FANY (PRVC) Ex. MANX ODYSSEY April 2022 – Ulysses Trust ID 2828
Ex MANX ODYSSEY was a four day adventurous training exercise on the Isle of Man, by kind permission of our Commanding Officer, based at her home on the Island.
The exercise was designed to promote teamwork and reward our volunteers for their work during the pandemic, plus to provide an opportunity for new members to integrate with longer serving Corps members, which has not been available to them in the normal way as a result of the pandemic.
One member writes: “It is said that from the summits of the Isle of Man you can gaze upon seven kingdoms: England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Man, the Sea, and Heaven. As we stood on the peak of North Barrule, buffeted by the bitterly cold wind but exhilarated by the steep climb, we could see nothing but rapidly swirling cloud on all sides. Nevertheless, as the week went on, one kingdom after another emerged on the horizon, the isle reluctantly pulling back its protective veil of mist to reveal the British Isles’ best kept secret.”
On Day 1, the members drove up into the rugged centre of the island via the winding mountain road made infamous by the annual TT motorbike race. Despite the bright sunshine in the sheltered valleys below, the arctic wind at the tops was biting as we forged our own route through the heather and rock outcrops to the summit of North Barrule. It was interesting to see the different techniques members used for the challenging ascent. One commented: “I stubbornly held onto my personal mantra of “start cold, get warm” until eventually my hands lost all feeling and I capitulated to gloves and a coat”, while others were adapting layers as they went. After dropping gratefully into the valley beneath towards the shelter of an old croft, we then made super-quick progress along a drovers track before a gruelling extended climb back up to the vehicles. We did not have time on our side, as the tickets had been booked for a trip on the vintage mountain railway up to the summit of the neighbouring Snaefell (Man’s only official mountain).
Later that afternoon we returned to Douglas via St John’s Church and Tynwald Hill (the site of the world’s oldest continuous parliament). In the evening, we had a wide-ranging lecture given by eminent local historian Charles Guard on the history of the island, including the service the Island’s men have given to the Crown over the past centuries, focussing on the past two world wars, with the use of the island as an internment camp. We were therefore sorry not to be able to visit the Manx Aviation and Military Museum later in the expedition, but our programme was rearranged owing to the weather.
Day 2 was another physically challenging day. Led by the experienced guides at the Venture Centre, we donned wetsuits and helmets on Saturday for a canyoning expedition up a nearby glen. This involved members scrambling, sliding, and climbing up multiple waterfalls and rapids before sliding down natural rock-chutes into deep swimming holes. This was a real test of courage and endurance for members, and an excellent example of teamwork as all the FANYs made it through the entire course happy and (mostly) uninjured. The instructor told us afterwards that we were the “most enthusiastic adult group he’d ever had”. In the afternoon, we drove to the Calf of Man, where we saw seals rolling in the surf and gannets diving for fish (sadly no wild wallabies). We walked along cliff edges and looked at unusual rock formations including a hike to the Chasms at the southern tip of the isle: an area of fractured rock where the sea-cliffs are slipping into the waves, creating immensely deep crevasses winding inland.
Day 3 brought unfavourable weather, and the sea was too choppy for the planned sea-kayaking. The Venture Centre offered us a high-ropes course, which those of us in the know claimed was “much tricker than Go Ape”. There were several expedition members terrified of heights, who, despite the unanticipated challenge, mastered their fears and conquered the course, culminating in a death-defying zipline over a valley. We were proud of the 100% completion rate, a tribute to the enduring bravura and fortitude of FANYs. Having been told about the unusual geographical formation at the top of the island, we drove up to the Point of Ayre, where we walked along the beach to the tip. Nobody was tempted to swim in this water, but in the afternoon the wild-swimming enthusiasts coaxed half the group into a sea swimming expedition. In the early evening, we were privileged to be given a fascinating after-hours visit to the Great Union Camera Obscura, a Victorian edifice in Douglas, where we were given a tour by guru Peter Kelly.
Our final day was spent driving to some of the more remote parts of the island, including a very small historic church with Viking era crosses and grave markers which are a historic feature of Man. We also visited the pretty village of Laxey, whose mills and enormous 22m water wheel revealed its mining past, before watching a local tweed maker who uses bicycle power to weave cloth. There was a further sea swimming challenge from Niarbyl Bay which is famous for being a place where two continents meet – Gondwanaland and Laurentia.
The island is an incredible mix of land- and sea-scapes and imbued with a deeply rich history and culture, and we felt extremely privileged to experience so much of it. Everyone we met was enthusiastic to show off Man’s natural and cultural treasures. We left on Monday evening having experienced a bewildering cocktail of high moorland, sea-cliffs, raised beaches, Viking archaeology, tectonic plate boundaries, Victorian tourism and local folklore, all in an island encompassing just 220 square miles.
We are extremely grateful to the Ulysses Trust for enabling us to take part in this exercise, as the funding made it possible to include members who would not otherwise be able to afford to take part. Our members were drawn from all ranks in the Corps, wide-ranging in both age and ability, so a lot of teamwork was needed to undertake some of the more challenging activities.
