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The Archive Room
If you’re interested in Island history, if you can’t resist a good story, and if you like meeting great characters, then you’ll love everything in The Archive Room! Real stories, told by the people who were there - using Manx Radio archive recordings to explore every aspect of Island life in years gone by.
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Episodes
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THE ARCHIVE ROOM - Happy 90th birthday to No Limit - and the scary end to the serial!
Thursday, 27 March 2025
As the George Formby classic film No Limit prepares to celebrate it's 90th birthday, we hear from people involved in making - and showing - it back in 1935 - and it's the final episode of our archive serial - The Little Dark Cupboard - spoiler alert - it's scary!!
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THE ARCHIVE ROOM - more fascinating true stories from the last century - and our archive serial is reaching a gripping finale!
Thursday, 20 March 2025
ETHEL GALE - aged 98 - is full of stories of life down North at the turn of the last century and LAURENCE KERMODE - breaking records by being the oldest person ever to win a class in The Guild when he was aged 100, talks about his early years and his start in the entertainment world. Plus the penultimate episode of our archive serial - The Little Dark Cupboard
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THE ARCHIVE ROOM - Great stories from Stanley Karran and David & Terry go to the pictures!
Friday, 14 March 2025
Stanley Karran, born in 1910, lived his whole life in Cregneash - so his fascinating stories are packed with gems of knowledge about the area - and David Callister and Terry Cringle go to the pictures, and chat with some of the cinema managers from the heyday of tourism
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THE ARCHIVE ROOM - Manx Radio in 1971, 4,000 Irish Sea crossings, and our serial takes a dark turn!
Saturday, 8 March 2025
David Callister talks with Cecil Mitchell, who was given an award after crossing the Irish Sea over 4,000 times on Steam Packet vessels, and Charles Kelly recalls the joys of the Douglas Picture Houses in the early 1900's - plus Episode 5 of 'The Little Dark Cupboard' and a chance to hear the sound of Manx Radio in 1971
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THE ARCHIVE ROOM - with an auction, a ghost, a shop - and another episode of our archive serial!
Saturday, 1 March 2025
In THE ARCHIVE ROOM this week we visit an auction - all the worldly goods of Dr Alexander Cannon, and a haunted church - St Barnabas in Douglas, then go shopping in 1970's Ramsey - and we finish with another episode in our archive serial - The Little Dark Cupboard, first broadcast on Manx Radio exactly 50 years ago.
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THE ARCHIVE ROOM - Dr Alexander Cannon - showman, or healer? And a new character emerges in Episode 3 of The Little Dark Cupboard
Thursday, 20 February 2025
Dr Alexander Cannon was a Doctor who also longed to be a magician. What happened in his private clinic and in his theatre is told by people who were there. Howard Simcocks talks about overcoming total blindness in the 1940's and there's Episode 3 of The Little Dark Cupboard
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THE ARCHIVE ROOM - where we meet Bill Dennard building an airport and Joan Speedie nursing before the NHS
Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Bill Dennard was a young surveyor who came to the Island at the end of the 2nd World War, to start building the 4 runways for Ronaldsway Airport, and Joan Speedie remembers her life as a nurse at Nobles before the arrival of the NHS. Plus there's Episode 2 of The Archive Room serial - The Little Dark Cupboard
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THE ARCHIVE ROOM - 3 formidable former MHK's - and the first episode of our new serial!
Saturday, 8 February 2025
90-year-old Kathleen Green remembers being footloose and fancy free in Dalby; Miss Jean Thornton-Duesbury reflects on life in Bishopscourt; Mrs Elspeth Quayle (MHK for Castletown from 1971 to 1981) and Miss Katherine Cowin (MHK for Douglas East from 1971 to 1976) reflect on their time in Government, and we've the first part of our new serial from the Manx Radio Drama Group.
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THE BEST OF THE ARCHIVE ROOM - SO FAR! An end-of-year collection of funny and fascinating stories told by the people who were there!
Thursday, 26 December 2024
We're ending a year in The Archive Room with another chance to hear a great collection of funny and fascinating stories of Island life in years gone by - told by the people who were there.Ellen (Cissy) O’Brien and Inkerman Faragher remember life in the Douglas Children's Home, Laura Briggs recalls a frightening incident during World War II, Charlie Webster and Geoff Cannell recall the first days of TT broadcasting in the mid 1960's and Leslie Garrett recalls his childhood living on the Calf of Man. The heyday of tourism is remembered here too - with stories of the success of Cunningham's C...
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THE ARCHIVE ROOM - an energetic salesman, a trip to the Baldwin Valley, a farewell to the Lady of Mann - and more!
Sunday, 6 October 2024
In The Archive Room this week ....Louise Quirk talks with Captain Corteen in 1971 as the Lady of Mann made a farewell trip to the Calf of Man before leaving the Isle of Man for good.Historian Peter Kelly talks to David Callister about the very early days of the Gaiety Theatre - and we get a first taste of electronic music from the Sulby Phantom Band!And it's not just the interviews that are vintage - listen out for some vintage advertisements too!Leslie Bannan was an energetic young salesman between the two Wars, keen to get his drapery business off the ground - and he paints a vivid pictu...
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THE ARCHIVE ROOM - Remembering Nellie Brennan - and going to Ballaugh - but not as we know it!
Thursday, 26 September 2024
In The Archive Room this week, we use a vintage episode of The History Makers, and an episode of Kelly's Eye, to recall the inspiring story of Nellie Brennan - the "Mother" of Manx nursing.Then we go North to Ballaugh - where a young Laura Briggs spent 4 years as a member of the Manx Women's Land Army during the Second World War - but this isn't a straightforward tale of farm life - there's recreation, rioting, and recruiting too!And we meet husband and wife Kenny and Connie Brew - who remember a very different Ballaugh village to the one we know today - cart tracks instead of a road betwee...
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An anniversary, an army, an advocate, and a few vintage commercials - we're turning back time in The Archive Room again!
Thursday, 19 September 2024
The year is 1980 - the 150th anniversary of the IOM Steam Packet Company - General Manager Sydney Shimmin shares stories from past and present; Teacher Irene Shimmin gets a surprise new career when she goes to hire a hall, and Advocate Martin Moore shares memories of childhood and early working years - but please don't take the vintage adverts too seriously!
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A lighthearted look behind the microphones at Manx Radio - a Governor goes ploughing - and poems that capture Manx life
Thursday, 12 September 2024
In The Archive Room this week - Dee Lewis reflects on 16 very varied years working at Manx Radio; we discover just how difficult it is to make a radio commercial, and a Governor tries his hand at ploughing at Cronk-y-Voddy. Plus - two very different poems - one by Patsy Everett and another by Ronnie Fell - offer snapshots of Island life
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The great flood of '82, a Flying Flea and a Luton Minor, and Radio Isabella takes to the airwaves - we tell their stories - and more - in The Archive Room tonight!
Thursday, 5 September 2024
In The Archive Room this week - Charles Guard reports on the 1982 flood - the worst the Island had ever experienced; former Lt Governor Sir Laurence New shares some Tynwald Day thoughts; inventor and adventurer Jack Carine is remembered by his two daughters, and Radio Isabella takes to the air - from its studios in Laxey Primary School!
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Film making, family life, an airship - and a little tribute to a big man - our own John Kaneen RVB
Thursday, 29 August 2024
Kathleen Morrey recalls the time her home was used as a film set - John Kelly recalls his years as a butcher in Peel - residents of Glenside are full of tales of family life - Group Captain David Scouller talks about an airship - and we celebrate a very famous song that would never have been written, had it not been for our own John Kaneen ..... it's all in The Archive Room this week.
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Life in a Children's Home, wartime experiences, raising seven children, and 40 years in the world of politics - that was life for two tough Manxies - meet them here!
Thursday, 22 August 2024
In this first programme of the new series, David Callister talks with Inkerman Faragher and with Ellen O'Brien (also known as Cissy) Born in 1924 and 1922 respectively, they both spent the majority of the childhood in the Children's Home in Douglas, following the death of their parents. Here they share memories of their childhood, including being film extras on George Formby's 'No Limit' and meeting the star himself. There are stories of their experiences during the Second World War, and they reminisce about their working life which, for Inkerman, meant 40 years in the world of politics, ...
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More nuggets of nostalgia as we take a last look, for this year, at the shelf marked Tourist Trophy in the Archive Room
Monday, 17 June 2024
This programme has extra content, not in the broadcast edition!A potted history of the TT Races - from journalist and race commentator Geoff Cannell, teaches us that, in its early days, it didn't involve bikes at all, and even when the bikes did join in, the race was never about speed!Manx Radio's first Managing Director, John Grierson, explains the mysterious means by which the first race commentaries were broadcast, and there's interviews with race veteran Stanley Woods, and Formula 1 racing car and motorbike champion John Surtees. David Mylchreest talks about the years he spent doing...
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Get your leathers and your helmet on - we're travelling back in time to find vintage TT stories and soundbites!
Thursday, 30 May 2024
From the shelf marked TOURIST TROPHY in the Manx Radio Archive Room .....Johnny Gelling shares stories of marshalling at the Highlander in his native CrosbyFelix Gale explains how he built up a flourishing camping business in Glen WyllinPolitician Jack Nivison discusses how the Island's road surfaces were improved - and how it affected the road racing!The 1966 Junior TT made racing history - but why? The answers are here!And doesn't everyone dream of travelling (or even driving) the Roads Open car?Brian Mylchreest explains to David Callister why HE wanted the job - and reveals that it's not...
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WE'RE IN HOLIDAY MOOD IN THE ARCHIVE ROOM TONIGHT!
Wednesday, 3 April 2024
In this episode of The Archive Room, we take a closer look at the tourist industry on the Isle of Man in the years between the two Wars. In 1919 the Falcon Cliff Hotel was deemed a white elephant - it couldn't make money - but that was before Mr and Mrs Kane bought it in 1919 - and in the early 1920's turned its fortunes around. Tonight we find out how they did it. Cunningham's Camp was a highly successful way to give young men a healthy and happy holiday - set up by the acknowledged father of holiday camps - Joseph Cunningham - some 40 years before Billy Butlin even began his similar...
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ELECTRIC CARS, TAXIS FOR STARS, AND BROADCASTING THE TT RACES!
Thursday, 28 March 2024
We're on the move in The Archive Room this week ..... The Curator of the Marown Motor Museum tells David Callister about some of more unusual vehicles on display there; Alfred Duggan talks taxis - reminiscing about the early days of his business when he drove stars and sporting heroes around the Island - and Geoff Cannell and Charles Webster tell David Callister how they pioneered broadcasting of TT race commentaries - back in 1965!
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A COUPLE OF DOUGLAS BUTTIES - AND EVERYDAY LIFE ON THE CALF OF MAN!
Thursday, 21 March 2024
In The Archive Room this week ..... Politician and former Speaker of the House of Keys, Victor Kneale CBE and his wife Thelma chat with David Callister (recorded in around the year 2003) about the need to keep the Manx language alive, and share some of the Manx words they use in everyday conversation. Leslie Garrett (born in 1932) reflects on the years his Father was Steward on The Calf of Man. Although he was just over 3 years old when they went there (in approx 1936) and he was around 7 when they left, he has cherished memories, and a collection of great stories from that time - includ...
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THOSE FIRST TT BROADCASTS ON MANX RADIO - DOT TILBURY KNOWS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ....
Thursday, 14 March 2024
In The Archive Room this week - a young Dot Tilbury showcases her natural talent as a topical and hilariously funny entertainer - sharing all the behind-the-scenes adventures when Manx Radio first began live broadcasting of the TT Races: We make a first visit to the Baldwin Valley in the company of Manx Radio's Charles Webster talking with Tom Cowell about the area Tom knows so well. Using Tom's book, Baldwin - My Valley, as a basis for their conversation, Tom and Charles this week discuss why and how the Baldwin Reservoir was built in the year 1900. There'll be more from Tom and Charl...
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IT ALL STARTED IN A TRENDY LONDON TAVERN - 200 YEARS AGO!
Thursday, 7 March 2024
As part of Manx Radio's special series of programmes to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, in The Archive Room this week we explore the life of Sir William Hillary, a Yorkshireman who came to live in the Isle of Man, and having seen at first hand the significant and regular loss of life through shipwrecks, was determined to establish a service dedicated to saving lives at sea. In a conversation recorded 40 years ago, keen sailor Ian Cottier talks with author and Editor of the Isle of Man Times, Robert Kelly, who researched the life o...
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...AND THE HORSE DECIDED "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS" ....
Friday, 1 March 2024
In The Archive Room this week, I'm selecting some gems from the shelf marked TRAVEL - David Callister talks with Wilson Gibb who, for the last 20 years of his working life, was Manager of the Douglas Horse Tram Service - but that wasn't how he started - the full and fascinating story is here! Celia Joughin and Edith Cutsforth joined the staff of Peel Engineering straight after leaving school - here they share the secrets of working with fibreglass - and other unusual jobs they did, as well as making bodies for the famous P50 car. And finally, Archie Gilmour - a plumber by trade - describ...
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DISREGARD EVERYTHING YOU'RE ABOUT TO EAT!
Thursday, 22 February 2024
In The Archive Room this week, Eva Kane remembers a wartime royal engagement at the Howstrake Hotel in Onchan, Irene Shimmin recalls teaching in the 1950's, and her connection with the Douglas Carnival, and The Majorettes; we have our first meeting with Alfie Duggan - caddying at the Fort Anne Golf Links at the tender age of 8 - and Wilson Gibb shares just a few of the secrets of managing the Horse Trams.
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SIT DOWN, WHILE I THUMP YOU!
Thursday, 15 February 2024
In The Archive Room this week .... Irene Shimmin recalls a fascinating family history, shares some memories of her own childhood, and describes the start of her teaching career. Laurie Davies tells how wonderful childhood holidays in Ramsey filled him with a love for the Island which later shaped his life as a teacher and Jean Skinner (nee Corkish) explains how she was truly 'blessed' as a baby - and shares stories of her family life at Ballakilley, and, at the outbreak of the 2nd World War, her decision to leave school and join the Land Army. These are wonderful characters, with so many o...
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A 1920's childhood, holidaymakers, hoteliers, and interesting animals and their owners - find them all in The Archive Room
Thursday, 21 December 2023
Victor Kneale was born in 1918 and grew up in central Douglas - he recalls a happy childhood, and a time when the Island was over-run with holidaymakers - and every home welcomed them in. Mrs Nancy Mills takes John Kennaugh by surprise with her story of the Doctor and the monkey - and listen out for the mention of the donkey who liked to stop for a pint when passing the pub! Arthur Underhill - a policeman in the 1930's - recalls enlisting the help of a passing motorist, in order to catch a criminal, and a last minute change of plans brought Hilary Guard to the Isle of Man - where his brie...
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We're back in The Archive Room - more stories of Island life, told by the people who were there.
Thursday, 21 December 2023
Legendary entertainer Dot Tilbury reflects on her childhood and shares some precious Christmas memories - there's also stories from Dot's working life in London in the Swinging 60's, and stories from her homecoming to the Island - and discovering the joy of working with the very talented and amusing Ian Qualtrough. There's a couple of stories from Ian Qualtrough, as he recalls an aunt, and a man who got into difficulties with a bicycle - and Mona Douglas explains to David Callister some of the customs associated with The Foolish Fortnight - on the old Manx calendar this began on 21st Dec...
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We're taking a another stroll round The Archive Room - pausing at the shelf marked CHRISTMAS
Thursday, 21 December 2023
The Three Wise Men of Manx Radio - Bernie Quayle, David Callister and Terry Cringle sit down round the table to share Christmas memories from their respective childhoods. Mother and Daughter Mary Radcliffe and Claire Quayle reflect on life on a poultry farm - for Mary, raising geese and turkeys, and preparing them for the table at Christmas, was very hard work - but for daughter Claire, the preparation of the turkeys was a time of great excitement and a sign that Christmas wasn't far away. There's poetry by Kathleen Faragher read by Jack and Pat Corrin, and music from the Aeg Threshlyn ...
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THE ARCHIVE ROOM - 26 OCTOBER 2023
Thursday, 26 October 2023
This is the last in the present series of The Archive Room Hollantide Day survives largely in name only nowadays, but once the 12th of November was a hugely important date in farming life - we explore the centuries-old traditions in conversation with two great countrymen - John Kennaugh and Harvey Briggs - with a little Manx history from Dr Fenella Bazin. And chimney pots link stories from Eddie Leece and Callin Hudson - Eddie reflects on how his enterprising Father branched out to overcome unemployment, and Callin recalls the perils of working on a roof ..... and how his gifted Father m...
