the perils of Facebook!

(My FB profile picture.)

Last night after a meal out and a few drinks, I decided to have a look at Facebook and returned to a thread I'd been on earlier with people moaning about the continued dark nights dismal mornings.

It's a time of year that I actually find quite exciting as the days gradually lengthen to signal spring on the way, so I thought my 'FB friends' were being a bit maudlin and contributing to their own depression when actually there was great cause for optimism.

Of course, I explained, I was now fired up and armed with the righteousness of alcohol, so when I read that another FB friend had had a 'dans leg,'lost in the post, I thought all her other friends were being a bit over the top with their sympathy about a lost package, I immediately shot back to my athlete 'friend,' 'I hope it's not your running leg;)'

Suddenly a belated consciousness, not to mention a small bit of foreboding kicked in as I re-read some of the other 'Comments,' so I wrote, 'And by the way, what is a dans leg?'

Of course, you've probably guessed already what my befuddled brain initially missed and as my FB friend now explained, it was her son Daniel's prosthetic limb that had been waylaid by the postal service. You can imagine how big and clever I felt then.

Luckily she also has a sense of humour and she tried her best to assuage my guilt but I can envisage a few shaking heads in the FB community and beyond into real life.

I'll lay low on the 'Comments' section for a little while me thinks.

Don't drink and Facebook! It's not safe!

And to Wendy: Please remember to use punctuation in future. Its absence can confuse the stupid! Once again, I do apologise and hope 'dans leg' turns up soon.

Friends Indeed

2012-01-16T06:42:00.000-08:00

Rob Clarke, Neil David,Chris Crooke,Michael Uzzell, Phil Clarke, Keith Rostron with son Michael, Ian, Symon Johnstone (stood up,) Scott Glander, Angela Ralph (friend of Mark Norman who missed the group photo)Paul Uzzell, Ross Jones (Angela's partner)

It's always great to see old friends walk through the door, hopefully, though not always to stay with us and one such a chap, a T.T. regular, Ian Neale came in last week, unfortunately, while I wasn't around.

He does a lot of work with the new Parish Walk sponsors, Manx Telecom and often comes to the Island just for the day and if he has time, pops in for a visit.

If you have been a Welbeck blogophile for some time or know our family personally, you will know that when our grandson, Happy was born last April, he and my daughter Lucy had an extended stay in the Special Care Baby Unit. Thus we formed a team for the Parish Walk called, The Scbubies in order to raise a few pounds to help provide a few of the extras that our health service is unable to.

The surprise that Ian had for us last week was that at their annual track day, the lads had managed to collect £200 S.C.B.U. and he was delivering the cheque.

Therefore, I would like to say a big thank you to all the boys and we hope to see as many as possible over here this year or in the future.

This is Phil Clarke taking the bend in what he assures me is classic, pure, Mike Hailwood style. Who am I to argue? Unfortunately, due to health reasons, he won't be with us this year for the first time since the non-TT of 2001. Best wishes and we all hope you get well again soon.

Dolphins Do Douglas Bay

2012-01-14T13:49:00.000-08:00

After all the rain and wind, here on the Isle of Man, we've just had a few marvellous winter days and even though it's a little cold to stand around (as I can certain attest to having spent around a couple of hours racewalking training, followed by watching my son, Terence in two separate hockey matches,) it's been very enjoyable.

I'm not the only one to think so by the look of our aquatic visitors partying in Douglas Bay earlier this week.

One of our favourite pastimes, particularly in the summer is to go out on the Foillan Veg, a small boat owned by the Kelly family from Peel. They have a great knowledge of the local wildlife and will take you to look for sharks, whales & dolphins and birdwatching, for fishing expeditions or just a cruise up and down the coast.

Happy Grows Up!

2012-01-10T06:59:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me that I haven't kept you very well updated as to the progress of our grandchildren, lately. Nine months after his tragic, yet heart lifting entry into the the World, Harry (or Happy as he was called after the first time I tried to text his name) has long since banished the memory of his premature self, now weighing in at 23lb or so (next weigh-in Thursday.)Mummy Lucy now feels that he is growing too fast, as after a period when she was slightly worried about his progress, he now seems to be notching up new achievements every day.'It only seems like yesterday since...' she said and I have every sympathy, as I feel the very same about the grown woman sitting before me.Our eldest son, Matthew is now re-established back into his life in Australia after visiting for the first time since emigrating in 2008 and his meeting his own lad for the first time since he was a baby was very poignant and it's not so easy to remain in close contact over such a distance.

Happy New Year But It Will Be Valentines Before You Know It

2012-01-04T04:58:00.000-08:00

Many Apologies for leaving a month between Blogs but it's a hard life and squeezing holidays in means that at least something has to give.

I'm sure that you are overwhelmed with sympathy!

Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed your festivities as much as we enjoyed ours and if you really want to hate anyone even more than me, then Sha, Alex and Ampa, our Assistant Housekeeper are still away enjoying their's.

After a quiet start at the Hotel, business starts to pick up this weekend and the following days, we even have a respectable number of guests staying with us.

Yesterday, we completed our Valentines Menu which we will be serving from Friday 10th February until the night itself as a cynical ploy to exploit it as much as we can. No, seriously (viciously back pedalling fearing consequences of Gerald Ratner size proportions,) not everyone is able to make it on the night itself and not everyone likes to venture out the evening before a 'School Day.'

This year's menu is now on our website:

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

The cost is £65.00 per couple and includes a red rose and a special box of chocolate hearts made especially for us by Davison's of Peel.

Treat you loved one to an overnight stay and you can completely relax for only £130.00.

If You Can't Say Anything Nice, Say Nothing At All - Well Maybe Just A Little Bit

2011-12-01T23:32:00.001-08:00

I'm afraid to announce that we didn't win the 'Hotel of the Year' this time and therefore are in a mighty huff, so changed our point of view back to what it was before last year (see earlier blog: http://michaelswelbeckblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/welbeck-isle-of-man-hotel-of-year-2010.html.)

Sore losers?

Absolutely!

Though in fairness, had we been beaten by the other nominee (there were three,) we wouldn't have had any qualms but the winner is ranked 20th out of 27 on Trip Advisor, so it would seem to make the whole exercise rather farcical.

Oh well. Such is life!

Tourism Awards Ceremony Looms

2011-11-28T06:36:00.001-08:00

Thanks to all our Gymnasts from Garstang, York and the Diamonds club from Halifax.

I didn't see them before they left as we were busy with family matters last weekend but I hope their achievements matched their expectations.

Wednesday sees the Isle of Man Tourism Awards take place at the Mount Murray Hotel, so the nerves have begun to jangle a little as we hope to retain our title from last year of 'Best Hotel.'

As the winter weather takes hold, personally, I'm looking forward to our Christmas break but we still have large table vacancies 2nd & 3rd December as well as plenty of midweek space.

JCB - Stick To What You Are Good At!

2011-11-22T05:22:00.001-08:00

If only we could have had weather like today in July a bit more often or during the Commonwealth Youth Games!

It's probably dangerous to say and I'll expect all sorts of opprobium to land on my head if it takes a turn for the worse but I would like to thank the IOM Government very much for buying a 'Salt Mountain' to fight the winter ice.

Unfortunately, I can't take a photograph of the wonderful view from the Hotel, as my new telephone is a throwback to the stoneage. If anyone out there is thinking of buying a JCB mobile, don't bother. They are rubbish!

The thought process behind purchasing such a disaster was that I would be safe dropping it as I regularly do and that I would be able to take it out training with me without worrying what the rain would do to it but within half an hour of walking out of the shop, the errors of my ways started to dawn on me.

Technologically, still being stuck somewhere near the end of the last century (that's the 20th not the 19th honest,) I have never actually got around to buying a ring tone, having failed for the last 2 years in attempting to download, Channel 4's theme to the Tour de France but my goodness, I'm going to have to plead mercy to one of my kids to do it for me soon.

Having ascertained that having the engine sound of a JCB earthmover springing into life was inappropriate for an hotelier, rather embarassingly whilst serving at a dinner table, the best of the other awful noises is akin to a drunken Rolf Harris playing 'Canon' on his horrendous Lackofstylophone or whatever it was called and I'm currently stuck with that for the time being.

When I'm out with the family, one of the kids grabs it to turn off the text warning as it is a total affront to their 'Street Cred.' Talking of 'Text,' that's rubbish too! My previous handset, stored about 5,000 messages before it shuddered to a halt, overloaded by a year or so of my personal minutiae. This device seems to have the electronic equivalent of alzeimers, capable of holding only a hundred texts including sent messages, so I'm constantly having to trawl through trying to work out what to keep or delete.

I can't find a way to save regularly used words not in its puny dictionary and I'm unable to even time my boiled eggs.

And worst of all: It doesn't even have 'Smilies' :-( ;-)

Wedding Bells, TV News, Webtastic Wi-Fi Upgrade & Another Nomination

2011-11-15T05:28:00.001-08:00

This week's 'Blog' is a little more contented and after a bit of a wobbly October when I was fearing that we may have to resort to redundancies etc., November is proving to be far busier.

More good news is that despite spending half the summer without any of the Government Survey forms, from which the competition is judged upon, we have once again been nominated for the Department of Economic Development's, 'Hotel of the Year Award.'

Watch this space as the ceremony will be held at the Mount Murray Hotel, 30th November.

All our rooms now have digital televisions and the pictures from 'Freeview' are lovely and clear. The added bonus is that we should also be able to improve the quality of vision on our 'Sky' channels, as we will no longer need to feed the old 'Terrestial' channels through our analogue system, meaning there should be less interference

Previously, we had four 'Wi-fi' networks to cover the entire Hotel & Apartments but we have now added further access points and there are now twelve which we are hoping will serve the property far more effectively.

As this is being written, our plumber, Andy Kennish is continuing with the work to upgrade the bathrooms, so you'll have to visit soon to check them out.

Two of our staff have been married this year (not to each other,) so if you're a nervous bachelor, The Welbeck is possibly a place to avoid. Although Rumyana and Piotr tend to work behind the scenes and are probably not too well known to our customers, I'm sure that you'll join me in offering our congratulations.

Unfortunately, Piotr is soon to leave us after three years in the kitchen and Rumyana is currently unable to work because she is still recovering from a broken leg but we're hoping she'll soon be fit to return.

Flybe Take The Biscuit, Then My Money, Then More Money and Then Money to Take Money

2011-11-07T05:49:00.000-08:00

A brief update on my post from last week:

I quickly managed to change a name for my Monarch flight for the expected £95.00 with the addition of £2.38 for using a Mastercard, gritting my teeth but there you go. Having paid over £1500 for our total booking, I suppose it isn't that monstrous.

Onwards my fingers marched and having endured perhaps only ten minutes on the telephone, I was finally connected to the Flybe operator who said,'Yes, no problem, that will be £120.06.'

Having been told that it cost £40.00 for each journey, this came somewhat as a shock but apparently in the small print it says that you also have to pay the difference between what the fare was when you booked it and the price now!

What? How? Why? What on earth for?

The brain was whirring and I politely told the Flybe employee that I thought it it was a total rip off and said I'd think about it.

I didn't think for long.

In fact I just re-booked another flight for £104.00 without luggage and we'll use the extra allowance on the spare ticket.

This will leave them with an empty seat and a very unhappy customer. It is incredible that these people can survive in business and I'll do anything in future not to fly Flybe.

How to earn £2700 per hour.

2011-11-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

It's have a go at the airlines time again!

Still smarting from being unable to obtain Flybe's unobtainable mandatory free method of payment, I discovered a new way to pay them and Easyjet loads of money to do virtually nothing this week:

Change the name of a flier!

Perhaps my reader knows different but surely, this is just a matter of taking a phone call, re-entering the name and pressing a key on the computer to send the message which should surely take less than two minutes but for which Flybe want to charge me £80.00 and Easyjet £90.00!

I'm actually very tempted to pay an extra £16 or so to book another flight on the Isle of Man leg, just to leave them with an empty seat and we could take an extra suitcase with us*.
Whilst we're on the subject and the blood pressure is starting to rise, I thought I might just mention what happened to us a few years ago, with another tale of how our airlines do their best to ensure they receive our loyalty and goodwill, so that no one else will get caught out:

On a break during a flight from Australia, I thought that it would be a marvellous idea to check for our Flybe trip from Manchester to the Isle of Man. It was only when I reached the end of the procedure that I realised that there was no facility to print out the boarding passes.

You can only imagine our unbounded joy when we arrived in Manchester and they informed me that I'd have to pay £40 for four boarding passes.

As a result of this, I bought a printer for our guest computer, so that this wouldn't happen to any of our customers.

For your information, we also have a pair of scales which we can lend out to pre-weigh your bags.

*Whilst dining last night, I realised that those of you of sound mind with a mild dose of logic would realise what a lot of nonsense that line is. I'd like to say that I was just testing your alertness but I'm afraid I must be just a bit thick.

We Battle The Dreaded Lhergy - Cripperty That Is

2011-10-18T04:29:00.000-07:00

Blog followers of an astute nature may have noticed that I do a fair bit of walking, mainly for competition but also recreationally.

However, I am currently on my annual training break, so having discovered last Christmas that with my advancing years (46th birthday the other week) that I am no longer immune to gaining weight, alternatives are being sought to ensure that when I return to full activity, I needn't spend too much effort shedding the pounds.

My daily cooked breakfast was the first casualty but now I'm also trying only to use the car when absolutely necessary.

The first action to be undertaken was to rescue my bicycle and Terence's from the darkest recesses of our little shed where they both lay untended and uncared for with flat tyres.

That's my major problem with cycling: I hate maintenance and something as serious as a puncture usually just means the end. Customarily, it's can't fix, won't fix but on this occasion, drastic measures were called for and between the two of us (unfortunately no.2 son is a chip off the old block,) we eventually got fully inflated and ready for action.

A week last Monday after school, we headed off along the Heritage Track ( The old railway line to Peel) and up the Lhergy Cripperty. I wasn't certain how my lad would cope with such a climb having had a month off sport with a back injury but as he disappeared off into the distance, it was Dad (wrote Ded, now that's a Freudian slip if there ever was one) who was left wondering whether the bloody hill would ever end!

And so after approximately 20 minutes, we arrived at Chibannagh Plantation, for my first ever proper attempt at mountain biking. It was a good job that we were the only riders up there because as I crept down the slopes, I had visions of six year old children whizzing past me.

Still, it was great fun and by the time we arrived home, we were both black with mud from head to toe!

This ageing thing isn't much fun and over the past year or so, Terence has walloped his old fella at surfing, swimming, running and now cycling but a couple of nights later, I did discover that I can still beat him at squash.

Life in the old dog yet!

Anyway, throughout the winter there's still lots of activities that you can get up to both indoor and outdoor, organised or just for fun and apart from a couple of weeks over Christmas, we're open all year round.

Welbeck Hotel & Restaurant One Hour Challenge

2011-10-10T00:21:00.000-07:00

Sporting event sponsorship continued Sunday 9th October with the seventh time that we have supported the 'One Hour Challenge' which is a novice race walk which Manx Harriers use to try and draw new people into taking up the discipline.

Indeed, it is only two years ago that Alex Eaton competed in it, his first ever event and now he is a twice English Schools winner and UK national champion and at 15 years of age led the field covering 11,636m in the sixty minutes.

Alex Eaton & Sally Walker
However, Michelle Turner was the 'Novice' winner maintaining a very stylish technique, a great credit to herself and coach, Steve Partington whose training sessions (Monday 1800 outside Ramsey Swimming Pool) are yielding some fine technicians. It would be even better to see some more juniors attend in the North or at the N.S.C.* where Elizabeth Corran runs junior coaching at 1700 on the same evening. *Track fees apply

The leading male was Noel Ash and it was great to see a total field of 40+ taking part.

The 'Experts' class was a very exciting race with the younger man & Peter Kaneen swapping the lead a few times. Eventually, youth prevailed as Alex pulled away over the final third.

Michelle Turner & Alex Ash with 2005 winner, me ;-)
Jock Waddington was able to overhaul Adam Cowin for third, the latter man struggling to hold his brisk early pace.

Three women were able to pass the 10,000m with the appropriately named, Sally Walker leading the way, 93m and 102m metres ahead of Sue Moore & Marie Jackson respectively. With Sue returning from almost a year out because of injury, Marie not quite at her best and the rapid improvement of Northern Athletic Club's Michelle Turner, the coming Winter Walking League promises great interest.

It was also excellent to see 15 junior athletes there, so lets hope it bodes well for the future.

Welbeck Hotel Newsagents Golf Society Golf Day

2011-10-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Winner Chris Wolfendale

Yesterday 27 hardy souls braved the cold north westerly wind and showers to play in the competiton we sponsored at Castletown Golf Course.

My dad's old chum, Roberts Saunders, a regular Sunday Lunch visitor suggested that it would be a great idea for us to support their event, so pictured are the prizewinners, though unnfortunately, third place, Peter Holt was unable to join us for the presentation at the Welbeck.

2nd Place:Keith Barnard

Great Games!

2011-09-21T04:39:00.000-07:00

Jonathon Kiplimo Sawe, Vincent Kiprotich Mutai & Robbie Farnham Rose 1st, 2nd & 3rd
1500m

I do seem to have avoided pneumonia despite the weather since my last post.

One of the problems with blogging, unless you're like my chum, Murray from www.manxathletics.com, a man burning his candle at both ends and the middle who writes a great blog, updates his websites, trains every day as well as upholding his commitments as a husband and father, it's difficult to transpose the feeling of the moment at the time everything's happening because you're so busy. By the time all the dust has settled and a spare five minutes appears, the impact is lost.

However, I will try nonetheless.

The Commonwealth Youth Games, despite the best attempts of the Manx weather (though on this occasion, we'll blame the Americans for sending us their hurricane) to sabotage everything was a great success, terrific to be involved with and provided us great reason to be very proud of our Island and its people.

The atmosphere was brilliant and it was superb to have the best young sportsmen and women from 67 countries all competing here.

Our particular involvement which you will probably understand if you have read earlier blogs was with athletics and while some of my time was spent inside the Call Room with the athletes waiting to compete, I was lucky enough to be able to witness some spectacular performances.

Although it has to be said that not every event had a great depth of standard, the calibre of some of them was stellar, almost literally in the case of South African Javelin thrower, Morne Moolman who must have grazed the stars when he landed his weapon 81.53m against the considerable wind which I have on reasonably good authority is further than anyone in the world has thrown this year in his age group.

The Kenyan team were staying at the Welbeck and the winner of the 800m, Timothy Kitum ran 1:49 in a howling gale, to finish ahead of world record holder Leonard Kirwa Kosencha who would have finished the silver medal position in the Daegu World Championships had he run his personal best time.

Tosha the CYG mascot with Kit Carriers

Our Hotel also had the u17 World Champion Steeplechaser, Nora Tannui staying with us who managed gold in that race and bronze in the 3,000m but wanted more then anything to have an orange volunteer shirt.

Medal Ceromony for 2,000m Steeplechase Gold: Nora Tannui(Kenya); Silver: Nancy Cheptegei (Uganda); Bronze: Lilian Chemweno (Kenya)

I'm sure that Jonathon Kiplimo Sawe who won 1500m will also be a world star in the future but the whole Championships were about more than the winners and it was great to also have the smaller teams from Anguilla, Grenada, British Virgin Islands and the Falklands with us who were competing at probably the highest standard possible for their nations.
BVI team members
Friendships were forged and team uniforms and badges were exchanged and this combined with the gales provided one of the funniest stories: The fast craft services had to be cancelled on the proposed day of departure but fortunatley, there had been advanced warning that his was likely to happen and some countries made their escape early. One of the biggest teams was Australia and the fact that they had told the organisers that they would not be travelling by sea meant that they thought they just about had capacity on the Ben-my-Chree for everyone to be accommodated.

So when one of the Committee saw a girl walking up in an Aussie tracksuit, she nearly had kittens because she thought they'd been unable to travel and had now turned up at the boat.

She frantically questioned the young lady in question, wondering what would possibly happen but on receiving only a couple of words of pigeon english in response, realised that she had merely swapped clothes with an antipodean friend!

Kenya Team Managaer, Jimi Chacha with young Harry

Commonwealth Youth Games

2011-09-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well I certainly hope that our teams will be more impressed by the warmth of welcome given by the Manx people than they are with the dreadful weather, we are currently experiencing.

We can only hope that the forecast improves as it must be so frustrating for all the people who have worked so hard and so long to make the Games happen to have the elements knock the gloss off the everything.

Many of the athletes are arriving be sea and unfortunately are probably the colour of it but tomorrow is the day of the grand opening ceremony and competition starts seriously on Friday.

It will be an odd experience for us at the Welbeck because despite being packed to the rafters, in an effort to provide a 'Village Experience,' all their meals are being provided by one of the larger hotels, so finding customers for restaurant and bar could be difficult.

Therefore, Irene & I have volunteered to help with the athletics and will escort the runners, jumpers and throwers to their events.

Currently, we are wondering how many jumpers to wear underneath our official uniform! Oh joy.

It is no help at all and it must be pretty awful for the organisers of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, too as yet another day is washed out but at least they get to run it every year.

I'll try and bring you some of the colour and excitement of the CYG in a later post should I avoid pneumonia.

Neil Kent R.I.P.

2011-08-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

Neil pictured after winning the 2010 MGP Lightweight Trophy and in 2009 racing)

I'm sorry to have to inform you that Neil Kent, who had been staying at the Welbeck since the 1980s was tragically killed in Practice in an accident at Greeba Bridge last night.

Neil won last year's lightweight race and was one of the most popular riders in the Paddock, a fact that was re-iterated when he received the 'Spirit of the Manx' award the other year in recognition of his willingness to help other riders, his continued support of the MGP over two decades, he would give up his time to marshal (usually at Hillberry) when not riding himself and basically being an all round top bloke.

It was ironic that he was still riding his beloved 250cc this year in the Junior, despite being prevented by the regulations from riding in the race where he would have been more competitive. Despite being on the podium so many times, Neil wasn't bothered about where he finished but just enjoyed improving his speed.

Condolences to Neil's mother, sister, uncle and stepson, Callum.

Although not married, Neil seemed always able to maintain friendships even after the break up of his relationships and he will be sorely missed by his many friends from around the World.

Our sympathy also goes out to the Trollope family who have been his sponsors and friends for many years now.

Neil first raced on the Island in 1986. He was very young, chubby and not so fast on the motorbike. However, with advice from his mentor, John Davies and help from the Padgett family, from whom he used to hire his machines, he improved greatly. Gone was the puppy fat as he realised that to compete successfully, being at peak fitness was imperative and then Dennis Trollope gave him a competitive bike and he became a man to be reckoned with at the sharp end of the race.

He was very grateful for the sponsorship and the input provided but Neil reciprocated and worked extremely hard for Dennis' family business at race meetings and always took the trouble to make sure his other backers received a mention on live radio.

I will probably update this post with some better pictures and more information. My apologies for any inaccuracies, especially with a view to Neil's relations because despite the longevity of our friendship and Neil even coming to our wedding, I have only ever met his late father, George and Uncle Jack to my knowledge.

Bring Your Mother-in-Law on Walkablog

2011-08-23T05:23:00.000-07:00

I've had a whinge (albeit along with constructive criticism attached,) I've gone all Jamie Oliver on you, I've blatantly advertised the Welbeck, I've turned rock groupie/critic, went all gaga about the twins, before trying to bludgeon a few pence out of you for charity and sailing the high seas but it's a while since I've done a 'Walkablog.'

Having had a tough week with racing the Isle of Man Marathon, The Foxdale 6 (miles that is) and a hard training session on Saturday morning, Sunday, awash with sunshine was time to walk for fun!

Even with all the cutbacks and being the Sabbath, the transport service on this Island remains excellent, so it was on the Peel bus we began our adventure. The original plan was to head along the coastal path down to Port Erin.

However, Peel Hill served as a timely reminder that enjoyment, rather than endurance was the order of the day and I didn't need much persuading that we should defer the 1400ft climb from Gob ny Ushtey at almost sea-level to the summit of Cronk-ny-Arrey-Laa .

The cliffs fall steeply to the rocks and sea below as you circumnavigate Corrin's Tower which isn't visible from the narrow track, so you probably would want to only try this one if you are reasonably agile and only take the kids if they are not likely to try escaping and are good with heights. Perhaps a good opportunity to lose the mother-in-law (fortunately, mine doesn't do interweb;-)

The revised route as such involved hugging the seaside until Glen Maye which is the Island's only natural canyon, I believe and then making our way inland to see the waterfall, before stopping to refuel at the pub, named after the main feature of the Glen.

Unbelievably, the whole way along the Raad ny Foillan, we didn't meet another soul!

Although this hostelry has had its ups and downs over the last few years, it seems to have had a revival under its present ownership. Sheltered from the breeze that had kept us from overheating on our outward journey, it's a lovely spot to relax while disappearing a steak sandwich and a hard earned couple of beers.

It was at this point I realised I hit upon a great subject for a blog but unfortunately, I'd already missed the spectacular cliffside and the waterfall and just my luck: the best of the sunshine.

Not particularly wanting to retrace our steps exactly, we headed off down the road back towards the beach, before once again rejoining the lower sea cliff.

A few years ago, on this very same stretch of path, we came across a basking shark only a 20 metres below us. However, it's been a poor year for sightings of the great fish (the second biggest in the world after the whale shark) but there were plenty of birds to make up for our disappointment.

On this occasion, we followed the Bayr ny Skeddan route diverting inland rather than ascending Peel Hill. Judging from the way everywhere was so overgrown, I think it's a while since anyone else had followed the same track which finally emerged on the outskirts of the City at The Raggatt.

It's great name for what was once a former tip but now has been landscaped to form a park before joining the old railway line which runs alongside the River Nebb all the way into the harbour.

Apart from supporting Bus Vannin, not bringing the car also enabled us to once again sit outside the pub, this time the Peveril to catch the last of the sunrays, while watching the pleasure boat traffic entering or leaving the port.

A fabulous day and much recommended. Some of the walk is quite hard going and rough underfoot but it took us about one and a half hours to get there about 70 minutes for the return. Don't forget to take your mother-in-law and you could bring her back as well!

My Seat is Reserved!

2011-08-19T04:33:00.000-07:00

As you can see (I hope) from the tickets displayed above, I recently booked a 'Sail & Rail' from Douglas to Shipley return.

Or did I?

Because despite the fact that both tickets quite clearly state 'Seat Reserved,' when I arrived at the Sea Terminal, the man at Steam Packet check-in told me that as I hadn't contacted them, no seat had been reserved.

Ah ha! 'Why then does it say 'Seat Reserved' on it then?' I thrust home.

Epee totally blunted, 'We've asked them not to do that but they still do.'

'Can you get me on then?'

'No problem today but if you do it again in the future, please contact us first.'

All's well that ends well then. Or was it?

'How about the return journey, I am coming back 14:15 on Monday and need to be on that ferry?'

'Sorry but that's fully booked, you'll have to come through Liverpool.'

'But all my rail tickets are to Heysham!'

'Sorry, sir but there's a queue behind you and I haven't the time for this now.'

Time to hit the roof! There again, he was right about the queue and with the Mananan sailing at snail's pace anyway, perhaps this wasn't the occasion to harass an employee, delay the boat and have half the World and his dog blame it all on me.

I really did need to be on that return sailing, having promised to take my boss out for a meal and then to see Morrissey in return for her allowing me to race the Bradford 35k, so after an uncomfortable couple of hours wondering how I should go about things, I asked the purser to check availability on the Monday.

Although they were unable to reserve me a place, they could tell me that there were actually seven seats left before the it was completely full* and when I arrived in Liverpool I was able to secure my return trip.

Needless to say, I have written to both IOMSPCo and Raileasy with whom I made the booking because although it all turned out for me, what if I hadn't been prepared to take 'No' for an answer? What if the next time it happens, it is to a new visitor to the Island or to someone whose reason to travel is more serious than being scared of his wife?

Surely, a carrier and an agent must be able to communicate better or devise a better system than that?

Anyway, meanwhile, you'd probably be better booking it all through the Steam Packet (I hadn't realised that I could) but if you do go through an agent, make sure that your boat passage is confirmed.

*It didn't look completely full to me. There were at least seven seats just in the bar!

It Was A Bit Hot, So I Got Out Of The Kitchen

2011-08-16T03:28:00.000-07:00

I must apologise for this being my first 'Blog' in August but this month started in busy fashion, particularly for me.

Yes, dredging depths not previously encountered in at least six years, I had to search the memory and remember how to cook!

It must be admitted that I found it more than a little scary at first, as I gazed around the Kitchen wondering what to do next but gradually, things started to return, primarily finding some sort of routine, re-establishing the timing and eventually rediscovering a little creativity.

Probably my favourite new dish that I came up with was the chicken in breadcrumbs filled with Manx Chilli Cheddar & garlic of which I sold every one the same day they were prepared. The last time I cooked, I don't think that particular cheese was even on the market and I also tried another one of IOM Creameries even newer products, the Druidale with Cranberries, mixed with some toasted pinenuts as a stuffing for a similar pork creation. That one didn't fly out through the Restaurant quite so quickly but I enjoy experimenting and those that tried it seemed to enjoy it.

12 to 15 hour days are something that I try to avoid but with having to keep everything else I do afloat, for eight days they became the norm. Extremely hard work, yet enjoyable as it was, I wasn't too sorry to see the Chef back home and re-introduce myself to the family.

Blondie - A Bombshell at the Villa

2011-07-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

The quality of performers that we have had playing locally has improved immensely over the last few years and over the last 13 months or so, I personally have seen Spandau Ballet, The Feeling, Calvin Harris, Jools Holland with both Alison Moyet and Mark Almond, Imelda May, Elton John and last night Blondie.

Although the very first album I bought was 'Parallel Lines' which I believe was their second album, I really wasn't sure what to expect because that was 33 years ago and rumour had it that the reviews of the current tour had been mixed to say the least.

When the chum for whom I bought tickets dreamed wistfully, of staring at the stage and remembering his unrequited love of yesteryear, I brought him, back to earth somewhat harshly by reminding him that the object of our teenage lust had been in her thirties the first around but it has to be said that Debbie Harry did look remarkably well for a lady reputedly in her mid sixties.

In honesty, I had been more worried about the voice, especially as she eschewed backing singers, used by Roger Daltry to help him reach the high notes at the Peel Bay Festival in 2007. Obviously, it wasn't quite as strong and clean as it was in the seventies and eighties but she was still able to give what I thought was a very creditable performance.

The night began with a few old favourites, before the band moved on to some of their newer material in the middle section and then wound the Royal Hall up for the big crescendo. The musicians themselves were excellent, with Debbie Harry's main collaborator, Chris Stein still present as well as Clem Burke, the original drummer. They have been joined by an extremely good guitarist, Tommy Kessler, keyboard player, Matt Katz-Bohen and their bassist since 1997, Leigh Fox.

The best performers tend to make their audience believe that this night is special to them while DH informed us that the Triskellion t-shirt wearing Chris Stein had been to the Island 40 years previously and though it was her first visit that they'd enjoyed playing the tourist earlier in the day.

They didn't quite play all the tunes that I'd have like to have heard, understandably for the likes of album track 11:55 but less so their first hit from Parallel Lines, 'Picture This' and I don't particularly like the way that all bands tend to drag out their encore songs for ages when others remain unplayed but these were minor gripes about what I felt was a superlative evening's entertainment.

If they are coming anywhere near you, make sure you don't miss them.

No Price Increase for 2012

2011-07-19T04:53:00.000-07:00

After much boardroom debate (ok more like a chat with the wife, Irene over a cup of coffee,) we have decided to hold our 2011 prices for 2012 with the exception of TT which is still very reasonable and we forgot to increase last year.

The modern way would seem to be to inflate your tariffs to an incredible level and then throw in 'Huge Discounts!' so everyone feels like they've snagged an 'Amazing bargain!'

Indeed on a recent episode of Alan Sugar's 'Apprentice,' one of the hopeful teams was admonished for paying the 'Rate Card' for an advertisement, 'Nobody pays the 'Rate Card.' Well what's the point in having one then!

At the Welbeck, we feel that our rooms are priced to sell but we have decided to forgo the annual rise in the face of increasing costs in seemingly all areas of our business in the hope of remaining buoyant in these ever more difficult economic days.

It is essential to re-invest as we always have since my Mum & Dad bought the Welbeck in 1978, so fingers crossed that we have made a decision that will enable us to sustain this policy.

And there ends the political broadcast for the Welbeck Revolutionary Conservative Party

I Haven't Learnt My Own Lesson Yet!

2011-07-13T05:54:00.000-07:00

Apart from the fact that the Island is a different country, with different culture and even a different language albeit not so widely spoken these days, one of the most difficult concepts for our visitors to wrap their heads around is Isle of Man weather.

The paragraph above was written by me on 6th April this year.

On Sunday morning, despite the good weather forecast not quite coming to fruition in Douglas, I performed my 'Granddad Duties' by taking young Harry for a walk in his pram as we were struggling to get him to settle, having been overnight babysitters.

It worked a treat and he was soon well away, dreaming of food as usual, judging by his constant suckling even in his sleep. As I wandered along North Quay, I reckoned Granddad deserved a treat, having risen for the morning feed on my day off and I stopped off at MASH, the café run by Jock Waddington's Parish Walk support maestro, Dave Dentith, intending to sit and watch the world go by over a coffee.

Unfortunately, I'd been beaten to the draw by my old chum, Gary Blackburn and his family and before I'd even had chance to obtain my drink, Harry had noticed the lack of motion and was announcing to the world that his evil grandfather had stopped pushing him and abandoned him on the pavement (within my view, I hasten to add, as I know Lucy reads my blogs.)

The trouble with North Quay these days and also the Promenade is that they're too smooth and hence not conducive to soothing a screaming baby, so it wasn't until I hit the flagstones underneath the Villa Colonnade that I was able to calm Harry again.

Well, that was the morning gone but we were looking forward to a lovely afternoon in the sunshine, in the south of the Island and perhaps would try the new facilities at Bradda Glen. We were all dressed up (clean shorts and tee-shirt rather than best bib and tucker) when the unheralded drizzle that had been falling gently for the last half an hour or so turn into proper rain. We looked at each other with draining enthusiasm, when all of a sudden the heavens deposited a job lot of stair rods.

That did it for us and we did an about face, Irene back to her ironing and I to catch up on some writing I should have already done whilst keeping a beady eye on the Tour de France (though it wasn't a day for our Manx Missile,) whilst simultaneously juggling Silverstone and the cricket with the TV bat.

I think it was a little bit of payback for the schadenfreude that I'd felt on Senior Race Day when for once it was pouring down in Ramsey (our friends in the north are forever boasting about their superior weather, so I'd felt entitled to that) and we had lovely sunshine.

Anyway, you've probably guessed by now that while the precipitation plus was absolutely bouncing in Douglas, just down the road past the Quarterbridge and indeed throughout the rest of the Isle of Man, they were basking under that big yellow thing and if they are all to be believed (I'm convinced it is all a big practical joke involving the whole population, just to make me feel paranoid) it hardly rained anywhere but here.

In my next blog, I'll explain how to win the Parish Walk. Or perhaps that's another of my own lessons, I've yet to learn?

What a Clown!

2011-07-05T04:10:00.000-07:00

(Picture thanks to Murray Lambden)

Sorry about the latest 'Blog Break' I we had a little bit of a hectic time ahead of the Scottish Widows Parish Walk , which to the uninitiated amongst you is the small matter of a friendly walking race around the seventeen parishes of the Island. A total of 1756 hardy souls entered the 85 mile stroll this year (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parish_Walk.)

So the lack of words in this particular internet address afterwards was in some way due to my disappointment of once again falling short of my ambition of winning it, this time by an even bigger distance than usual.

However, Irene did particularly well to soldier on for 75 miles despite not having trained since before the birth of our grandson, over two months earlier and I did eventually finish the race in 125th place. Therefore, I think that along with Jane Foster who was second placed lady and Niamh Goddard, our team, Scbubies raised a decent total in aid of the Neo Natal Unit at Nobles Hospital but I'll confirm all that after we've totted everything up.

Also staying at the Hotel were Dave Fereday, who broke the over 70s record and Ollie Browne who was using the event for a warm up for the 100 miles race which he competed in last weekend. Unfortunately, he didn't quite manage to complete that one but hopefully, he'll be back next year for another crack here.

Quite a lot of people have been wondering what happened to me and why was I not up there contesting the higher placings. To be truthful, I am not quite sure. Despite my training and preparation all proceeding to plan and feeling hugely confident that I could break my Parish duck, I started to fade at Colby only about 16 or 17 miles in. Although I'd been flying up the hills in training, I had no strength in my legs on the ascent up Ballakillowey and struggled there on in.

At the bottom of Glen Rushen, a sniper shot me in both hamstrings. I felt that was a little unfair of them if my competitors were reduced to taking such actions.

However, close inspection revealed no blood and I realised for the first time in a race, my muscles had just cramped. Luckily, the spirit of the Parish shone through and Richard Spencely's back-up and a lady whose identity I'm not sure of produced some diorhalyte and after a little effing and jeffing (thanks and apologies to those who were present) I was back on the road, albeit in an ever increasingly distant 5th place.

With the encouragement of my dentist and one man support team, Nigel Armstrong, I carried on through Peel but increasingly found it difficult to maintain my technique and it wasn't long before I was also passed by Robbie Callister and by the time I'd reached Kirk Michael, I'd really had enough.

The crew in fancy dress at the Mitre Hotel gave me a huge amount of stick when I stopped to make a phone call to Irene to ask whether she wanted me to wait for her but they were having loads of fun. My instinct was to join them but Nigel persuaded me to carry on to Ballaugh. The legs were certainly not performing well but the brain was still intact and I realised that the pub in the aforementioned village wasn't on the course and I insisted that Nigel drove me back to Michael.

So there I stopped and had a pint with the appropriately dressed clowns. I felt that I was in the right company, having dropped out of the sharp end of the race. Then I had a sleep in the back of the car until Irene caught me up.

Well done for their amazing performances to Jock Waddington, Vinny Lynch, Richard Gerrard and Richard Spencely and also to all the other finishers.

I'll finish the rest of the lap in a later post.

Two Eltons in the Tent are Worth One in the Bush

2011-06-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

Thursday 16th June saw Elton John visit the Isle of Man for the first time with a tremendous gig up in Nobles Park in the tent originally earmarked for the Bay Festival

Sometimes when older superstars play, there are so many backing artists and gizmos that you actually wonder whether the original performer is still in there but this was just Elton and his piano. No place to hide but he certainly didn't need anywhere because in 2 hours and 45 minutes he took us through his 41 years in the spotlight with breaks only to take applause and the occasional sip of water.

Although I am no expert on art of piano, it seemed to me to be a consumate performance, using his full repertoire and the vocals remain strong if deeper than in years gone by.

As with most of the crowd, I couldn't quite believe who had come to sing for us and we certainly let Elton know that we appreciated his presence.

I had it on good authority from a police source that there was to be no encore but having taken his bow and spent time signing many autographs, he returned to the grand for one last tune.

The other 7,999 fans will join me I'm sure in apologising for the delay to the Airport staff who had kept open Ronaldsway especially so that he could leave that night and also the dude who will have to rebuild the park wall which my chum Murray Lambden assures me was knocked down to allow Sir Elton swift egress rather than to allow access for pitching the marquee.

It was a truly magical evening but certainly, one is left wondering whether we will see the like again after the spectacular implosion of the Bay Festival.

Can it be worth importing such facilities as the tent, the bars and all the event staff for one night only and were they able to make it still pay or were the promoters, Marshall Arts, just limiting the damages to their pockets and reputations?

Personally, Irene and I were among many who having failed to procure tickets on the morning they went on sale, went for the hospitality option. As the day of the concert loomed and we still weren't in possession of our tickets, we began to doubt that we would be going at all, especially when we learned that they had been sold to Jonathon Irving's outfit.

It was somewhat disappointing that the package that we had bought for a staggering £234 each including having paid V.A.T. twice on the £100 seats had been slashed to just being two glasses of bubbly and a cheap buffet.

That having been said, there was a really good harpist and vocalist playing beforehand in the sunshine, some entertainment afterwards and not such a long queue for the loo.

All considered, if we had travelled anywhere in the UK to watch such a brilliant performance, we'd have had flights, hotels and meals to buy as well as the tickets and we had superb vantage point, so Reg Dwight really did save the day.

I really can't imagine where my friends get the idea that I'm a bit of a hog of the limelight but of course, as soon as we left the arena, we were accosted by a lady from 3FM interviewing concertgoers and the aforementioned Mr Lambden was on hand to record the occasion and has since published it on his blog at www.manxathletics.com

Top Rider Performs at The Welbeck but No Parade Lap

2011-06-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

2011 has I think been a generally very enjoyable festival, though liberally sprinkled with tragedy, challenging weather, occasional controversy but let's face it, it wouldn't TT without all the above.

As usual, staying at the Hotel, we had a vast array of differing characters and the very diversity of the race fan is one of the most interesting features.

This year, brought over on a wave of their strong currency and because of increased coverage due to the excellent North One television programmes and the sheer magnetism of stars such as Guy Martin, there has been a plethora of Aussies on the Island, including four times TT winner, Barry Smith.

Barry won the ultra lightweight 50cc race in 1968 and was world champion in the Formula 3 TT Class in 1979 anmd 1981. He also won three Grand Prix races and was 3rd in the 50cc world championships in 1968 & 1969.

Luckily for us, this year he has brought his wife and friends along with him this time round and although he was disappointed not to be given a ride in the parade lap, he still appears to have enjoyed himself.

A Winning Debut for Jerome

2011-06-10T02:27:00.000-07:00

Ref Earlier blog, Jerome Caprice from Mauritius duly won the Isle of Man 10,000m Track Walk Championship on Wednesday.

He led from the gun and was well clear of the field, winning by over 3 minutes in 46:42, quick enough to qualify for the Indian Ocean Games in Seychelles.

Jerome's next race will be the Dublin Grand Prix 26th June and it would be great to see him back on the Island at some stage in the future.

Readers with a delicate disposition are not recommended look at the picture below. Thanks to Kerry Mackey for the pictures above and no thanks for the one that follows as your bloggers TT lifestyle catches up with him:-(

Magnificent Imelda More Appropriate for May, September or Anytime but TT

2011-06-09T02:36:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 7th at Villa Marina saw Imelda May visit the Island for the first time, supported by the excellent Stone Chase.

I don't know much about the technical aspect of playing double bass but the I would have paid the entrance fee just to see the performance by Stone Chase's Johnny G and their set was most enjoyable.
They play a great mix of music and my thoughts that I recognised the singer were correct, as when I googled the band, it turned out that Matt James, is a regular on the Gaiety stage.

Imelda May's high energy style, illuminated by her booming vocals was superb, though despite her enthusiasm also showed a deft touch with her slower numbers and her professionalism.

She began by relating how she owed her existence to the Isle of Man and indeed the Royal Hall in which we were standing. Apparently, during a holiday to the Island, her father went to ask a girl to dance but was rejected. Rather than risk running the gauntlet of his friends taking the mickey out of him, instead walking back across the dance floor, he asked the next young lady and fifty three years later, they are still together.

Personally, I was surprised how many hits I recognised and also that most songs were either composed by herself or guitarist Darryl and in contrast to her mostly upbeat numbers the song, Kentish Town was hauntingly beautiful.

She displayed great generosity, especially as they'd gone down so well even taking an encore, by also asking us to applaud Stone Chase and to make sure we supported our local bands.

Imelda dedicated the concert to Derek Brien, the rider tragically killed on Monday, whose family she had met on her journey to the Island and the far from packed crowd certainly received their money's worth.

That said, one must wonder who on earth books the bands for the TT Festival? It may be that the motorcycling fraternity are notoriously difficult to please because the are linked not by music but by two wheels, however surely the person in charge should at least do a little research to what will work and what probably won't.

As I stated earlier, I have a little sympathy but my own conversations with visitors and locals alike revealed that despite being able to fill stadia in Ireland, her appearances on Jules Holland and quite good radio airplay, not that many people had actually even heard of her. So when that is combined with the fact that during the races there are hundreds of alternatives, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that this was never going to be a great financial success.

It can't really be that hard if local band, DC/AC can fill the place doing a tribute act.

Likewise, Pigeon Detectives. I really hope I'm wrong but I have no idea what this band play and I haven't talked to too many that even know any of their tunes, so I don't really expect tonight to be fully subscribed either.

I just hope it hasn't put Imelda May or her prospective promoters off because she was really sensational and I'd watch her again tomorrow!

Antigua in the Morning, Bushy's Tent in the Afternoon

2011-06-07T03:31:00.000-07:00

Irene booked us on to a tall ship on Sunday morning and despite having to rush to escape breakfast at work, it was an enjoyable, leisurely drive along the Old Castletown Road to Port St. Mary and you'd hardly have known that the TT was here.

There was a decent breeze and I had visions of us flying across the water like a modern day Cutty Sark but they only actually used the fore sail and the top sail, so it was more of a relaxing cruise instead of what I'd envisaged yet none the worse for it.

The crew was a mixture of dutch and germans, the ship itself, The Antigua, being a converted whaler from the Netherlands and they encouraged the passengers to assist with ropes. Of course, I had a go but being a 10 stone racewalker wasn't exactly ideal and while the burly biker with the belly from Whitby was able to pull the sails aloft, I nearly ended up there with them.

The Manx weather was at its best and the sail along the coast down past The Chasms, Spanish Head, the Stack, through the passage between Chicken Rock Lighthouse and the Calf and then the return steam through the Sound showed the Island at its finest.

On our return, we collected the new grandson from Bushy's Tent, resisting the 'Take one, get another free' offer and went for a walk around the Quay and along the Promenade.

A brilliant day, though sadly followed by Monday which was beset by computer and plumbing problems, not to mention the sad death of another competitor and a visiting biker that really undid the 'feelgood' factor created by our 'Less than Mad Sunday.' But that's another 'blog' for another day;-)

Isle of Deals - Leaping into the Unknown with Zoe Gillings

2011-06-02T01:18:00.000-07:00

What reward do imagine was bestowed by UK sports on Zoe Gillings, the Manx girl who is now the most successful snow sports athlete of all time from the British Isles?

You would probably think that making the Olympic final in Vancouver, 2010 in the snowboard cross but having to retire through injury would have granted her the right to compete at the highest level (pun not intended but there all the same) until at least the 2014 event.

Well, looking at some of the 'also rans' who might not even progress the heats in London 2012, you would think that but incredibly, they withdrew her lottery funding.

Did Zoe throw the toys out of the pram and tell them where to stick their money? Well possibly, I don't know her well enough to have asked but she has responded by setting up her own company with a view to supporting herself.

In this economic climate, there's no such thing as easy money and it's a brave decision to go into business but the concept is that companies give really good offers for their goods or services and 'Isle of Deals' markets them, through their database. This reaches a sector which hopefully hasn't used them before or for a while and of course it's a loyalty 'sweetener' for any regular clientele that pick up on the price cut.

As athletes, albeit far lesser ones, my wife and I were keen to assist, though I was slightly sceptical as to how successful it would be. However, with no initial outlay, what could we lose? The 60 two course weekday lunches that we offered at 49% of their normal price sold out within a day!

So help Zoe to Russia in 2014 by clicking www.IsleofDeals.com or contact her manager, d.brier@isleofdeals.com become one of the businesses that Zoe's hoping to promote. Alternatively, if you have any spare cash that you would like to invest in such a fine role model who through this adversity seems to have shown not a scrap of self pity, you can buy into various different sponsorship packages, contact dan@zoegillings.com

Welbeck Hotel & Restaurant TT 10,000m

2011-06-01T05:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've left it so long since my last blog but we've had an extremely busy May, both professionally and personally. At least now, we can relax and enjoy the TT;-)

Welcome to all our TT visitors, both regular and new. Lets hope for great weather and close, safe racing.

Manx Harriers will be offering both walkers and runners the rare opportunity of recording a track 10,000m time.
The events will be held on Wednesday June 8th at the N.S.C. track and are sponsored by the Welbeck Hotel & Restaurant.
The walk will start at 6.15pm - signing on trackside at 6.pm and there will also be supplementary walks at shorter distances for other competitors held in conjunction with the 10,000m.
Jerome Caprice (pictured) from Mauritius will be toeing the line on his first visit to the Island. National Champion at 30k, 35k and 50k, he needs to replicate his performance in Holland earlier this year of 46:02 on the track to qualify for the Indian Ocean Games in Seychelles in August. Studying in Ireland, he is coached by regular Island visitor, Michael Lane and his ultimate goal is to compete in the 2012 London Olympics at 50k for which he will need to build on his excellent current form to achieve 4 hours 15 minutes.

Welcome to The Chapel Society

2011-04-29T02:51:00.000-07:00

Today sees the arrival of The Chapel Society who seem to have been successful with prayers for good weather this weekend.

More good news for them is that they have secured the services of the reputed 'Blue Badge Guide,' Frank Cowin who I'm sure will utilise his usual expertise to give them a superb weekend.

Look Away Now If You Don't Want To See The Score...Or Baby Photos Bore You.

2011-04-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

Incredibly, little Harry is one whole week and half a day old and now back past his 'born' weight and the current score is 3lb 14oz! That's 1.76kg to any continental or younger blogophiles. He is very small but seems to be strong and he grows bigger by the day. Granddad was even allowed a cuddle Sunday when he escaped the incubator for afternoon tea.

Mummy Lucy has been discharged from hospital and is coping very well but it isn't easy as she is in a constant cycle of expressing milk and visiting the 'Special Care Baby Unit' to feed him.

As Harry was born seven weeks prematurely, this will be the way for the foreseeable future, though we are very lucky that it's only five minutes drive/cycle from home to Nobles.

Christopher's funeral will be this week but it will be a private service and though Lucy doesn't want any flowers sending, she greatly appreciates all the sympathy and messages of support that she's being given.

Harry & Christopher Sieze the Day

2011-04-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

Many of you will already know that our daughter, Lucy who has worked here since she was about 3 years old, though more regularly part and full time for the last couple of years was pregnant with twins.

Lucy had her two babies, Harry & Christopher by c-section last night at 21:13 which came as a bit of a surprise, as despite having been in the Jane since Saturday night after going into labour, it was thought that everything had resettled and yesterday morning, we were told that it wouldn't happen that day.

Christopher died shortly after being baptised but Harry who weighed in at 3lb12.5oz is thriving and breathing unaided, although he will be in SCBU for the next few weeks it is expected.

I must thank all the staff at the 'Jane Crookall Maternity Unit' who have been magnificent throughout Lucy's pregnancy but really excelled last night. They showed brilliant professionalism, allied with a such touching humanity and personal skills that they were able to help greatly allay the fears, for Lucy, Lee and their families, during what was such a traumatic, yet also happy occasion.

Dee-Dee, the Hospital Chaplain also displayed great empathy and I'm told that Christopher's baptism was very moving but perfect in the circumstances.

Lucy, this morning was going to see Harry for the first time since the birth and when I phoned earlier and she is a little sore but well.

We are also very grateful for all the messages received.

Should be able to get some pics on later but I forgot to bring any of the cameras into work with me. Pics now on as you can see. Top one is of Harry, middle of Lee (Daddy,) Irene (Ninna Nanna)holding Christopher and bottom is of Christopher.

I'll just reproduce Lucy's post from Facebook:

I would like to thank everyone for their support. I had a c section last night and delivered two beautiful boys Harry Stephen and Christopher Dale at 21:13.
God has gained another angel, he blessed me with 37 minutes of my son's presence. So proud to call myself mummy to two beautiful boys. Harry came kicking and screaming out of my belly. I will get to meet Harry properly tomorrow. thanks everyone. x

Didn't take her long to get back online did it?

April Fool? The Joke Will Be On Me If I'm Not Careful

2011-04-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

I did think that no one had really been taken in by the April fool joke but gradually more and more people are wishing me luck with the election.

Well, I'd better not get carried away here. By more and more, so far I mean about three and now two of the staff.

Then, it occurred to me that the only mention I'd made in this blog that it was an 'April Fool' was in a the 'Comment' section which might not noticed too easily. The other thing was that in my haste to make sure that everything was set in place, the 'Post' in question was actually made 31st March rather than the day itself.

Any confusion may have be further compounded by the fact that I was also asked my opinion by Stuart Peters of Manx Radio on the removal of the Director of Tourism from his post and subsequent streamlining of the marketing within the Department of Economical Development.

I really must have sounded like a politician when I failed to answer a direct question!

For what it is worth, I only actually met Mr Nipper (former Director of Tourism) once and found him to be very personable and was impressed by his thoughts on improving the profile of the Island and how he was intending to use the limited budget he'd been given.

Whether the reasons for his redundancy are entirely as stated, I am unable to conject but I really hope that the new structure is successful, as our industry can ill afford to be shunted to the sidings of the Government's greater marketing strategy.

I just re-read all that. Perhaps there's a career in the House of Keys for me after all?

Groudle, Clay Head and Laxey

2011-04-11T05:39:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day, yesterday 10th April was and luckily for me, unlike the previous week I didn't have to work.

Myself, having dispensed with the day's serious challenge that morning in the Manx 10k Championships at the National Sports Centre and Irene having transformed our conservatory at home into sparkling whiteness, we were able to see a little more of the Island's spectacular coastline.

One of the many great things about living on the Isle of Man, is that if you travel for a few minutes in any direction, you're either in the countryside or swimming.

Yesterday, we set off along the Promenade at Douglas, heading north up towards the Manx Electric Railway Terminus and the old White City site. You can actually follow the line of the cliffs there and then off road in front of the former Majestic Hotel but on this occasion, we elected to go straight along King Edward Bay Road towards the Groudle Glen.

It was at this point with the vista looking north towards Clay Head, resplendent in the sunshine that I realised that as usual, I hadn't brought my camera. Rather than just give up and swipe one of someone else's photograph as I did after our last little wander, I decided to use the mobile phone. Unfortunately as yet, technophobe as I am, I haven't quite worked out how to extract them from the said device and reproduce them here. By the time you read this, I hope to have it illustrated but don't hold your breath.

Although the Groudle Road is hardly the M1, for me it's always a pleasure to leave the main thoroughfare and onto the country lanes or public footpaths and with this in mind after crossing the Old Toll bridge, we took the next right about 1/2 mile further along, signposted Lonan Old Church. This takes you towards the sea, not too far from The Sea Lion Pool, then turns left at a right angle, over the 2003 bridge, passing St Adamnan's and on to Ballanette.

Ballanette is a wetland nature reserve that has been created by the Clague Family in memory of their daughter Anette who died at a young age. They also supply the use of their toilet, fresh water and even offer the chance to call in for a 'cuppa' which would have been much appreciated. It is a truly peaceful and beautiful part of the Manx countryside which takes you across to Clay Head, where they have created another circular pathway down to the sea at which point, there is a flagpost and a bench to rest your weary limbs.

No such lazy ideas for us though as this is part of Irene's Parish Walk training, so it's a brief pause to enjoy the view and off up the steep hill, back to the tarmac. A few hundred yards along, there is a path down to Garwick Bay, alongside a stream.

Another steep ascent back to the main road and then it's downhill almost all the way into Laxey. This week's much needed lemonades were taken at the Mines Tavern which is a wonderful place to sit out in fine weather and this time round, we met our daughter, Lucy and took the bus home.

With our off road detours, it was probably about 10 miles and took us three hours or so.

Update on Visa Electron

2011-04-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

I am indebted to Martin Bell (that's the IOMVAC ATHLETE not the former MP for Tatton) who stopped by the Hotel for a quick chat yesterday to inform me that he had tried Barclay's Wealth and had been informed that they couldn't provide him with a Visa Electron card.

That's a big disappointment to me and any others who were hoping to avoid unfair 'Flybe' charges for buying their tickets.

So if you are aware of how to obtain one on the Isle of Man, please post a comment or contact me through e-mail or telephone and I'll let the rest* of you know.

*Shockingly, 1500 page views have now been made of this once almost unread 'Blog,' so that would help quite a few of us if you do know how we could lay our hands on one.

Martin pointed out that he had been or would be charged £90.00 this year.

Not that I can claim any hand in the victory but it was announced that VillaGaiety has now withdrawn their £1.00 handling fee, so we can only hope that this is the beginning of a landslide. Of course, I'm not cynical enough to believe they'll find another way of relieving us of our money. Maybe.

Winners of Welbeck Guest Survey Draw

2011-04-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Oops! It was beginning to look like I was going to face an inquiry on the scale of the ITV TV votes scandal as I realised that we hadn't done the 'Guests Survey Draw' in nearly six months when I had promised it would be drawn quarterly and therefore with the assistance of regular lunch time guests, Peter & Pat Quine, we drew two yesterday.

So, congratulations to Lou Cartledge & and Claire Buckle from England Athletics for having their survey forms pulled from the bag.

Sometimes the Manx Rain does fall on One Man's House

2011-04-06T23:46:00.000-07:00

Apart from the fact that the Island is a different country, with different culture and even a different language albeit not so widely spoken these days, one of the most difficult concepts for our visitors to wrap their heads around is Isle of Man weather.

The first hurdle to negotiate is trying to explain that the forecast on television is often very unlikely to be relevant here. Having persuaded them to accept that piece of information, we then have to point out that just because things are looking a little miserable in Douglas doesn't necessarily mean the day must be written off.

Yesterday, perfectly illustrated the point. Whilst we in the capital were shivering in the strong wind with grey skies above and temperatures barely registering double figures, the northern plains were baking in 19 degree sunshine.

It has to be said that the introduction of the Department of Infrastructure webcams are a wonderful addition to our armoury when making a decision about where to go and though they are probably somewhere on the IOM Government site and definiteley, some of them are on www.manxradio.com, there are more on www.manx.net, crucially including Ramsey Harbour.

Our meteorological officers are also very accessible and it is possible to talk to a real live one who tend to be very helpful on 0900 624 3200 for a very reasonable sum, listen to their general weather recording on 0900 624 3300 or their shipping forecast on 0900 624 3322.

My own personal favourite story about the imbalanced manx conditions happened a few years ago. It had been said that there was a possibility of some rays up the top, so with typical optimism, I packed my protesting family into the car, complete with towels etc. and tried to persuade them that we were going to have a great time in Mooragh Park. The sky looked horrendous, a kind of grey, tinged with black. It was so bad that I didn't even attempt to go via the Mountain and there was no improvement on the other side of Laxey.

The kids were still giving me their usual, 'What a wally' look and as we approached Maughold, even I was starting to have my doubts when we were able to see the part of the coast by the Point of Ayre and there was certainly nothing in the way of improvement.

However, on the descent past the 'Rest and Be Thankful,' the vista of Ramsey opened, the houses and the lake glinting in the sunshine.

In those days, they still had the paddling pool instead of the 'Health & Safety' sprinklers that there are now and we sat there basking, while the children splashed around. There was a cirle of blue in the sky above us, totally surrounded by the aforementioned angry clouds.

Time to Stand for the House of Keys

2011-03-31T23:07:00.000-07:00

Now that April is upon us, I can reveal that I will be standing for the House of Keys in the forthcoming election.

I am grateful to my good friend Murray Lambden for allowing me to make the announcement on his website:

www.manxathletics.com

However, I will be holding a full press conference at 12.00pm today to explain about my 85 point manifesto.

Fly High with Electron

2011-03-31T03:13:00.000-07:00

One of the things that really annoys me is the airlines adding any charge at all to use debit and credit cards but now it seems they're really taking the biscuit.

For a single transaction, they are now coming up with ever higher figures and some are charging for each person booked and even for each leg of the journey.

All businesses that take credit and debit cards must pay commission or fees on all the payments they take but over the years they have become more and more reasonable as competition is fierce to become your 'Third Party,' and as a business, The Welbeck Hotel Ltd. pays from 1.15% for personal visa/mastercard, less than 2% for all business versions of the same and 3% to American Express. Debit cards are a flat fee of about 15p per transaction. There is an insignificant amount invoiced to us for the rent of our EPOS machine.

Therefore, you can imagine how low major companies like the airlines must pay with their volume of sales power.

Many of you have probably already signed the 'Online Which Petition' against unfair fees but if you haven't, here's a link to join it:

http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/personal-finance/card-surcharges/pledge-your-support/

However, last night, while watching the new Phil & Kirsty series, 'Vacation, Vacation, Vacation,' they mentioned that each airline must provide a method of payment without any added charge.

Visa Electron was mentioned as the card which is the free way of paying ,'Flybe' the airline which visits the Isle of Man through most routes. Of course while being stupid enough not to see how short sighted it is to have all these hidden payments is making the consumer feel cheated, they are not stupid enough not to ensure their preferred card be one of the most difficult to obtain.

This is especially so on the Island but eventually after ringing round half the banks in Douglas, I was told that it is possible to get hold of one by opening an account at Barclays Wealth. It does require you to have money in the bank to make purchases with one, so it is more like a debit card rather than credit but in these days of internet transfer, you surely don't need to keep too much of your hard earned inactive in there for too long.

Meayll Peninsula

2011-03-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

Following up on my recommendation to a couple of our guests on Saturday, yesterday Irene & I decided to walk around the tip of the Meayll Peninsula.

Leaving glorious sunshine in Douglas, we became a little apprehensive as a haze seemed to be shrouding the Island somewhat but we ignored the advice of the Met Man (09006243200 gets you speaking to a real life meteorologist, so for the 50p price of a phone call, I often ring before heading out as the weather around the Isle of Man can be very diffferent) to perhaps look at hitting the high ground and pressed on to the south west.

To save time, we had taken the car but this walk is easily completed by using either bus or steam train. We parked on the Truggan Road on the outskirts of Port St Mary and walked into Port Erin, taking the Raad-Ny-Foillan (Literal translation: Road of the Gull, the Island's coastal path marked with pictures of a white gull on a blue background) which you can pick up just behind the red brick former Marine Biological Centre building.

It's a real lung-buster to start the walk proper but well worth it as already you have a view of the whole village of Port Erin, the hills surrounding and also Bay-Ny-Carrickey to the north. From a skeet angle, you also get to overlook Ballaman, the house built, complete with contrversal windbreak and pond by Nigel Mansell, the former world champion racing driver when he was resident here.

We certainly weren't hanging around and it took us under 45 minutes to get from Port Erin to the Sound but if you prefer to travel at a more leisurely pace, you may be as well allowing over an hour to an hour and a quarter. There are some places where it is quite challenging and others where the ground is littered with loose stone, so you would want to have reasonable levels of fitness and stability before attempting it.

We saw lots of choughs and gulls, though often you'd get a greater variety of bird than we saw yesterday and it is running over and alongside farmland, so there are usually domestic animals too.

The nearest point to the Calf, the island just a few hundred yards away is the Calf Sound and there is a cafe there, serving anything from snacks up to a full meal but as we had not long since had our breakfast, a coffee and a glass of water sufficed. Mind you if you are contemplating a large lunch and then walking to along the Raad-ny-Foillan to Port St Mary, it may be worth remembering how steep the hill is about 10 minutes into the journey. This always reminds me of two occasions when we have walked the other way. The first was meeting two elderly ladies with sticks just after there and wondering how on earth they'd ascended it and the second was one time when our youngest son Terence must have been about 8 years old and was in the middle of telling us how brilliant he was goijng downhill when he went splat! and ended up covered in mud from head to toe.

Even with the dry weather we've experienced lately, it was still a little wet there but we managed to avoid Terence's fate. This part of the journey took us over an hour but we hugged the coast pretty closely and there are shortcuts. Dramatic scenery includes Sugarloaf Roack, Spanish Head and with a short detour, The Chasms, before you pass the golf course, Perwick Bay and then come into Port St Mary itself.

The sunshine followed us all the way, despite our initial misgivings and even to the garden outside the Bay View Hotel where we had a couple of 'lemonades' to replenish after our exertions.

Return of the Pink Panther, a Knife, a Fork and a Keycard

2011-03-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

Rumours were not true and the possible Manx Postworkers strike hadn't started early; our regular Postie had broken his foot (get well soon Mr Glassey.)

However, the Postie who hadn't done our round for 20 years, did make it eventually on Tuesday morning, well just into the afternoon actually and he came bearing a parcel, simply addressed to The Welbeck Hotel.

And contained inside? A knife and fork very much looking like the ones we use in the Welbeck Hotel and seemingly nothing else. No cover note but just a random knife and fork . Confusion reigned but a further inspection and tipping upside down brought a keycard falling out of the package.

Detective Clouseau was on the case and as we can read the basic data* about when it was issued and for how long it was valid enable me to work out who had sent it.

So thank you very much to the gentleman who did return it, though if you are reading this blog,; Why didn't you just leave it until next week when you are due back again.

We do very much appreciate cards being returned to us as we can re-use them but the irony is that we actually receive more of these back than we used to our old 'Weiser' keys and fobs which cost us considerable more and even had free postage, so that all anyone needed to do was to drop them into a Post box.

*Contrary to some information being distributed by people with nothing better to do, keycards(well definitely the Vingcard system that we use) contain no personal information and only refer to the room number, whether they are guest or staff cards, when they are issued and how long they are valid for.

Hotel Walking Races

2011-03-01T05:17:00.000-08:00

Competition while not being a necessity to produce excellence, it certainly does no harm and most at the pinnacle of whatever it is that they do, often have had someone either just ahead or behind them to drive them on or pull them towards greatness.

Now, though I am not yet quite conceited enough to shower such accolades on either the Welbeck or the Ascot Hotels, it is no coincidence that Douglas Bay, once described by Wordsworth as 'The Naples of the North,' had many buildings far better placed to survive the changing face of tourism, both the former have flourished and grown whilst all but a handful of their illustrious counterparts have either been demolished, segmented into apartments or used for some other purpose.

The point of my argument is that a year after the Georges moved into 13 Mona Drive, in 1979 the Mackeys first occupied 7&8 Empire Terrace, The Ascot Bradda and we've been friendly but definitely rivals ever since.

And now we've even taken it into athletics......

Following (of course) our lead - The Welbeck Hotel & Restaurant sponsors the 'One Hour Challenge,' The Ascot have really 'upped the ante' by putting their name to the most prestigious athletics meeting on the Island, namely the Manx Harriers Open Walks & 10k Run. In the past, it has seen such luminaries as Steve Barry, the Welsh former Commonwealth Games Champion, the holder of the British 50k record, Chris Maddocks, Irish Olympians, Rob Heffernan, Jamie Costin and Colin Griffin.

Of course, it would be remiss to forget the ladies and current World silver 20k medallist, Olive Loughnane has raced here many times. In her one visit to the Island Johanna Jackson who won Commonwealth Gold in India also set her then PB (She stayed at the Welbeck.)

Last Saturday, the 20k main event was won by Englishman, Dan King and although I grudgingly have to admit that he and twin brother Dom were accommodated at the Ascot. The twins from Colchester are hoping to be selected for 2012 where they are likely to be the only British representatives if successful.

Every other race saw victory gained by the Irish team who were billeted at The Welbeck and though consisting almost entirely of juniors, there are some exciting prospects for the future amongst them.

It is brilliant for our own young athletes to face such strong opposition and it is hoped that one or two of our crop of talent will follow in the footsteps of 18n year old Lauren Whelan, based at Leeds University raced successfully in Australia recently.

And the Hotelier rivalry? Perhaps competition doesn't always lead to excellence: We were both equally rubbish with Dave Mackey limping out after 4 laps and Michael George finishing 2nd last, 8 minutes down on his personal best.

Ascot Ambler v Welbeck Wanderer

.

Many thanks to Manx Athletics guru, photograper, videographer, athlete extraordinaire, Murray Lambden for the pictures that I nicked.

For comprehensive coverage of the above event and all things athletic, see:

www.manxathletics.com

P.S. He's also another competitor in the tourism industry:

http://www.murrayandmarie.com/

Welbeck Documentary on Manx Radio

2011-02-22T14:20:00.000-08:00

Welbeck Hotel on Manx Radio tomorrow at 18:05. As my chum Dave Mackey from the nearby Ascot Hotel is fond of remarking, I am occasionally less than shy on the self promotion front and tomorrow is no exception, although this one could bite us on the bum as the programme is still in the throes of its final edit.

It is called, 'Behind Closed Doors' and is presented by John Hines. As I previously posted, it is on at 6.05pm and can be listened to on all Manx Radios FM frequencies, 1368 on AM or live on the web at www.manxradio.com . If you miss the broadcast, you can catch it on 'Listen Again' on their site from Thursday to Wednesday

Umpah Umpah

2011-02-17T00:38:00.000-08:00

Realizing you're older than the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, being treated by Doctors aged 10, not able to train through injury; all cliched signs that the years are catching up with me but the other week, an invitation dropping through the letterbox to my nephew's 30th birthday party this coming Saturday, really drove the message home.

Oh and one further clarification that you've definitely turned vintage is the total lack of enthusiasm when the reality dawns that it's not only fancy dress but a 'Bavarian' theme.

However, cajoled by Mrs. George whose imagination unfortunately matches mine, I managed to find the Costume Shop in Peel and with a stroke of luck brought about by my legendary lack of prowess at preparing the staff rota, I'd brought Adam in too early and we were able to dash out yesterday afternoon to try on and collect our costumes.

So it's lederhosen for me, this weekend and on hearing this news, my 13 year old son Terence to whom I am a continual source of embarrassment, immediately booked himself a trip to the National Cross Country on Saturday near Alton Towers to avoid the humiliation (actually that's a bit of artistic licence: it was already booked and paid for before we received the invitation but he's not too secretly pleased.)

Of course, yet another reminder of our time of life is the frequency of our nocturnal excursions and though usually, we are fortunate to go out once a month, we've also been asked to go to a 50th birthday party, the very same night. We may just call in to that afterwards (if the ravages of senility allow) but we might just have to change costume on the way.

Pictures to follow if uncensored.

Just to continue the theme, I just realised that I had posted this on the wrong blog. Oh dear, there's no hope.

Bloody Big Car Boot Sale

2011-02-15T02:40:00.000-08:00

Around this time of year when we are doing refurbishments, we often end up with furniture which we can no longer use, either because it's not quite the standard required for paying guests or we have decided that it doesn't really match or isn't the size required for the newly decorated/rearranged rooms.

Hence the reference to the Car Boot Sale... but you'll need a rather large space in your vehicle for some of it. See list at bottom.

Any mention of such method of selling always brings a smile to my face, instantly reminding me of Mihail Petrov, the first Bulgarian who worked at the Welbeck. In the days before the Eastern European countries all joined the EU, Mihail found his way to us via the now defunct International Hotel School, then based at Port Erin.

He was great fun and very ambitious, at the time hoping to develop his career in the industry. My Dad was always keen on recycling and as his was quite a new Ford Scorpio, he would usually ask Mihail to put the bottles, cans & newspapers into 'The car boot,' pointing to what would invariably be my mother's Renault Megane.

One day, a lady who was a production assistant on the of the films (they used to shoot quite a few here) was stood in Reception was working herself into an exasperated strop with a very puzzled Mihail.

Ever helpful, poor Mihail was trying to direct her to Eurocars, the Renault Garage which he had found in the Yellow Pages. As it was her day off, the lady had asked where she could find any 'Car Boot Sales' and our Bulgarian friend assumed that was the model of my mother's vehicle, never having heard of such a strange concept as a mobile jumble sale.

Unfortunately, our guest didn't quite have the sense of humour to see the funny side of things but it gives me a chuckle to this day.

Anyway, in pine we have two welsh dressers, a couple of large coffee tables, lots of dining chairs. We have a double sofa, a single sofa, two winged armchairs all in the same purple & gold upholstery. Photos to follow.

High Definition Blog

2011-02-03T01:52:00.000-08:00

All the deluxe rooms and apartments now have digital televisions and indeed the last 8 that I have just purchased, (though not quite managed to instal as yet) are 32inch and also fully 'HD.'

This means that all the 'Freeview' channels are now available which includes a list of radio channels too. One gentleman of a certain persuasion thought it hilarious that the previous occupant of his room had left it on the 'Gay Rabbit' channel.

Fortunately, the modern sets also have analogue, so we are still able to show 'Sky Sports 1 & 2,' 'Sky News' and we still also provide 'Manx Radio & Radio 2.'

For those of you who are not local to the Isle of Man, Freeview here does not include ITV 4, a fact that caused great consternation when it was announced as it is the present home of the TT race highlights programme. It also has excellent coverage of the 'Tour de France' and some football games not featured on the main channels.

The remainder of the rooms which still just pick up the analogue signals are fed by a contraption that converts a maximum of six digital channels, as well as the four sky boxes and our own two radio feeds.

I intend to change the 'Sky' receiver which currently shows 'Channel 5,' to 'ITV4' which means I'll probably have to lose either ITV2 or E4. I would be grateful for any feedback as to which would be best to get rid of.

.....And if you understand all that lot, you don't need HD to make things clearer.

Who Stole January?

2011-02-01T04:12:00.000-08:00

Things have been happening at pace over the last few months in the Hotel with four rooms having been decorated with just now 304 to do which must be finished no later than next Monday, as it is let that night!

We (that being we who go and look and decide what needs doing rather than we who actually do the work,) commenced in November and the corridors were painted over the Christmas break, so it is a tribute to Ray Corlett, the painter & decorator, the carpet fitters from Premier Flooring and Colin and John of B & C Spence Electricians that so much has been achieved in so little time.

The bathroom situation is not quite so up to schedule, though not beginning on them until a week or so ago hasn't helped matters. However, the first one should be ready by Thursday and we await its completion with baited breath as Andy Kennish Interiors hasn't done one for us before.

An order for bedspreads and curtains is about to be placed and I am hoping that that this year's intake of furniture will soon be under construction.

One exciting development is that I am hoping to reach an agreement with local artist, Nicola Dixon to display a collection of her prints in the bedrooms with a view to promoting her work as well as providing us with with her brilliant and humorous paintings, mainly of local coast and seascapes.

I awoke this morning wondering where January had gone but I think the preceding paragraphs give us a bit of a clue.

A warm welcome to Steven Schnack who is arriving at the Hotel tomorrow and has joined Murray to be my second 'Blog Follower.'

Top Shots by Bill

2011-01-27T02:45:00.000-08:00

Many times over the years, I have been disappointed with photographs of our bedrooms and public areas. It would seem that they are not photogenic, not really lending themselves to 2D format.

However, Bill Dale is the one photographer who has managed to produce a few decent shots and the two featured above are his work.

Welbeck for Romance.

2011-01-18T05:10:00.000-08:00

Our price for Valentine's day and the preceding weekend is £75.00 per couple for four course meal & coffee + free bottle of pink sparkling wine or £135.00 including overnight stay & breakfast.

We still currently have plenty of availability.

Happy New Year Blogophiles!

2011-01-05T23:47:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas break and is looking forward to a prosperous New Year.

The weather has certainly played havoc over the last few weeks and many of the proposed celebrations before the festivities just didn't happen.

However, lets hope that the arctic conditions recede and 2011 brings no more ash clouds or too much of great disruption.

We have made a modest price increase on the new lunch menu but it's still great value @ £10 for a small portion, two courses with coffee and normal size meal £12.00.

Dinner is still £22.00 for three courses and coffee and the extra V.A.T. has been incorporated.

Irene, Michael and the Staff hope to see you soon.

The Welbeck - Isle of Man Hotel of the Year 2010

2010-12-08T03:47:00.000-08:00

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)

2010-11-28T08:20:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-02T01:20:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-25T06:15:00.000-07:00

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.)

2010-10-21T04:09:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-12T02:18:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-07T01:48:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-14T00:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-14T00:11:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-01T05:03:00.000-07:00

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......