When Captain of the Parish Stanley Clucas sat down to write about his family memories of life on Ballachurry, he had no idea that it would one day lead to those stories being in print and a whole exhibition dedicated to his memories!
With a beautiful and diverse collection of photographs and illustrations, “A Year on Ballachurry Farm 1943-1944” perfectly captures the stories and memories of a traditional Manx farm during WW2 and the is the first project for the Story of the Land HAT.
Written with special affection and humour of farming through the changing seasons, illustrating the colour and rhythm of the busy farm that has been in his family for almost a hundred years, the book and the exhibition has been received with delight by hundreds of members in the local community and visitors to the island - with orders for the book as far away as Singapore and Australia!
The exhibition and book would not have been possible without Stan’s brother Alan and sister Margaret - who also shared their memories in a special interview with Alan Jackson - and the Story of the Land HAT, who helped to bring both of these projects together.
Led by Chairman Staffan Overgaard with special help from volunteers Sam Styles, Hilary Peterson, Nigel Crowe, John Keelan, John W. Qualtrough, Kerry Hudson, Drew Herdman and Alan Jackson plus the special illustrations given to us by local artist John Hancox.
Using cutting edge technology, the team are excited that their app will open up new walking experiences for local residents and visitors to the island in a way that has never been done before! Using “beacon technology”, the app is a virtual library of audio, films and photographs that anyone with an Apple or Android smartphone can access for free as they walk along a specific route.
It could be a shipwreck along the coastal path or some interesting facts about the local wildlife. It could be the history and ancestry of one of the buildings along the promenade or stories and memories collected from across the decades that you may never have heard before.
Isle of Man Walks is the first mobile app in the world to use beacons within an outdoor heritage walk, allowing you to access the local history and heritage of a place at the single touch of a button.
In 2016, the team launched walks in Port St Mary, Port Erin and along the Raad Ny Follien coastal path from Port St Mary to the Sound. In 2017, they plan to extend these walks further from the Sound to Bradda Head.
