Ramsey Bay ( gv, Baie Rhumsaa) is a large bay and Marine Nature Reserve covering some 94 square kilometres off the northeastern coast of the
Isle of Man
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in Europ ...
. It runs for 18 kilometres from the
Point of Ayre
The Point of Ayre ( gv, Kione ny Hayrey)''Place Names of The Isle of Man – Da Ny Manninee Dooie Volume Three. Sheading of Ayre: (Kirk Andreas, Kirk Bride and Kirk Christ Lezayre)'' page 258 ''Kirk Bride'' by George Broderick – Turbingen ...
at the island's northern tip to
Maughold Head
Maughold Head is the easternmost point of the Isle of Man and the closest point in the Isle of Man to England, being from St. Bees Head in Cumbria.
Maughold Head lies in the northeast of the island, some from Ramsey, at the southern end o ...
. The port town of
Ramsey, the island's second town, lies towards the south of the bay.
Ramsey Bay Marine Nature Reserve
The entire bay has had statutory legal protection as Ramsey Bay Marine Nature Reserve, the island's first
Marine Nature Reserve designated in October 2011 under the
Wildlife Act 1990
Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted for ...
.
It contains internationally significant areas of
eelgrass Eelgrass is a common name for several plants and may refer to:
* ''Zostera'', marine eelgrass
* ''Vallisneria
''Vallisneria'' (named in honor of Antonio Vallisneri) is a genus of freshwater aquatic plant, commonly called eelgrass, tape grass or ...
meadows,
horse mussel reefs,
kelp forests
Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Ea ...
and
maerl
Maerl (also rhodolith) is a collective name for non-geniculate coralline red algae with a certain growth habit. Maerl grows at a rate of c. 1 mm per year. It accumulates as unattached particles and forms extensive beds in suitable sublit ...
beds, which boost biodiversity and create an environment for commercially important species of fish, shellfish and crustacea.
Furthermore, the bay is a "core marine area" of the Isle of Man's
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.
MAB's work enga ...
. Parts of the reserve are highly protected conservation zones, while a "fisheries management zone" is co-managed by the
Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture and the Manx Fish Producers' Organisation in an innovative approach to fisheries management, which sees little of this zone fished.
The reserve is also part of the
OSPAR
The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic or OSPAR Convention is the current legislative instrument regulating international cooperation on environmental protection in the North-East Atlantic. Work ...
network of European Marine Protected Areas.
At the centre of the bay is the
Ramsey Mooragh Shore
Ramsey may refer to:
Geography British Isles
* Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England
* Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England
** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey"
* Ramsey, Isle of Man, ...
Area of Special Scientific Interest, and Ramsey Harbour, along with the whole coast of the bay has been designated as an
Area of Ecological Importance in the local area plan.
As of 2019 a significant part of the reserve is included in a controversial proposal for a marina which would see South Beach infilled and a new harbour built in the bay.
Ramsey Bay in broadcasting history
In July 1964 the original
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. ...
ship sailed from the coast of
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
to Ramsey Bay, from where it broadcast as Radio Caroline North until it was towed away by creditors in March 1968.
Ramsey Bay disaster
On 7 March 1956 the
Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 census.
Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830s, when the principal lando ...
-based
trawler, ''Fleetwood Lady'', anchored in Ramsey Bay to allow three of the male crew to visit their families ashore. All six crew, Allan Bradford, Arnold Brew, Albert (Abby) Cottier, Eric Lyall, his son Eric James Lyall and Reginald Wright lost their lives when their
rowing boat capsized as they returned to the trawler. In March 2002 a plaque was unveiled in Ramsey to commemorate them.
Ramsey Lifeboat Station
Ramsey has had a lifeboat station since 1829 which has been under the control of the
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...
since 1868.
See also
*
Bahama Bank
*
Bahama Bank Lightship
*
Whitestone Bank
*
Ballacash Bank
*
King William Banks
References
Bays of the Isle of Man