Manx National Heritage is celebrating a successful lecture programme, with attendance beyond expectation. This year marked Professor Ronald Hutton’s fifth appearance in the MNH annual lecture programme, and outstanding numbers turned out to see his captivating presentation on Traditional Fairy Beliefs staged at the Gaiety Theatre on Friday 14th January. The Gaiety Theatre provided a fabulous setting for the presentation allowing a far bigger audience access to Professor Hutton’s talk than had previously seen possible at the Manx Museum. In the upcoming sell out lecture ‘Heritage of the Heavens A Manx Night Sky’, Howard Parkin looks at Astronomy through the ages as seen from the Isle of Man’s perspective. Howard, Public Services Manager at Manx National Heritage is also chairman of the Isle of Man Astronomical Society and has been teaching astronomy at the Isle of Man College for over 25 years. Howard’s entertaining presentations and stargazing evenings are always popular on the Island, where the beautiful landscape and dark skies lend themselves to some wondrous views of the sky at night. Howard comments, “In the Isle of Man we have some of the best skies in Europe, and astronomy is often described as the oldest science subject on our planet. I am regularly asked by different groups and individuals just what they are looking at, so this lecture will hopefully answer that question and appeal to everyone. We will start with a look at what I entitled the ‘Heritage of the Heavens’, the skies that are even older than the Manx landscape. We will then look at just what is visible today and conclude with a look at the Isle of Man’s exciting role in space exploration.” Stargazing and astronomy is a hugely popular subject and due to staggering demand the lecture at the Manx Museum on 27th January is already a sell out. The last lecture in the current programme entitled ‘125 Years of Manx National Heritage’ will take place at the Manx Museum on 17th February. Dr Andrew Foxon will review the major developments and achievements of the Manx Museum and National Trust since it was established in 1886. Dr Foxon will also tell of the events and principal players of the organisation over the last 125 years. Admission to the lecture is free, doors open at 7pm. Advance tickets available from the Manx Museum Reception. Manx National Heritage will present the new lecture programme and other stargazing events in the coming year, look out for details at www.storyofmann.com. For those who have missed out on tickets, many of the lectures are recorded and are made available to view online. ENDS