Sir David Wilson's Summer Newsletter 2008

Billown 26 July 2008.

Members are welcome to our July event when the gardens of Billown Mansion House will be open by kind permission of Mr John Whittaker.

Billown is an ancient quarterland farm which was for two to three centuries before 1960 in the possession of the Moore family. The ?seventeenth-century house was largely demolished at the turn of the nineteenth century and the family, having made a considerable fortune in the colonies, were able to build the present grand house in its place. They also extended the land-holding, so that Billown became for a short time one of the largest estates on the Island. It suffered from neglect for some years, but the house and gardens have been much restored and developed during Mr Whittaker’s careful ownership.

It is the gardens and lakes which will be seen by members. The Moore family were keen gardeners and had a famous hot-house where they propagated orchids. This and their fine garden had fallen into ruin by the middle of the last century, but traces could still be seen of there planting in the 1960s, when Larch Garrad recorded some New Zealand shrubs and a particularly fine specimen of Winterbark (Drimys Winteri). Members might like to search for such exotica on Saturday. The black swans, however, were introduced by Mr Whittaker!

Those interested in archaeology will be able to see a tall granite pillar in the ‘meadow’ which may be prehistoric. Certainly prehistoric is a stone circle behind the house (which may not be visible to members). This is the only reasonable certain example of a prehistoric stone circle on the Island. It may have been damaged when the old house was taken down, sometime after 1896, and an excavation in 1929 was hampered by tree-roots and drainage pipes. But the excavations revealed a circle of some 22 stones set slightly elliptically, with two portal stones of quartz. Professor Darvill has produced a new plan of the site and has suggested that it might represent one of a number of monuments: a. a circular ‘Celtic’ house; b. that it is the kerb of a stone cairn; c. that it is the remains of a passage grave (although there is no trace of a chamber). He feels that it is best paralleled by the stone ritual circles found frequently in the Irish Sea region. Members can join the speculation.

Entry is from the Colby/Ballabeg road. Cars should be parked neatly on the balustrade side of the drive.

Visit to Kentraugh Mill

The next summer event will be a visit to Kentraugh Mill by kind permission of Canon and Mrs Sheen on 13 September 2008, to mark the Civic Trust open week. Numbers are limited to thirty. Information from Elsie Pickard on 822142 before 10the September.

Geological excursion to Langness – a report by Mark Solly

Juan Watterson, Emeritus Professor of Geology, Liverpool University, on 28 June led the members of Castletown Heritage on a tour of the rocks of Langness and spoke to the subject of 'Langness and the Age of the Earth'.

Professor Watterson approached the question of 'How old are the rocks of Langness?' by reference to the centuries of debate concerning the age of the earth.

At the Warren, he drew attention to the rock layers forming the foreshore, consisting of boulders, pebbles and sand deposited by a series of flash floods. As these layers of 'conglomerate' are overlain by the Castletown Limestone containing fossils of long extinct animals, they are more ancient than their appearance at first suggests.

This simple conclusion was based on the pioneering work of William Smith (1769-1839), the 'father of English Geology', who was the first to realise that layers of rock are systematic and therefore predictable. Because of his humble origins, Smith's work was disregarded by the scientific community. His findings were considered blasphemous by many. It was only much later in his life that he received recognition for his accomplishments.

At Dreswick Harbour on Langness, the beds of the 'Manx Slates' are almost vertical. This suggests a prolonged history.

As the slates contain a mica mineral that forms only at temperatures above 350° Celsius it was estimated that, given the earth's temperature gradient of 3° C per 100m depth, the slates must have been buried to a depth of 10-15km since their initial formation as layers of sand and silt.

At a typical rate of vertical movement of 1mm per year, the time required for burial and subsequent uplift to the surface, would be a minimum of 20-30 million years.

Professor Watterson observed that the atomic structure of minerals such as mica was first established by an X-ray technique invented by a former pupil of King William's College, Sir Henry Bragg (1862-1942), working together with his son, Sir Lawrence Bragg. They were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915.

At 'The Arches', Professor Watterson drew attention to the ancient land surface with slates below and conglomerate above, a feature known as an 'unconformity', a term used by the geologist James Hutton (1726-1797).

Hutton reasoned that there must have been several cycles, each involving deposition the seabed, deep burial with later uplift, tilting and erosion and submersion again for further layers to be deposited.

In concluding that "we find no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end", Hutton showed that the earth must be vastly older than was allowed for by the beliefs of his time.

The conclusion that rocks of Langness required a minimum of several tens of millions of years to form is based on the same reasoning as applied by Hutton some 200 years ago.

Hutton's ideas were not only revolutionary, but literally heretical. Conventional belief was then based on a literal interpretation of The Bible, as expressed by Bishop James Ussher (1581-1656), Anglican Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.

Using the genealogy of the Book of Genesis, Ussher most famously published a chronology that purported to date Creation to the night preceding Sunday 23rd October, 4004 BC. His beliefs were almost universally accepted in Europe at the time and were still the accepted orthodoxy 150 years later when Hutton made his revolutionary claims.

The first scientific attempt to quantify the actual age of the earth was made some 50 years later by the remarkable William Thompson, later Lord Kelvin, after whom the absolute temperature scale, i.e. ° Kelvin or °K, is named.

Physicist and prolific inventor, Kelvin calculated how long it would take for the earth to cool to its present surface temperature gradient of 3° per 100m from a supposed initial temperature of 7000° C. His initial results of 300 million years or so pleased natural philosophers who knew that immense amounts of time were required, as is simply demonstrated on Langness. However, over a period of 50 years, to about 1900, Kelvin gradually reduced his estimates to an unsatisfactory, to geologists, 24 million years.

The discovery of radioactivity in the 1890s by Marie Curie led Ernest Rutherford to realise that the radiogenic heat produced by minerals within the earth invalidated Kelvin's assumption of a passive cooling. Rutherford also realised the potential of radioactivity for dating of rocks and minerals, although little progress was made for another 50 years.

Professor Watterson pointed out the 'unconformity' at Dreswick Harbour with its evidence for weathering of the ancient land surface of slate beneath the conglomerate beds.

At the conclusion of the walk at Port Bravaig, Professor Watterson led a discussion of the actual ages of rocks that had been established since Rutherford's time.

Most notably, he spoke of Clair Patterson (1922-1995) who calculated an age for the earth that is now universally accepted of4550 million years.

In the course of his research, Patterson realised that the lead contamination that he encountered represented a major public health problem. His campaign for lead free petrol was fiercely opposed by commercial interests before its eventual success.

Radiometric dating of rocks is now well established. It enables us to say that the Langness conglomerate layers were formed some 350 million years ago, while the sediments which eventually became the Manx Slates were deposited about 380 million years ago.

David Wilson
Chairman

Castletown Walk leaflet

The brand new Castletown Walk leaflet has been published and is available as a PDF file download from this website.

FROM OUR DESKS

The winter programme

The programme for winter meetings will be issued at the end of the summer. But, for your diary, you might like to note that the first of these meetings will be at St Mary’s on the Harbour at 7.30pm, to hear that well-known local journalist Harvey Briggs give a talk entitled, ‘A lifetime in farming’.

Castletown Clips

Our very successful Clips is always on the look out for snippets of local interest for publication and for the enjoyment of our readers. Please contact Georgie Roper or Eva Wilson.

                                                                        May 2008.

New to the South? Or lived there all your life? But how much do you know about it?

Castletown Heritage has been established for ten years now. We’re not ‘just’ preservation, we’re not ‘just’ lectures, we’re not ‘just’ research, we’re not ‘just’ the Christmas party - we’re a civic society trying to make sure Castletown remains a living, working town. We have members and helpers from all backgrounds and all ages.

We suspect not everyone knows the full range of what we do - or of what more we can do with your help.

Our website, www.castletownheritage.net, gives an idea, but on Wednesday 17th January at 7.30 we’re having a New Members’ Evening - for those who’who have joined us recently, or those who are thinking of joining - or just curious!

We'll explain what we do, and give a flavour of the history of Castletown, and what it looked like in the past. It’s very informal, and there’ll be a glass of wine to help things along. The venue is the old ‘Church Rooms’, the hall above St Mary’s on the Harbour on the corner of Hope St and Bank St.

Perhaps you’ve lived here all your life, but want to know more - or do more to help. Perhaps you’re having a career break to bring up children so you’re at home more. Perhaps you’ve just relocated to the Island - whichever, this is the ideal chance to find out more, and see if you want to get involved.

Just turn up - you’ll be very welcome!

New Committee Member

Castletown Heritage is delighted to announce that Kevin Weir has been co-opted onto the Committee. Kevin attended meetings in the past ex officio when he was Chairman of the Town Commissioners. The committee thought his contributions were too valuable to lose, and so he was prevailed upon to join the committee in his own right. He is a driving instructor and lives in Close Malew.

Christmas Party

Tickets now sold out. Our thanks to Helen Leigh and her team for all the work they are putting into it, and especially Georgina Roper and her very efficient ticketing

One of the joys of delving into the story of Castletown in days gone by is what you come across by accident. I’m all too easily distracted from what I’m supposed to be looking for, but it’s terribly tempting. What you’ve found may, when you excitedly relay it to some long-suffering interlocutor, turn out to be something everyone else has known for years, but equally it may well (as you hope) be something which has not seen the light of day since first it was committed to paper. And if it’s something to do with your own family, or perhaps the house or street you now live in, it doesn’t really matter if anyone else is interested or not.

Work I've been doing recently (on a talk to the Antiquarians) has immersed me more than usual in the Castletown of the first forty years of the nineteenth century. I’ve always had a weakness for history as drama, as a disapproving tutor told me at the University, and there was plenty of drama in those heady days. In 1821 the Lieutenant Governor wrote to the Home Secretary (Lord Sidmouth, the former Prime Minister Mr Addington, crushingly compared to his predecessor, ‘Pitt is to Addington as London is to Paddington’), “I have ….authorised the High Bailiffs of Castletown and Douglas to arm all such Persons as may come forward to assist the civil powers in the preservation of the Peace and for the protection of the Public Offices and the Gaol at Castle Rushen.”i There was always concern about Irish fishermen rioting at Derbyhaven, but in 1825 the danger was home-grown. In that year, the Governor and Council in session in the Castle were interrupted by my great-great-great-great-uncle the High Bailiff of Castletown running in to warn them a mob carrying the red flag was advancing on the town from Port St Mary.

That Governor was old Colonel Smelt who clung limpet-like to his office and his quarters for two dozen years (and thereby ensured the capital would move to Douglas – but that’s another story). After his death his supporters erected the fine column which adds such dignity to our town. Some may remember that for a number of years, before its restoration, it was defaced by a plaque recounting an episode from the administration of criminal justice four hundred years ago. Castletown Heritage was recently approached about this, and we have offered to supply the Town Commissioners with a more accurate replacement plaque if a suitable site can be found. What was the episode? It took place in 1617, and was the last occasion on the Island in which sentence of death was pronounced for witchcraft. The sentence was carried out, by burning, in Castletown Market Place, by the Coroner of Glenfaba (who, as the senior Coroner, remained our hangman until capital punishment was abolished a few years ago). But never let it be said that the Island of James I’s time lacked political correctness – there was no sexism here: one of the two witches burned was a man. They were a mother and son called Quane.ii Of course, as Manx witches can turn themselves into hares, one might think that sportsmen may have despatched one or two since 1617 – but those sympathetic to the occult can take comfort from the fact that such a ‘hare’ is not harmed by an ordinary bullet, only by one made of silver. So now you know.

I have written enough, but I am sure I have space just to remind you to send in your order for Christmas Party tickets as soon as possible. There is likely to be even greater demand than usual as the entertainment is by Dot Tilbury and Ian Qualtrough – I don’t know if the Qualtroughs were among the Port St Mary men who marched on Castletown in the Potato Riots, but if you’ve heard Ian and Dot before, you’ll know the whole thing gets pretty riotous; if you’ve never heard them, you don’t know what you’ve missed.

Happy Hollantide.

Jonathan Kewley
Chairman

Castletown, 1st November 2006

i PRO, HO, 98/70
ii Craine, Manannan’s Isle, p.14

The Brewery Revisited

On Wednesday 8th November Castletown Heritage had its first talk in the old Church Rooms (above St Mary's on the Harbour). Our thanks to the Vicar and Wardens for their help - the fire alarm added to the sense of occasion!

The talk was by David Collister on 'the Castletown Brewery Revisited'

Many members will have heard David’s previous talk to us on the Brewery where he worked, and seen the film of the last brewing. This time he returned with the results of further research on the most important industrial archaeology in Castletown, which closed only twenty years ago.

Another autumn is upon us, and with this letter you will find Castletown Heritage’s programme of events for the coming six months. In the summer we had our first Parent and Child event, which was very successful, and so our first event of this season is another Parent and Child one, a Ghost Walk around the town. Our thanks to Kay Collister, Mary Slater and their helpers who organise the Parent and Child events

You will see that most of our lectures this winter are at a new venue, the hall upstairs at St Mary’s on the Harbour, on the corner of Hope Street and the Thirtle Bridge (the building some of us will remember as the Church Rooms for St Mary’s). There is a stairlift for anyone who can’t manage stairs. We return to the Town Hall for the ever-popular Christmas Party, full details of which will be in the next mailing with our autumn newsletter. I am very pleased to say, however, that we have secured as our entertainment the Island’s most popular duo, Ian Qualtrough and Dot Tilbury.

As so often, the past months have been dominated by planning matters. The battle for Knockrushen has been lost, with developers having received permission to build behind Knockrushen House, but the war goes on; we must continue to fight to ensure that there is no further development towards the coast.

On a more optimistic note, we hope that the dismal and distressing saga of 5 The Parade will shortly come to a happy ending, as No 5 and Balcony House are being bought by a sympathetic private owner who intends to convert them into a house to live in - although as always, of course, we await the plans. We are told that scaffolding will shortly be going up to put the roof back on, which will be a relief. We are very grateful to our MHK and committee member Tony Brown for fighting to set up the Tynwald Select Committee which has now produced an excellent report which I think it is fair to say justifies the concerns we had. We hope it does not get buried by whoever is Minister for Local Government after the General Election.

A lot of change is afoot in the town; Mr Roy Tilleard’s development in the triangle between Arbory Street and Malew Street has now been approved by the planners, and flats and a car park are being built on Farrant’s Flat; the public car park is included only because of Castletown Heritage’s interventions on the site in the past. An application to build a block of flats on Mr Nigel Warren’s premises in Hope Street has just been turned down, but the result of an application for flats on the sea side of College Green is awaited; Castletown Heritage objected strongly.

My thanks to our committee and other volunteers (especially Minnie Crossley-Meates who has done sterling work in her first year in charge of distribution of our very successful Town Walk leaflets). The committee meets on the last Wednesday of every month, so if there is any subject you would like us to consider, do let Mary Slater or me know. In the meantime, I hope to see you at some of our events over the winter.

Jonathan Kewley

Balcony House and 5 The Parade

Castletown Heritage welcomes the news that these two houses, two of the most important Georgian buildings on the Island, have been bought by a new owner who intends to restore them. The previous owner, Auctor Limited, had applied to demolish No 5 and build an office block behind. We wish Mr Rosen every success with his project.

We also look forward to the publication of the Report by the Tynwald Select Committee into No 5, which we hope will be not long delayed.

Heritage Open Day 2006

Castletown Heritage took part in the Civic Trust's Heritage Open Day this year, although disappointingly it was the only such event in the Island. On Sunday 10th September some three dozen people took part in a guided walk by Castletown Heritage Chairman Jonathan Kewley around the churches and chapels of Castletown past and present, starting at the old Grammar School (the town's first church) and finishing at the Roman Catholic Church of St Mary in Bowling Green Road which has the finest stained glass on the Island. The walk also marked the British Association for Local History's Local History Month.

Once again Castletown Heritage had a tent at the Southern Show at the Great Meadow - and this time won third prize in the non-agricultural stalls category, complete with rosette!

The highlight was a comprehensive and highly coherent exhibition arranged by Eva Wilson on Castletown Harbour and its development from the earliest times. It broke new ground and Eva described it as a start rather than providing any definitive conclusions; it was very useful to get information and feedback from visitors.

The tent also included a display of the Department of Education's new resource pack of maps of Castletown at different stages of its history, and a table with information on other conservation organisations including the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society, Foxdale Heritage, Farm Fotos and the Friends of Malew Church.

Our thanks to our visitors, but especially to all our volunteers who manned the tent for the two days of the show and helped with setting up and taking down.

The party was unable because of Manx Museum restrictions to enter Rushen Abbey House (the former hotel) but Dr Davey spoke on the current view of its history and significance , which included mediaeval origins for the fabric and 18th century panelling in the interior. It currently awaits a use and must be considered one of the Island's buildings at risk.

The party was pleased to be joined by Gaku Mitsumata, a Japanese academic who is currently on the Island studying conservation organisations

Dr Peter Davey at the excavations site

Dr Davey with some of the group , in the shade on a hot afternoon

Parent and Child Event

Castletown Heritage's first Parent and Child Event was held at Scarlett on Sunday 9th July 2006. Nearly a dozen children and their parents spurned the rival attraction of the Men's Final at Wimbledon to go rockpooling. Dr Wil Rowland of the much-lamented Marine Biological Laboratory at Port Erin led the event as parents and children explored the rock pools and the flora and fauna they contain.

Our thanks go to Will, and also to Kay Collister and Mary Slater who organised the afternoon.

Tynwald Fair

On July 5th Castletown Heritage joined with most of the other civic societies on the Island to have a joint Island Heritage stall at Tynwald Fair. Posters, publications and other literature were on display not just from Castletown but also from Peel, Foxdale, Sulby & Lexayre, Ramsey, Laxey & Lonan and Onchan. We were, like last year, in the Homecomers' Tent at the crossroads, and despite the heat we were pleased to see many friends old and new. We gave away a lot of our popular town walk leaflets, and we hope we have recruited some new members. Special thanks to Eva Wilson and Susan Temple for giving up part of the Fair Day to help man the stall

Valedictory remarks from Sir David Wilson , retiring Chairman of Castletown Heritage March 2006

As I retire from the chairmanship this year, it is only proper that I should write and say thank you to all those members who have supported Castletown Heritage over this period. It has been an interesting – not to say occasionally exciting – three years. Castletown Heritage continues to thrive and continues to battle on behalf of the town.

Our main business is to protect the town’s environment. In this endeavour we have had both failures and successes. Some of our battles have been long fought and concern projects which have become running sores on the face of the town. Most familiar to you all have been the problems with no. 5 the Parade and the two adjacent houses. We have fought against the wanton proposed destruction of no. 5 the Parade and the development of Balcony House, as well as of the earlier house attached to it, no. 6a (well known to members for a number of years as an off-licence). Jonathan Kewley and our MHK, Tony Brown (a frequent attender at our committee), have put in a lot of hours and written some stunningly analytic and persuasive papers to the authorities about this project. It was Tony’s intervention which resulted in the setting up of the Tynwald Committee to look into the handling of this project by the planning department and its minister. Jonathan has, with John Cringle (chairman of our planning sub-committee), given unstintingly of his time not only to counter this project but also to monitor all planning applications, some of which have been complex and have involved a lot of work in order to counter more malign proposals. Castletown Heritage is not blind to the needs of individual applicants and it should be emphasised that the vast majority of applications have been considered as acceptable and have needed no intervention on our part. We believe we are a useful voice in the planning process, but are worried that new legislation – which in effect clears the way for architects to alter buildings almost at will – will stultify our ability to protest in important matters concerning individual properties in the conservation area. We are lobbying on this matter at the moment.

Our lectures and field trips – ranging from a concert by the town band to a visit to the site of Ronaldsway House – have been a great success. Many more such events will follow. We will not arrange a ‘Secret Gardens’ event this year, feeling that once every year would try the generous patience of those kind gardeners who open their grounds to us. But wait until next year! Our greatest event is the annual Christmas bash. Members rush to be present to eat the splendid food, drink the ample supplies of wine, and enjoy the entertainment. Normally the hall is full to overflowing and we have sometimes had to turn applicants for tickets away.

Arrangements for all these events draw deeply on the generosity of our various committee members. Helen Leigh succeeded Elsie Pickard as events coordinator and set up a strong sub-committee with Susan Temple, Kay Collister and Lesley Davies to look after catering and hall preparation. They have functioned brilliantly and we owe them a deep debt of gratitude. Helen is now giving up the main part of her role, but will continue to organise the Christmas party. It was through this sub-committee that Power Point has been introduced to our lectures, and we have also purchased a sound system which will now be used more regularly at our meetings for the benefit of those of our members whose hearing is not what it once was.

Mark Solly has at last achieved a permanent column in the Examiner to record our activities; he also doubles as editor of the Newsletter (this is our thirteenth number). Behind the scenes Eva Wilson has continued to make a photographic record (in consultation with Manx National Heritage) of the buildings in the town. The archive grows and from these papers she was able to publish last year our first book, on Mr Cooper’s memories. This was a great success and has now (as we planned) sold out. So look after your copy it will become a rarity. We hope to publish another volume next year. Susan Temple is a perpetual tower of strength as membership secretary, but she is also a splendid caterer and energetic help at all our meetings. We are deeply grateful to her. Working behind the scenes is our minutes secretary, Mary Slater. The committee owe much to her good humour and hard work. Our other hidden asset – and an extremely valuable one – is our treasurer, Georgie Roper. Without her iron hand and endless good humour (not to mention Kevin’s dedication to our cause) we could not run the society – never mind satisfy our auditors.

The Commissioners have recently decided that they will in future charge all charities for use of the Civic Centre (we and a number of other charities have up to now enjoyed it without charge). We are considering this matter and will communicate with you later about it. Meanwhile it is clear that we cannot continue to use the board room in the Centre; if, therefore, anybody has access to a table which would take fifteen people on a monthly basis, we would be grateful to hear from you - your committee members are all house trained!

Thank you once again for all your interest and support. I trust that you will continue to give generously of your help.

David Wilson
Chairman

From the Vice-Chairman, Jonathan Kewley, March 2006

I must add a few words to the Chairman’s Letter, because as David says, he has now come to the end of the three years which is the longest continuous period for which our constitution allows a chairman to serve.

We have been immensely privileged to have had Sir David Wilson at the head of our society’s affairs. We have benefited greatly not only from his vast experience as Director of the British Museum, a Commissioner of English Heritage and one of the foremost archaeological scholars of his generation, but also from his wise counsel and his administrative skills. All those who serve on committees know what a difference a good chairman makes!

He has led us through a period which has been far from easy, with the developments and controversies with which the town has been beset, but I believe that thanks to him we have emerged stronger and, as we head towards our tenth anniversary, more securely established.

He and Eva have always above and beyond the call of duty made the hospitality of the Lifeboat House available in the furtherance of our aims; we are very grateful to both of them.

However, it is not entirely a farewell; I am sure you will be as pleased as I am that David has agreed to continue, if elected, to serve on the committee this coming year. I know we will value his continuing contribution.

Jonathan Kewley
Vice-Chairman

At the Meeting of the Commissioners on 19th March, 1906, it was ‘Agreed that the rate levy for the year ending 12th May, 1907, be 1/10 in £.’

Extracted by Mark Solly from the Notes of the Castletown Town Commissioners compiled by Mr Colin Dawson, Town Clerk, on the occasion of the Castletown Centenary in 1984.

UPDATE - September 2005

As the 200th anniversary of Trafalgar approaches, we think of how much survives in Castletown which Captain Quilliam himself would have known. We wonder with some apprehension how much will be left for the 201st anniversary of the battle.

The fight goes on for three of the most important buildings in the heart of the town - Balcony House, 5 The Parade (next to it on the corner) and 6A the Parade (the flat-roofed building adjoining it on the other side). No 5 is in the sorriest condition, with no roof since it was removed by the owner January. All three buildings are registered, and we have been pressing for action to be taken by the planners.

We must pay tribute to all the efforts made by our MHK, Tony Brown (who of course sits ex officio on our committee). If ultimately these buildings are saved, it will be thanks principally to him. He has managed to persuade Tynwald to set up a Select Committee to look into the whole saga. Castletown Heritage has put in a detailed submission, and I know a number of members have, too. We await its report in January.

There is also the prospect of change in the retail centre of the town. Mr Wilf Callow has sold his land running between Arbory Street and Malew Street to a company owned by Mr Roy Tilleard, which has also bought a number of surrounding properties. It has now put in a planning application for a large development, principally residential but with some shops. It is to be called Callow’s Yard in a gracious reference to the former owner. Castletown Heritage has not objected to the application because your committee feels it is the best of all the proposals so far for the site.

One of Castletown Heritage’s aims has always been the preservation of Castletown as a ‘living, working town’. We hope that, if Callow’s Yard gets planning approval, it will develop into a genuine community with the sort of real shops we need. Real communities are always less tidy and less quiet than museums or dormitories, but Castletown Heritage is determined to fight to ensure we remain a real community made up of a good mix of old Castletown families and those who have moved here more recently .

We await the result (if one ever comes in our lifetimes) of the interminable saga of what is to happen to Farrant’s Flat and whether we will ever get the parking we need. On a different scale, we await the result of Mr Ronald Buchanan’s application to build two houses in the woods between Lorne House and the Harbour.

On a more positive note, we return to Trafalgar and to the celebrations being planned. It is very exciting that the town will shortly have, for the first time, a work of art of the first rank. A memorial to Captain Quilliam is to be erected in the Speaker’s Garden. It will be the work of Mr Bryan Kneale, our only Manx Royal Academician and someone with strong Castletown connections through his grandparents.

On the Saturday of Trafalgar week (22nd October) Castletown Heritage is organising the Trafalgar Pageant with something for all ages. Meet in the Square by 3.30 to hear a commemoration featuring the Band, the Lord Bishop and ex-service standards, as well as your Chairman and Vice-Chairman. Follow us inside to the Town Hall for tea, the judging of the fancy dress competitions and what promises to be a very interesting and lively talk on life in a naval town 200 years ago by Mrs Sarah Quaile who is coming over from Portsmouth specially. Afterwards, send the children home and sample the Brewery’s special ale. It should be quite a day, so we look forward to seeing as many members as possible - if you don’t normally come to events, why not make an exception this time? I look forward to seeing you there.

Jonathan Kewley