The trans-island A1 (and hourly bus #5 or #6 from Douglas) follows a deep twelve-mile-long furrow between the northern and southern ranges from Douglas to Peel. A hill at the crossroads settlement of ST JOHNS , nine miles along it, is the original site of Tynwald , the ancient Manx government, which derives its name from the Norse Thing Völlr , meaning "Assembly Field". Nowadays the word refers to the Douglas-based House of Keys and Legislative Council, but acts passed in the capital only become law once they have been proclaimed here on July 5 (ancient Midsummer's Day) in an annual open-air parliament that also hears the grievances of the islanders. Tynwald's four-tiered grass mound - made from soil collected from each of the island's parishes - stands at the other end of a processional path from the stone St John Chapel , which traditionally doubled as the courthouse.