Tynwald, Douglas, Isle of Man

Though the building bears a plaque to that effect, I often wondered where you might get enough room for the Isle of Man's governing assembly. With my eyes trained after looking over photos from a trip to Sweden that saw me traipse around Stockholm, I now spy a darked-rimmed circular structure that could answer the required purpose that I had missed before now. The photo may date from my second visit to the island in May 2010, but there remains more to reveal since the last day of that trip when I captured the scene.

There two chambers: the elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Legislative Council. The latter is a revising chamber for laws passed by the former and both meet jointly once a month and on Tynwald Day at St. John's. Otherwise, they meet separately and there even is a proposal to make the Legislative Council directly elected. The Tynwald claims to be in continuous existence for more than a thousand years and celebrated its millennium in 1979. Over the course of its life so far, there has been much effort expended to establish its monopoly over the legislative affairs of the Isle of Man and, though much has been won, it continues to seek the gaining of paramount status for all internal Manx matters.