I agree to a point, but Diana died in 1997 and the kind of stuff that is being left at the Fairy Bridge is happened in recent years, and certainly not before 2007 when there was a start in the influx of new visitors. Before that date the vast majority of people who came to watch the TT were people who were mainly interested in motorbikes. Since then we have had a huge increase in visitors who are coming over for the Event/Experience in the same way that they would go to Wimbledon, Grand National,Open Golf etc.
I dont think the non UK visitors have made any effect on what happens at the Fairy Bridge, in fact I would argue that there are less non UK visitors now than there were pre 2007. I only base this opinion on the amount of foreign registed bike you see now during the TT , and given the fact I live so close to the Pier Head, I go most nights of practice week down there to see the bikes getting on the boat, there are a lot less non UK bikes boarding.
Eddy asked the question is the change of people for the better?
For me the answer is no. I will contradict my self by saying if the TT has to survive by having these 'non biker/motorcyclist' type to survive, then so be it. What I wont do anymore is engage on open forums on 'where is the best place to watch from'. I am sick to death of sitting next to ill manered loud mouthed baffons when out watching the racing. I will stick to the little spots found over the years, and let the the rest squeeze themself standing at the bottom of Bray Hill.
Sorry for going off topic, but I belive it is that type of visitor who has made The Fairy Bridge what it is today.

Well TTNeb, that one is quite poetic in itself: traditions can start at any time - they do not have to be old. Indeed that is so, they will come into being at one time and later on be a tradition. Nice one!

C Iom I have to agree about the type of people, for it is this very point that has had the knock on effect of me not doing the full event, the wife used to say she felt safe when I left her to go marshaling but over the last couple of years there have been three or four times when she felt compromised, and said no that's enough, so instead of us being there for three weeks and me doing all sessions its going to be me on TT taster doing the first four practices, what's that saying ? The times they are a changing,


.

Post it notes, little memories on paper,even photo's...... Bike parts, meatal etc surely not, I still dont think its right that this guy took it on himself to remove stuff that does not belong to him but I do agree that there needs to be a line drawn about what can be left, paper notes and photo's go away with time (fairies can't carry heavy bike parts) but meatal and plastic starts to create a scrapyard at the roadside. I also think its sad that the government would not create somewhere safe off the road to pull in when they were asked...... althogh I AM NOT SUPRISED.

and very well said CIOMTT

c iom tt - what I meant was that since Diana died people have become more likely to leave a tribute. Her death generated a national out-pouring of grief that was pretty much unheard of beforehand.

I didn't mean people left tributes at Fairy Bridge in 1997 but since 1997, it has become more likely to happen because so many people left tributes for her. It has since occured at other sites.

On Facebook there is a Posting/Thread related to this subject, headed by David Cretney, and the subsequent comments are in the main made by what appears to be locals, some of which are quite interesting.

Link to the Facebook Posting - HERE

Some interesting comments on the Facebook link.

It is a shame the guy bagged everything up and skiddadled off with most of the peoples memories but a new year is starting shortly and hopefully people will start afresh with new momentous and as been said only small items need to be placed there, there is no need for full fairings and the like

Has anybody thought to ask what the fairy's think about all this ? after all, it is their bridge.

Hope bad karma doesn't descend on that chap that removed all the stuff  

All joking apart, it was getting a bit much as I noticed this year. A few small trinkets attached to the tree or coins thrown into the stream are one thing. Indeed things have got out of hand with bigger items making a regular appearance, were would it end ??

Sooner or later the local council would have done something similar...............but, perhaps with the fairy's permission 

Leaving gifts or messages for the Little People is a tradition that’s not much older than the 21st century.

People began to deposit things at the Fairy Bridge in Santon in the late 90s.

Until then, it was simply sensible to bid the mooinjey veggey a simple moghrey mie or fastyr mie as you went past.

Before Christmas the Manx Independent reported on a man who’d taken it upon himself to clear the clutter that had built up in Santon.

After all, some people’s treasured messages or keepsakes are other peoples litter and he got fed up with the site.

He is unlikely to like the photos on this page.

They show that the same phenomenon is happening at the ‘real’ Fairy Bridge.

The ‘real’ Fairy Bridge is over Middle River near Kewaigue.

If the stories are to believed, some bigwig reckoned moving the Fairy Bridge to a main road would be good for tourism, ignoring the Little People’s real home.



But the original bridge was never forgotten.

Walkers can access it via a footpath that links the main road that goes past Kewaigue School with the Old Castletown Road.

The ‘real’ bridge itself is secluded and picturesque.

But it’s not the lonely, undisturbed place it once was.

Next to it is a hole in the wall in which people have left dozens of furry toys.

The most disturbing is probably a rabbit in a Kilner jar. It’s very Fatal Attraction.

Sea shells have been stuffed between the stones in the walls. Under a pink umbrella is a place for the ‘fairies’ to rest – although many Manx people would never use the word ‘fairies’ to describe the Little People.



A few notes have also been left on trees nearby asking for help or positive intervention.

Some flowers have been left there and, more incongrously, there’s even a toy Tigger and a toy Father Christmas.

So is it charming or creepy?

We can only wonder at the verdict of the inhabitants of the bridge themselves.

as probably every visitor to the island we have gone and read the many letters and notes at the bridge, we also left a bow for the recently departed simon andrews.

Whilst i do agree it was getting a bit cluttered and out of hand it was also a place that many people were fond of and many of the notes and items meant a great deal to people. Perhaps they could have taken all these items and displayed somewhere, seems a shame they were just taken away.

The placed memento's are a point in time but the personal memories / thoughts / respects are the most unforgettable/important things and those things can't be removed .. A little common sense has to be applied otherwise the area will get untidy and fenced off then nobody will be able to access the place and it will be gone. I've been to my grandad's WW2 grave in Italy and placed pic's of my kids there and some personal notes - I don't expect for a second they are still intact or there, the cemetery is immaculate and tended by generations of local families but the memory and respect is. Me and my mates wouldn't consider getting on the grid until we'd said hello to The Fairies.