Someone has cleared up the Fairy Bridge?!

[woolley]

+ 1.

 

Load of mawkish nonsense. Man up for Christ's sake. I blame Diana.

[Vulgarian]

One man's art is another's vandalism, one man's memorial is another's litter, one man's custom is another's primitive superstition!

 

To me the place, festooned with card shop tat, looks hideous, but I can't say it really bothers me that much. It's one tree.

 

A lot of people will tell you they don't like what the 'Fairy Bridge' represents. "It's not even the real Fairy Bridge," they will tell you with obvious disgruntlement. We know that the site was not venerated especially by native people - though other places nearby were - but was established as an attraction for passing Victorian tourists on their way to Castletown. The notion of fairies was taken, modified, and commodified for curious trippers who yearned for a taste of the 'celtic', 'mystic' and 'primitive'. The fairies that result from this process are the miniscule winged nymphs who look attractive on postcards and as ornaments. They are a long way from the quarter-sized, treacherous beings of native tradition who had the power to destroy livestock and steal children.

 

These being were most sincerely held to exist by generations of our people up until very recently. They were appropriated for tourists at a time when the rest of Manx culture was being denigrated and discarded. This still continues at the 'fairy bridge' and it doesn't sit well with many people.

[dilligaf]

as I recall when I was a nipper we used to stop and throw five pence in the river under the bridge. And that this wasn't uncommon practice?

Yes and I am very grateful. It paid for a lot of ciggies and sweets.