The Changing Fortunes of Port Soderick Bay and Hotel

Is that the roar of motorbike engines I can hear? Is that Bushy's beer tent I can see from my window and are those leather clad men I can see wondering around Strand Street?

It seems so, which can only mean that TT is upon us again and so all my blog posts for the next fortnight will be Manx related.

Port Soderick got a brief mention in a previous post but it deserves a post of its own.

The Isle of Man is known for its glens and among them is Port Soderick. Its Wikipedia entry makes for rather grim reading, describing closed and abandoned buildings, filled in padding pools and unsafe walkways. Strangely, or perhaps not, it's one of my favourite places to visit on the Isle of Man.

In visiting the glen I'm following on from many a tourist from previous generations.  The site was first developed as a tourist attraction by the Forrester brother and advertised as "the only free glen on the island". Holiday makers in the late Victorian era flocked in their droves to the Port Soderick Hotel where they enjoyed the private beach, camera obscura and the funicular. The railway, built in 1898, which still runs today, was once the busiest in the island such was the popularity of the place.

The card below dates to the Edwardian era and shows the funicular, which was destroyed in 1914, as well as the hotel and holiday makers.

This is actually my favourite card in all my collections.

Here it can be seen from a different angle but from the same era.

Although the hotel closed in the 1950s, tourists still came to the hamlet and enjoyed the bay as the card from the early 1960s shows below.

    The hotel was sold to private hands in 1984 but did go through something of a renaissance in the 1990s when celebrity chef Kevin Woodford  had the Anchor Hotel there. This was closed in 2002 and the building has been derelict ever since.

However, in March this year we received news that Heritage Great Britain is interested in buying the site and bringing it back to life. This is great news if it happens, though part of me will miss the quiet secluded Port Soderick I like to visit.