DarloRich
Veteran Member
Isle of Man Trip – General
I am just back form 10 days in the Isle of Man and will draft trip reports for each of the Isle of Man Railway, Douglas Horse Trams, Manx Electric Railway and Sanefell Mountian Railway in due course but I wanted to outline some of the travel to and from the Island.
We travelled in the van, accompanied by the dog from, Heysham to Douglas via the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. Heysahm Port is easy to get to with a decent dual carriage way most of the way from the M6 straight into the port. Heysham isn’t a busy passenger port so check in was easy despite the battalions of motor cycles waiting to cross for the Manx GP.
Thrillingly as we were booked on the 14:15 sailing waiting in the rather forlorn station attached to the terminal was a northern rail class 144 which had chugged up from Leeds and was waiting for trade off the incoming ferry.
Our vessel for the 3 ½ hour crossing was the flagship of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, MS Ben-my-Chree (Woman of my heart in Manx apparently). She was built by van der Giessen de Noord of the Netherlands at a cost of c.£24m and launched on 4 April 1998 and is assigned, primarily, to the Heysham – Douglas route. At a gross tonnage of around 12,000, she is the largest ship to enter service with the company, the sixth vessel to carry the name and the first new ship built by the company for 23 years
Ben-my-Chree is a Ro-Pax ferry designed to carry freight, with two vehicle decks and two passenger accommodation decks. There are 20 four-berth cabins ( 2 of which are dog friendly) and crew accommodation for 22. Her freight capacity is 200 vehicles. That said the passenger accommodation seems cramped with limited space and facilities and our local contacts told us the ship is not popular with the natives. The best bits were the large open decks.
Boarding is via a stern ramp and we went aboard after the motorcyles had been loaded. They took up a good 50% of the space on the bottom deck and manoeuvring the van in the available space was hard. Vehicles are loaded in such a way as to face the rear door by turning at the top of the vehicle deck to aid off-loading in Douglas
With loading complete we made our way to the passenger area and in particular the cramped dog lounge for the crossing. I understand that this route can be “rough” at times but today the sea was flat and the sun was shining which gave us a wonderful view of the picturesque Heysham nuclear power station as we left port.
Soon we were chugging out to sea and before long we were level with Blackpool tower and passing any number of wind turbines and gas platforms. As the dog lounge was quite full I spent a good deal of time on the top deck watching the seagulls drafting the ferry, chatting with a couple of the seemingly thousands of german bikers off to watch the classic TT/Max GP and enjoying the good weather.
3.5 hours later we were sailing into Douglas harbour where the ferry performed a difficult three point turn to present the stern to the dock and off loading began. In an impressively short time we were off and heading south form Douglas to Port St Mary where we would be based.
Very sadly these reports will be the last to feature his supreme houndliness Maximillian von Hound, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Defender of the waterbowl, Emperor of the biscuits, scourge of the postie and other offcomers etc as he was taken ill with rapid kidney failure during our holiday and had to be put to sleep on his return. He was 17.
(The IOM Steam Packet were very good and allowed him to travel in the dog lounge on his way home despite it being fully booked and bent several rules to make sure he was comfortable as were the local vets who treated him on the IOM.)
I am just back form 10 days in the Isle of Man and will draft trip reports for each of the Isle of Man Railway, Douglas Horse Trams, Manx Electric Railway and Sanefell Mountian Railway in due course but I wanted to outline some of the travel to and from the Island.
We travelled in the van, accompanied by the dog from, Heysham to Douglas via the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. Heysahm Port is easy to get to with a decent dual carriage way most of the way from the M6 straight into the port. Heysham isn’t a busy passenger port so check in was easy despite the battalions of motor cycles waiting to cross for the Manx GP.
Thrillingly as we were booked on the 14:15 sailing waiting in the rather forlorn station attached to the terminal was a northern rail class 144 which had chugged up from Leeds and was waiting for trade off the incoming ferry.
Our vessel for the 3 ½ hour crossing was the flagship of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, MS Ben-my-Chree (Woman of my heart in Manx apparently). She was built by van der Giessen de Noord of the Netherlands at a cost of c.£24m and launched on 4 April 1998 and is assigned, primarily, to the Heysham – Douglas route. At a gross tonnage of around 12,000, she is the largest ship to enter service with the company, the sixth vessel to carry the name and the first new ship built by the company for 23 years
Ben-my-Chree is a Ro-Pax ferry designed to carry freight, with two vehicle decks and two passenger accommodation decks. There are 20 four-berth cabins ( 2 of which are dog friendly) and crew accommodation for 22. Her freight capacity is 200 vehicles. That said the passenger accommodation seems cramped with limited space and facilities and our local contacts told us the ship is not popular with the natives. The best bits were the large open decks.
Boarding is via a stern ramp and we went aboard after the motorcyles had been loaded. They took up a good 50% of the space on the bottom deck and manoeuvring the van in the available space was hard. Vehicles are loaded in such a way as to face the rear door by turning at the top of the vehicle deck to aid off-loading in Douglas
With loading complete we made our way to the passenger area and in particular the cramped dog lounge for the crossing. I understand that this route can be “rough” at times but today the sea was flat and the sun was shining which gave us a wonderful view of the picturesque Heysham nuclear power station as we left port.
Soon we were chugging out to sea and before long we were level with Blackpool tower and passing any number of wind turbines and gas platforms. As the dog lounge was quite full I spent a good deal of time on the top deck watching the seagulls drafting the ferry, chatting with a couple of the seemingly thousands of german bikers off to watch the classic TT/Max GP and enjoying the good weather.
3.5 hours later we were sailing into Douglas harbour where the ferry performed a difficult three point turn to present the stern to the dock and off loading began. In an impressively short time we were off and heading south form Douglas to Port St Mary where we would be based.
Very sadly these reports will be the last to feature his supreme houndliness Maximillian von Hound, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Defender of the waterbowl, Emperor of the biscuits, scourge of the postie and other offcomers etc as he was taken ill with rapid kidney failure during our holiday and had to be put to sleep on his return. He was 17.
(The IOM Steam Packet were very good and allowed him to travel in the dog lounge on his way home despite it being fully booked and bent several rules to make sure he was comfortable as were the local vets who treated him on the IOM.)
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