Isle of Man - Parents’ Honeymoon Locations

Summer 1967 / 2024

In the summer of 1967, my parents honeymooned in the Isle of Man, having married the previous December. I’d always wondered about the exact location of these slightly blurry black and white photos. They were taken on 127 square film on a Kodak Brownie that I took my very first photo on about 6 years later.

I first visited the Isle of Man, for the TT races, in 2019 and visited the Laxey Wheel. When I returned home, I was surprised how the landscape had changed from the same position in 1967. I then had the idea of trying to locate and recreate the other photos from my parents’ honeymoon.

I knew they stayed in the captial Douglas, and not having a car, most locations would probably be local and possibly a bus ride away. I expected the white-washed cottage, boating lake and seafront photos to be fairly easy to find, but the woodland ones, I honestly didn’t expect to find 57 years on. To my amazement, I stumbled on the woodland locations by chance. The location - Summerhill Glen - wasn’t too surprising, being a park in Douglas. What I couldn’t believe is the fallen tree that my mum stood beside was still there.

The boating lake was still there, again in Douglas, but sadly the boats were gone. However, a visit to the Manx Transport Heritage Museum, surprisingly provided a preserved boat from the same boating late. Perhaps the actual one my parents used.

I obviously didn’t take the photos, my wife did. I quickly gave up trying to direct her to get an exact position as she was becoming impatient with my little project. But I’m pleased with what I found.