m - Isle of Man Today

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From the Southward
Collection of glass
negatives is this view of a
refreshment tent at the Sulby
Fair of unknown date but
probably in the first decade of
this century. It’s hard to imagine
a licenced tent at such a country
event. Does any reader know who
L. Knowles was – a publican? a
licenced grocer?
Southward Box 2 No 30
Acontrast to many of the fine
houses on the Island is Mrs Mary
Gilrea’s sod cottage at Jurby
photographed in 1897 and produced by
Mr Stubbs. The walls are made of turf
sods stacked on top of one an other but
it relied on the thatch throwing the
water off the building. Notice how the
thatch is taken up the chimney stack
and how the roof is really hipped
compared with the usual gable
arrangement for a stone built cottage.
Sod cottages were undoubtley
indigenous for when the roof fell in
the walls could wash away and
everything would return to the earth
MNH/pic/4230
Ithought I would include this TT view
which has the title ‘TT Start 1922’’ as
I have always been amazed at the
cantilever of the control box designed to
give the best all round view of the
start/finish area. It looks like a
megaphone hanging out of the left hand
window and is it a siren on the platform
edge between the windows? What is that fan
type thing over the starting rider – an
umbrella or something to keep the seagulls
away? Somehow a lot has changed and very
little has changed in 77 years. Notice on the
left the trophies are on display throughout
the races. MNH/pic/4354
One of the many regattas to be
held on the Mooragh Lake at
Ramsey was captured for us by
Mr Southward. We don’t know what
everyone is looking at but certainly
there are a lot of them. I was taken by
the young ones sitting on the edge of
the lake which I don’t think I have seen
before. The Mooragh Park with its 12
acre lake was laid out by the Ramsey
Town Commissioners and on 11th
August 1887 Spencer Walpole the
Lieutenant Governor cut the first sod. It
took three years to construct the park to
the designs of Mr E. Thomas at a cost of
£4,650 Southward Box 2 24A
I
never tire of finding
another view of Tynwald
Fair with something
different hidden away in some
corner or other. In this faint
lantern slide (which I hope
can be darkened before
printing) there are various
stalls set up, covered and
uncovered. Over on the left is
a solid canopy with the word
‘potatoes’ clearly viable.
Could this be ‘Hot Potatoes’?
If so then there is nothing new
under the sun. In the
background the old Tynwald
Inn at one time called ‘The
Junction’. Notice the complex
of cottage, house and stable. It
would be interesting to know
what the large banner or
poster is over on the right.
This Cowen photograph or
glass slide to be more precise,
was given to the Manx Museum
in 1953 by Sam Bennett of
Ramsey. MNH/pic/4362