A new exhibition exploring the ‘Folklore of Rushen’ has now opened at Rushen Heritage Centre in Port Erin.

The exhibition at the Centre in Bridson Street is curated by Staffan Overgaard from Rushen Heritage Trust, working with text and images supplied by James Franklin, online and educational resources officer at Culture Vannin.

James is the co-author of ‘A Guide to the Folklore Sites of the Isle of Man’, published by Culture Vannin in 2023.

James commented: ‘Folklore stories have been told in the Isle of Man for as long as there have been people here to tell them.

‘Some of these tales have foundations reaching back to the Viking era, and some even retain echoes of pre-Christian times, and yet people continue to encounter the uncanny in these same places today.

‘Locations all over Rushen and beyond have had significance and held wonder for Manx people across generations.

‘Irrespective of how much credence we might give the tales, in learning more about them we become better grounded in these spaces, discovering a deeper connection to the places in which we live our lives.

‘Folklore has the ability to enrich the landscape all around us, and the lives we live within it.’

Staffan added: ‘James has given two folklore talks at the Erin Arts Centre for Rushen Heritage Trust, first about Port Erin two years ago and earlier this year he focused on Port St Mary.

‘They were sell-out events, and so we were keen to create an exhibition so that we could bring the tales to an even wider audience.

‘Our thanks to James for providing us with some wonderful tales that will delight visitors to Rushen Heritage Centre over the next couple of months.’

Folklore of Rushen runs until Saturday, July 5, with the Heritage Centre open from Tuesday to Saturday at 10am until 4pm.

There are also two further exhibitions planned for the remainder of 2025 at the Heritage Centre.

The first of these is the ‘History of mining and quarrying in Rushen’, which will take place from July 8 to September 6.

This will be curated by RHT board member Ali Graham, with assistance from Pete Geddes and Sue Jones from the Laxey Mines Research Group.

The second will then be ‘Edward Ashton Cannell: A Manxman and his art’ - curated by Christa Viohl from the RHC team – and will take place from September 9 to October 31.

A spokesperson from the Rushen Heritage Trust commented: ‘Run by volunteers, the Centre acts as a visitor information centre in collaboration with Visit Isle of Man and sells Rushen Heritage Trust books and merchandise.

‘It also sells RHT greetings cards featuring scenes from around Rushen, and a selection of other books and maps relating to Rushen.’

For more information about Rushen Heritage Centre, you can email John at [email protected] or call him on 464634.