Ronaldsway

Ronaldsway (Manx: Roonysvaie) is a place in the parish of Malew in the south of the Isle of Man, between the village of Ballasalla and the town of Castletown.

Not to be confused with Ronaldsay (disambiguation) or Rognaldsvåg.

Features

It is notable as the location of Isle of Man Airport and historically of RNAS Ronaldsway, together with the adjoining customs free zone and industrial estate.

IMR steam train from Douglas arriving at Ronaldsway Halt in 2006

The place name is derived from the Old Norse personal name Rǫgnvaldr and the Old Norse element vað meaning "ford", or alternatively vágr meaning "large, narrow bay" as in Stornoway. It is possible that the eponym of Ronaldsway is Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles (died 1229). The site was once a landing place for Castle Rushen and Castletown. Ronaldsway first appears on record in the Chronicle of Mann, which documents an instance when Rǫgnvaldr's half-brother, Óláfr (died 1237), landed on the island in 1224, and confronted him for a share of the kingdom.

Ronaldsway is the site of the Battle of Ronaldsway, fought in October 1275, in which a Manx revolt led by Guðrøðr Magnússon (fl. 1275) was crushed by Scottish royal forces.

Ronaldsway is one of the 22 coastal weather stations whose conditions are reported in the BBC Shipping Forecast.

There is a request stop on the Isle of Man railway located just west of the Ronaldsway Industrial Estate on the Silverburn river.

BA Connect (BA CitiExpress) had an engineering base in Ronaldsway, employing 110 people. After Flybe acquired BA Connect, Flybe announced that it would discontinue the base.[1]

Archaeology
Main article: Ronaldsway culture

While the airfield runway at Ronaldsway Airport was being extended during the Second World War, a sunken-floored structure was uncovered dating from the third millennium BC in the late Neolithic era. The distinctive nature of the finds, including pots and stone tools, gave rise to the name Ronaldsway culture, and similar artefacts have been found elsewhere.[2]

Climate
Climate data for Ronaldsway, elevation: 16m (1981-2010) Extremes (1960 - present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 8.2
(46.8)		 7.9
(46.2)		 9.2
(48.6)		 11.1
(52.0)		 14.1
(57.4)		 16.3
(61.3)		 18.1
(64.6)		 18.1
(64.6)		 16.3
(61.3)		 13.6
(56.5)		 10.9
(51.6)		 8.9
(48.0)		 12.8
(55.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 6.1
(43.0)		 5.7
(42.3)		 6.8
(44.2)		 8.3
(46.9)		 10.9
(51.6)		 13.3
(55.9)		 15.2
(59.4)		 15.3
(59.5)		 13.7
(56.7)		 11.3
(52.3)		 8.6
(47.5)		 6.7
(44.1)		 10.2
(50.4)
Average low °C (°F) 3.9
(39.0)		 3.4
(38.1)		 4.4
(39.9)		 5.4
(41.7)		 7.7
(45.9)		 10.2
(50.4)		 12.2
(54.0)		 12.4
(54.3)		 11.1
(52.0)		 8.9
(48.0)		 6.3
(43.3)		 4.5
(40.1)		 7.6
(45.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 82.6
(3.25)		 57.5
(2.26)		 65.5
(2.58)		 55.7
(2.19)		 50.9
(2.00)		 58.1
(2.29)		 56.2
(2.21)		 65.3
(2.57)		 75.3
(2.96)		 102.5
(4.04)		 103.1
(4.06)		 91.8
(3.61)		 864.4
(34.03)
Average precipitation days 14.0 10.6 11.8 9.9 9.7 9.8 9.0 10.8 11.1 14.1 15.2 13.9 140.1
Mean monthly sunshine hours 54.1 77.9 115.9 171.2 227.6 203.4 197.4 184.9 138.9 103.6 63.5 46.0 1,584.6
Source: Met Office[3]

References
  1. "FLYBE TO AXE ENGINEERING BASE." Isle of Man Today. 9 March 2007. Retrieved on 12 March 2010.
  2. Timothy Darvill, Ronaldsway Culture in Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, (Oxford University Press, 2002)
  3. "Ronaldsway 1981–2010 averages". Met Office. Retrieved 4 November 2012.


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