Visiting Cregneash village on the Isle of Man is like taking a trip into the past. The village, with its thatched crofters’ cottages, is described as being a living museum which gives an insight into the traditional Manx way of life. Entry to the village and cottages costs £5 for adults and £2.50 for children over 5 (free for under 5s).
Our visit started with being shown a short film about the village followed by a wander around the exhibition describing the lives of the crofters, their main trades of farming and fishing and the village itself. Another part of the exhibition focused on the Manx language and the recordings that were made of the few elderly speakers of it to help preserve the language (which is now being revived). I didn’t get to read as much of the information displayed as I would have liked as the girls were much more interested in chasing each other around the room!
The cottages in the village give a glimpse into life as a crofter in the 19th century. The villagers in each cottage are dressed in period costume and demonstrate some of the activities that were part of everyday life. I particularly enjoyed watching one lady spinning the wool from the four-horned Loaghtan sheep that were grazing in the fields around the cottages.
Jessica and Sophie mostly enjoyed wandering around outside the cottages and seeing the various animals in the fields – horses, cows and sheep – not to mention the Manx cats curled up by the peat fires in the cottages.
We ended our visit at the café where the girls both enjoyed an ice-cream each and I sampled some yummy bonnag – a traditional Manx fruit scone with butter spread on top.
We also visited The Sound, a scenic spot just south of Cregneash where we enjoyed views across to the Calf of Man, a tiny island off the coast of the Isle of Man. It was a great place to see seals – there were lots of them sunbathing on the rocks of Kitterland, a small rocky islet between the Isle of Man and the Calf of Man. It was a shame I didn’t have my zoom lens with me as I would have loved to have taken some photos of them.
What an interesting place! We visited the Mayflower 2 in Plymouth (Massachusetts!) this week, and they have people in costume role playing and it was a great addition to the experience. Those thatched cottages are beautiful, as are the views at The Sound x #countrykids
Thanks Sara – love the sound of the role play in costume at the Mayflower 2 – sounds really interesting.
Wow! The view is stunning. The cottages looks so beautiful too. I’m sure you had a great time especially the girls. xx Have a lovely weekend.
Thanks Melody – it was a lovely place to visit 🙂
Oh Louise I adore places like this, so great to gain a glimpse into life as it used to be. It looks so well preserved and even the red phone box which I know from ours takes a fair amount of upkeep! The scenery is breathtaking too and lots of space for the girls to explore and play while you takeit all in. Thank you for sharing with me on Country Kids.
Thanks Fiona – I never thought about the upkeep that is needed for something like a red phone box but it so lovely to be able to preserve them. Always a pleasure to link up with #CountryKids 🙂
It looks like a lovely place to explore and discover the history. Beautiful views
Thanks Emma – we enjoyed our afternoon there 🙂
It looks like a neat way to learn about the ways of the past. Your picture of the sound is beautiful.
Thank you Keitha – the view itself was gorgeous, couldn’t quite do it justice with the photos 🙂
Oh wow! This looks like such an interesting place to visit. I love the idea of it being a living museum and it looks like such a pretty little village. I also like the sound of those Manx scones!!
#CountryKids
Thanks Karen, it was a lovely place to visit and those Manx scones were delicious! 🙂
It looks so beautiful and idyllic Louise, love the cottages x
Thanks Cathy, it was such a lovely place to visit 🙂
What a wonderful place to explore, looks so idyllic doesn’t it #CountryKids
It was gorgeous – we really enjoyed our afternoon there 🙂
It looks perfectly wild and timeless.I love visiting places that haven’t caught up with the 21st century yet.
It was beautiful and so lovely to step away from modern life for a bit.
How beautiful, I love places like this.
Especially the photo with the telephone box to one side, all of that greenery is so pretty.
and the scones sound yummy too! 🙂 x
Thank you Jayne, it was such a pretty place to explore 🙂