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10 m anxmillennium m anxmillennium 15 Afine close up of Clifford Earp’s Napier in the Gordon Bennett Trials of 1905. The view was taken at the Ramsey Control and forms part of the Southward Collection which contains other views of this great event. This was the second year the event had been held and readers may be astonished to learn of the course. Starting on Quarterbridge Road the cars travelled south to Castletown via Ballasalla; then to Ballacraine passing through Foxdale, Kirk Michael and then turning off at Ballaugh to travel through Jurby and on to Ramsey via Sandygate, then it was over the mountain to Cronk-na-Mona, Willaston and back to the start via Bray Hill. Quite a course when you consider the state of the roads then. Southward Box 2 No 16 The title on this lantern slide commercially produced by Graystone, Bird of Bath is ‘Getting ready to sail’. It is taken alongside the Victoria Pier and the ship full of passengers is the Mona’s Isle whilst berthed next to her is the four funnelled Ben-my-Chree II. Beyond is the Red Pier with its fine lighthouse around which newly married couples would walk. On the other side of the harbour the terraces designed by John Welch, John Robinson and others. Between the two pairs of funnells on the Ben-my-Chree can be seen the former Imperial Hotel, later Imperial Buildings, the headquarters of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. Behind the mast of the Mona’s Isle can just faintly be seen the roof of Hengler’s Circus, a permanent building of timber construction and the reason for the title Circus Beach which has since been covered with demolition material from the Douglas Bay Hotel and elsewhere before being paved over. MNH/pic/468 Another lifeboat but this time we move to Castletown for this view of the lifeboat in the square. Is this the ‘Thomas Black’ which served from 1896 until the station closed in 1922 or is it the earlier boat? On lifeboat day the boat was brought into the square but that would be accompanied by bunting and seaweed hung from ropes. Notice the man with what I take to be a maroon launcher on the extreme right. Don’t overlook the sundial in the background that gives the time in various places throughout the world as well as, so it is said, the time of night by the light of the moon. This glass lantern slide once belonged to Canon Spicer and was given to the museum library in 1952 by Mrs Riggall MNH/pic/3722 Elsewhere in this edition is a photograph of ‘Old Pete’ well this is the interior of his cottage at Ballure on the outskirts of Ramsey. The cottage was thatched but it is interesting to see that the underside of the roof was partially boarded. The decoration above the fire place opening are advertisements for Holbrook’s Sauce but undoubtedly they brought a bit of colour to the collage interior. The light patch on the left is either a large skylight or, as local tradition has it, a hole has been made in the wall and roof to let additional light in so that the photograph could be taken. On the shelves to the left, rosie bowls can be seen between the other crockery. On the right the table appears to be piled up with newspapers but it looks as if the cottage wall behind this had been wallpapered ‘Old Pete’ died on 20th September 1906 and his funeral was attended by a great multitude of people MNH/pic/1018
14 m anxmillennium m anxmillennium 11 Areturn to Douglas for this G.B. Cowen lantern slide of the Castle Mona and the sands in front. I wonder if Cowen took this views or whether in fact he copied another photograph a little older than his usual views. On the right is a grass embankment which was the location of a gun battery used in connection with others on Onchan Head and Douglas Head to protect the bay and harbour of Douglas. Notice there is no promenade with railings, no row of shops and the wing of the hotel on the extreme left has not yet been raised in height to provide more accommodation for guests. The building was only a private residence for the first thirty years of its life and it has been a hotel for 167 years. Don’t forget it was the first Casino in the Isle of Man but the days of ‘Pandora’s Box’ might be better forgotten. The photograph was given to the Manx Museum Library in 1960 along with many more by Mr David Craine MNH/pic/4114 Do you recognise the location of this photograph? It is the junction of Bowring Road with North Shore Road, Ramsey. The building on the right is now the North Shore Post Office but when this photograph was taken by Mr Southward it was the shop of Mr Arthur Faragher. The note on the negative tells us the young men are E. Simkiss and G. Halliday but that’s all. Notice the way in which the street lamp is in the road rather than on the pavement or the parapet as the locals would say. The tapered and fluted lamp standard featured a lot in Ramsey and elsewhere. This building and Teare’s the butchers on the other side of the road were like bookends forming a portal to Bowring Road but they really needed to be part of larger terraces to be more architecturally impressive. Southwards Box 2 No 30A The title on the glass lantern slide is ‘Walker’s School, Ballacorraige’ and that’s it. The slide was produced by Lizars, Optician of Glasgow so thinking caps on and tell me where it is, what’s there now, who was Walker and in deed anything else that you can MNH/pic/4112 Here is another magic lantern slide which I feel may have come from the Harbour Board at one time. It shows the construction of the lighthouse on the Chickens Rock. The original is rather faint but a terrific record of the event of all those years ago. Hopefully one day photographs will turn up of the work that was undertaken on shore for the granite used in its construction was brought from Dalbeatie in Scotland to Port St Mary where a large workforce of stone cutters produced blocks that dovetailed together. They were assembled dry to check everything was in order and then shipped out to the rock. The first 32 feet above the rock is solid granite then the entrance door and seven storeys upto the lantern machinery room. The light was lit for the first time on January 1st, 1875 and the cost all those years ago was close to £70,000. MNH/pic/480 Another puzzler for you. It is obviously a lime kiln and limestone blocks have been used in the construction. It is not the lime kilns at Scarlett (see page 22, edition No 3) so it is Port St Mary or maybe af Jefferson’s quarry? Your views would be appreciated. MNH/pic/1690 Train and tram buffs will have seen views similar to this before, it is on the summit of Snaefell but don’t think it was the original hotel, it isn’t. This was the station building, the refreshment building was on a lower level with a path between them. Soon this had to be replaced by a boardwalk, presumably on account of soil erosion. Higher than the station building was the actual summit where a platform was constructed and there was an official guide from whom you could purchase special postcards. MNH/pic/869
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