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A Tour of Onchan
Straight down the middle.
Public Conveniences / Legion Club
The property currently being altered to become public conveniences was once part of the stables attached to the Manx Arms Hotel.
The original range of buildings stretched from the gable of the hotel through the width of Nos 21 and 23 and then returned with a single storey building.
It was here that T.H. Corkill once kept his horses and horse drawn vehicles when he resided in No 19 Main Road prior to moving his business into Mr Caley’s blacksmithy at No 1 Main Road.
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The hay loft up above was at one time used by the Commissioners as their offices and was entered via an external staircase that now acts as a fire escape to the British Legion (Onchan Branch) headquarters which takes its entry from the car park behind. The block of toilets which were located behind the bus stop were built by the commissioners in 1935 to the designs of A.J. Davidson, architect of Douglas and demolished in 2003. When first built they had a large ventilator on the roof. |
Alex Davidson's public toilets of 1935, which
were modernised in the 1970’s were demolished at the end
of 2002 and the toilets repositioned in the former stables beneath
the Legion Club. |
Caley’s the Bakers
Although the family business has existed since 1888 The present shop dates from 1949 Having been designed for Alfie Caley by Wilfred T. Quayle, architect. It was set back from the road to allow for future road widening as was the case with the Isle of Man Bank (see later).
On what is now the forecourt was once a thatched cottage which later has a slate roof fitted and was the joiner’s workshop of Sam Skillicorn when the partnership that he had with his brother J.T. Skillicorn dissolved. The outline of the gable can still be seen in the wall of the adjoining property No 18 Main Road.
Fargher’s Newsagents
This shop and adjoining house was built by Thomas Edward Caley as a shop and home for himself in 1911 by altering an earlier property belonging to his father-in-law Mr Quayle that was on the site. His bakehouse was out behind and where part of the house stands was once a passageway down into the yard. When the new building was erected the adjoining house No 18 had its roof raised. The line of the old roof can be detected from the corbel which still projects from the building on the front elevation. The road beside the shop was widened when Elm Court was built and for many years it was known as Caley’s Lane or Monty’s Lane after Mr Fargher the newsagent and barber who occupied the shop. The official name of the road is Kelvin Road and has been from the early part of the twentieth century.
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Ned Quayle's old cottage was much altered in 1911 to the designs of Sam Skillicorn and provided a new shop for Thomas Caley. For many years now, it has been Fargher's newsagents. |
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