This storm is nothing

I'm glad I'm not of the people on the ferry today (diverted to Birkenhead) because it is very windy around the Isle of Man. But the storm is nothing compared to what has been experienced in other parts of the world.

There were very mixed opinions yesterday about the Isle of Man government's decision to donate £100,000 to the emergency relief fund for the Philippines. My colours are well and truly nailed to the mast. I'm proud that the Isle of Man can give more per head of population than the UK. Its certainly nothing to complain about. I got quite worked up last night about the subject which was why I did a special design for the www.manxathletics.com website to make people consider whether they could spare a little cash for the helpless victims of the hurricane.

I'm told by my bother that I would also have got worked up had I attended the presentation about the Manx railways in Bromsgrove last night such were the inaccuracies in the facts presented.

https://www.facebook.com/mike.lambden.9?fref=ts

I think that steam railway enthusiasts (I know its unfair to bracket them all together) sometimes live in a fantasy world. "Fly to the Isle of Man - the only airport in the world where you can catch a steam train." They are visiting an island where more than one million sheep were killed during the snow last winter and where public transport is run at a profit (choke!).

Still I believe there are lots of steam railway enthusiasts visiting the Isle of Man this year and next. The other night I was talking to someone as rare on the Isle of Man as a farmer who is happy with the weather - a hotelier who is happy with his bookings.

Dave Mackey a the Ascot Hotel has a large contingent of railway enthusiasts visiting next summer and its great to hear that the outlook is so good. I just hope they don't plan to take the underground train along the promenade.