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Stone Bridge Prior to the construction of the original stone bridge in 1755, the most reliable crossing place across the Sulby River was via a ford at The White Bridge, although at low tide it could be crossed via stone steps facing Riverside. The Bridge was widened in 1840 and further improvements made in 1888, but the wall on the west side is original.
2 Bridge Inn Built in the 1850s, by Ramsey builder Daniel Callow, for his daughter, when the licence was transferred from ‘Eskdale’, on the opposite side of the road. He also developed the houses facing the river in the late 1850s, now known as Riverside but at one time as Port Natal.
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The Stone Bridge
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| 3 The Ragged and Industrial School It stood on the corner (now two private houses) and the niche on the wall once housed a statue of a ‘ragged’ child. It was established in the 1860s by the then shipyard owner’s daughter, Susannah Gibson, with her father’s generous support, and its purpose was to promote the well-being of the destitute children of the ‘lower orders’ and ‘to wrest them from the courses of sin and idleness’. It later became known as The Ramsey Industrial School and continued as Miss Gibson’s life’s work. 4 The Shipyard It employed up to 300 men at its peak. Started by John Taggart in 1831, it was bought by Thomas Gibson and experienced fluctuating fortunes over the years. The first ever oil tanker, Jane, was built here, and in 1863 the sailing ship Euterpe (re-named the Star of India) was also built here. It is the world’s oldest hulled sailing ship still afloat and can now be seen at San Diego Maritime Museum. A wooden cod fishing boat, The Master Frank built here 1894/5, has been restored and can usually be seen in the harbour. In the shipyard area were the Salt Works, described in 1903 by the IOM Times as ‘the first real Manx Industry’ following the discovery of an underground lake of brine at the Point of Ayre. The salt was exported and also used at The Dalmeny Hydro and The Hydropathic Hotel (now The Grand Island) for brine baths around the turn of the 19th Century, when Ramsey was advertised as a health resort.
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 The Mooragh Internment Camp |
5 Mooragh Park Officially opened in 1887, it was created on the old course of the Sulby River. The work was carried out by McCulloch’s of Manchester. It took three years to complete and was a bold venture by the then Commissioners. You can take a detour around the park, back along the promenade (where evidence can still seen of the post holes for the Internment Camp in WW II) or continue up Windsor Mount. 6 Ballacloan House(Manx - Ballacloan - Children’s Home) Built with English money, it replaced The Industrial School, and was presented to Miss Gibson in 1880. After her death it was run by the Methodist National Children’s Home & Orphanage and was open to both Manx and English children - mainly from the London area.
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| 7 Glan y
Don
The Manx National Poet T E Brown resided here from 1892 to 1897, during his retirement years, and there is a plaque by the gate. You are now in Bay View and there are some fine 19th and early 20th Century houses, including: 8 Dalmeny HouseCalled Dalmeny Hydro, it advertised itself as an ‘Ideal Summer & Winter Residence Home for Convalescents’ with ‘Pure brine baths, Russian and Needle Baths’. In 1917 it became a children’s home for girls only. 9 Ramsey Cottage Hospital Originally with 10 beds and two cots, it was built by Ramsey builders Jas. Callow & Sons and opened on 23rd July 1907. It was generously funded by the Henry Bloom Noble Trust with an additional contribution from the Trustees of Pierre Baume to establish an Endowment Fund - later augmented by many local people. You can detour to The Grove Rural Life Museum by heading north up Bowring Road. |
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| 10 Beaconsfield Towers
Known as the Old Windmill, or Monk’s Mill, it was built as a corn mill in 1840 by John Monk. From 1871 it was known as The Ramsey Steam & Wind Mills after the addition of auxiliary steam power and was one of the IOM’s few windmills. It is now a retirement home. 11 St Olave’s ChurchThe foundation stone was laid in 1861, and it was completed nine years later. Dedicated to St Olaf, as a tribute to the Island’s Scandinavian period, it is built in both local stone and Cumbrian sandstone. 12 SeabridgeBuilt in the mid 19th Century, P M C Kermode, notable Manx antiquarian and the foremost authority on Manx crosses lodged here. He was born at 75 Parliament Street, Ramsey (then the parsonage). In 1922, at the age of 67, he became the first Curator of the Manx Museum. He also published the very first Manx bird list in 1880 whilst living here. 13 No 14 Bowring RoadHouse building along this road started soon after 1800 and gained momentum in the 1820s. Number 14 is the first and oldest house built on this side of the road, mentioned in a Deed of 1804.
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 The Beaconsfield Towers, also known as |
 Ramsey Harbour |
14 Eskdale
On this site, in the 17th Century, stood the farmhouse for one of the portions of the quarterland of Ballachrink. It was an inn in the late 1830s/early 1840s. 15 Riverside CottagesIt is believed that numbers 15 & 17 Bowring Road (on left, at start of lane) were built in the late 18th Century, as was Riverside Cottage (a little further along the lane), making it likely that these are the oldest dwellings north of the bridge. Turn left, then right to the rear of The Bridge Inn, emerging at the river. If you walk to the river bank you have a good view of the detail and workmanship of the Stone Bridge.
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