"Ah Douglas... Blackpool meets the City of London" Douglas by Kettleman

It's 22 years since I was last in Douglas and much has changed in the meantime.

Out in the country the IoM still feels like you are stepping back to childhood days, and for me that is circa 1960!

Douglas though? No.

Still the tackiness that affects all seaside towns on the mainland, but hotels that once served the "wakes week" punters from Lancashire and further afield lives side by side with banks and other financial instittuions that have started to push out the ordinary punter looking for a week "abroad" where he can get a pint like at home and speak English to the natives.

This year I hadn't seen so many suited and booted (and generally po faced tossers) on the street since I last went to the City of London!

And as I work very close I see them everyday.

Whilst this may good for the Isle of man economy, let's hope that the real Manx can still be found.