One of the most cherished sights on the Douglas sea front by locals and tourists alike is the Victorian horse tram, being towed by a doughty work horse, head bowed and steadily clopping along the promenade.

Now, while Teddy, Keith, William and the rest of the trammers are undergoing a period of enforced rest, a new film documenting the Douglas horse tram stable has been released.

Filmed inside the working Victorian stable complex, the footage shows the horses at home while farrier Michael Killey works at the original forge, still in use today, carefully tending to the well-worn feet of a patiently waiting Shire.

Elsewhere, volunteers from the Friends of Douglas Bay Horse Tramway pitch in to help keep the stables clean and the horses clean and fed, while Stuart Mullen explains the history of the stables.

The current block of stables, at the foot of Summerhill Road, are 150 years old, and are the last remaining block of six stables that once housed the horses of the tramway.

The stables and the tramway were built by Victorian entrepreneur and engineer Thomas Lightfoot in 1877.

At its height, more than 135 horses were gainfully employed to ferry locals and tourists along the promenade.

Nowadays, 21 horses help operate the system and are still housed at the stables, which are believed to be the oldest which are still retained for their original purpose anywhere in the world.

Fears that they would be knocked down and the stables rehoused further along the promenade were allayed when the Isle of Man Government bought the building from Douglas Council and placed it on the protected buildings register, safeguarding this particular piece of Manx heritage.

Culture Vannin filmed and produced the short film in 2017, but held off from releasing the footage until the tramway reopened.

However, with the delays in reopening the historic horse trams, it was decided that the film could be used to help remind people of the trams and to create a new sense of appreciation.

’The Isle of Man has so many treasures and the horse trams are certainly one of them,’ said James Franklin of Culture Vannin.

’Unless you’ve had the chance to visit the stables, it can sometimes be hard to truly appreciate how special places like this are, and so it was a privilege to celebrate the space in this film.

’Lockdown is different things for different people, but it can be a space to reflect and re-appreciate what is around us here in the Isle of Man.

’We live in a special place, and it is films like this that can help us appreciate that even more.’

The film is available to be viewed on the Culture Vannin website and YouTube.