Ron first encountered the Isle of Man when he was on MTB boats during the war. His work included escorting the supply ships to the IOM. Ron loved the way that from the misty sea, the Island would suddenly pop up like magic, seemingly from nowhere, this intrigued him and he had always wanted to visit the island after that. With a big family and little money it took some time before he managed to visit, then he and Mollie just fell in love with the place.
Ron Mollie and 3 of their children finally got to visit The Island on holiday, in the mid 1960’s. The radio program Pick of the Pops was being recorded on the Island. The groups The Applejacks and the Honeycombs were on the Ferry. Radio Caroline was also transmitting from their ship in Ramsey Bay.
Ron and Mollie decided the Island would be a nice place to retire to, Ron’s love of fishing was possibly a big part of this. “At the end of our holiday, we walked along Ramsey Pier, with our suitcases and embarked the Steam Packet Ferry, for our return journey to Liverpool”.
In early 1973 Ron got offered a job at the Shipyard Ramsey and worked for Booth W Kelly. He initially stayed in lodgings until a house in Ash Grove was purchased. Mollie and Ricky moved over in the summer of 1973. Ricky started work for Lipton’s in Ramsey.
The family became actively involved in community life.
Ron’s love of fishing soon had him join the local fishing club. Ron was a big part of the team that acquired land, dug and stocked large ponds for the private fishing of the club members. Ron also had a big part in organising fishing competitions that brought over a lot of fishermen from across.
Mollie joined the local W.I. and the Town Women’s Guild, she was soon voted onto the committees of both. She had a great social life and made many friends. Mollie had many Penfriends, still in contact from her youth. Over the year some of her Penfriends managed to visit the Island, including some from Norway and some, all the way from the Falkland Islands.
Ricky, Ron and Mollie’s youngest son, loved his time living in Ramsey, moving on from his job at Lipton’s to work for and help run one of the local Fish and Chip shops in Ramsey. Ricky was a great character, always having a chat and laugh and joke with people. Ricky went on to work at the Villa Marina. He met and helped many of the stars, including his favourite Ken Dodd.