Valerie Caine's blog

With Manx singers and musicians creating a growing awareness of local traditional music across the globe, Island vocalist Ruth Keggin has stepped into the spotlight, bringing with her a passion for both the language and the music, and also the launch of her debut album this month.

With the Island of Culture 2014 celebrations well underway, the Manx branch of the Celtic Congress has organised a special concert to be held on St Bridget’s Day (1st February) at the Centenary Centre in Peel.

Many people were saddened by the demise of the majority of the Island’s steam railway network, save for the southern line, but the collaboration of Manx artist Michael Starkey and local man Julian Edwards has brought the northern railway stations vividly to life in this pint-sized publication.

It’s a light-hearted approach, with each turn of the page revealing a station or halt associated with the much lamented railway line between Ramsey and St John’s; giving the reader a nostalgic glimpse into the daily lives of the northern community and the line’s importance as a lynchpin for goods docked in the northern town.

Each illustration captures the distinctive style of Michael Starkey’s work and is accompanied by nuggets of information about each stop along the way supplied by Julian Edwards.

An appreciative audience gathered at the Masonic Hall in Peel, Isle of Man/Mannin, to hear the entries for this year’s Arrane son Mannin (Song for Mann) which included an evening of free entertainment of music and song provided by a cross section of the Island’s traditional music performers.

Attending the world music trade fair WOMEX last October paid dividends for Manx traditional music trio Barrule when they secured a highly coveted gig at the annual Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, which specialises in folk, roots and world music.

Held over an eighteen day period at numerous venues in the Scottish city, this is a much sought after engagement and an important opportunity to raise awareness of Manx music globally with many other festival organisers, who use Celtic Connections as a template for booking artists for their own events.

Following the UK launch of Barrule’s debut eponymous album during 2013, a review of the Manx trad power trio’s compelling music was published in the popular UK music magazine Songlines, which automatically put them in the running for some of the magazine’s prestigious music awards in 2014.

Former teacher, Lorraine Fraser King, wrote her first YA novel in 2006 when she was employed at Marown Primary School, when the old streets of Peel inspired her to put pen to paper to write Mannin Boy, but with the publication of an extended e-book version there’s an opportunity for Island readers to help people in Cambodia struggling with diabetes and related disorders.

Mannin Boy focuses on the exploits of Jamie and Finn as they grow into manhood in the mid-nineteenth century port, exploring the turbulent life of the fishing industry and the price of personal tragedy.

Lorraine’s research incorporates local words, personal names and Manx locations, but later we are compelled to follow our heroes as they tackle a much longer sea journey and face the dangers and uncertainty of the gold mines of Australia.

Upon leaving the Isle of Man and spending some time in Australia, Lorraine volunteered to join forces with Cambodian refugee Professor Lim Keuky and together they established a clinic of the Cambodian Diabetes Association at Siem Reap, situated next to the famous Angkor Wat Temple.

As the year-long Island of Culture gets underway the Isle of Man Post Office has issued a new set of stamps by Manx artist Juan Moore to celebrate the occasion.

Juan commented, “It feels so good to have my artwork on the Island of Culture stamps. Art is always something that people have an opinion on and I hope my work will be noticed on these stamps. It is important to me that my work is not only thought-provoking, but that it is accessible to everyone. One of the aims of my work is for it to be as understood by not only those from an art background, but for someone who knows nothing about it.”

It was an evening of mixed emotions at the annual Oie’ll Verree held in the village of Michael, when it was revealed that two stalwarts of the celebrated Michael Players were hanging up their aprons for the final time and taking a well earned rest from the stage.

The distinctive Manx dialect play has been a feature of the Kirk Michael concert for generations, with the Michael Players believed to be the only Island drama group to keep the tradition in the public eye.

But the retirement of Win Callister and Ann Corlett has put the future of both the Michael Players and the unique Manx dialect play in doubt, although strenuous efforts are being made to encourage the recruitment of younger actors who can pick up the baton.

With every ticket sold and an extensive waiting list of hopeful visitors, this year’s Chairman, Laurence Skelly MHK, confidently took charge of the proceedings, contributing his own humour about fellow politicians throughout the evening.

This is the remarkable story of the German émigrés who fled Hitler’s regime and became secret listeners for British Intelligence during World War II, brought vividly to life with the assistance of a former internee on the Isle of Man: Fritz Lustig.

Working from Latimer House and Wilton Park in England, Fritz Lustig and his colleagues (together with other secret listeners at Trent Park) bugged the conversations of over 10,000 prisoners of war, ranging from U-boat crews and Luftwaffe pilots to high-ranking German generals, in their fight to secure intelligence information to win the war.

These transcripts remained classified until 1999 but the tireless efforts of the book’s author, Helen Fry, now reveal how the work of Fritz Lustig and his colleagues was as important as those cracking the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire.