More about the baton relay

I forgot to include a photo of a tapestry in which all the members of Boundary Harriers who took part in the baton relay are named. This has been in Manx Harriers clubhouse for some time but it has been donated to the museum which is how Alan became involved. He is going to send me a photo tonight.

Does anyone know what happened to the baton?

I said in my text on the site that the photos were taken by "my parents" but it would have been difficult for my father as he had passed away some five months before the photo was taken! Some of the photos were originally on slides, the format that my father used to use, so presumably someone used his camera.

From a historical point of view the best shot is of me running past Grimsons stores in Kirk Michael. This shop has long closed but was run by John and Betty Grimson. John later took up running and was very successful as a veteran athlete on the ultra marathon scene. He was also secretary of the Isle of Man Veteran Athletes Club and a member of the IOMAA.

In those days there were three general stores in Kirk Michael plus a newsagent and a post office which both used to sell a limited range of goods in addition to their main function. Despite the population probably doubling since then, now there is only one general store as, like everywhere else, the majority do their shopping in the super markets.

The photo was taken on a piece of road that made me unpopular with the Grimson family. Between the ages of 13 and 18 I used to help deliver milk for Crowe Brothers Bishopscourt Farm. I would cycle the two miles from the top of Kirk Michael at around 5.30 every Saturday and Sunday and school holiday. Just before where the photo was taken I would be dropped off to make some deliveries while Denny Crowe would park outside the shop and deliver around Mull View. I would get back to the van first and rearrange the crates in the back. But the noise use to wake the household and we received complaints.

The photos also show the styles of the era, or rather the lack of them. The orange tracksuit was my prize for winning the Parish Walk; the silly hairstyle which was still well short of its longest, was the prize for being a teeanage rebel!