From article published in Manx Life, May/June, 1978:

On September 3rd, 1977, I arrived, with my motor caravan, on the Isle of Man. This was the first time I had been to the island, although I had studied it at a distance from Snowdon, Scafell Pike, Holyhead Mountain, the Great Orme and Blackpool Tower.

Some of the time I parked on the slopes of Snaefell, on the Verandah or by the Black Hut. At other times I parked by the Marine Drive near Douglas.

The Marine Drive is one of the nicest spots I have found. Although it is conveniently situated for the town, the road is very little used after the end of the season because it doesn’t lead anywhere. Whenever I felt like a break from my work, I used to walk along the drive watching the waves crashing on the rocks below and the gulls drifting on the breeze. I got a greater sense of peace from this deserted stretch of road than I did from any of the wild and lonely places I have been to while I have been travelling.

Snaefell is unique as a viewpoint in the British Isles because the sea is visible in all directions, and because England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland are all visible fairly frequently.

Even when it’s not clear enough to see these distant places the view is still full of interest because there is so much to see on the island. Most of the peaks are seen bunched together in the south-west because Snaefell is on a range of mountains running in that direction.

The famous water wheel at Laxey is visible, as well as the runways of Jurby Aerodrome, and numerous towers, lighthouses and TV and radio masts. The lighthouses at Point of Ayre and Maughold Head are particularly striking because they and their adjoining buildings are painted white.

The Tower of Refuge, the tower of Douglas Head Hotel, the Derby Round Tower on Langness, Corrin’s Folly and the eleventh-century Round Tower in Peel Castle are all seen silhouetted against the sea.

The most beautiful aspect of the view is the pattern made on the landscape by different kinds of vegetation, and by agriculture and forestry. The region of the Ayres, for example, is distinguishable from the intervening farmland by its dull brown colour.

The farthest point visible on the Isle of Man is Mull Hill, 18 miles away. The nearest point visible on land outside the Isle of Man is Burrow Head in Scotland, 29 miles away.

On September 7th I could see the Mountains of Mourne, Scotland and the Lake District. Two days later I could see Anglesey, with the distant peaks of the Lleyn Peninsula appearing over the top of it, but the higher parts of the mountains of Snowdonia were obscured by haze. On September 18th I could see the tops of these mountains rising above the clouds, and I was able to combine the slides taken on the two occasions to produce a composite picture.

When I left for Wales on November 2nd there were still one or two distant places that I hadn’t seen, but I had obtained enough slides to form the basis of a panorama.