Little Isabella

The rustic water wheel situated in Groudle Glen on the Isle of Man which was originally built in 1893 with the arrival of the Manx Electric Railway to the glen. It has been dubbed the "Little Isabella" owing to its alleged resemblance to the Laxey Wheel in nearby Laxey which was opened in 1854 by the wife of the then Lieutenant Governor of the island, who of course was called Lady Isabella. In its time it has been used for various reasons: to pump water to the Groudle Hotel (designed by Hugh Ballie-Scott), to provide power for the fairy lights that ran through the glen from the entrance to Lhen Coan, terminus of the Groudle Glen Railway. Latterly its function has become entirely aesthetic.

The wheel house was rebuilt in 1954 when the glen as a tourist attraction was enjoying something of a renaissance and rumours abound at this time that the wheel house was haunted. The wheel featured in a disguised form in the BBC series "Lovejoy" in 1986 following a story which led to buried treasure being discovered in one of the paddles. In 1994 the wheel was refurbished by Laxey Towing Co. Ltd. and re-opened to the fanfare music of Onchan Silver Band. Since this time it has operated sporadically in conjunction with train services on the nearby railway but following storms in October 2002 it was damaged and has subsequently been a purely static exhibit.