Interview - Lynn Mather
Please tell us about yourself & where you grew up
Born and bred...Me and my two brothers, Colin and Stephen in Barrack Street, my sister Karen and younger brother Mark in Ridgeway Street, Douglas.
Ridgeway Street, Douglas
My Mum with my little brother Mark in our Ridgeway Street apartment above the cobbler's.
Sam Langford with my brothers Colin and Stephen
Your family photos captivated us all, please share the story behind it
My brother Colin, who was at Douglas High School for Boys at the time, entered a National photographic competition with the photo of myself and my sister at The Sound. It may have been through the School I don't know. He won, subsequently going to the Dorchester in London to be presented. Original Manx Nostalgia post: here
Lynn Mather & sister Karen together recreating The Sound photo taken by brother Colin in 1962
Whats your favourite place on the IOM & do you visit it often?
To pick one favourite place on the Island...pretty much impossible really...so many. I love The Quay and Douglas Head and Marine Drive...the Glens of course, who wouldn't! Also Injebreck amongst so many!
“My brothers used to go along the Quay with buckets to pick up coal from the quayside”
Do you have any funny stories/memories you have as a child on the Island?
Whilst in Ridgeway Street living above a cobbler's shop opposite St Matthew's Church, a bull ran riot up the street sensing it was off to the Abattoir. I was only small and loved looking out of the windows at the constant stream of weddings in the church opposite.
My brothers used to go along the Quay with buckets to pick up coal from the quayside which had dropped out of the unloading buckets from the Ben Veen, when the coal boats used to come in to dock right by what is now The Barbary Coast.
My brothers by the coal boats
Me and my brothers, Hanover Place...I said Barrack Street but that's where my Nana Emily Clague lived with her two daughters Greta and Ann. My Nan married Bobby Clague who lived a few doors away, he sadly died from the effects of gas poisoning in the First World War at the age of 32, a year after losing his infant son Alfred. In the last year of his life he spent it in bed which was downstairs, parked near the window out in to Barrack Street so he could have a chat with the neighbours as they passed by.
We moved to Onchan from Ridgeway Street and had a boarding house in Royal Avenue West. It was like being in the country after town, and we couldn't wait for the park to open at Easter when everything sprang into life.
“Mum never saw daylight all summer..from April to September, it was full-on. Breakfast, dinner, tea and then suppers and packed lunches for the next day.”
We moved to Hutchinson Square in the early 60s. That was amazing. Full board..all the hotels packed, especially TT Fortnight and during The Wakes. Scotch Fortnight was always massively busy. Those days every bed was needed, to make money to see you through the winter, so we slept either on a board over the bath, or in 'The Den' in the back yard, where we had bunks. Mum never saw daylight all summer..from April to September, it was full-on. Breakfast, dinner, tea and then suppers and packed lunches for the next day. Bed late, up early.
During the summer we often spent weeks at my Nana's Cottage in Falcon Cliff Terrace Lane, the Brewery-owned row of cottages being demolished in the 70s. Those were the days when there were no indoor toilets or bath. There were two toilets at the end of the row of cottages, shared by the row. There was a mangle outside against the wall. They were the happiest times at the Cottage with our Nana.
My sister in my Nana's garden (row of cottages Falcon Cliff Terrace Lane) behind.
It was great there as Nobles Park was round the corner. That was fantastic. Golf course (now a dog-walking area), donkey rides, tennis courts, grass and hard, the Manx Cattery and the aviary. The Peacocks splaying their feathers out. In TT the best times hunting out the likes of Agostini, Hailwood & Reid for autographs.
Then it was a short trip down The Arches to the seafront, buzzing...trams, trampoline parks, boating pond, the Villa Marina grounds packed out with beauty pageants, Punch and Judy shows. Rowing boats moored opposite the bottom of Broadway. The Palace Ballroom, all the dancers coming down the ramp after they had performed, resplendent in their dresses. The ramp had a roof on it in those days. Everywhere was vibrant, lit up with illuminations everywhere.
The list could go on...😂😂😂