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Fairy Bridge | |
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Location | A5 road, Isle of Man |
Coordinates | 54°06′52″N4°35′43″W / 54.11444°N 4.59528°W Coordinates: 54°06′52″N4°35′43″W / 54.11444°N 4.59528°W |
Fairy Bridge, Isle of Man (Manx : Ballalona - Glen Farm [1] ) is a small bridge over the Santon Burn in the Isle of Man, located on the primary A5 Port Erin to Douglas road, at grid reference 305720, on the parish boundary between Santon and Malew (and also the boundary between the sheadings of Middle and Rushen). A superstition associated with the Fairy Bridge is that passers-by must greet the fairies as they cross it; it is considered bad luck not to greet them. [2]
A superstition is to greet the fairies (an English term for the Mooinjer Veggey ("Little People"); historically never called fairies or ferrish by the Manx and not of similar disposition to the English fairies[ citation needed ]) when crossing the Fairy Bridge; it is considered unlucky not to greet them.
From the 1950s, it was reportedly the custom to advise a visitor of the myth on the journey south from Douglas or north from the airport. This was timed so that one was required to say "Good morning Fairies!" just as the teller and his guest(s) crossed the Fairy Bridge. This would subsequently be repeated by the same or other tellers, leaving visitors perplexed as to the tellers' beliefs.
Buses passing the Fairy Bridge make an automatic announcement before passing the bridge saying: "Please observe the Manx tradition by saying "Hello Fairies" as we cross the Fairy Bridge".
Like many local superstitions on the Isle of Man, the Fairy Bridge myth is changing with the influx of new residents. It has always been a whimsical practice, never taken too seriously by residents, despite food writer A.A. Gill's repetition in London newspaper "The Times" of an urban myth that taxi drivers will stop if the passenger does not greet the fairies.
Motorcycle racers and spectators at the annual TT and Manx Grand Prix races tend to take the ritual seriously, in most cases making a point of visiting the bridge before setting up for practice and the races. In an example of confirmation bias, mishaps and crashes are readily attributed to the fairies' displeasure; likewise lucky escapes.
It has been suggested that the location was on the boundaries of the land of the nearby Rushen Abbey, and the greeting is a folk memory of crossing oneself at the sight of the crucifix marking the boundary of the monastery's land. This superstition may possibly have arisen at this location during the 19th century in response to the large number of tourists visiting the Island.
The now commonly known '"Real" Fairy Bridge', shown as the "Fairy Bridge" on old Ordnance Survey maps, is located in the parish of Braddan across the Middle River near the footpath from Oakhill to Kewaigue. 54°08′15″N4°31′19″W / 54.13750°N 4.52194°W
Castletown is a town in the Isle of Man, geographically within the historical parish of Malew but administered separately. Lying at the south of the island, it was the Manx capital until 1869. The centre of town is dominated by Castle Rushen, a well-preserved medieval castle, originally built for a Viking king.
Ramsey is a coastal town in the north of the Isle of Man. It is the second largest town on the island after Douglas. Its population is 7,845 according to the 2016 Census. It has one of the biggest harbours on the island, and has a prominent derelict pier, called the Queen's Pier. It was formerly one of the main points of communication with Scotland. Ramsey has also been a route for several invasions by the Vikings and Scots.
Rushen Abbey is a former abbey on the Isle of Man, located in Ballasalla. Originally home for monks of the Savignac order, it soon came under Cistercian control and remained so until its dissolution. The abbey is located two miles from Castle Rushen, the politically most important site on the island in medieval times. Both these sites are on the Awin Rosien, a river now called the Silver Burn.
Kitterland is an islet in the Calf Sound between the Isle of Man and the Calf of Man in the Irish Sea.
Local governmentin the Isle of Man was formerly based on six sheadings, which were divided into seventeen parishes. The island is today divided for local government purposes into town districts, village districts, parish districts, and "districts", as follows:
Philip Anderson Gawne, better known as Phil Gawne, is a former Member of the House of Keys for Rushen, a constituency in the Isle of Man. He also served in a number of ministerial posts on the island and is therefore a former member of the Council of Ministers.
Santon, historically Santan, is one of the seventeen historic parishes of the Isle of Man.
Braddan is one of the seventeen parishes of the Isle of Man.
Colby railway station is a small railway station on the southern edge of the village of Colby in the south of the Isle of Man served by the Isle of Man Railway; it forms part of the sole remaining section of the network which once covered over 46 miles island-wide.
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Fenodyree in the folklore of the Isle of Man, is a hairy supernatural creature, a sort of sprite or fairy, often carrying out chores to help humans, like the brownies of the larger areas of Scotland and England.
The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or TT Course is a street and public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle TT Course is used principally for the Isle of Man TT Races and also the separate event of the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling for the Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT Races held in September of each year. The start-line for the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course is located on Glencrutchery Road in the town of Douglas, Isle of Man.
The Chronicles of the Kings of Mann and the Isles or Manx Chronicle is a medieval Latin manuscript relating the early history of the Isle of Man.
One of the characteristics of the Isle of Man Railway are the numerous level crossings and farm crossings along the various routes; many smaller crossing places are marked only by gates the criss-cross farm land and provide access to individual private roads which connect the farms to the main roads. Being largely rural in nature the railway has many of these scattered along the existing South Line, and there were, as one might expect, many more on the closed sections of the railway. These can be summarised as follows, along with other points of interest along the line not covered in the Isle of Man Railway stations section:-
Quarterbridge Crossing was the first major crossing point of the Isle of Man Railway's first line from Douglas to Peel. It opened in 1873, but closed in 1968, with the rest of the line.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Isle of Man:
The Bungalow, Isle of Man, one of a handful of better-known vantage points spread around the Snaefell Mountain Course, is situated adjacent to the 31st Milestone roadside marker on the road junction of the primary A18 Mountain Road, the A14 Sulby Glen Road and the road-tramway crossing for the Snaefell Mountain Railway in the parish of Lezayre in the Isle of Man.
Quarterbridge is situated soon after the 1 mile-marker measured from the TT Grandstand, part of the Snaefell Mountain Course used for the Isle of Man TT races, at the junction of the primary A1 Douglas to Peel road, A2 Douglas to Ramsey road and the A5 Douglas to Port Erin road which forms the boundary between the parishes of Braddan and Onchan in the Isle of Man.
Bushy's Brewery is a local brewery in Braddan in the Isle of Man, which was founded by brother and sister Martin and Nicky Brunnschwieler in 1986.
The Manx Museum in Douglas, Isle of Man is the national museum of the Isle of Man. It is run by Manx National Heritage. In general, the museum covers 10,000 years the history of the Isle of Man from the Stone Age to the modern era.