Touring the Isle of Man with Marcia Talley, Kate Charles, and Alan Bradley

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Ever wished you could pack yourself into someone's suitcase for a visit to a fascinating place? Well, here's your chance! Mystery writers (and two of my very best friends and writing buddies) Marcia Talley and Kate Charles take us along on their visit to the Isle of Man with Alan Bradley, author of the wonderful Flavia de Luce books, which I adore. As do Kate and Marcia!

KATE and MARCIA: When we first met Alan Bradley, best-selling author of the Flavia de Luce series, he and his wife, Shirley, were moving from Malta to the Isle of Man where they’d bought a house, a “fixer-upper” overlooking the harbor at Peel. They’d fallen in love with the island – situated in the Irish Sea halfway between England and Ireland – and after listening to their descriptions, we became enchanted, too. “You must come and visit some time,” Alan said.

Douglas Harbour

Three years later, to our surprise and delight, Alan made it happen. 

MARCIA: On Monday, August 14, after an all-night flight from the US, I landed at Manchester Airport where Kate and her husband, Rory, met my plane and whisked me off to Liverpool for the twenty-minute flight to the Isle of Man. We landed at the airport just south of Douglas, the capital, where I picked up the rental car and managed to drive everyone and their luggage to the self-catering flat we’d reserved on Hutchinson Square. 

Hutchinson Square

 

KATE: Marcia’s been visiting me in the UK every year for nearly 25 years, so driving on the “wrong” side of the road with a standard transmission on the “wrong” side of the car isn’t (theoretically) a problem. All went well until she nosed halfway into a parking space on a downhill street and realized it wasn’t at all apparent how to shift into reverse. Time to consult the book in the glove compartment! Nothing in the index under “gears” or “shift” or “transmission”, thank you very much.  By the time Rory located the information under “manual transmission” Marcia had already stumbled over the magic button and managed to park the car.

(DEBS:) That happened to me once with a hired car in England. Terrifying! I finally discovered that you had to pull up on the rubber ring on the gear shift. Who knew?

MARCIA: We later learned that Hutchinson Square – now a quiet enclave of terraced gardens and public art – had been used as an internment camp during World War II. 

KATE: By then we were starving, so after checking in with Alan by phone – we’re here! – we strolled down to the Esplanade for a fine pasta dinner at The Italian Job in the Villa Marina Arcade.

MARCIA: Early the following morning, after warding off the attempts of a persistent seagull to share my breakfast pastry, I got behind the wheel again and braved the narrow lanes and twisty, country roads – famed for the annual fast and extremely dangerous TTmotorcycle races – as we headed off across the island to Peel to meet Alan and Shirley for coffee at their delightful seafront house. We were joined there by radio personality Bob Harrison. Bob – a local institution, it soon became clear – would be our escort, tour guide and interviewer for the next several days.  

Bob Harrison

KATE: At lunch time, we were craving some of the seafood that the Isle of Man is famous for. Bob recommended the Little Fish Café on the quayside in Douglas, where Marcia got to compare the local oysters to those from the Chesapeake Bay, while I feasted on a scrumptious lobster roll and Rory went for the catch of the day.  

Marcia, Kate, and Rory Chase, Kate's lovely husband.

 After lunch, Bob accompanied us to RadioManx, a former radar tracking station high on a hill overlooking the harbour. We were featured on “Women Today”

in a lively hour-long interview with hosts Beth Espey and Michelle Jamieson.

MARCIA: That evening, in spite of a relentless drizzle, Alan, Kate and I drew a standing-room-only crowd at Waterstone’s bookshop in Douglas. Bob is an experienced interviewer who’d read our books, asked thought-provoking questions and managed a lively Q&A with an enthusiastic audience. The bookshop staff couldn’t have been more supportive! They kept the shop – and the coffee bar! – open late for the event.

The following day, Alan and Bob had arranged a surprise. Researching my book Dark Passage, I’d done a lot of reading on the history of magic and illusion.  Magic shows were big in 19^th century England, and theaters had been designed to facilitate them, including the Gaiety in Douglas. 

We were given a VIP private tour of the theatre, which has recently been fully restored to its 1899 splendor.  Of special interest were the intricate mechanisms under the stage – the coffin trap, the Corsican Brothers trap – and the ropes, lifts and pulleys that made the stage magic happen.

KATE: The theatre’s manager told us that sailors stuck in the harbour for the winter were often hired as builders, so a lot of what we saw looked like we were aboard a ship.

Wednesday evening, another standing-room-only crowd – and a fire in the fireplace! – greeted us at DalbyChurch, on the wet and wild west side of the Isle of Man. The church is famous on the island for offering hospitality, including wonderful home-made cakes, and they did us proud. For the price of admission (£5, benefiting the Dalby Restoration Fund and the Family and Mobile Library), another enthusiastic audience was treated to three authors in conversation, sandwiches, tea, and all the cake they could eat!  Once again, Bob MC’d the event. The BridgeBookshop from Port Erin provided the books.

MARCIA: You’re probably wondering by now if we had any time to play tourist. On Thursday Alan had planned a little down time. We met him for lunch in Peel, prowled around the shops (two second-hand book shops!) and spent some time touring the Cathedral.

KATE: A former parish church, the Cathedral at Peel is the seat of the Diocese of Sodor and Man. We took advantage of its most recent addition with a contemplative stroll around the new labyrinth, a replica of the medieval labyrinth at the Chartres Cathedral in France carved by Balinese stone mason Ongky Wijana. 

 

Later that afternoon, back at Alan and Shirley’s home, we were privileged to ‘ride’ (or at least pose for photos with) Gladys, Flavia de Luce’s intrepid bicycle.

Marcia and Gladys!

 MARCIA: Dinner that night was a special treat for all of us, especially me. I spent a good part of my growing up years in China and in Taiwan – and dinner at Mrs. Yang’s in Douglas was the best Chinese food I’ve had since Taipei. 

Yum!

It was worth the whole price of my airline ticket!

KATE: On Friday, we were back on the road, dodging speeding motorbikes as we crossed the extinct volcano at the heart of the island to catch up with the Mobile Library on its route north to Andreas/Jurby. The librarian in charge, Sandra Henderson, made us feel welcome as we greeted patrons (and their dogs!). 

Kate and Rory in the mobile library.

MARCIA: We’d planned to have lunch at a nearby pub, but around noon, just as we were getting hungry, we smelled smoke. James, the mobile van driver, ran down the road and around the corner and came back to report that, “Lunch is off the menu.”

KATE: The pub was on fire! Sandra recommended a diversion to the canteen at the RAF airbase near Jurby, where they were hosting a 1940s-style weekend. This was an added bonus for me – if I’d known it was happening, I would have packed my vintage 1940s dress and joined in with the fun. 

That said, the War itself wasn’t much fun for the many airmen stationed there. Following lunch, we paid a sobering visit to Jurbychurchyard, where a number of US and Canadian pilots were buried after their planes crashed short of the runway.

MARCIA: I could have spent several weeks exploring the wonderful Isle of Man, but we had to rush off to catch our plane.

KATE:  I know! So many things yet to explore. The three steam railways, for example. The castle! The Great Laxey Wheel! We visited two churches – including one at Maughold where there’s an ancient collection of Celtic Crosses – but there’s so much more we missed.

MARCIA:  We’ll have to go back some day. In the meantime, thanks to Alan, Shirley, Bob, Sandra and all the wonderful citizens of the Isle of Man who made our visit so special.

KATE: I’ll second that.

DEBS: I'll third that!! Seriously, next time I'm coming along. Thank you, thank you, Kate and Marcia, for the whirlwind tour. I almost feel I've been to the Isle of Man, and now I certainly want to visit! You two are the best ever tour guides (and Marcia is much better at driving on the "wrong" side of the road than I am...) and I am green with envy. 

Kate and Marcia will be dropping in to chat, so here's your chance to find out more about their fabulous visit!

Alan Bradley is the NYTimes best-selling author of the Flavia de Luce mystery series.  Look for The Grave's a Fine and Silent Place in January 2018.

http://alanbradleyauthor.com

Acclaimed as the Queen of Clerical Crime, Kate Charles is the author of more than a dozen crime novels. The latest, False Tongues, is fourth in the Callie Anson series.

http://www.katecharles.com

Marcia Talley is the Anthony and Agatha-award winning author of Footprints to Murder and fourteen previous novels featuring survivor and sleuth, Hannah Ives.

www.marciatalley.com

REDS ALERT! Kait is the winner of Laura DiSilverio's THAT LAST WEEKEND. You can contact her at ldisilverio AT gmail DOT com