1.

I saw this poster at Port Erin railway station when we were riding the steam train on Saturday:


I haven't managed to get any independent confirmation of its genuineness. All I can find (at least with a cursory search) are posters advertising similar products but run by different railway companies.

Hunting through, though, I came across several interesting articles:

-- On the railway revolution, which made the seaside accessible to ordinary people;

-- On the ins and outs of Victorian sea bathing;

-- And on the conventions governing what to wear and what to do at the seaside.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of jolly railway posters, pointing out the beauties of the Isle of Man:



2.

Also on the subject of railways:



Again, apologies for incomplete information, but I THINK the above pictures are something to do with the Falcon Cliff and its associated railway. This started out as a grand residence, but later became a hotel, and as the punters found its elevated position challenging, some form of transport was needed: "In 1887 a cliff railway was installed to give easier access from the sea front. This was dismantled in 1896 on demolition of the Dance Hall and sold to Port Soderick; a second, on a different route, was installed in 1927 and operated until the hotel closed c. 1990 (some of the remains are still present)."

One of my little plans was to track down some of these remains, but we ran out of time... Suffice it to say that the Isle of Man was generally big on cliff railways.

3.

Our run of wild weather continued -- although the Island got off lightly in the recent storms compared with other areas of the British Isles, which is a bit of a curiosity in itself.

Yesterday, Wednesday, was a rainy, scuttly kind of day. We started off in Ramsey:





We went home via Peel, to take a look at what the sea was doing there:


It wasn't raining by now, but the wind was very strong, so we didn't do our projected last lap along Peel prom.

4.

By today, Thursday, the weather was lamb-like again: All bright sun and pleasantness. We headed for Castletown:



Coffeecraft on Market Square, we discovered, does the BEST scones ever. Exactly the texture I prefer.

Just down the road there's another curiosity:


This is what's left of the "Witches' Mill". It's a residence now. But back in the day it was a museum and cafe. There's a very sceptical account of its connections with witchcraft here. I definitely remember visiting for the cup-of-tea side of things. But I have no memory of the witchcraft exhibition -- probably because my mother would, I'm sure, have stopped me showing too much interest. If the aforementioned account is accurate, it does all sound a bit tacky.

5.

Wanting to benefit some more from the unexpectedly nice weather on this our last afternoon, we parked up on Gansey seafront, and went for a bit of a walk around the Colby area (passing Kentraugh Mill, which we visited in 2018).

There were a number of curiosities here.

The Colby River Heritage Walking Trail was launched earlier this year, and it's definitely something to do in its entirety next time we come:


It's a very pretty area:









New to me too was the Bahai Memorial Arboretum:



*_*_*

So there we have it... All that's left now is to go home, pack, clean the cottage, and get ready for departure tomorrow...

Our Island visit is over one more time. It's been wonderful to be here. The time has gone incredibly quickly. I'll miss it hugely.