Barbara has almost completed a painting of Derbyhaven. She tells me it will be finished today, so I will attach the picture of it to one of next week's blogs. Derbyhaven has always been a very special place to me, unfortunately though, today the village has lost its character and charm. It is almost as if someone came along and selected the right kind of people, built the right type of houses and just super imposed the new Derbyhaven over the top of the old one. When I was a child, Derbyhaven ha
Today I was supposed to be speaking at a cancer seminar at Nobles Hospital. However, for reasons unknown to me at present, it has been cancelled until after Christmas. I had never heard of the word oncology until I began my chemotherapy at the oncology unit at Nobles. I have still never come across a hospital with a cancer department. The word oncology reminds me of the civic amenity centre. We use to call that, the tip!
I used to be a blind child, then I was a blind man. Now, I am visually
Hello folks, I have been thinking about neighbours lately. When I was a kid growing up at Janet’s Corner, the entire housing estate were your neighbours really. The neighbours seemed to spend as much time in your house then, as they did there own. We borrowed, bread, sugar, and even money from each other. I can’t remember anyone being regarded as a bad neighbour. No loud music ever came from next door, but then we didn’t have stereo players. Somehow Jim Reeves and Cliff Richards being played on
Good morning folks. Well I have had a couple of messages sent to me through the forum. Can I just remind you that should you want a reply from me, email me at tomglassey@manx.net. Yes, I can read messages left through the forum; however replying to them through the forum is quite another matter.
This Wednesday I have been invited to speak at a seminar which has been setup for the welfare of cancer sufferers. The idea is that a group of doctors, nurses and consultants have come together and
I first started blogging last February. Before then I didn’t even know what a blog was. Having being diagnosed with lung cancer, and with my future looking pretty bleak, someone suggested I should write a blog. My wife Barbara being something of a computer techy, set me up and I have been blogging away ever since. To date almost 17,000 people have logged onto my blog and I have made friends and established contacts with people from all over the world. Indeed the articles in Manx Tails have only
I have been keeping my eye on the QE2 on the AIS system, as she makes her way around Britain on her farewell cruise before she becomes a floating hotel in Dubai. At the time of writing, she has just left South Queensferry for Newcastle. Last week she called into Douglas bay and many folks got up early to go and take a look at her. I can understand why people would want to go and see such a prestigious ship. I have been ship mad, or at least boat mad, just about all my life. Yet the visit of the
A few days ago, I dedicated the blog to a wonderful Castletown character Gordon Cooil who sadly has now past on. It was heartening to receive emails from various parts of the world from Manxies who have fled the nest and still remember Gordon with such fondness. Steve in New Zealand still recalls being wound up by both Gordon and his brother Juan, in the Union pub. I hope you did not waste too much time looking for those pearls in the Silverburn River Steve that obviously made a fortune for Gor
I woke up at 3am and I have been awake ever since. It started with Skipper wanting out for a pee, and then of course I simply could not get back to sleep again. At 4-30, I gave in trying to sleep and went and made a cup of tea and turned on the radio. I heard someone say. “In America, they have Johnny cash, Bob Hope, and Stevie Wonder! In the UK we have no cash, no hope, and no wonder!” Well I’m not sure what that is supposed to mean but I thought I would share it with you.
I went to the Du
Sorry folks, no the large vessel seen in Douglas bay this morning was not the Steam Packet’s new fast craft. It was a farewell visit from the QE2. Although as she has never visited us before, I’m not sure why she called it a farewell visit, I guess it must have been a sort of hello good-bye job. Having just checked out AIS, she is now heading for the Mersey bar and making 19 knots. The QE2 arrived from Cork early this morning and set off for Liverpool around 7 a.m., the same time as the Viking w
It’s Thursday afternoon. This week has been a real turning point for me. I actually feel now as if I am getting back towards full fitness. A couple of weeks ago, I hit a really bad patch. I was actually in the midst of some severe side effects of radiation. It actually felt much worse than that. I had been warned of the side effects of radiation; however, I was expecting them to arrive soon after treatment or even during treatment. Not three months after, and not all at the same time. My days be
In the last blog I was talking about guns, my brief ownership of a water pistol and cap gun. Another form of a firearm we had as kids was the pea shooter and I had one just like everyone else. It was just a simple piece of pipe about 6 inches long which I’m sure we bought in Peggy Watterson’s toy shop for about a shilling or so. With a bag of hard peas nicked from someone’s mum, we would sit happily picking off shoppers as they made their way home from Castletown. Of course being hit by a hard p
I think Sackers lived in the School Hill end of Castletown. I never knew his real name or got to find out who he really was. I only remember him being about 19 or 20. He never seemed to progress beyond that age. Of course to us 6 or 7 year old kids, he was all but an old man. He was a kids dream, a sort of kid’s handyman, always on hand to fix wheel barrows, boogies or whatever. With a few bits of drift wood found on the beach, a length or two of old rope and an hour later or so, Sackers would h
One thousand years ago or so, men came from the North. They landed in Peel and proceeded to rape and pillage the Island. I am sure that many of these Vikings were good and noble men, and in the passage of time it would appear that they probably brought more to the Island than they took. As a child I knew nothing of the Vikings. I had heard of them of course. But apart from a few boat loads of men running around the Island with horns on their hats, that was about as much as we kids knew, or wante
Last Thursday I visited my consultant to check on how I am getting on. He gave me the all clear for four months. I am told that that it means I’ve made good progress. 6 months ago I came out of a doctor’s surgery having being told I probably only had a short time to live. How life can turn around for you! You just never really know what is in store for you. That is why you should never ever give up hope no matter how hopeless your situation might seem. I remember lying in bed last February and o
Well I have calmed down a little now from when I turned on my radio this morning. The first thing that annoyed me was the announcement of the mansion house dinner tonight. Yes, it seems there is to be a dinner for 200 guests tonight sponsored by the IOM Government. Apart from a few top wigs in our Government, the movers and shakers from the finance sector will all be present. This includes bankers and what have you from the UK. According to our lot, this piece of nonsense is going to bring bungl
Sometimes the most innocent questions or small requests can lead to the most unimaginable circumstances. Many years ago, a friend of mine asked me if I fancied a teatime pint. “Yes, no problem” I answered. An hour later we are both stood in the pub and my friend got a message to join the Peveril (a Steam Packet cargo ship) in Douglas and sail for Liverpool. “Do you fancy a trip?” he asked. The next thing I know, I was on my way to Liverpool. After spending all day discharging in Coburg Dock, we
I was really saddened yesterday when my wife Barbara read in the examiner that my old friend Francie Hughes had died. Francie came here from County Armagh and lived in Ramsey for many years. He was a leading member of the folk group, the Mannin folk. Francie was a larger than life character, full of fun and always with a song on the end of his tongue. Occasionally he would come back to our house when we lived in Ramsey. With a bottle of porter between us, Francie would entertain us by playing
Well I must say it was nice to see Liverpool wallop the MANCS yesterday, I guess their parachute payment at the end of the season will come in handy to tempt Bobby Charlton out of retirement. It is strange how the rivalry in Liverpool between Liverpool and Everton has now swung to the Liverpool United match. It is a shame though that what used to be good old rivalry has now turned to hatred amongst a few.
When I was at the blind school in Liverpool, every year we played Henshaws blind schoo
Today is not a good day for travellers. An airline XL has gone bust leaving over 100,000 people stranded around the world. A fire on a train in the channel tunnel has shut down the tunnel for the foreseeable future. Thousands of people have lost their holiday in the sun and won’t get their money back. If I was to go around Castletown selling vacuums, taking people’s money, and then not turning up with the vacuums, I would now be sampling the delights of Jurby Jail, so why are these directors all
Well yesterday I began the day feeling really good. I managed a walk in the morning and again in the evening. I began to go down hill fast just after dinner and had to retire to bed. I was looking forward to listening to the England match last night so with my radio turned on and relaxed in my bed for the match. When I next focussed England had won 4-1 and 5live were crackling on about the big bang theory. I once was actually present when a big bang took place. I and my two brothers were at hom
I am told that extremely heavy rain is coming our way from Northern Ireland and it should be with us in about an hour or so. Waiting for heavy rain is a bit like waiting for a bus that is going somewhere you don’t want to go to, like hospital or work. Talking of busses, back in the days of the old route master bus, where you got on at the back and paid the conductor, there used to be a conductor from Port Erin called Frankie Clucas. I recall an incident one day whereby about four of us boarded t
I have woken up today feeling good for the first time in over two weeks. It's as if I have been given a reprieve for my birthday. I have let so many birthdays slip by in the past unnoticed. However, if there is such a thing as a special birthday, then I suppose this is one. Today I am 55. I was not supposed so see this birthday. On this day last year I woke up, got dressed and reached for my pipe. Of course I did not know what lay ahead. By October I had packed in smoking, and by November I was
Good morning people. Sorry for going AWOL for a whole week. I don’t want to become a whinge, so I will just briefly explain that I have not been feeling too good for this last two weeks or so. It is purely the side effects of radiation. When it’s bad I simply don’t have the energy to do anything. All I want to do is sleep and that isn’t good for you. Well now I shan’t crackle on about being ill anymore.
Barbara has bought me a very expensive birthday present, a Bose digital radio. Well it’s
So, here we are on September 1st. Another summer is drawing to an end. Some of you will say, “What summer?” Ok, the weather might not have been as good as we might have wanted it to be, none-the-less, another TT has past, another tin bath event has gone by, two agricultural shows, the Southern 100 and the Manx Grand Prix to mention but a few. All these events are hallmarks of our summer. Strange though isn’t it. When we wake up on Christmas morning and the sun is shining, and there is no snow or
Hi people. Well this is just a very short blog whilst Barbara has nipped out with Skipper. I saw the consultant yesterday and he is sending me for a head scan. I’m not keen on a head scan but I guess I will just have to go along with whatever they say for now. Sadly there will not be a gathering tonight but hopefully we will have one tomorrow night. The consultant said that after my scan he might have to put me on steroids. He has a weird accent and I thought he said he was going to give me a lo
