mollag

Gulls dont fish, they scavenge, they are sea going carrion birds, a cormorant or gannet dives and catches fish, a gull feeds off of floating sewage and dead things. Folk try to big the gulls up as noble birds up with the Perigrine, fact is, they are winged longtails with an uncanny ability to hit cars with shite. IMHO we are overpopulated with gulls they have increased in number as the food source became available, that source is now dimishing so they should fall back in number to their original population. That is natures way. Gulls are problematic http://douglas.gov.im/index.php/news/council-news/item/2408-feeding-of-animals-and-birds-council-clarifies-amended-byelaw-proposal

When the Herring get to the IOM in their migration they are in great nick, fat with oil and full of melts, as they rise at night to feed near the surface, the oil they exude [no swim bladders] to rise, flattens the water, in moonlight a sign of good fishing. Some of the old herring boats used a weighted rod pushed down into the water, seems you could feel the herring bumping into it. Now that's a kipper for your breakfast.

The gulls like to nest near the food souce if possible, around the tips and farms there were few if any cliff like nest sites, they were places to forage and return to the cliffs, Towns though, have good cliff like sites so they nest and scavenge, Strand street is like shopping in a gull colony these days.

Those rough lads found them very much like chicken, likely those days gulls only nested on the cliffs, the food source was sewer outlets, open waste tips and clearings off of the decks of the fishing fleet, all them being absent now, they have moved inland to nest and feed, 3 schools near us [ Somerset road] and many nests, we are being bombed on a daily basis presently 😒

The makin o the salties, 1970's a round the clock enterprise, Peel and the southern ports much the same. I did get to see the Scots lady gutties working in Peel as a lad.

From this source methinks,---https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silver_Darlings Manx Kippers or skeddan jiarg naturally smoked herrings produced in the Isle of Man

Large-ish quotas for herring landing but what to do with it once landed. I'm thinking the processing industry is all but gone, maybe some small scale curing in Peel, perhaps the shore side logistics wontcope and the Skeddans will end up landed elsewhere. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-66097829

Tis an old trick when under fire on Mona, demonise the critics by falsly accusing them of abuse, popping on the victim hat, ,last used by DBC about bin men abuse. 🤔

Carter Moon, we sold and bought two properties with them in the last year, we were very satisfied with their service on both transactions, I wish them well. 👍

Apologies, i've gone a bit stutttery.🙄

For those who missed it, "Jeal" [jeel]---"the getting up to mischief" in the ould speak, very appropriate use, nice 😎

To be honest, we have not bothered with air travel recently, far too hit and miss, what with Manx Care and airport services shambles, I cannot recall the IOM being such a mess .

Is there not a lump of archeaology in that area ? the Purt of Purt e chee ?

There was, prior to the Victory House build, a Lhergy or hill path that ran from Great Nelson St to the other end of the building, you could access it as a short cut from Hyslop's, where the phone shop is. I always imagined this path was relocated to where it is presently, it linked the upper brough to Callow slip, later renamed Drumgold street and Regent Street. "A cul-de-sac off Great Nelson St. in Woods' Plan of 1833, this came out on Prospect Hill nearly opposite Athol St."

Just to pinball away, Chester Street doesnt exist as a throughfare any longer, it exists just in the car park moniker. Wellington Square as was is now Market Street through to Church road Marina, ---I will fetch my coat 😒

I came across an ersatz Cof E Lady Vicar amongst the ex pat community in Turkey [Bodrum] held services, blessings in an ad hoc manner in bars and cafes, a nice enough lass but deep into cosplay i thought. Come to think about it, she had a look of Dawn French at her 🤔

Any skeet on Manx Telecom's move into the rear of the Brewery compound at Kewague [snotty bridge] 🤔

I was 21 before i discovered that a Brothel wasn't a soup kitchen 😒---I is from Fox'all 🤪

I believe that the Yates family lived locally, Milntown I think. One item sold over the bar in the Walpole Avenue Yates side bar was their own brand of tinned sardines, a regular would order a pint, a double white and lemonade and a tin of fish, he/she would have their own fork. 😋

Are any of the IOM Bank coin counting machines working these days?

I'm thinking the car auctions that were held behind the Bowling green ex pub in Douglas, are they held elsewhere these days?