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8 m anxmillennium m anxmillennium 17 Would you know where this is? The note on the side of the lantern slide says “St Patrick’s Well”. If it is, then you will find it on Peel Hill. ‘The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Isle of Man’ states “also known as the Silver Well, it is on the western slope of the hill, North West of Corrin’s Tower. Tradition says that when St Patrick landed on a silver shod horse one of its shoes was caught and wrenched off in the rock and a spring of water gushed out to form a well”. The young girl holds a bunch of reeds in one hand but is she dropping something into the well with the other? (MNH/pic/3568) Another glass negative given to the Manx Museum library following the start of this series shows an agricultural show at The Nunnery. Above the trees can be seen the boarding houses in Belmont Terrace and to the left of this are the various huts on the allotments where Hillside Avenue was later to be built. (MNH/gift/679) Why on earth did J. W. Birch of Bristol photograph the Peel Brickworks in the early 1950s? The reason doesn’t matter but the important thing is that he did for now we have a record of something that is no longer there. The brick kilns are set within a steel framed shelter with corrugated asbestos sheeting. I rather think that the plans were drawn up by T. H. Kennaugh the architect as he did work for Peel and Glenfaba brickworks and of Gellings Foundry in Douglas as they were all in the same ownership. In the background are the herring houses and the small chimney on the skyline belongs to the gasworks. It was linked to the plant in the valley below by a stoneclad pipe set at ground level on the steep embankment between them. In the foreground the Douglas to Peel railway line. (MNH/pic/3423) G. B. Cowen was the photographer of this photograph entitled ‘Glory Quayle’. She was a character in Hall Caine’s novel “The Manxman” and I rather think that there is an image of her in the Archibald Knox designed headstone of Hall Caine in Maughold churchyard. Who was Cowen’s model and how did he achieve the cloud effect in this very artistic view? (MNH/pic/809)
16 m anxmillennium m anxmillennium 9 One of the most recent views to be used in this series is a view of Peel power station taken by J. W. Birch of Bristol around 1952. Peel Hill is in the background with the power station workers’ bungalows overlooking the River Neb and set between the power station and the oil tanks in this view. The power station became redundant when the new building was erected, in fact a condition of the planning approval for the new power station was that the old one should be pulled down when redundant. What happened? It wasn’t pulled down but instead a planning application was made to reclad it – whatever did we do before there was such a thing as a planning process? (MNH/pic/3422) At first glance a ship launch, chimneys in the background it must be Ramsey but look again. On the skyline there are terraces of houses for this is Peel. Sections of wooden railing have been removed and large sections of timber laid to create a launching slipway down into the River Neb. The tall chimney on the right belongs to the brickworks which was founded in 1885 to coincide with the erection of new guest houses and hotels in the Marine Parade. Ironically in order to build the brickyard bricks had to be imported and arrived on the ‘Importer’ under Captain Nelson in June 1885 having sailed from Dalbeatie. The chimney was 91 feet high and I wonder if it had the same outcry as the MEA chimney just over 100 years later. This view is one of a group of glass negatives given to the Museum of recent and are classified as being dated 1911- 1912, does this help identify which ship is being launched? (MNH/gift/679) Presumably there is a tale to this photograph – why does the old lady appear to be crying? Has the young lad cut his knee? The location is Peel and ironically the stone wall was taken down and replaced by the railings. Of more recent years a stone wall has been built to replace the railings and keep the sand and tide at bay. The photograph was taken by Mr Henderson, Photographer Royal, and it shows his grandson William Gray and his mother Mrs T. I. Gray beside him. The older lady is her mother, Mrs A. L. Henderson, wife of the photographer. (MNH/pic/831) Port Skillion below Douglas Head lighthouse is the location of this close up view whereas most views of the baths are taken from a distance to show the general lie of the land. The baths were the promotion of Mr Archer who had walls built across the little creek which trapped the tide when it came in. The next high tide cleared out the pool and left a fresh supply of sea water for bathers. To start with the baths were a male only affair and the lads got changed behind the rocks. Later dressing cubicles were built and then these were made two storey when the baths had become used by mixed sexes. Notice the railings to the right to keep users away from the rock edge and notice also the markers to tell the depth of the pool in various places. Open air baths like his cropped up around the Island; Peel, Port Erin, Ramsey, Perwick Bay and one was proposed for Fort Island. (MNH/pic/816) Is the young lady shy of the camera as she looks away yet still holding on to the young lad? Notice the rear legs of the bench stepping down behind the raised concrete plinth on which it stands – not much use for anywhere else. Across the road there are two steps up from the road to the pavement. In the background the guest houses are no more than 25 years old. Some of the house names are still with us, others have been changed or lost due to amalgamation. The plots were sold subject to covenants, firstly the plans had to be approved by Christopher Obree Ellison the architectural engineer of Liverpool whose scheme was finally selected in the construction of Loch Parade. The window sills and heads, together with the string courses had to run in line and the properties had to be stone coloured. Stone comes in many colours and for several years the Villiers Hotel was painted in terracotta (sandstone?). (MNH/pic/829)
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