Beer and boats
The Mitre Hotel has recently undergone a refurb, but the great harbour view remains. Not many pubs can claim a view straight onto a quayside. Another place where you can find locals belting out karaoke, charity nights for worthwhile local causes, carveries and varied food themed nights upstairs. Downstairs, you can hire the private rooms for functions, or listen or to the local folk and Manx music groups. You can even join in at open mic sessions, or for those musically gifted can take their own instrument of choice and join in. Pub bands are also a regular feature. Something for everyone here, can be found at the Mitre. Even if that something is a quiet pint and an evening sunset.
See here for a night out at the Mitre in aid of a local good cause
Steve and Bob
Ramsey, seems to have become the unofficial home of karaoke on the Isle of Man. Not that other towns here don't have regular karaoke, we just seem to have more people running karaoke and even more wanting to get up and murder songs or own a tune, depending on who it is. To be fair, the town has a high percentage of fantastic singers who are a pleasure to listen to. Sometimes it's the comical strangled cat style of singing which is the somewhat hypnotically entertaining in a road crash kind of way. Steve and Bob, run karaoke on Friday nights in the town, other nights during busy times, like the Isle of Man TT and special holidays. The venue may have changed, from The Stanley pub, to Bar Logo, but the full house of singers have followed them and karaoke, the Friday night Ramsey ritual remains, like the song, the same.
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Side by side. The next shot was a wheel lift and crunch!
Sidecar 15 Roy Hanks/Kevin Perry - Sidecar 16 Gordon Shand / Phil Hyde
This is a new spot to me to photograph from, School House Corner, Lezayre Road, Ramsey. I normally photograph right in the heart of town, Parliament Square. It's not just motorbikes racing at the TT (Tourist Trophy) Road Races, sidecars feature heavily too. There are not many sport events in the world you can get this close to photograph, from the safety of someones garden. For me they are still after 11 years here the best two weeks on the island.
Manx Grand Prix, coming soon.
Night Time Suburbia
Stanley Mount West, Ramsey, Isle of Man
The photo was taken at the fork in the road, bearing left leading into the town. Bearing right would lead you to Stanley Mount East, still leading into town, but along the sea front. This is the spot I now do a lot of sport photography from, like the local Parish Walk and Lighthouses challenge. The setting sun in this image was captured waiting for the leading walkers to pass through Ramsey. It's a great vantage point for the photographer to capture the sporting action, a quiet suburban street. To see images from the walk and cycle race see links below.
The Parish Walk photos
The Lighthouses Challenge, cycle race photos
For other skywatch watchers images, click here
or daybreak
I think it's dusk by the dusky pink light, though I've had to check the camera time. It's a working harbour as you can see my the silhouetted cranes and boats. At this time of night or day though, very few people about. Dusk then. Everyone's in the pub
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Winter is coming
Taken from the bridle path, though I haven't seen any horses for a while, but there are a lot of cyclists and dog walkers. Perhaps it should be renamed This is the entrance from the town side of the Poyll Dooey nature reserve In the distance you can see Bowring bridge which is situated next to Bowring Road and that's where downtown Ramsey begins, just a stone's throw away from this tranquil spot. Taken on a Winter's day, 2010 the only day I've ever know Ramsey in the 11 years since I've been here covered in snow. The next day, snow had turned to slush, but the nature reserve remained.
Gone but not forgotten
There are many fast food outlets in Ramsey, from traditional fish and chip shops to the local kebab shop. Others have closed to be replaced with trendier coffee shops and restaurants. The Chuck Wagon was one of those closed in recent years, now replaced by another food outlet, Coffee Break. The Chuck Wagon was a popular venue in Ramsey for bikers, those visiting tourists, over for the Isle of Man TT Road Races. The fastest of fast food could be bought there, for those needing to eat and ride. A bag of chips or a burger washed down with a can of coke was perfect sustenance. I have friends over for the TT, who remember this place fondly, because it reminds them of "that time of year."
City Daily Photo, theme day today is take away outlets and others around the world can be seen here
