29-Oct-2025
1.
National Treasures. The House of Manannan, Peel.
We already knew from a visit to the Manx Museum that the Island has an extraordinary amount of Viking treasure per kilometre... This exhibition showcases some of that and more.
A silver brooch from the Viking era, one of the largest of its kind
Going back to around 900, this is the kind of brooch that would secure a Viking woman's hangerok (an apron-like dress)
More Viking jewellery
Fragments of silver coins, minted in the 9th and 10th centuries in the area that now encompasses Iran, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan
Even older... On display for the first time, this is a Bronze Age jet necklace... I'm always struck by how little jewellery has changed down the millennia. You could walk right out wearing this, and look totally contemporary (which is good to know while you're being arrested...)
The engineering is pretty impressive...
Not a good photo, but this gold disc is 4,000 years old. It is thought to symbolize the sun, and some Bronze Age person would have worn it for decoration
These are from the 16th century. One side shows Satan being defeated; the other a sailing ship with a cross
An early collector's haul
I found this exhibition not only beautiful, but also thought-provoking...
Curator Allison Fox notes that the Island might be small, but its position made it a crossroads: "We've had all these people coming in and going out and that's resulted in the Isle of Man being a very significant place... Part of the manifestation of that is some incredibly high-quality silver and gold jewellery, lots and lots of treasure hoards of coins, and also some amazing prehistoric jewellery."
These are all "Manx artefacts", discovered here. I like the feeling that this is part of my heritage.
2.
Snapshots of Jurby in 1945. Jurby Church.
RAF Jurby operated from 1939 to 1963. The base's primary function was to train aircrew, although operational squadrons also used the airfield at times.
The exhibition offers photographs and personal accounts from that period, which must have totally transformed this tiny agricultural community.
In fact, the whole Island registered the presence of the "Brylcreem Boys", as the RAF were known. (Whether this expression was used pejoratively or admiringly depended in our household on which parent was using it. Dad, an army guy, always jokingly accused mum of much too high a regard for the boys in blue...)
So, we learn about District Nurse Cleator, whose work journeyings were so extensive that she was in dire need of a new car; and a vicar whose service to the community was much appreciated. More dramatically, there's the story of the Sunderland flying boat, which crash-landed, and then exploded, blowing out many of the windows in the parish. Extraordinarily, no-one was killed.
And for drama, you couldn't do better than this story:
According to the information on display, Alexander Cannon worked as a prison doctor in Hong Kong, which is where he became interested in mysticism. He returned to England in 1930, and worked in the area of mental health. He became quite renowned, setting himself up in Harley Street, and drawing patients from the top flights of English society. Among those ranged against him, on the other hand, was the Archbishop of Canterbury, who feared Cannon's bad influence on the royalty of the day. So he came to the Isle of Man, where he bought Ballamoar, a large house near Jurby:
He was eventually accused of spying. Not that it was ever that difficult to be accused of spying in Britain. But when he claimed he could read Hitler's brainwaves, he was probably going too far...
Other stories are homely:
Landgirls were much in demand, and the work sounds pretty tough
Some accounts are really sad:
This is Percy Moughtin, the only WWII fatality from Jurby parish
Here he's telling Edith how he looks forward to letters, and longs for the war to be over, and can't imagine visiting France again in a hurry...
And here is his name, added to the side of the WWI cross, which is listing dangerously. RIP, Percy
Celebrating victory, at tremendous cost for some
Jurby Church, of course, is pretty in its own right
Of course, we had to check out whether you can detect anything of Ballamoar... You certainly can't see it from the road, but the entrance is impressive:
And the country round here is magnificent, of course:
Left-over pill box
In many ways, I feel I know very little of my homeland. That's OK, though. There's all the more to learn.