Episodes
In this episode we go to Peel - to hear memories of fishing for herrings and producing kippers, as David Callister talks with Eddie Leece - famous as the founder of a museum devoted to Peel history, which became known as The Leece Museum.
John Kennaugh chats with Callin Hudson to find out how herrings came to Dalby, and Peter Canipa, who ran Deveraux's kipper curing business, shares some fascinating facts and cookery tips in his Mandate report from July 1989.
There's also a bit of fishing-themed music from The Mannin Folk
In this episode, it's Harvest time in The Archive Room, as the late John Kennaugh takes us on a nostalgic trip to farms on the Island, in an era when bringing in the harvest was done with very little machinery and a lot of manual labour; when there was no harvest thanksgiving until the harvest was completely in, and when Mill Days and Tea Fights were highlights of the autumn calendar.
Everything you need to know about Manx harvest time and all its traditions is here, as John chats with Ken Collister and Callin Hudson - the conversations were recorded in September 2002
Welcome to the first episode of our autumn amble around the Manx Radio archive - eavesdropping on conversations with more wonderful characters.
On this programme, we meet Mrs Mabel Bean, the very first female resident to move into Cummal Mooar on Ramsey Promenade, when it opened its doors in 1981. Despite being over a hundred years old when this conversation was recorded, she clearly remembers those early days.
And Mrs Leonora Smallwood - born in 1905 - realised that a good way to get out and about on a dull autumn evening was to enrol at night school and get a diploma in word proces...
We're all aboard the steam railway in this episode - with stories from people who devoted their working life to the smooth running of the trains that were such an important part of Island life in years gone by.
Cyril Mylchreest recalls his days as Station Master in Port Soderick and then at Union Mills, in conversation with Charles Guard.
And when David Callister visited Ballasalla Halt, he got some first hand knowledge of how to deal with two incoming trains, by watching Station Master Peter Craine.
Then there's another story from Arthur Underhill's days in the Police Force - can you imag...
David Callister talks to Mike Ventre about a lifetime working in the Isle of Man Fire Service - from the days when recruitment depended upon your shoe size, and a small number of dedicated firefighters worked very long hours - to the lighter side of the work - involving a disappearing fireman, and a bottle of rum that wasn't quite what it seemed to be!
Another fireman tells a very different story - David Callister talks with David Wolstenholme about his years in the 1960's as a fireman on the Steam Railway
And finally Ian Qualtrough is back with some more tales of the characters (and fam...
Master storyteller (and natural comedian) Ian Qualtrough introduces us to a host of characters in this edition of The Archive Room - family members, neighbours, staff in the family business and great characters he came to know through a lifetime spent in the south of the Island.
There's Willie Sayle, Aunt May, Albert 'Alfonso' Craine, Dick the Bumbee, Dickie Cooill, "Gumper" and Jackie Moore with his little dog .... and the story of the 'borrowed bike'!
Then Evelyn Fraser and Robert Hendry put us 'on track' for next week's programme ..... they have transport stories to share - and Episode ...
The 1935 comedy film No Limit tells the story of a Wigan chimney sweep determined to ride in the famous TT Race. Starring George Formby and Florence Desmond, it was a massive international success, and screening it in all the Island's cinemas became an essential part of the TT festival each year.
In The Archive Room this week we hear from locals involved in both making and screening the film.
Jack Cannell (father of the legendary TT Commentator Geoff Cannell) was on hand to give expert advice - and more!! Jack Ward was only a schoolboy at the time, but remembers how the special effects...
It's an entertainment special this week - with stories from Manx Radio's Archive Room from the days when the Island's cinemas were 'packed to suffocation'.
Charles Kelly recalls his childhood visits to the cinema during the First World War years - Charles Draper and Laurie Kissack discuss their years as cinema managers, Eddie Leece remembers a Peel cinema, and Fred Moore has a wonderful collection of 'behind the camera' stories from 1946 when he worked with the production team who came to the Island to film the World War II spy thriller 'I See A Dark Stranger' starring Deborah Kerr and Tre...
Another trip down memory lane, using material from the Manx Radio archives.
As well as being a prominent figure in Island life, Donald Gelling is also a great storyteller, and in conversation with David Callister he looks back over his childhood - he was born in 1938 - his schooldays and getting his first job.
And transport expert Robert Hendry joins in, with useful information about moving your goods around by train - a popular activity in the heyday of the Island's railways.
A pig is definitely not hand luggage - and you can't send your barrel organ to town, unaccompanied !
In The Archive Room this week, we've been finding stories of policing on the Island in the 1930's and 1940's as told to David Callister by Arthur Underhill and Hector Duff - who both spent the majority of their working life serving the community as members of the Island's police force.
Next week's programme will include a selection of stories on a variety of topics, told by Donald Gelling - and there'll be more stories from Arthur and Hector later in the series.
In this nostalgic meander down Manx Memory Lane, FRANK DOWNWORTH recalls leaving school at the age of 14 in 1946 and spending the first five years of his working life on the railway at Ramsey Station. He has fond memories of the staff - and a fund of stories - some frightening, and some funny - from his time there.
Harry Kelly's thatched cottage is probably the most easily-recognised building in Cregneash village - but how many people actually knew Harry Kelly? Well, DORIS MADDRELL certainly did - and has a few tales to tell about him .... and about the holidaymaker who really needed ...
In past times on the Island, the Christmas period was known as The Foolish Fortnight and ran from Black Thomas' Eve - 21st December - and ended on Old Christmas Day - 6th January. Much like today, it was a time for socialising, eating, music and dancing! It was also a time for traditional Manx customs, and who better to talk about them than MONA DOUGLAS ...... myrrh flowering, cattle kneeling, the gift of fire, and a unique way of weather forecasting are just some of the customs Mona will explain to David Callister.
Fortunately, we don't often get really serious amounts of snow on the Is...
It's a festive special from the Manx Radio archives today - this collection of Christmas stories, woven into other memories of Manx life, features the voices of John Kennaugh, Noel Cringle, Mrs Pat Corrin, Keith Teare, Mrs Nancy Mills, Hubert and Doreen Kermeen of Ballacraine, Howard Hampton, and the Aeg Threshlyn Children's Choir
In this programme, we're taking a collection of stories, thoughts and reflections from the shelf marked CHRISTMAS in the Archive Room.
Three Wise Men of Media - Terry Cringle, Bernie Quayle and David Callister - share childhood Christmas memories; Mary Radcliffe admits that turkey farming is hard work for adults - but for her daughter Claire it was sign that Christmas wasn't far away - and what better way to learn maths than whilst pricing the birds for sale?
Marilyn Cannell explains why beef is her choice for Christmas dinner - there's dialect poetry from Jack Corrin - and there's music ...
In this episode drawn from recordings in the Manx Radio Archives ....
NORMAN BARRON recalls his early years, growing up in Kirk Michael as the eldest of nine children, starting work at 14 years of age, and eventually finding the career that suited him best - delivering the mail - and so much more!
We return to Ballabeg as Mrs IRENE CURPHEY recalls her husband Jack running a Post Office from the living room of their cottage, and legendary baker BERT WINKLE talks about early days of the business he took over from his parents - that began with door-to-door selling of home-made pastries from ...
We're back in The Archive Room to bring you another series of nostalgic looks at Island life in years gone by, through stories told by the people who were there.
In this episode, we meet a former Head of Michael School - Tom Cashin - who remembers the harsh winter of 1962/3 but also has a great story of determination, from 1895 !
Mrs Irene Curphey had a long and varied life and was a well-known and much-loved Island figure - but to her delight, she was seldom if ever called by her given name - she was known to so many people simply as 'Auntie Renee' - we'll discover why as she starts to t...
Douglas Buxton's massive contribution to music on the Isle of Man - as a singer, a teacher and a choral director - can never be understated. But in this Episode 6 of The Archive Room, we hear DB - as he was affectionately known - talking about his early years, and the influence of another legend - his Father, Fred Buxton, and of his experiences growing up in the world of theatre, seaside entertainments, and even a film premier!
There's also the story of the formation of the Lon Dhoo Male Voice Choir - which continues to flourish to this day - and a story of one of Douglas Buxton's particul...
Music is - and always was - a huge part of Manx life, and we celebrate that, in this selection of stories from The Archive Room.
EVA KANE - who grew up in the Falcon Cliff Hotel - recalls her own life in showbusiness, and all the celebrities who made the hotel their Manx home; Norah Moore shares stories of her own life, and of her father Noah Moore, with his strong links to The Man Music Festival, and we hear - in his own words - the first part of Douglas Buxton's life story - a man who loved his music, and who gave a precious musical legacy to the Island. Douglas Buxton's story continu...
Once again we open the door to The Archive Room, and meet up with Victor Kneale, Archie Gilmour, Lewin Cain and Hilary Guard. As they chat with David Callister and Bernie Quayle, we'll step back into the 1900's - to a childhood powered by pure imagination and boundless energy ... we'll meet a troublesome parrot and some other interesting animals,... explore a very different Head Road to the one we know today... meet more characters from Old Douglas - the site of the present bus station - and hear how a holidaymaker's instant love for the Island transformed his life.
In this visit to The Archive Room, ALFIE GILMOUR shares memories of working at Todhunter and Elliot, and later with the Gas Company - work was hard, and there was little job security - but there was certainly a lot of fun to be had ..... KATHERINE COWIN tells how tennis came with great style to Douglas, and shares a few secrets about becoming a published author at the age of 92 ..... and VICTOR KNEALE, who grew up in Myrtle Street opposite St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Douglas, gives us our first taste of holidaymaking in the Isle of Man.
With thanks to the late David Callister, who ...
For episode 2 of The Archive Room, we're in old Douglas - in the company of Archie Gilmour, Katherine Cowin, and Lewin Cain, we explore the North and South Quays in the early 1900's and discover an entirely different world to the one we know today.
Archie, Katherine and Lewin share stories of their past- the fun they had, the jobs they did, the characters they knew - and the memories they treasure.
In Episode 3 of The Archive Room (September 1st) we'll stay in old Douglas, as Archie has a career change, tennis comes to Douglas in a big way, and we take a first look at holiday-making on Dou...
Using material from the Manx Radio archive, we take another look at the evidence (or possibly lack of evidence!) for the existence of the Dalby Spook.
Another chance to hear David Callister in conversation with Alec Karran, Reggie Bell, Ian Corlett and Kathleen Green - who all have their own story to tell.