m - Isle of Man Today

12
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anxmillennium
m
anxmillennium
13
Another lantern slide given
to the library (which was
once dedicated to that
great Manx historian, A. W.
Moore) by Mr Craine in 1960. It
has the title ‘Saltworks Pump
House’. The location is the
Point of Ayre and the small
lighthouse which stands on the
beach is just visible on the
right hand edge. The Manx Salt
and Alkali Company Ltd was
formed in 1902 with a saltworks
in Ramsey and a pipeline which
brought the brine from an
underground lake near the Point
of Ayre. The saltworks were on
the site of the shipyard at
Ramsey. The buildings were
taken over by the Harbour
Board in 1956 and the two tall
chimneys which were a feature
of Ramsey for over 50 years
were demolished in 1957. Despite
the derelict state of this building
it is interesting to note smoke
coming out of the chimney.
(MNH/pic/3602)
The Douglas Head
ferry but not one
of those broad flat
boats (The Rose,
Thistle, Shamrock)
which we tend to
associate with the ferry
that travelled from the
Victoria Pier to the
Battery Pier. The
Lancashire Lass had
started life as a steam
tug but was altered to
become a ferry boat.
The empty boat
alongside
the
breakwater is either the
Jingo or Sambo which
were owned by the Knox
family of engineers (yes,
Archie Knox’s father and
brothers). The Knox’s
were very clever
engineers who had their
own designs for many
things to do with fishing
boats and the likes. They
also designed and made a
change sorting and
counting machine for use
with the takings from the
ferry. (MNH/pic/820)
Another G. B. Cowen
photograph which,
according to the
label on the side of the
lantern slide, is taken at
Ballaugh. The Cowen
trademark of two girls on a
bridge but not the usual
fair Manx maids in their
teens or twenties that he
posed so often in his
pictures. A collection of
conical haystacks in the
field by the gate but
whereabouts in Ballaugh is
it? (MNH/pic/3535)
Acase of early recycling for this view of the twin
cars of the inclined railing of Port Soderick
shows us what used to be the means of access to
the Falcon Cliff Hotel and the adjoining pavilion. The
complex was bought by the newly formed Palace and
Derby Castle company but was closed down to
concentrate business in those other two ventures. The
pavilion was taken down (sorry I don’t know what
happened to it) and the inclined railing which ran down
from the eastern corner of the hotel to a castellated
entrance between the hotels of Palace Terrace made its
way to Port Soderick. Here it provided a link between the
Southern Electric Railway and the refreshment rooms,
hotel and amusements at the promenade level. The white
painted wall on the left of the picture is still there today
and it helps to identify the location of the railway. The
advertisements are for the Victoria Cafe on the Victoria
Pier; McCutcheons the grocers of Strand Street and for
Clinch’s Ales. (MNH/pic/836)
The road to Peel with Greeba Castle and
Greeba Towers in the trees. The folktale is
that the owner of Greeba Castle lost the
property in a game of cards but built Greeba
Towers in front of his former property to block the
view of the new owner. There is truth in the fact that
the owner of the castle did build the Towers and he
did have money troubles as the coroner had
arrested some of his property but the game of cards
could be a case of folktale according to coach
drivers. Greeba Castle was at one time used as a
school but it is most famous for being the home of Hall
Caine the Victorian author. He had at one time been in
the office of an architect/builder in Liverpool and he
redesigned the internal layout of the property as well
as replacing the front door with a bay window, adding
an Italian style piazza and turning a whole room into
an entrance hall complete with bog oak beams and
fittings. (MNH/pic/835)