25th A.G.M.

25th A.G.M. …..19.2.14…..John Slater

The 25th AGM of the trust will be unforgettable in so many ways! To be celebrating a quarter of a century together was remarkable in itself. To help mark the occasion, Dr Patricia Tutt opened the evening with a power point presentation of her remarkable new book, An Introduction to the Architecture of the Isle of Man. Colour photographs of both interiors and exteriors of a whole range of Manx buildings plus impressively researched text is an absolute ‘must have’. It skilfully meets the needs of an academic, the interested enthusiast as well as gracing any coffee table. Available in bookshops now!

Not for the first time, we were treated to a technological battle royal between computer, projector and anxious speaker. Luckily, I had plenty of material for the large audience, particularly an overview of the new programme. We owe a great debt to all our speakers over so many wonderful years. Our grateful thanks to them all!

With the help of Mike O’Neill, the Centenary Centre’s resident genius, the screen was filled with an absorbing procession of fine buildings, gardens and grounds. Many are only glimpsed through trees or seen briefly from the air. If only the public might have the opportunity of enjoying them from time to time. Houses such as Milntown and the Grove are so enjoyed.  Pat’s book helps to show us what we are missing, particularly when you see the quality of some of the interiors.

We began with Balladoole, Arbory. This gorgeous house had been gifted to the family by Lady Derby, along with the Calf of Man. That’s what I call a gift! A granary, dated 1800 had been used as a school at one time. Then on to Scarlett House with an interesting outbuilding dated 1717 graced with built in hens’ nest boxes. We saw a flax  retting pond close to the house. Flax was once an important Manx crop.

Kirby at Braddan showed the marked separation of ‘upstairs, downstairs.’ The servants’ approach lane is sunken between banks so that the family and guests are spared looking at them! 

Next on our tour was Kentraugh, Rushen. We admired the interiors with wonderful plasterwork and a magnificent music room with a vaulted, gothic ceiling. Milntown can easily be visited so do take that opportunity. Next, to Crogga, my own favourite setting. Lovely woodland and bluebells enhanced by not just one but two steam railways, one private, a lake and boating as well. Heaven!

Apparently, Braddan has suffered over time so straight on to Glen Mooar at St Johns c. 1820. The hall and corridor has superb Minton tiles normally protected by a carpet but illustrated in the book.

Government House, Onchan, the Nunnery, 1823 and Lorne House, Castletown were all admired when came the second unforgettable event. A member of the audience rose to their feet, tripped on the stepped aisle, fell, was partially caught and then lay silent on the floor. Two of our medical members tended to them, we dialled 999, a paramedic arrived in moments followed by the ambulance. The speed of response and level of care was fantastic. Luckily, the patient came-to in the theatre, otherwise I had a clergy member on hand should he be needed. To my relief, the patient rang me next morning – a viral attack!

I had to cut Pat short, so please come back another time!

With a bit of quick thinking, we diverted the audience to refreshments and then into the Atholl Room, fortunately empty, to set up for an instant AGM. Well over fifty members took part in a splendid meeting reviewing the highly successful year and setting course for another. 

Future events:  Saturday, 15th March, 2.00 pm at the Manx Museum – a tour of the 1st World War exhibition by Matthew Richardson, himself. This is a privilege not to be missed. Then, the 19th March, 7.30 pm in the Centenary Centre - Andrew Johnson with an illustrated talk, Traditional Buildings of Man. Non - members are always welcome.

Christmas Party and Film Night

Two articles for the price of one – our own January sale!

Before Christmas becomes a distant memory, I must record the splendid party we had at Peel Golf Club in December. The food and company was exceedingly good as were the usual raffle and quiz.

We were very fortunate in being able to book the outstanding group, The Cronk Illiam Scratchers – yes, Manx for Hill Billies! Having heard and enjoyed their humorous renditions before, I had no doubts about the treat in store. They even played my favourites, ‘They’re burning down the house that I grew up in’ and the mildly risqué, ‘The Hermit’. Our warmest thanks go to them for terrific entertainment and to all who contributed to a great celebration.

Our January meeting filled the Centenary Centre theatre. We had a special screening of Hall Caine’s most famous novel, ‘The Manxman’. I believe that this was Hitchcock’s last silent film. Bill Quine had made all the arrangements and gave us a most useful introduction. It was largely filmed in Polperro, Cornwall. Bill thought that this was that Hall Caine interfered so much in the filming that Hitchcock upped sticks. However, there were shots at Niarbyl and possibly in the woods near Raby. The late Barton Quirk had told Bill, in a recorded interview, that he remembered the occasion and the excitement of watching the filming.

The film was shot in black and white and clearly sub-titled. The exaggerated facial expressions and movements all added to the experience of a gripping story well told. It was a real tear- jerker. Copies of the book aren’t too hard to come by, so I won’t reveal the plot. If you do get a chance to watch the dvd, seize the opportunity.

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 19^th February 7.30 pm in the Centenary Centre. For technical reasons, the programme has been changed. Pat Tutt will be giving us an illustrated talk on her superb book, An Introduction to the Architecture of the Isle of Man. She will emphasise buildings in Peel so this will be very special. I’m hoping that copies will be available then you can get yours signed.

Following refreshments, we will hold our AGM. This is always lively with the formal part dealt with promptly to leave plenty of time for discussion and suggestions for the new programme. There are a couple of people retiring by rotation so do come with suggestions for the committee. A proposer and seconder is required and do make sure that the person you have in mind is prepared to stand. We can co-opt non-voting members for particular tasks so if you would like to help, don’t be shy! We’re looking for an editor for our newsletter, so do let us know if this is something you would enjoy.

This is going to be a wonderful, popular evening, so do come in good time.

Remembrance Travels - Cannell CBE

Ian’s talk this time, focused on war graves, world - wide. Passports at the ready, we set off on a series of remarkable journeys and experiences, many to countries many of us would find difficult to place on a map.

The emphasis, Ian stressed, was not on wallowing in sadness but on the uplifting experiences of those taking part in the regular tours organised by the travel arm of the R.B.L. in conjunction with Newmarket Travel. This enabled war widows, widowers, family members, friends, school groups or other interested members of the public to visit war graves safely and smoothly with experienced guides.

In 1914, a Red Cross worker realised that rough wooden crosses for graves was too impermanent. A graves registration group was established with plots of land donated by the country where the fallen lay, to be maintained in perpetuity by the British government. These incredible cemeteries were even planted out with plants typical of British gardens. All gravestones are of identical size and pattern, regardless of rank or status. All are equal in death. Cemeteries range in size from three or four to thousands. Every cemetery has a large cross of sacrifice with a bronze sword of St George, the patron saint of the fighters. A large stone of remembrance is always present and may be used as an altar for services.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission commemorates 1 700 000 dead from the two world wars in 153 countries. You can trace these individuals via www.CWGC.org   The site is of great interest and value, not just for tracing family members and friends killed but for information associated with these terrible events. Additionally, many of thousands who were killed are in civilian cemeteries worldwide.

Artefacts still come to light. Battlefields s yield bones, uniform fragments, weapons and personal belongings of the fallen. Appropriate finds may be displayed in museums. Sometimes, it is possible to identify individuals and this can be of some comfort to those who still remember people lost in action.

Different countries commemorate their fallen in different ways. America tends to repatriate their fallen to Arlington Cemetery. The Russians have a valley with a huge statue of a soldier at one end and at the other, a mother carrying a child. This represents Mother Russia weeping over the millions who were killed.

In Britain, the government will still pay for a war widow to visit the grave of their husband on one occasion.

Ian spoke of visits he has made all over the globe. Always, the graves are cared for, respected and appreciated by families. Would you not think that these would act as a deterrent to further killing? Nothing seems to deter slaughter on an industrial scale. Good will triumph over evil but why so long, Oh Lord?

The next meeting is our party at the Golf Club on 10^th December. Fine food and the incredible Cronk Illiam Scratchers will entertain. Ring Corrie on 843502.

Hall Caine, Internment and the Woman of Knockaloe, Pat Skillicorn 16.10.13

Pat began her illustrated talk by sketching in something of the history of Hall Caine, the eminent Victorian novelist forever associated with the Isle of Man and his home, Greeba Castle. She expressed a feeling of nervousness at seeing Ula Corkill, an authority on Hall Caine and Frances Coakley, expert in Manx heritage both in the audience. Of course, she had nothing to fear. Her scholarly research in so many areas and previous talks to the trust make her an established figure and an accomplished speaker.

Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine CH, KBE to give him his full title was born in Cheshire. His father, born in Ramsey left the Island, as so many have, in search of work and found employment as a fitter in Liverpool docks. Hall Caine, as he preferred to be known, was educated at a British National School in Liverpool until he was fourteen. They must have given him a splendid education in English as he excelled as a writer. However, he started work in Liverpool with an architect and then became an architect/surveyor. He was set on a literary career and his determination paid off.

Most people, one way or another, can access the inter net. Wikipaedia sets out Hall Caine’s biography in a clear but mind-boggling way. His contacts with great authors and other eminent figures seemed to explode in no time. Do have a look.

Caine’s first novel, The Deemster, was a success. He frequently visited the Island and this seems to have been a great influence on his life and writing. He came to live in Greeba Castle and such was his fame from his published works and friendships with Victorian greats such as Rosetti, crowds would gather outside his home in the hopes of seeing him.

Pat’s attention was drawn to the novel, Woman of Knockaloe that Hall Caine said came to him in a dream. It centres on the love that developed between a Manx girl called Mona and a German Knockaloe internee. The development of the romance, the way it affected people still seething with hatred of the Germans for the war and how true love overcame people’s feelings is a remarkable tale. It was seen as an allegory for the necessity of re-establishing good relations between different nations. This was a huge success and was made into a silent film. We were lucky enough to view a clip. Of course, when the book was written and the film made, there was no suggestion that the Germans would launch a second world war with all its accompanying horrors.

On much the same theme, our next meeting at 7.30 on Wednesday, 20^th November in the Centenary Centre features Ian Cannell CBE speaking on Remembrance Travels – remembrance with an international dimension. Tickets for the Christmas Party at the Golf Club will be on sale. A wonderful band is included. To be on the safe side, ring Corrie Wooding on 843502.

Manx Victorian Inventors………Bob Stimpson………19.6.13

What an intriguing title. How many of us could name even one Manx Victorian inventor? Bob began his illustrated talk with views of the Royal Society of Arts building in John Adam Street, London. The RSA was founded in 1754 with the aim of encouraging developments in arts, manufacturing and sciences. Members are elected as leaders in their fields of study and mark accomplishment. It plays a major part in education through study and examination. A number of Manxmen have received awards and certificates. The earliest mentioned is George Quayle of Castletown in 1793. He’d invented a control device to balance water flow onto water wheels. These were a major source of power and regulating them automatically was a huge advantage and widely adopted. Examples are still in use.

George’s influence after many persuasive letters enabled the Isle of Man to be accepted as part of the R.S.A. Another George Qualyle invention was a machine that could weave fishing nets at a rate of 100yds per day. Compare that to hand weaving. Lack of finance sank hundreds of potentially useful inventions. Nothing changes – so much potential lost for want of an informed, enthusiastic banking system! We next looked at Mark Cosnahan, 1784 – 1859, a navigator between Liverpool and Jamaica. He invented methods for storing and rigging sails more easily and invented a design to improve the efficiency of paddles on steamers and an on-board still, no, not for alcohol but to obtain freshwater from seawater. Similar devices are still used.

In 1828, William Kennish was awarded an R.S.A. gold medal for inventing a device that focused a broadside from the guns on a small part of an enemy ship, concentrating the damage. Amazingly, this device achieved a similar degree of accuracy to a modern gun turret. Kennish also surveyed a lock-free route for the Panama Canal, in 1855. He designed a hydraulic (water) motor to drive mills. These were widely used in sawmills and even suggested for blowing organs. Does anyone know of any example of this? Given the plentitude of running water, these days and the rising cost of fuels, we ought to look at this again.

We romped along with Robinson’s sliding appliance – a third leg that visitors could attach to have their photographs taken in the Isle of Man and more usefully, Jonathan Kermode of Peel’s invention of an oil burner for ship’s boilers. This was the start of oil-fired marine boilers and he went on to work with Parson’s turbines. How I wish I could mention dozens more!

After refreshments we had a fantastic question and answer session discovering that Bob had thirty odd patents, himself! Next event is a walking treasure hunt. Start at Creg Malin car park 6.15 pm Friday 28th June and afterwards to ‘Mylvoirrey’ by golf course entrance for a BBQ at 7.30pm. Ring Trish Teare 843480 or Corrie Wooding 843502 for a ticket. Thanks to Norman and Trish Teare for their hospitality.

Manx Dialect, Roy Kennaugh, 20.3.13

This evening was a delight. It was a great pleasure to welcome Roy Kennaugh of Kirk Michael Heritage Trust as our speaker and to have one of our largest gatherings to enjoy an excellent power point presentation on Manx Dialect.

Roy suggested that dialect comes second to the Manx language, itself but it serves a very useful purpose in keeping some of the language alive and in common usage.

How did the language develop? The first settlers were Celts with Irish Gaelic. Roy pointed out that Manx Gaelic is similar to both Irish and Scottish Gaelic with a level of understanding between speakers of these variations.

There was a steady decline in Manx speakers in the 19^th century. English became the dominant tongue but with the Manx variations we know as dialect.

Dialect was defined as ‘a regionally and socially defined variety of a language which differs in vocal tone, pronunciation and grammar. One example was, ‘Ther’s a fine car at him!’ (He’s got a nice car!)

A 1960’s survey in Andreas and Ronague showed that Manx dialect was influenced by  N and NW Midland dialect plus Manx Gaelic. This survey expressed a concern that Manx Gaelic would die, closely followed by Manx dialect. Thanks to vigorous action by a few, including the establishment of a Manx –speaking school, neither concern is now true. A nation that loses its language loses its identity. We certainly ran it close – Traa dy Liooar (Time enough) very nearly wasn’t!

A lot of investigation into Manx Gaelic and dialect had been conducted in Cronk y Voddey. This was chosen as a relatively stable farming community. Roy was one of the researchers and was able to speak of his findings. The age range of 40 speakers ranged from 8 to 89 years. The nucleus of the network of speakers was community events such as the famous ploughing match.

Roy then entered into a more detailed examination of the structure of Manx dialect. Examples included the loss of g in ing, (runnin’), loss of t in words, firs(t), devoicing of z to sound like an s, loss of middle consonants – li’l for little and so on.

We were then treated to Win’ Collister reciting, ‘Goin’ to Tynwald’ in dialect. This was treated to terrific applause.

Roy moved on to some of the conclusions of his study. No great surprises in that older people knew more Manx, (probably less true now that so many children are learning and being taught in Manx.) People with a strong sense of national identity used more Manx and males knew more words than women.

Some of the vocabulary such as long tail came from elsewhere, in this case, seafarers. The audience joined in a kind of quiz, trading words and meanings such as cushag, bonnag and lesser known ones. This was a lot of fun and was very animated.

Whilst we had refreshments, we watched a dialect play from Kirk Michael. This was a good exemplar of the use of dialect in conversation.

We built up a large vocabulary between us with Roy jotting down one’s he’d missed. A great evening!

AGM Enhanced by Frances Coakley: Manx Mapping

Who would have thought that an AGM could be so pleasurable? We take a chance in having the speaker in the first half, running the risk of losing the audience for the business part. However, as a Blue Badge Guide would say, ‘we’ve never lost anyone yet!’ 

Frances Coakley opened the first half with a fascinating, illustrated talk on Manx maps and mapping .She began by explaining the difference between a diagrammatic representation and plan, which is a scale drawing.

The first known temple plan dates from 2200BC – the first atlas from 1570 AD.

We went on a historical romp from the first use of moveable type and wood engravings to satellite mapping. A map by Lloyd in 1573 showed the Island for the first time. Saxton, in 1583, was a great Tudor mapmaker and he was given authority to climb any towers he chose to help map the surroundings. Mercator, in 1595, copied Saxton’s work.

Frances explained with the aid of a diagram, the principle of triangulation for fixing points and judging distances. This was introduced in 1533.

The Speed map of the Island, in 1610, was a bit more accurate but navigators would not have wanted to rely on the coastline or land features that might help as navigational marks. No wonder so many ships were lost.

Jumping forward, Capt Collins tried to remedy this, in 1693. Of local interest, Fannin who was on Capt Cooke’s voyage, also produced some accurate work and was involved in the Peel School of Navigation. 

The Corris map of 1784 was pretty accurate and is useful to make comparisons with the present town. It wasn’t until 1833 that a road map was produced. This indicates very limited movement for most people.

Tithe maps were more accurate as landowners’ taxes were calculated from them. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 1846 that Admiralty maps showed water depths and safe harbours. The Ordnance Survey maps with their noted accuracy came in 1866. Many maps can be seen in the Manx Museum.

A quick cuppa and on to the AGM! The present committee continues unblemished. As chairman, Tim Crookall, MHK was unable to be present it was my pleasure to present Dave Maclean, one of the Centenary Centre’s directors, with a cheque for £3000 from the Trust towards the re-roofing of the Atholl Room. This was received with much joy.

I read a speech from Tim, adding a few bits of my own about the events we had enjoyed through the year and whetting appetites with projected meetings and visits. These represent great value even at the new rate of £8 single and £10 family membership, newsletters included.

The proposal from last year, to add ‘the Island’s heritage and its history.’ to our formerly parochial aim was overwhelmingly approved. I’ll add more detail about the AGM another time.

Next meeting is Wednesday 20th March, 7.30pm in the Centenary Centre – ‘Manx Dialect’ with Roy Kennaugh. This will be a  real treat.

John Slater