To some the title may have Darwinian undertones. In fact it is a narrative of a nostalgic journey of return to a not too well known island – the Isle of Man.
I attended for four years school there during and after the War. It was a special re-union – the school’s 175th anniversary. I had been to many re-unions in the past. I like to keep in touch unlike some others like my brother who also went there. He wasn’t very happy there. One serious disadvantage he had – he didn’t like sport! Although I didn’t do well academically I was fairly good at sport.
The school was famous for its General Knowledge Paper – a super quiz – nationally famous especially in academic circles. It is notoriously difficult. It was something I, unlike some, enjoyed doing! One attempted it at sight at the end of the Christmas term and then took it home and researched the answers from encyclopedias/dictionaries etc and sat for it again when one came back. Its purpose was to instill a desire for knowledge.
The Isle of Man is a unique and fascinating isla
nd. It has its own Government – one of the oldest in the world – founded by the Vikings. Its capital, Douglas, is an attractive sizeable resort on a wide-sweeping bay. The island is, of course, famous for the T T motor-bike races which I never saw as they were run in the holidays. It has a steam railway and a Victorian electric railway which runs all the way up the east coast from Douglas in the south to Ramsey in the North along past beautiful bays and coves and coastal scenery. It is also famous for its Manx kippers which I have seen being cured in Peel. Peel has one of the best preserved castles in Britain, along with the one in Castletown which was the original and ancient capital. The countryside is very beautiful with lovely glens and valleys and hills and fells and a great many seabirds.
So there we are you Southerners – a tempting prospect? A change from the Isle of Wight?
PS I do have some past editions of the General Knowledge Paper if anyone is interested.
Return to Man
David Jones