The Isle of Man men’s football team stormed into the final of the NatWest Island Games football tournament, for a fourth occasion, with a totally convincing 3-1 victory over a well-organised Shetland side on Thursday evening.

Nick Hurt’s charges have been in superb form as they advanced through the Games and fully deserve their opportunity to claim gold for the very first time.

After a cautious start from both sides, the Manx side moved into the driving seat with the new front pairing of Conor Doyle and Ciaran McNulty causing a series of problems to the Scottish defence.

McNulty remained a constant threat and the Isle of Man came close to taking the lead when he broke clear before rattling the crossbar.

Then, on 31 minutes, the pressure finally told when Nick Hurt’s side took the lead. Doyle’s clever run outsmarted the Shetland defence and he advanced into the area, before unselfishly slipping the ball across to Lee Gale to slam the ball home.

The Manx side remained in control until late in the opening half when the Scottish side enjoyed their first two attempts on goal. Substitute Greg Tullock worked a shooting position before blasting over the crossbar. Then just before the interval, James Atkinson sent a good opportunity wide of an upright.

Although the Shetland side began the second half in positive fashion, normal service was soon resumed with McNulty causing problems again. ,As the Manx team looked to add a second, a Danny Bell effort was well saved by impressive Scottish keeper Erik Peterson before Bass delivered another excellent cross, Gale’s header drew another fine stop from the Shetland custodian.

Then, on 71 minutes and against the run of play, the Shetland side grabbed an equaliser when defender Shane Jamieson outsmarted the Manx defence to firmly head home a corner to level the scores.

The goal, however, simply appeared to spur on the Manx men and within two minutes, they were back in front. The ball fell kindly to skipper Frank Jones, on the edge of the box and his perfectly placed strike found the bottom left corner of the net, beating Peterson’s despairing dive.

Not content with the single-goal advantage, Hurt’s side pressed on and when McNulty played a clever ball over from the bye-line, Jones was in the right place at the right time to add his second to make it 3-1.

The two quick goals, late in the game, appeared to knock the stuffing out of the Scottish side and the Manx team kept their composure to record an important victory.

IOM v Shetland: Max Thomas, Liam Cowin, Dominic McGreevy, Johnny Myers, Marc Kelly, Lee Gale, Frank Jones (c), Danny Bell, Chris Bass Jr, Conor Doyle, Ciaran McNulty

The Isle of Man’s cycling road racing team claimed their third gold medal of the week in the men’s criterium at the NatWest Island Games on Thursday in what turned out to be hugely controversial circumstances.

Nathan Draper sprinted to his second silver medal in the 16th biennial Games - having finished second in Tuesday’s road race - after a little over an hour’s racing around a 1.5-kilometre circuit in St Helier.

However, it proved to be a testing day for officials and commissaires as there was controversy in both the men’s and women’s races..

It all began prior to the start of the women’s contest at 1pm when the Jersey team were seemingly penalised for taking an extra lap of practice before the race.

This meant that one of the their riders would have to lap the field if they were to contend one of the podium places.

An interesting battle soon unfolded as Team Isle of Man’s Lizzie Holden and Jersey’s Kim Ashton - who twice beat Holden in the time trial and road races earlier in the week - broke clear and built up a considerable gap.

There was drama when Holden came off her bike on a slippery patch going round a corner, thanks to the morning’s rain, but she was soon back on her bike and chasing hard, albeit roughly 10 seconds behind Ashton.

Try as she might, Lizzie was unable to close the gap on the Jersey rider over the remaining laps and the latter crossed the finish line celebrating her supposed win, seemingly not knowing that her team had been penalised.

Holden was awarded the win but the Jersey team protested the decision. A few hours of uncertainty followed with no news forthcoming, until it was unveiled that an official appeal is due to be heard on Friday morning, leaving Lizzie still in limbo as to which medal she will receive.

The drama continued in the evening’s men’s criterium race during which the riders from Saaremaa were allegedly involved in several unsavoury incidents with Isle of Man riders, resulting in a number of clashes including IoM’s Robin Garry who was injured following a spill.

Despite the chaos around them, the Manx team pushed on in force and had at least two riders in the leading group throughout nearly the entire race.

Indeed an interesting battle unfolded at the front with Isle of Man’s Leon Mazzone and Nathan Draper causing problems for their rivals.

With just a few laps to go, a Saaremaa rider broke clear off the front and opened up a small gap but, by the start of the next lap, the leaders were all back together again.

And it stayed that way until the final metres of the race when a Bermudan rider shot off the front late on to claim a fine win.

Little did he know of the drama unfolding behind him though. As they burst for the line, Draper was involved in an incident with a Saaremaa rider before sprinting to a clear second place.

Mazzone then went toe-to-toe with the Saaremaa rider in the battle for the bronze medal and appeared to just edge out his opponent by the narrowest of margins.

The drama was not done there though as the Saaremaa rider was penalised 30 seconds for his earlier actions which took him out of the equation in the running for third.

However, a transponder error meant that Mazzone’s bike didn’t show up in third, thus giving the bronze to a rider from Guernsey.

Vehement appeals soon followed and, after a painstaking wait while commissaires reviewed photographic footage of the final dash for the line, the bronze medal was eventually awarded to Mazzone again.

There was further drama still when it turned out that, in protest to their rider’s 30-second penalty, Saaremaa refused to attend the medal ceremony for the team bronze which they won.

Two teams that did attend though were Jersey in silver and the Isle of Man with the gold medal, completing a memorable clean sweep in this week’s cycling team events.

RBS International is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew McLaughlin as its new chief executive officer.

He replaces replacing Adrian Gill who is returning to the UK with the RBS Group.

Andrew, who has worked for the RBS Group for nearly 20 years, has most recently been the bank’s chief economist and head of communications.

He wrote the fortnightly commentary which has now been taken over by Stephen Boyle, whose latest column is printed above.

Mr McLaughlin has had a range of senior roles within RBS and he also spent several years working outside the bank in the corporate sector.

In his role as CEO (which is subject to regulatory approval), he will have responsibility for the RBS International, NatWest and IoM Bank operations in the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and Gibraltar.

He will report directly to RBS Corporate and Private Banking (CPB) in the UK and will sit on its executive committee.

Alison Rose, chief executive of RBS CPB, in congratulating Andrew on his appointment, said that investment in RBS International was central to the bank’s plans.

Andrew is known to many clients and other leading business people locally as a result of his role as chief economist as he visited on several occasions to present the bank’s economic forecasts at client events and seminars.

business as usual

He said: ‘ I am delighted to be moving to Jersey to take on the CEO role during an exciting time in the development of the bank across its four locations and I look forward to meeting clients and getting to know my colleagues throughout the operation over the coming months.

‘It will be business as usual and Adrian and I will be working together closely to ensure an efficient handover.’

Adrian Gill, who will be taking up a new senior role with RBS in the UK, said: ‘It’s been an incredible eight years and I feel very privileged to have been part of a business with so many dedicated and talented employees determined to deliver for our customers during a period of significant change in the banking sector.

‘I believe Andrew’s experience, seniority and new reporting line into the UK bank sends a strong signal of the importance of RBS International’s business to the Group and its key role within the new structure .’

Alison Rose thanked Adrian for his eight year stewardship.

She said: ‘He has done an excellent job in leading and delivering a high performance business and has given strong stability during a period of significant change for the Group.’

Citywing is delighted to announce the appointment of Donna Sloane as sales and marketing manager.

Citywing claims it provides more flights on more routes to and from the Isle of Man than any other company and, in her new role, Donna will focus on developing these services to better serve the island’s community.

She will also work to promote the island as both a great place to do business and a unique leisure destination.

Donna has more than 15 years’ experience in aviation, having previously worked as Business Development Manager for Manx Airlines and as Head of Sales and Marketing at Euromanx.

Donna said: ‘I am really excited about my new role as sales and marketing manager with Citywing, and look forward to the exciting opportunities and challenges that it will bring.

‘I have always been interested in the travel industry and, after a break from working in aviation,

‘I am thrilled to be returning to the industry as part of the Citywing team.

‘Citywing is planning to grow and expand its services both on and off-Island for corporate and leisure travellers, and I am eager to play a part in its ongoing success.’

Managing director of Citywing, David Buck, said: ‘Donna is a great addition to the team at Citywing, and brings with her a wealth of aviation experience.

‘I know that she will be an asset to the company and a key player in plans to develop our services and promote the Island as a destination for leisure and business visitors.’

Lunchtime concerts featuring the Isle of Man Wurlitzer will take place on the upper level of the Villa Marina Arcade, Douglas, over the summer.

The events will take place each Wednesday, 1pm to 2pm, when different local organists will offer their time and talent in support of a charity of their choice.

Organisers invite people to ‘come along and relax with some music while you eat your sandwiches’.

The schedule is: July 8, Gill Harvey, Autism in Mann; July 15, Margaret Cubbon, MSPCA; July 22, Sarah Goldsmith, Salvation Army; July 29, Keith Simpson, St Mary’s Castletown Christmas Luncheon Club.

Admission free, donations welcome.

Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne told Keys members his department spent more than a quarter of a million pounds on railway lines recently.

Responding to a question from Malew and Santon MHK Graham Cregeen, Mr Gawne told members £56,924 was spent on 700 metres of rails to carry out repairs at four sites over the last winter. In addition £200,140 was spent on an advance purchase of rails for the promenade horse tram line. Buying in advance had created substantial savings on the full price of £1.185 million, he said. If the rail is not required for the promenade it can be used by the electric railway.

‘I assume the member for Malew and Santon raised the matter in order to praise the department over this matter,’ Mr Gawne said.

The tension will be high on Saturday in the Isle of Man Premiership as only four points separate the top three sides.

For each team a full 20 points from the weekend’s games is essential to maintain their title challenge.

Leaders Cronkbourne have to fight a local derby at Tromode against Valkyres who are bottom of the table.

However, the supporters of the latter claim this placing gives a false impression as their side has been dogged by bad luck and injuries.

Nevertheless it is difficult to see anything other than a Cronkbourne victory.

Champions Peel and St John’s have a tricky fixture down at Castletown.

The Saints’ confidence is sky high after last week’s Tinker Cup demolition of Ramsey.

Their aggressive batsmen will welcome the hard grass track and fast outfield at King William’s College.

On the other hand Town are a difficult side to beat and are just behind the three leaders in the table.

A win for Castletown will put them up among the title contenders and such an outcome should spur the side on. Expect a high-scoring match.

In the other game Crosby travel north to Ramsey.

Both sides suffered Cup defeats and will be anxious to put that disappointment behind them.

The batting on both sides looks much stronger than the bowling and again plenty of runs should be on offer.

BLINCOE CUP SEMI-FINAL LINE-UP CONFIRMED

Ramsey battled their way through to the semi-finals of the Blincoe Cup when they defeated Castletown on Monday.

The northerners join holders Crosby, the Schools’ XI and Peel and St John’s in the last four of the competition after the victory.

Town batted first and were dismissed for 110.

Simon McKeown held the innings together with a fighting 33 from 32 balls.

He took the total to 68 before being caught by Tom Howard from the bowling of Dom Howard.

Steve Epplestone was the only other batsman to reach double figures with a solid 13 from 25 deliveries.

Dom Howard and Dan Kelly both took two wickets while Tom Moffatt, Rob Webber, Andy Ball and Chris Wade claimed one each.

In reply Ramsey got away to a good start with Ball making 13 and Tom Howard 23.

Dan Kelly then struck an exciting 35 off only 15 balls before falling to spinner Dave Griffiths.

Webber then took the team to victory with 21 not out.

Jeff Butler’s two overs cost only eight runs, but Ramsey’s run chase lasted just over 10 overs.

The draw for the semi-finals sees Peel and St John’s face Ramsey and Crosby up against the Schools’ XI.

The games take place on Sunday, July 12 with two innings per side and an 11am start.

The dog walking areas around the island could soon be reverberating to the commands of ‘ven’, ‘junto’ and ‘sientate’ (come, heel and sit) after 10 dogs arrived from Spain to settle in with Manx families on Sunday.

The animals were all strays suffering a life of misery and neglect in Spain before being offered a new life by the Helping Hands charity run by British ex-pats living over there.

Toni-Ann Harvey from Anagh Coar is the charity’s island representative who deals with paperwork and assessing potential new homes for the dogs.

She made the trip over to Heysham at the weekend, courtesy of the Steam Packet, which gave the charity a free crossing, to collect the latest dogs to arrive from Spain.

‘They settled in the van really well and the Steam Packet staff were really kind and helpful keeping an eye on them during the journey. Then when we arrived for a short time it was chaos,’ she said.

She said the economic situation in Spain had not helped and there were many stray, abandoned or ill-treated dogs left to fend for themselves in Spain.

‘People sometimes treat them awfully and there are stories of ex-pats living there who keep getting dogs dumped at their doors because people know they won’t turn them away,’ she said.

Some of the dogs that arrived this time were siblings dumped in a box in the sun in a very poor condition and left to die, until the charity stepped in.

Over the past year, 15 dogs have come over to the island after being adopted by Manx families via the Helping Hands Facebook page. The dogs stay with volunteers in Spain who can assess their temperament and they arrive vaccinated and complete with pet passports.

Adopters pay a share of the transportation costs, which varies depending on how many dogs are being brought.

The dogs go to new homes not just in the Isle of Man but in the UK and on the continent as well.

Miss Harvey, who is 29, gives her time voluntarily to the charity but said they are always looking for donations or new families who might want to adopt a dog.

For more information about the charity, take a look at the Facebook page or email her on toni-ann86@manx.net

Items such as food are officially costing less than they did a year ago according to the Consumer Prices Index.

The Isle of Man remains in deflation. The annual rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) for June 2015 has fallen again, and now stands at -1.2 per cent, down from -1 per cent in May 2015.

But the rate of inflation measured by the retail prices index remained at 2.1 per cent in June 2015, the same as May 2015.

Excluding housing costs, the annual rate of inflation shown by the RPI is 2.7 per cent for June 2015, an increase from May’s figure of 2.4 per cent.

The third Deep South Festival returns to the Stone Field in Port St Mary this weekend.

Headlining are 80s pop/rockers China Crisis on Saturday and the iconic The Christians on Sunday.

Other acts on the main stage include Fugue State, Jacqui Carroll and Sean Cannon of Dubliners notoriety.

Meanwhile the new ‘Strings and Things’ will be showcasing a range of acts including The Birds and the Beards.

The family friendly entertainment includes the alternative tent, which will be hosting a range of entertainment.

The two-day festival costs just £10 per day or £20 for a family of six (children must be 14 or under).

German commissioners have moved to calm a row over an 81-year-old woman feeding seagulls in St John’s.

The woman was asked to agree to an Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC) which would exclude her from feeding birds in stipulated areas.

An ABC is an early intervention (generally following two warnings but prior to an Anti-Social Behaviour Order) made against individuals who are perceived to be engaging in anti-social behaviour.

Online posts claimed the woman was being treated unfairly and sparked an angry debate with more than 1,200 comments.

Police said the issue had got out of hand and that ‘inaccurate’ information had started the row.

Captain of the Parish, John Kennaugh, described some online comments as ‘very hurtful’ and said: ‘There was an area just inside the zone that she asked about and we were happy to let her feed the birds there. We left the best of friends. There was never any pressure to sign an agreement, I know the lady well, her love of wildlife is commendable.

‘But people can’t put children in their garden, can’t have a meal, can’t put washing out.

‘Our policy as commissioners is always to go to see people first. We’re back at square one now but it has to be resolved.’

In a statement the commissioners said: ‘We would like to take this opportunity to correct the misinformation published on the website and Facebook page of the Mann Cat Sanctuary.

‘There has been an ongoing issue with excessively feeding seagulls within Balladoyne and at other locations in the village such as Tynwald Mills and the Arboretum for 15 years.

‘It has not arisen due to feeding a “few” birds and ducks but feeding hundreds of seagulls, from 5am until 10pm.

‘There have been numerous requests from neighbours to stop feeding the seagulls. Recently a three-year-old was attacked in Balladoyne for food and required treatment for the scratches caused by the seagull.

‘We have taken a number of actions to try to resolve this issue over the years.

‘Following a request from the commissioners, an environmental officer first visited the woman in 2005 and had subsequently visited on a number of occasions and written to her, after consulting with Dr Richard Selman who is the senior bio-diversity officer at DEFA, advising on feeding the seagulls.

‘There has also been 18 visits from pest control to Balladoyne in recent years.

‘The Commissioners continue to receive complaints around this issue on a regular basis.’

Charlotte Atkinson and the Isle of Man swimming team continued to turn water into gold at the NatWest Island Games on Thursday evening.

Talented teen Atkinson took her own tally for the week to a remarkable six individual golds and two relay golds on the last night of competition at the Les Quennevais Sports Centre.

Victories in the 100m freestyle and 200m butterfly, the latter in a new Games record, ensured the former Ballakermeen student kept up her 100 per cent record in all the individual events she has entered at the 2015 Games.

Relay success followed, as Atkinson teamed up with Steph Brew, Emma Hodgson and Laura Kinley to streak to victory in the 4x100m medley relay in another new Island Games record.

There were further individual medals for Guy Davies (silver) and Laura Kinley (bronze) as team Isle of Man finished with 18 medals in the pool.

At the athletics track, the island’s field athletes got their chance to shine, Bethan Pilley bagging silver in the women’s long jump and Andrea De Bruin netting bronze in the women’s discus.

The island’s shooting contingent also hit the medal trail with rifle exponent Rachel Glover grabbing her second silver of the week in the 50m three-position smallbore event.

Geoff Mitchell and Phil Newman grabbed the first pistol medals of the week the pair netting gold in the IPSC open division and 25m black powder revolver respectively.

Bronze medals went the way of clay shooter Jeff Corkill in the English skeet, Hugo Yates in the IPSC standard division and Nathan Holden and Rachel Exon in the 10m air pistol finals.

Keep up to date with the latest from Jersey at the live sport page.

It is likely to take more than 90 years before the Broogh Wyllin housing estate in Kirk Michael is engulfed by the sea, according to MHK Richard Ronan.

The member for Castletown, who is also Minister for Environment Food and Agriculture, said the calculation was based on the erosion rate between 2001 and 2013 which showed land being lost at a rate of 0.7 metres per year on average.

‘It will be 2034 before the nearest house is affected and 2104 before the first house in Broogh Wyllin is affected. We are at least two to three generations away from this but there are more studies to be done on the geology and bedrock in Kirk Michael,’ he said.

Other studies showed the average rate of erosion in that area between Glen Wyllin and Balleira were 0.59 metres per year between 1869 and 2013. The cost of work to secure the coastline in that area was likely to be £6 million to £8 million, ‘so it’s unlikely that a business case could be agreed until a significant number of properties are at more direct risk of damage, which is some distance away,’ Mr Ronan added.

Michael MHK Alfred Cannan suggested that placing rock revetments along the coast would help the situation without placing a sudden £8 million hit on the coastal defence budget but Mr Ronan said the issue needed to be tackled on a national basis rather than locally.

‘We are moving as fast as we can with the money available but in Kirk Michael it’s important to understand the geology involved,’ he told Keys members.

As we all know, Tynwald Day, our national day is on July 5.

Tynwald Day is a national holiday, and the traditional public sitting of Tynwald, our parliament, is held at St John’s.

The very first time that I went to Tynwald was in 1979, millennium year.

The historians had decided that Tynwald dated back to 979AD, and as such, was the world’s longest continuous parliament.

We had gone to live in Greeba in 1965. Greeba is just round the corner, so to speak, from St John’s, so you would think I would have had a wander along the A1 before 1979.

I’ll tell you why I had been a ‘no show’. I worked in a shop in Strand Street and all leave was cancelled from the week before TT practice week, in May, and the end of the Manx Grand Prix, in September. Shops did not close in the middle of the summer season for anything.

If the biblical prediction of the second coming of the Messiah had come true in July, in any year, we would have had to wait until the second week in September before we joined the celebrations.

Now I think it is a fair bet we will only have the one chance to celebrate 1,000 years of Tynwald.

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II must have had the same thought because she decided to come and have a day out with her loyal subjects.

She was to be accompanied by HRH Duke of Edinburgh, and they would have a full entourage of horses, carriages, limousines, and half a regiment of the Blues and Royals.

So I thought if the Queen of England was going to the fair fay, the least the Cowin family could do would be to make an effort to be there as well.

So I entered into negotiations with my boss, and cutting a long story short, I went to the fair for the first time.

Brown Eyes and our two fine sons were regular attendees, but for me it was all new. And it was brilliant.

We saw the Queen, the Duke, the pageant, and we’ve been to the fair every year since.

Millennium year was obviously a one-off, and all things change and evolve, but for me, it’s a special day.

I could fill a few pages with memories of Tynwald Days but I shall limit myself to one of my favourites.

For a couple of years, there was this bloke who was dressed as a Viking. He was patrolling the field and looked suitably threatening.

He was ready to defend his honour (or whatever) with a realistic looking hand axe swinging from a hairy, tanned hand, at the end of a hairy, tanned arm. He looked like Kirk Douglas on his way back to his long­boat.

We had entered the era of heightened security which sadly is now a part of our everyday lives, and eagle eyed, uniformed police officers were well in evidence.

I recognised a few plain clothes police officers who were obviously operating under­cover but who also looked like eagle eyed uniformed police officers.

No doubt, they were all on the lookout for any threats to our safety and well being.

I had been across the road to inspect the public conveniences in the lay­by near St John’s School and was on my way back to the fair field.

I found myself behind the Viking who in turn was walking behind a young dad pushing a small pram with his equally small son as a passenger.

An eagle eyed police officer stepped forward and stopped the young man with the pram. He politely asked if he could inspect the handbag hung from the pram’s handlebars.

He had to stand to one side to allow this vicious looking Viking, who was casually swinging a very realistic axe, to continue on his way to the fair field.

No doubt the police were confident that the Lieutenant Governor was being suitably guarded by his sword bearer, a pleasant looking lady dressed in her sword bearers uniform.

See you on the fair day.

Funds reportedly held in the Isle of Man are at the centre of allegations of serious political corruption in Northern Ireland.

Around £7 million was said to be held by an NI law firm ‘reportedly earmarked for a politician’ following a major property deal.

The allegations were made in the Irish parliament yesterday (Thursday) by independent member Mick Wallace against Belfast law firm Tughans.

The case has sent shockwaves through Northern Irish politics with Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt stating that, if the allegations were proven to be true, they represented corruption ‘on a previously unimaginable scale’.

According to a story on the front page of today’s Belfast Telegraph, Mr Wallace had voiced concerns over the sale of the Northern Ireland property portfolio of the National Assets Management Agency (Nama) in April 2014.

And yesterday, Mr Wallace raised allegations around payments in the Dail, the Irish parliament.

He named Tughans as having acted for Cerberus, which bought the Nama portfolio in Northern Ireland, and that ‘a routine audit showed that £7m ended up in an Isle of Man bank account’.

He added: ‘It was reportedly earmarked for a Northern Ireland politician.’

Tughans denied Mr Wallace’s allegations, but revealed in a statement yesterday evening that a former partner did divert money into a bank account, and that the partner had since left the firm.

The statement said: ‘In response to the comments made today in the Dail we can confirm that a former partner diverted to an account of which he was the sole beneficiary, professional fees due to the firm without the knowledge of the partners.

‘We have since retrieved the money and he has left the practice.’

Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister later said: ‘Tughans confirmation of the mysterious diversion of funds to a separate account, apparently in the Isle of Man, lends credence to at least that part of the Dail allegation, accentuating the need for the entirety of the allegations to be properly and independently investigated.’

Seventeen venues will house beautiful floral displays as part of the annual Isle of Man Flower Festival.

Visitors are encouraged to go and see the displays, which this year has a theme of Our Community when the festival opens on Sunday.

Milntown, just outside Ramsey, is taking part for the first time thanks to a partnership with Bunscoill Rhumsaa and the Star Centre.

Flower Festival committee chairman Judy Matthews said: ‘Milntown’s participation, in conjunction with Bunscoill Rhumsaa, is a new development that we hope will open the festival to even more visitors.

‘All our volunteers around the island have been working extremely hard in the run-up to this festival and we hope to see many visitors at the many different venues.’

At Milntown pupils have made everything from a recreation of Tynwald Hill to an Olympic theme and depictions in the school colours.

Head gardener Juan Quane said: ‘They have all been very excited about it. Most of them have been here about twice a month.’

This year the photographic competition will accept only digital entries.

Programmes for the festival, supported by Culture Vannin, are available from a variety of outlets.

Venues taking part are: St Mary de Ballaugh, Ballaugh; St Patrick’s Church, Jurby; St Andrew’s Church, Andreas; Milntown; The Grove Museum, Ramsey; Trinity URC, Ramsey; Ramsey Independent Methodist Church; Christ Church Dhoon, Glen Mona; Christ Church, Laxey; Onchan Elim Pentecostal Church; Onchan Methodist Church; St Matthew’s Church, Douglas; The Abbey Church, Ballasalla; The Nautical Museum, Castletown; Port Erin Methodist Church; St Peter’s Church, Cregneash; St German’s Cathedral, Peel.

The festival runs from Sunday to Saturday next week.

Opening times vary. See www.flowerfestival.im or the programme.

The Isle of Man’s golf teams ensured that the Manx contingent ended this year’s NatWest Island Games in style on Friday.

It proved to be a memorable day for the Harris family as two of the clan won gold medals while another claimed silver.

Billy Harris got the ball rolling at lunchtime when he came from a set down to beat Jersey’s Scott Clayton on a champions tie break in the men’s singles final at Caesarian Tennis Club to claim gold.

Also at the venue was younger sister Katie who competed in the consolation competition and finished as runner-up.

At the same time brother Tom, recently-crowned Manx Amateur Golf Champion, was in action at Royal Jersey Golf Club in the fourth and final round of the men’s golf competition alongside fellow Team Isle of Man members Tom Gandy, Daryl Callister and Kevin Moore.

Despite going into the last round one shot off the lead, Maryland University student Harris blitzed his way around the east coast course in a four-under-par 66 to claim a two-stroke victory over Gavin O’Neil (JER) and Guernsey’s Robert Eggo.

Gandy finished fifth with Moore 13th and Callister 23rd, meaning the Isle of Man quartet clinched a 10-shot win in the team event after a stunning comeback from six shots down going into the final round.

Cousin Emma Harris was also in action at the other Island Games golf venue, La Moye, where she and team-mates Ana Dawson, Kayleigh Dawson and Christina Skelly claimed silver in the women’s team event.

That came about after Ana finished the individual competition in fourth overall, with Harris joint sixth, Kayleigh 11th and Skelly 29th.

Away from golf, there was gold medal success in the badminton at New Gilson Hall where the Manx pairing of Cristen Marritt and Kim Clague won the women’s doubles final 2-0 to retain their title from Bermuda two years ago.

Marritt also went on to finish second in the women’s singles event, eventually coming unstuck against number one seed Rannvá Djurhuus Carlsson of the Faroe Islands.

Athletics was one of the island’s most prolific sports in Jersey and they signed off in style with Rachel Franklin winning gold in the women’s 1,500m race at FB Fields to add to the 800m title she won earlier in the week.

Youngsters from King William’s College have visited Ballaneddin Farm in Ballaugh for a close-up look at farming in the island.

The visit was hosted by David Kermeen, who was joined by dairy farmers Maria and Tim Johnston, and Belinda Leach, general secretary from the Manx National Farmers Union.

The 11 and 12-year-old children were split into three groups for the visit and were told about dairy farming, churning cream into butter, milling wheat, farm assurance standards and mill requirements.

They had a go at milling wheat to make stone ground flour, having learned about standards of production and conditions of supply to Laxey Glen Mills.

They also learnt about livestock factors, such as cattle having passports and tags, and the feeding and growth of the animals.

Madeleine Westall, from the college’s science department, said: ‘At the farm we learnt how cereals are ground into Manx flour, how milk is churned to make butter and the whole group was allowed to have some when it was ready. It was so nice. We learnt about how the beef cattle and the sheep are looked after and how they die. We thought the visit was amazing. ‘We learnt lots of different things that helped our knowledge of biology.

‘Our thanks go to the farmer, David Kermeen who gave a passionate and knowledgeable account of farming today and the role of Manx famers in producing top quality produce and looking after the countryside for the local community to enjoy. Also to Tim and Maria Johnston for the talk on dairy farming and the ladies form the NFU for the practical demonstrations.

‘It was absolutely brilliant. David Kermeen is a gem, he is so passionate about farming. That is what really did it. ‘His passion for looking after the land.

‘It was just the right detail for the children.’

Tynwald green will be the centre of activity for the day with folk dancing, silver bands and even dog agility trials taking place in the heart of the action.

But don’t forget to explore St John’s on Monday as a host of attractions - all free of charge - will be on offer to visitors.

The Vikings of Mann will be setting up camp in Cooil y Ree gardens before they do battle on the field at 5pm.

>> Tynwald Day celebrations to attract thousands

Children can join in face painting, wood carving, dance and art workshops at the Bunscoill between 10am and 4.30pm.

Meanwhile the Arboretum will echo with music and song from around the world.

Once the official Tynwald ceremonies are completed the One World Centre’s global village will come alive with African singing and dance, didgeridoo and harp playing, Bulgarian folk and Bollywood dancing as well as a variety of martial arts. There will be food from India, Africa, the Philippines and the Caribbean.

The Island’s Fairtrade Group will be selling fairly traded goods and the Manx Co-operative will be making Fairtrade smoothies on their smoothie bike.

The Isle of Man Chinese Association will also be attending and translating Manx names into Chinese script.

The Manx tent next to the big screen will be open from 10am to 4.30pm with exhibitions celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Women’s Institute in the island, and other aspects of local history and culture.

Tours of the Royal Chapel will be on offer after the church services are completed. Concert Organist Dr Gail Archer will perform in the chapel from 3pm, a celebration of Manx music and dance will take place at 4pm and Castletown Silver Band will perform from 6pm.

The entertainment continues into the evening with the sunset ceremony from 7.15pm, where the visiting military band play their final concert. At 8pm there will be a family ceilidh in the Manx tent and a performance by the Regal Singers will begin in the Royal Chapel.

Ellan Vannin Pipes and Drums will bring the day to a close with a concert on Tynwald hill from 10pm.

St John’s is set to be busy on Monday as the island descends on the village for the annual Tynwald Day celebrations.

Road closures

Road closures will be in place around Tynwald green in St John’s throughout the day. The A1 Douglas to Peel Road between Ballacraine and its junction with Station Road (at the Tynwald Inn pub and Green’s tea rooms) will be closed between 10am and 4pm and will close again for around an hour during the sunset ceremony from 7pm.

Part of Station Road will be closed for 30 minutes each at both 10am and 12.45pm to form and dissolve the parades.

A clearway will be in operation on Glen Mooar Road, which connects St John’s with Tynwald Mills and the Poortown Road, between 8am and 3pm. No vehicles can park on the road.

Parking

There will be a designated area at St John’s School for reserved parking for persons in possession of a disabled badge.

Public car parking will be available behind the Tynwald Inn, at St John’s Football Club and St John’s Cricket Club.

Buses

Extra buses will operate between Douglas, St John’s and Peel – via Union Mills and Crosby – on Tynwald Day.

The normal bank holiday bus service will be in operation on Monday but there will be a bus every 20 minutes from Douglas between 8.30am and midday and every half hour thereafter until 6pm. Hourly departures will continue until 11pm.

Buses from Peel to Douglas via St John’s will leave every half hour between 8.50am and 6.50pm, with the last bus leaving at 10.29pm.

All extra journeys between Douglas and Peel or Ramsey will operate as Service 5A and will not serve Noble’s Hospital or Strang.

Buses from Ramsey to Peel and St John’s will depart at 9.10am, 10.10am, 11.10am, 1.10pm, 3.10pm, 5.10pm, 7.30pm and 9.50pm.

Buses from St John’s to Ramsey will leave at 9.36am, 11.36am, 1.36pm, 3.36pm, 5.36pm, 7.38pm, 8.38pm and 11.31pm.

Buses will leave Port Erin at 9.45am, 9.50am, 10.30am, 11.25am and 3.30pm and return journeys will leave St John’s at 11.18am, 3.48pm and 4.18pm

For more information go to www.iombusandrail.info or call the Welcome Centre bus information line on 662525.

>> Tynwald Day celebrations to attract thousands
>> Free fun and games for all on Tynwald Day