Open Air Bathing Manx style : Port Skillion and Peel

Some of my postcards I'd really like to be able to dive right into and with the hot weather we've been having recently I wish I could dive right into the pools depicted on the following couple of cards.

The fist post card  shows Port Skillion bathing creek near Douglas Head. Built in 1874 by Mr Robert Archer , they were possibly the first open air baths in the British Isles.

Initially they were for men only though women used to enjoy watching the men which was considered quite scandalous at the time with people writing letters to newspapers about the moral decline of the island.

I imagine the scene would have looked like this card sent in 1908 and written in what I think is Welsh.

The people who wrote the card  below do not seem too bothered about any lowering of  moral standards as they state they are having a great time.

The card is published by Valentines and research indicates it's from 1909 but other research conflicts that as guides published in 1910 state the cove was for gentleman only. The card is not dated but the stamp is of George V SG 338 so 1911 seems about right.  

The creek stopped being used in 1932 after the surrounding walls were storm damaged.

The second postcard is more up to date and shows the outdoor pool in Peel.  It was published by Bamforth is one of the Color (sic) Gloss Series and is likely from 1969.

There had been an open air pool in Peel since 1900 but this was closed in the 1950s due to cliff erosion. Those above replaced it and remained open until the 1970s. They are now filled in and there are currently no public outdoor swimming pools in the Isle of Man which I think is a shame.

   

Douglas Southern Electric Tramway

Today I'm going to be showing a postcard of something destroyed long before I was born.

The Douglas Southern Electric Tramway travelled from Douglas Head to Port Soderick ( which will feature in a later post) from 2nd September 1896 to 28th August 1939. It was eventually destroyed in 1955 and all that remains is the entrance at Marine Drive which will be instantly familiar to all those of us who have walked that way. It is unlikely to operate again due to landslides in the area.

I'm not sure of the exact date of the above postcard. It hasn't been used, but the publisher is S. Hildersheimer who were producing cards between 1881 and 1920.

One of the trams is currently at Crich Tramway Museum and is shown on a 1997 postcard below.

Today, anyone wanted to go to Port Soderick is likely to get the Steam Train whose fate has been better than a lot of the transport on the Isle of Man.