Matthew, I will go to Liverpool and go to Isle of Man from there.
But on the way back from the Isle of Man I was thinking of maybe taking the Douglas-Heysham route as I want to go to the Lake District, it might safe me some kilometersmiles ;-) of cycling.

At the moment, I plan to go from Manchester to Liverpool on Monday the 29th.

And yes, Matthew, it would be nice to meet again!

Noreen, the link Matthew gave says there will be ferries to Heysham - two or three each day, so no need for you to find out as I did already!
But thanks for the offer!