Well-known historian Charles Guard will deliver the second of Rushen Heritage Trust’s season of talks next week when he delves into ‘The History of Manx Tourism’.

Tourism was once the mainstay of the Manx economy and in his illustrated talk, Mr Guard explains how it all started and how the island adapted to the annual influx of hundreds of thousands of people.

He will highlight some of the more challenging aspects of running a boarding house and there will be lots of photographs, amusing anecdotes and a few naughty postcards.

The talk takes place at 7.30pm at Erin Arts Centre in Port Erin on Monday, December 4.

The season of talks got off to a great start, with virtually a full house listening to Michelle Haywood from Discover Diving talking about the history of Mona’s Queen III, which was lost off Dunkirk in May 1940, and her team’s dive to the wreck in April this year.

Following on from ‘The History of Manx Tourism’, the other dates for the 2023-24 season are:

l January 8 – Yvonne Cresswell: William Hoggatt – A Passion for the Manx Landscape

l February 5 – Mike Lean: Secrets of the Gaiety Theatre

l March 4 – Peter Geddes: Deep Within Bradda Mines

l April 22 – Howard Parkin: The Isle of Man for Dark Skies

Tickets for each talk are £6 – or £5 for Friends of Rushen Heritage Trust – and are available online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/isle-of-man/erin-arts-centre or from Erin Arts Centre, Bridge Bookshop and Rushen Heritage Centre in Port Erin.

Tickets for each talk will go on sale after the previous talk has taken place.

For more details, contact Rushen Heritage Trust coordinator John Quirk by emailing [email protected] or phoning 464634.