Letter from The Isle of Man - Future GNW?

[neil-yaj396]

They still do things the old way in the Isle of Man and write to the Club rather than send an email.

The attached letter got me thinking about whether members would be interested in having a future Great Northern Weekend on the island? The circa £200 ferry ticket (from Liverpool or Heysham) would be something of a put off, but the island really is a lovely place with lots to do and then there is the TT track. Imagine 20 plus Lancias blasting it over the 'mountain' and stopping at the cafe where the tramway crosses....

I'd be happy to organize this for a future year but would be interested to get some thoughts?

[chriswgawne]

I think we could be seriously tempted Neil. Driving on the Isle of Man is a fairly unique experience. Sad to say I haven't been there for over 20 years ( but used to go annually before that since I was 6 months old to visit relatives on my fathers side in the S of the Island) and then  there was only 1 very small stretch of dual carriageway just outside the airport.
I am interested to see what other positive response you receive.
Chris

[simonandjuliet]

The IOM is a wonderful place, fabulous scenery , great roads and a step back in time (in a positive way !)

I lived there for a while as a student, running a Fulvia Sport amongst other things and a drive over the mountain on the TT circuit is not to be missed - it is still de-restricted, so no speed limit ..... scary !

[sparehead3]

They may send a letter, but it has a QR code that my phone scanned ok - so I'll check out the video interesting idea - never been there!

[mikeC]

That could just tempt me to disturb the moths in my wallet 

[nthomas1]

If I'm not in Spain I'd be keen to participate.

[A1.6HPE]

Hello Neil,
I had to Google to find exactly where the IoM lies in relation to the late Frank James' original concept of the GNW being an event that is accessible to northerly members. Frank's patch was Cumbria and so IoM would seem ok. As you say, the additional expense of the ferry crossing might put of some but the novelty aspect might attract some.

Best regards, Leo

[A1.6HPE]

By the way, the current venue is the Cumbrian slot in the three year cycle, next year will be Scotland, then North East of England, then back to Cumbria. Paul Greenway is the current custodian of the Cumbrian slot so there needs to be a conversation with Paul.

Leo

[neil-yaj396]

By the way, the current venue is the Cumbrian slot in the three year cycle, next year will be Scotland, then North East of England, then back to Cumbria. Paul Greenway is the current custodian of the Cumbrian slot so there needs to be a conversation with Paul.

Leo

I'll float this further at the GNW itself in May.

[Paul Greenway]

Sorry to being late to the party on this post.

The Isle of Man is a lovely place especially if the weather is on side. Over the years I have been a number of times although not for some while.

There are one or two issues that I see-
1) There's a lot that goes into planning an event particularly where guests are staying over so the Hotel needs to be carefully vetted and thorough discussions with the staff/manager had to determine that it really is suitable. Plus there has to be suitable, sizeable and secure parking. Also Touring routes require planning and double checking prior to the event to ensure nothing clue wise and road works wise has changed thus potentially ruining the observation run(s).
In order to do this someone who lives on the island or is retired and happy to do a thorough & repeat recci needs to organize it or it will simply not work without an awful lot of good luck.
2) Adding Ferry crossings into events also needs careful planning and those coming from the South will probably take the Liverpool ferry which is a 2.5hr crossing to add to the journey whilst those from the North would take the ferry from Heysham and that's 3.5hrs.

Whilst it is a beautiful & very interesting location, unfortunately working full time we would not have the ability to organize for the reasons mentioned above but would be more than happy for someone else to take over the reins. We would obviously be happy to help as much as possible and would attend the event (subject to timescales not clashing with other priorities).

Cheers,
Paul.