Isle of Man, April 2018

7-9th April - Isle of Man

The Isle of Man didn’t have much access to coal, so a lot of stuff on the island was water powered instead, some of which is still working. The most impressive is the Laxey Wheel, which was used to drive a pump to empty water out of the (mostly) lead mine at Laxey, and is the biggest working water wheel in the world (though it no longer actually pumps out water).

Another highlight was walking to the summit of Snaefell, the highest point on the Isle of Man, and catching the historic electric tram back down, thankfully learning later that the previous year the brakes had completely failed and there was very nearly a nasty crash!