More than 150 photographs depicting the people and the changing face of Peel has gone on display at the House of Mannanan.

The exhibition, entitled ’Our Sunset City’, has been created by the members of the Western Photographic Society, who are this year celebrating their 40th anniversary, having formed in the millennium year of 1979.

The photographs were taken by 15 members of the society, and cover many of the public events and sporting occasions that have taken place in the town over the past 20 years, along with a selection of landscapes, seascapes, scenes of the castle, the many boats in the harbour and bay, houses, street scenes and sunsets.

The oldest photograph was taken by John Hall, who has been a member of the society since its inception, which was a black and white print of Peel harbour, taken in 1949. This was displayed next to the most recent picture in the display, a colour picture of the harbour, taken by Dorothy Flint on a camera phone.

There were also some picture taken by some young snappers, including Isla Kelly, eight, who took a view of the town, over looking Fenella Beach, and her brother James, 11, who produced a set of pictures of the Peel Cathedral grounds.

Other well known figures, such as Tony Faragher and Doug Allen, also supplied images.

The exhibition was curated by Dr Patricia Tutt, the secretary of the Western Photographic Society, who believed the display was a really community-minded project.

’We decided to focus on the community, & the people in Peel,’ said Patricia, who was presented with a bunch of flowers for her efforts by the society president, Steve Babb.

’Manx National Heritage were especially keen on having the community represented.’The pictures show that Peel is a thriving place,’ she added.

’There is lots of things going on. We look around these pictures, and in one way they only go to remind you of the things that we have not included. But there is still plenty here to see

’There are so many events covered here, such as the Viking Festival, the traditional boat weekend, events on the beach during TT week, winter and summer in the harbour, and many other things in between.

Edmund Southworth, the director from Manx National Heritage, said that the display tells a story about Peel.

’I think this is very much an exhibition about a community,’ he said.

’It is fascinating how the weather and the sky shows the landscape in a very different light, literally, over the course of a year.

’This is a snapshot of life in Peel, with most of the images taken over a 10 year period, and most of them taken in that time. People have grown up, come in and out of the town, and then there is the everyday

’As a community exhibition, it works really well. These images do tell the story of Peel. There is a nice feel to this display, and this is what a community does well.’

The exhibition, which is free to view, is open until Sunday, May 12.