Commissioners Picture Gallery 2009

Two of the commissioners' parks staff who undertook the "spade work" in preparing the holes for the trees.  On the left is long standing member of the parks staff, Billy Fayle who is the greenkeeper in Onchan Park.  Beside him is Kevin Cowley an Onchan resident and recent member of the staff.  In his younger days Kevin was well known for motorcycle racing.  His father, Jimmy, spent the greater part of his working life as a driver of coaches, lorries and cars with Corkills Garage and later with Tours (IOM) Ltd.

Mrs Rita Hattersley of Avondale WI plants the tree for her group just shortly before the rain started.  Avondale is one of three WI groups in Onchan. 

When they were formed they met in the Legion Hall in Avondale Road from which they took their name. 

There was a fourth group,  Howstrake WI who met in the former Howstrake Hotel in Harbour Road, later called Molly's Tavern and Kitchen but now demolished. 

The group disbanded a few years ago.

Chairman of the Friends of Onchan's Heritage, Keith Wattersin, planted a tree on behalf of the Friends.  He was accompanied by Eve Park, Secretary of the group who also took a turn with the spade.  Eve is a member of the Caley family who were bakers in the village of Onchan for over a hundred years.  Members of the family from different generations have been involved in the Onchan community such as members of St Peter's Church Choir, the wartime Onchan Civil Defence and even an Onchan District Commissioner.

Anne-Marie Wade, chairman of the Onchan Ladies Club plants a tree assisted by Mrs Mary Poole.  The Onchan Ladies Club was formerly the Onchan Townswomen's Guild but this was disbanded and reformed with the same members under a new title. 

The group is now totally independent and local.  They meet in Morton Hall, Church Avenue, the headquarters of Onchan Pensioners Social Club.

SAFE LANDING MARCH 2009

Work began in early March on replacing  the safety flooring in several of the playgrounds in Onchan.  Instead of safety tiles "wet pour" is being used which provides a joint -less safety floor with less likelihood of shrinkage around the play equipment.

At Jubilee Playground in the Birch Hill Estate it is being placed under a set of swings whilst in the Ballachurry Playground it is to be placed under two sets of swings, a rocking horse and a climbing frame.  In Onchan Park three sets o swings, a new kiddie's slide and the rocking horse are all to have their tiles replaced by wet pour.  A new path leading to the roundabout is also to be paved in this expensive material rather than tarmacadam.

At Lakeside Gardens the whole play area is to be covered in wet pour and these photographs show what is happening.  The contract, worth in excess of £50,000 is being carried out by Record RSS Limited of Staines, Middlesex and North Yorkshire.

The first stage of the work was to lift all the individual safety tiles which had been in place since the playground was opened.  These are approximately 60 cm square (2 foot by 2 foot) at all the playgrounds except at Lakeside Gardens where they are a metre square but divided to look like four individual tiles.  This can be seen with the tile on the wheelbarrow in the foreground.

The granules for the wet pour arrive in sacks and are seen here stacked on pallets sitting on the central path passing through the centre of the grassed area.

The granules are placed in a special mixer with resin from the large drums which produces a tarmac like substance.  When poured it  hardens but retains its rubber-like properties to provide a soft landing.

The mixture is then barrowed into the play area, spread by hand.  The material is of such a consistency to be self levelling.  A finer finishing coat is laid a few days later and colour is added to the landing areas.

NEW VEHICLE FOR COMMISSIONERS' FLEET

On 28th April the commissioners took delivery of a new refuse vehicle as part of their rolling programme of vehicle replacement. This is their first Mercedes vehicle with previous refuse wagons being Volvo, Scania, DAF and Seddon Atkinson.

The new £150,000 refuse vehicle which is due to go into service at the beginning of May. The cab holds a full crew of four and has on board CCTV so that the driver can see the loading. The driver's seat has air suspension to overcome the problems of very bumpy roads. The vehicle also has rear wheel turning on one set of wheels.

The crew door opens in like a bus and so does not cause a problem for pedestrians when the vehicle pulls up alongside a pavement and has a low level entry. The working end has Turberg lifters with onboard weighing and a capacity of 21 cubic metres.

There was no official handover from the manufacturers Faun or the suppliers Outdoor Power and Plant of Snugborough . The Rotopress bodywork has been set on a Mercedes chassis. A group of representatives from the commissioners however posed for a photograph for the record books.

From left to right we have Terry Black, a commissioner, Malcolm Hulme the Clerk, Keith Watterson the Lead Member for Environmental and Technical Services (which includes the Refuse Department) and Brian Price the District Surveyor. In the cab is Andy McGhee the Refuse Foreman. Not in the picture is Phil Sutton the Waste Management Officer.

ANNUAL MEETING

The annual meeting of the commissioners was held on Tuesday 5th May at 7pm.  This is the meeting where the chairman, vice chairman and lead members are elected for the forthcoming municipal year. 

The new Chairman is Brian Stowell with Mrs June Kelly as Vice Chairman.  Lead Member for Finance and General Purposes is Ernie Thorn whilst the Lead Member for Environmental and Technical Services is Keith Watterson.  Mrs Kelly retains her role as Lead Member for Properties and Amenities

Retiring chairman, Derek Crellin invests his successor Brian Stowell with the chain of office.  The original chain of office dates from the 1950s and was set on a single chain. 

During the time that Coutts Bank were operating their European business from Coutts House on Summerhill Road they presented the new double chain and the old chain was transferred to the Vice Chairman's chain which previously has a blue ribbon to support the badge of office.

Mrs Barbara Crellin was presented with a bouquet by Mrs Tina Stowell after the final  handover.  Pictured left to right:  Brian Stowell, Tina Stowell, Barbara Crellin and recently retired chairman Derek Crellin.

Chairman Brian Stowell congratulates his Vice Chairman Mrs June Kelly who was elected to that office for the current municipal year at the annual meeting. 

This is the only occasion that the vice chairman wears their chain in the presence of the chairman as it is only worn when they are deputising for the chairman.

The current board are photographed in the board room.  Left to right:  Ernie Thorn, Keith Watterson, Tim Craig (Deputy Clerk), Malcolm Hulme (Clerk), Brian Stowell (Chairman), June Kelly (Vice Chairman), Derek Crellin, Terry Black and Steve Babb.

PRESENTATION TO FORMER MEMBERS

On 30th April 2008 the Rural Ward of Onchan, which had existed since 1986 came to an end as did the position of Rural Commissioner.  It also saw the end of the Rural Committee which comprised the Rural Commissioner, two Urban Ward commissioners and two Rural Committee Members who were elected by, and represented, the ratepayers in the Rural Ward.

At the Annual Meeting of the Commissioners held in May 2008 there was no representation of the Rural Committee nor indeed were any committees elected as the number of commissioners had been reduced to seven and the new system was to have three board meetings a month with no committee at all.

At the Annual Meeting held on 5th May this year, a presentation was made to the last two members of the Rural Committee at the time of its disbandment.  A bouquet was presented to Mrs Skillicorn who was at the meeting and another one given to Mr Moore to pass on to his wife who was unable to attend.

Chairman of the Commissioners, Brian Stowell hands over an Onchan Commissioners' plaque to Brian Moore of Bibaloe in recognition of his 16 years service on the Rural Committee from May 1992 to 2008.

Alan Skillicorn of Clypse Moar receives an identical engraved Onchan Commissioners plaque from Board Chairman Brian Stowell in recognition of his four years service on the Rural Committee

CIVIC SUNDAY 24th MAY 2009

In bright sunshine the parade of people accompanying the chairman to church took place on Civic Sunday, 24th May.  The newly installed chairman, Brian Stowell selected St Peter's for the service which was conducted by the Vicar of Onchan, Reverend Canon Malcolm Convery assisted by other church leaders.

Full details and pictures here: Civic Sunday

MANX RADIO 45th ANNIVERSARY
29th JUNE 2009

Radio Manx Limited, a private company, started regular broadcasts under the name Manx Radio at 10am on 29th June 2009. Their radio station was a caravan, kitted out by Pye of Cambridge, specialists in radio and television engineering.

The site selected for broadcasting had to be near to Douglas for the office was one room in the old Victory House on Prospect Hill and a messenger boy had to go between the two with the news typed out for reading.

Also a clear location for transmission was a requirement and so fields lying just outside the village of Onchan and used for grazing by the tram horses was selected. Given the fact that this was in Onchan the commissioners wished to record the event this year as part of Manx Radio's 45th anniversary.

In the absence of both the chairman and vice-chairman, Commissioner Ernest Thorn welcomed everyone to the brief ceremony which was another milestone in the life of Manx Radio.

He referred to the presentation by the commissioners of an engraved glass plaque, which depicted the caravan, four years ago to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Manx Radio and how the "blue" plaque was to be a permanent memento which
would be seen by the general public and not just those who visit Manx Radio where the glass plaque is kept. Unfortunately Mr Thorn's speech was not recorded by Manx Radio for their archive.

It was intended that the plaque would be unveiled at exactly 10am to coincide with the start time of the first regular broadcast 45 years ago. However Manx Radio decided to broadcast the unveiling of the plaque live and this happened at the end of the 10am news broadcast.

Originally Manx Radio were going to arrange for John Grierson, the first presenter at Manx Radio to come to the island for the weekend's activities and to unveil the plaque but they were unable to manage this. At the eleventh hour therefore it was decided to invite those with an early association with the station to undertake the unveiling.

Pictured are those who undertook the task, (left to right) Ian Cannell who was the second voice to be heard on Manx Radio during a test broadcast in TT Week 1964 when the station was linked to the round the course PA system and after an introduction to proceedings by John Grierson it was Ian Cannell at Keppel Gate who just happened to be speaking when the link up was made. Later Ian gave up his job as Northern Surveyor with the Highway Board and became General Manager of Manx Radio. Next to him is Ewan Leeming who was the station's first engineer who joined the staff about a week after the first broadcast
when the staff of Pye of Cambridge, who set up the radio equipment had returned home. Bernie Quayle came a few years later then left for the States, returned sometime later then moved to a station in Africa before his permanent return.

Terry Cringle joined the news staff about 40 years ago having been a journalist with both local and regional newspapers. David Callister was a freelance presenter from the early days eventually giving up his daytime job at Rural Industries and became fulltime kingpin presenter covering Mandate and the famous Mannin Line as well as his Country and Western show.

Finally we have Roger Watterson who has also been a long-time freelance broadcaster with past part-time experience with the BBC when living in the UK. During his term of office as an MHK for Middle (Onchan, Braddan and Santon) he was a political member of the board.

As part of the live broadcast Marian Kenny interviews the chairman of Radio Manx Limited, David North who took over the role from Charles Fargher a few years ago. In the background is Ian Cannell C.B.E.

The whole morning's unveiling ceremony wouldn't have taken place if it wasn't for Mr & Mrs Russell of 49 Lhonvane Close. The caravan stood on what is part of their garden and part of next door No 48, more or less in equal parts.

The gate pillars which were the entrance into the field formed part of the stone wall boundary to the fields built by the Highway Board in the early 1950s when the road was widened for the Willaston Circuit car racing.

The upper gate pillar was demolished when the caravan arrived to get it into the field but was rebuilt after it was subsequently removed and taken to Manx Radio's transmitter station at Foxdale. When McArds built houses and bungalows on the land at Ballachurry they built up the opening between the pillars as a continuation of the boundary wall, in other places they utilized the gate openings as a means of entry into the footpath system which runs through the Ballachurry Park Estate.

Both gate pillars form the boundary to Mr & Mrs Russell's property. Here Mr Russell is photographed alongside the plaque.

The plaque was based on the design of the famous blue plaques in the UK with minimal wording and the appropriate date. It was designed in-house at the commissioners' office and manufactured out of zinc at Photocast in Liverpool.

This firm has produced plaques before for the commissioners and they can be seen at the entrance to The School Road Recreation Ground to commemorate the fact that the ground was purchased with money from the Henry Bloom Noble Trustees. Another plaque in Molly Quirk's Glen attached to a slate gate post tells of the gift of land by Harvey Briggs to DAFF.

LADIES BOWLING COMPETITION JULY 2009

The annual ladies bowling competition for the Commissioners Cup took place on 29th July.  It is organised by the Onchan Ladies Bowling Club and is a pairs competition. 

A cup for the winning pair was presented by the commissioners many years ago as they also presented cups for men's bowls, flat green bowling, tennis, stockcars, gardens, horticultural show, model boat competition on the boating lake and Christmas lights.

The Commissioners Cup and the two silver salvers used as replicas for the winning pair ready to be presented by Chairman of the Board, Brian Stowell JP. 

The winners this year were Janet Monk and Lilian Stringer.

Commissioners' Chairman. Brian Stowell, makes a speech after presenting the trophies and receiving a small gift of a bottle of wine from the club. 

Beside him is Club President  Betty McClure who passed the trophies to him for presentation.

ISLAND IN BLOOM COMPETITION PRIZE GIVING.
15th September 2009

The prize presentation for the Island in Bloom Competition took place on the afternoon of Tuesday 15th September at The Villa Marina with the various prize certificates being presented by Hon. Martin Quayle MHK, Minister for Tourism.

Mr & Mrs Roger Oram of 8 Royal Avenue won bronze prize in the private gardens section and the commissioners won three prizes for Onchan. These were: Silver Prize in the small towns section, third prize in the public buildings section for the commissioners' offices in Main Road and third prize with Onchan Park in the public parks section.

The photograph shows (left to right) Parksman Steve Williams and Parks Foreman Colin Pennock receiving the certificates from Hon. Martin Quayle.

ESTATES GARDENS COMPETITION 2009

The prize presentation for the annual estates gardens competition took place on Friday 9th October in the commissioners' boardroom at Hawthorn Villa.

Nobody enters the competition - instead all gardens of the commissioners' tenants are judged by two separate judges a month apart.  The points are then aggregated but the results are not made known until the prize presentation to which the first, second and third prize winners and those awarded a highly commended certificate are invited.

The Chairman of the Board, Brian Stowell JP made the presentation and Lead Member for Properties and Amenities read out the results.  Commissioner Keith Watterson took the photographs which we include in this section.

Winners of the J.C. Skillicorn Cup for the Park and Nursery Avenue section of the Estates Garden Competition are Mr & Mrs R.S. Goldsmith of 51 Nursery Avenue.  They have won the cup many times before and two years ago won the Island in Bloom Competition for their garden which is a mass of flowers all around the house.

Mrs A.M. McDonald of 44 Barrule Drive was the winner of the "Universal Cup" for houses in the Ballachrink Estate.  The cup was presented by the Universal Housing Company who built the original Ballachrink and School Road houses in the immediate post war years.  Later phases of the Ballachrink Estate were built by J.T. Skillicorn Ltd, J.R. Creer Ltd and Jarvis which became Auldyn Construction

The section in the competition for Houses without Gardens involves the judging of the window boxes and planters around the properties in Marion court, Heywood Court and Springfield Court.  The winner this year was Mr & Mrs P.K. Ward of 64 Springfield Court who have been past winners in this section.

Winner of both the Birch Hill Estates section and the John Fargher Rose Bowl was Miss Christina Cubbon of 45 Ashley Park.  The Birch Hill Estates incorporate the commissioners' properties in Hacket Close, Meadow Close and Ashley Park which were all built on part of the former Birch Hill Farm which the commissioners purchased and laid out for building purposes in the late 1960s. 

Christina beat her parents into second place in the same section.  The John Fargher trophy is presented to the tenant with the most points in the competition from all the sections and this she did by just one point.

Isobel Southern collects the Dandara Cup for the Heywood section of the competition.  Winners were Isobel and her husband Mike of 70 Heywood Drive.  The cup as presented to the commissioners by the Dandara Group who were contractors for the estate which originally comprised local authority houses and first time buyer houses. 

The competition relates to the commissioners' houses and Mr & Mrs Southern have won the trophy on one previous occasion.

Some years ago when the Clean Sweep Campaign was being promoted by the Chamber of Commerce, the commissioners introduced a section to cover business premises in Onchan who, through the Onchan Traders Association, encouraged firms and businesses to enhance their premises with flowers.  Past winners have included Caley's the Bakers, Isle of Man Bank, Haydn Minay Ltd, Corkill's Pharmacy and Ballacain Guest House. 

This year's winners were Mr & Mrs Nigel Quine of Mullen Beg Guest House of Little Mill Road who received the Isle of Man Bank Trophy.