Onchan - People's Pictures

MEET THE WALKINGTONS

If there were any school photographs taken at Onchan School during the wartime then locals may have difficulty in putting a name to every child on the photograph even if it was their own class. This is because some of the children only passed through the school for a short period, may be they had been sent over to live with relatives in the comparative safety of the island compared with the major industrial cities of the UK, may be one or more parents were stationed here with the military or in a civilian supporting rôle. Even after the war there were children who only attended the school for a couple of months a year. These were the ones whose parents had a stall at the White City Fun Fair, they would arrive around Whit Week and return from whence they came in early September.

One family which came to Onchan during the war years was the Walkingtons. They lived in Byegrove Road, Colliers Wood, London SW 19, father Christopher, or Chris as he was known, was in the navy. He had joined up on 1 st February 1916 having lied about his age in order to get in. He was only 15 at the time and trained in signals which in those days was semaphore and the more modern Morse Code. His training was at land based establishments in Devonport, Shotley and Chatham. He joined his first ship as a telegraphist, HMS Diamond, on 4 th November 1916 having celebrated his 16 th birthday on 21 st May that year. He then had a thirty year career in the Senior Service sailing the seven seas, rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer Telegraphist and finally retiring with the rank of Second Lieutenant.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War the family left London but were split up; mother (Mabel) and baby Peter went to Peterborough whilst Terry (12), Beryl (8) and Christopher (7) were sent to Chichester. The family spent a number of unhappy months separated in this way. Dad was then posted to Portsmouth and found a house in Portchester and so the family were reunited but the bombing followed them.

Chris senior was then sent to Portland, Oregon, America in the autumn of 1942 with other naval personnel as an advanced crew to take possession of an aircraft carrier which came to the British Navy under the wartime Lend-Lease scheme. The ship was named HMS Tracker and after sea trials she was used on the North Atlantic Convoys to Russia. This remained his ship for some years and he was the ships radio operator. His next posting was to the Isle of Man and HMS St George. This was a land based establishment located in the former Cunningham’s Holiday Camp on Victoria Road in Douglas. The camp had been requisitioned as had Ballkermeen School which was not quite complete at the time. The navy took over the physical completion of the building from Creer Brothers who had been the contractors. They even tiled the swimming bath but this work had to be redone in the early post war years.

Chris’s job was to teach each new intake of boy soldiers to be radio operators and they would march each day from the camp to the school for their lessons. Another naval instructor/teacher at this time was the late Jack Gair who ironically after the war, when the school was derequisitioned, became one of the first teachers at the new school. Having secured this posting, Chris looked for accommodation for his family and this he found in First Avenue, School Road, Onchan. The terrace had been built by Thompson and Bridson who were also responsible for Second and Third Avenue. First Avenue had been completed in 1937 and the whole terrace of seven houses was bought by Miss Dorothy Baron (later to become Mrs Kneen). The first house in the terrace was rented by Mr Cleator but at some point he went across and so he sublet his house furnished to Mrs Walkington and the family moved to the island to become Onchanites. The Cleators decided to stay in England and eventually all the furniture was to leave the house. This was at a time when furniture was scarce; the Walkingotn’s furniture was in store in England and was subsequently lost in an air raid. Members of the family well recall the generosity of their neighbours and people of Onchan who gave them pieces of furniture to see them through. On 28 th April 1945 the family increased in size with the birth of Kenneth.

He was educated at Onchan School and then The Royal Hospital School, Holbrook near Ipswich. This was originally set up as the Royal Greenwich Hospital in London and was for the orphans of men who hadbeen in the navy. The school Ken attended was for the sons of Royal Naval personnel without having to be an orphan. Ken’s elder brother Peter also attended this school after doing a year at Douglas High School for Boys (Ballakermeen).

When dad Chris came out of the navy he secured a job with the GPO as a telephone operator in the Dalton Street Exchange, Douglas. He used to cycle to work but eventually he bought a Lambretta scooter and in 1961 built a lean-to shed on the side of the house to keep it in. Mabel, his wife died in 1967 and was buried in St Peter’s churchyard.

Of the children Terry the eldest served in the Royal Navy for 15 years and emigrated to Perth in Australia where he passed away during the 1990s. Beryl served in the army as a nurse and now lives in Goole, Yorkshire. Chris (junior) did his national service in the RAF but left the island in 1955 as jobs were scarce. He emigrated to New Zealand and now lives 32 kms outside Wellington. Next was Peter who, after the Royal Hospital School, had a short spell in the Royal Navy before transferring to the Army and joined the RASC (now part of the Royal Logistics Corps). His job was driving and maintaining amphibious craft and he completed 30 years seeing service in the Far East, Cyprus, Germany and the UK. When in Onchan his great friends were Alan Howland (elder brother of Lawrie) and John Elkin later to be famous as a steam train driver. He now resides in Germany.

The youngest, Kenneth was the true Onchanite amongst them having been born here and was one of the lads of the village with contemporaries Lawrie Howland, Stan (Otto) Hughes, David (Pip) Mather, Martin (Dinger) Bell, Tony Holroyd, Eddie King, Trevor (Tab) Burrows, Malcolm Davies, Trevor (Mitch) Mitchell and Ian (Shank) Quirk. They would all attend the Onchan Youth Club and then walk over to Cording’s Cosy Corner Cafe at the top of Summerhill Road to stand outside eating chips and drinking Vimto. With Pip and Otto he formed a pop band called The Jaguars, later renamed The Red Caps. After Ken left the island they reformed as The Vampires.

Ken became a boy soldier at the age of 15 in 1961 and served in the R.E.M.E as vehicle mechanic. He served for nine years and was stationed at Carlise, Tidworth and Southampton in England, and three years in Cyprus. He also went on exercises to Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Libya. He was mostly attached to the RCT as a vehicle inspector. On demob he worked in Bournemouth and then Northampton where he still lives.

CHESS CHAMPIONS

This photograph was taken at Onchan School during the Isle of Man Primary Schools Chess Congress in March 1979.  It has been supplied by Cathy Knowles.  The adults in the picture are (left to right) Mrs Caren whose late husband, Thomas Arnold Caren  voluntarily started chess instruction at Onchan Primary School.  Mr Caren was born in Canton, China in 1910 where his father was a missionary.  His mother died in childbirth and so he was brought up by an aunt in the Isle of Man.  He spent 25 years in the navy before returning to the Island and resided in Royal Avenue.  He was an Onchan Village Commissioner from 1953 to 1959 and  he passed away in July 1978.

The cup being presented was named after him and was presented annually to the school chess champion.  This photograph records the first presentation.  Behind the cup is Ron Cretney who was headmaster at Onchan School from 1969 to 1983.  He was an Onchan Village Commissioner 1977 – 1988 and then became an MHK and was Minister of Education 1990 – 1991.  He passed away in November 2002.  In the centre of the picture is teacher Phyllis Christian who ran the chess club during her many years at the school.  The gentleman on the right is Ronnie Hannah who lived at the top of Royal Avenue.  He also helped out at the school with the Chess Club.  He had spent his working life as a joiner and was with the Highway Board at the time of his retirement.  He passed away in 2000 aged 90.

The young lads (left to right) are Richard Mylrea, Colin Gilbert, John Morrison, Damian Fozard, Ian Bell and Stephen Knowles.  The boys went on to lead careers in music, the army, computers and engineering.  Miss Christian is now retired having encouraged many pupils to participate in forward thinking through the game of chess.

BOWLED OVER WITH GENEROSITY

From the Onchan Ladies Bowling Club comes this picture taken on 1st August 1990. The club had raised money for St Bridget's Hospice and here the cheque is handed over to Nadine Crowther from the hospice. On the left is Betty McClure (chairman) and with her is Heather Roberts who was President at that time.

The photograph is taken outside the club hut shared by the men's and women's crown green bowling clubs. It was built of brick with a part glazed and part timber clad front and a roof of corrugated "Filon" plastic sheeting. It was built in 1968 by Kelly Brothers Ltd of Kirk Michael to the designs of Brian Black the then Surveyor at Onchan Village Commissioners. This was to release part of the main stadium building to enlarge the cafe.

Kelly Brothers tender was £490.12.18d whereas J.T. Skillicorn Ltd quoted £594.8.11d. A price was also sought from individual sub-contractors to cover separately brickwork, joinery, plastering, electrical etc, this aggregated to £508. The club house was built in time for the 1968 bowling season. During the winter 2009/10 the building was demolished to make way for a new all timber hut.

MRS NICHOLSON’S CLASS 1976

This photograph comes from Carol and Vic Knowles of Hillberry Road, Onchan and shows their son Stephen with his classmates at Onchan School.  Their teacher was Mrs Pat Nicholson (nee Curphey) who, after qualifying taught in the UK before returning to the island.  Following the birth of her daughter in 1966 she returned to teaching two years later firstly by acting as a supply teacher at Murray’s Road School then Laxey School.  In September 1969 she started teaching at Onchan School; Ron Cretney the new head having started at Easter of that year.  Pat then spent the next 31 years teaching at Onchan until her retirement.

Back Row (left to right):         Mrs Nicholson, Scott Shimmin, Ian Black, Adrian Ormorod, Stephen Knowles, Damian Fozard, Dawn Mingins, Jane Atkinson, Ellen Smith, Alison Corlett.

Middle Row (left to right):      Karen Shimmin, Debbie MacIntosh, Michelle Kewley, Andrea Moultray, Nicola Black, Nigel Goldsmith, Russell Millward, David Mallinder, Richard Mylrea.

Front Row (left to right):         Paul Daugherty, Edward Clague, Ian Bell, Tony Dugdale, Philip Brownlow, Andrew Birtles, Kevin Taggart, Glen Delaney, John Morrison, Paul Martin

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW

From the collection of a resident in Main Road comes this picture taken in the late 1970s of J.T. Skillicorn Ltd’s premises in Royal Avenue.  The building was erected in 1936 as The Avenue Cinema to the designs of local architects Lomas and Barrett. They also designed the Royalty Cinema in Walpole Avenue in Douglas and the Crescent Cinema on Central Promenade both of which were built by Creer Brothers Ltd and utilised white faience to the outer surface.  By this time Mr Lomas had died leaving Mr Norman Midgely Barrett in charge of the practice.  Mr Lomas’ son James Phillips Lomas was at this time studying architecture at Liverpool University and later returned to take over the practice in his own name.

This cinema was built for Onchan Cinema Limited of which a major shareholder was the Palace and Derby Castle Company Ltd.  Again Creer Brothers were the main contractors and all the seats were on the one level set on a sloping floor with no balcony.  There were a total of 875 seats which was a large number to fill for a small but developing village.  The design incorporated a stage forty feet by sixteen feet and two dressing rooms which gave the building a dual purpose when required.  There was also an orchestra pit and at the front of the building either side of the entrance foyer were two shops.  The cinema was used for occasional concerts in addition to being run as a cinema.  In 1946 the company was taken over completely by the Palace and Derby Castle Company who had the building linked up to mains and the power house was converted into two lock up garages in 1950.

The advent of television in the 1950s saw a decline in cinema going and towards the end of the 1950s the owners changed the name to The Continental and only opened at weekends showing X Certificate French and similar films in the hopes of attracting larger audiences.  The scheme was not successful and in 1959 the cinema closed and the rates were reduced to zero, even Mr Wilson the tailor in one of the shops didn’t have to pay rates but Mr Armstrong who rented the two garages did.  Not long after it closed a group of curious young lads managed to get into the building but got carried away slashing the screen and causing other damage.  They were caught and the birch came into play.  At this time part of the basement was being used by the Onchan Scouts under the leadership of Jim Rider.

There were many suggestions for the building including that the commissioners should buy it to turn it into a community centre.  However in 1965, at a time when the Palace and Derby Castle Company was in the process of being taken over by Crockfords the Casino operators of London, a buyer was found in the form of J.T. Skillicorn Ltd the local building firm.  They had been based for many years in former stables behind Queens Road and Governors Road and an open yard in Mountfield Road.  They applied for permission to alter the building by raising the raked floor to the level of the rear of the cinema thus creating a high storage area and garaging on the lower ground floor and offices and joiners workshop on the upper level with trapdoors to lower manufactured goods into lorries below.  It was here that they made all the roulette tables for the newly opened Casino and this was followed by an order to make more tables to be used on cruise liners.

In 1988/9 Skillicorns moved out to smaller premises in Second Avenue built as a joiner’s workshop by Howard Corlett in 1973 but extended by Skillicorns to provide an office for themselves.  The former cinema with land behind was sold.  It was demolished  by the new owners and during 1990 and 1991 two blocks of apartments were built called Royal Court.  The picture shows the building with the windows inserted into the outside walls of the old cinema to provide light into the offices, workshops and storage areas.  A planning condition prohibited the outside storage of materials which in reality cut down on the timeless practice of builders keeping materials for recycling.

Fifties Photo

Taken in the mid 1950s but no exact date is this picture supplied by Victor Knowles of his class at Onchan School.  The photograph has been taken in the school field with the stone boundary wall to the boys playground behind.  Note the new coconut mats in the foreground which were kept in the room which doubled as a stage for the school hall.  It was here that the two sets of football shirts (red and black, yellow and black) were kept in a cupboard with a wire grille on the top half for ventilation.  Goodness knows if they were ever washed and certainly by 1959 there were more holes than shirt. 

Front row: (left to right)  Helen Elliot (now living in France), Christine Faragher (became a teacher), Kenneth Walkington (has his own entry in Gallery 4), Dave Mather (father had paper shop), Eric Bregazzi (famous to TT sidecar racing), Nicky Kermode, ??

Second row:  Victoria Cubbon (still lives in Onchan), Carol Callow, Margaret Roberts, Joyce Berry, Katherine Hill, Katherine Battison, Barbara Patteson, David Howland (still in Onchan), Michael Newson.

Third row:  Hilary Woodyer, Christine Lace, Dorothy France (still in Onchan), David Magee, Oliver Gelling (lived in Hillberry now in Arbory), Edric Clague (nickname Smeg), John Quine (now in Spain).

Back row:  Fred Clague (lived Ballig Farm), Brian Renshaw (still in Onchan), Roger Christian (lives in France), Eric Bird (lived in Auburn Road), Victor Knowles (still in Onchan), Roger Price (lived Royal Avenue), Ronnie Campbell.

People's Photographs: Gallery 1 | Gallery 2 | Gallery 3 | Gallery 4 | Gallery 5 | Gallery 6