Rushen Heritage Trust marks the start of an exciting summer programme this weekend with the launch of its first free exhibition “Happy Days of Southern Tourism”, where visitors can come and see how holidaymakers and local residents have enjoyed their free time across the decades in Rushen.

Curated by volunteers, who have spent the winter months developing and researching an exciting collection of photographs and memories, the exhibition explores the history of local attractions such as Bradda Glen and Breagle Glen, the Traie Meanagh Baths and everyday activities such as swimming on the beaches, trips to the Calf, memories of local cafes, tennis and golf.

This is the first of three exhibitions this year and will be followed by the launch of “A Year on Ballachurry Farm” - a wonderful account of the farming year from November 1943 to October 1944, written by Captain of the Parish Stanley Clucas about the farm that has been in his family for almost a hundred years.

The book launches on Saturday 9th July at Port St Mary Town Hall alongside a free exhibition full of captivating photographs, plus some special agricultural illustrations by local artist John Hancox.

Closing the summer is the second instalment of our “Friend or Foe?” exhibition on Women’s Internment in Rushen during World War 2. Continuing on from last year’s exhibition about the arrival of 3,000 women and children in May 1940, the story continues with the creation of the UK’s only married camp and the women who were interned there.

Alongside the exhibition is an exciting and unique festival celebrating Wagner and Internment, in association with the Erin Arts Centre. Richard Wagner’s “rebellious” granddaughter Friedelind was interned in Rushen in 1940 and was the only member of the Wagner family to be strongly anti-Nazi, while her mother was a close friend of Hitler.

Professor Eva Rieger - whose mother was also interned in Rushen in WW2 – published her acclaimed book about Friedelind Wagner in 2012 and is visiting Port Erin to give some special talks as part of the festival. There will also be a re-enactment of a women internees concert performed by multiple Cleveland Medal Winners and a talk by Eva’s brother Chris, who was six years old when he was in Port Erin and remembers playing on the beach with local boys.

Alongside our publications and exhibitions, Rushen Heritage Trust has also been breaking new ground in developing the walking app “Isle of Man Walks”. Being the world’s first outdoor heritage walk that uses iBeacon technology, we’re also the first in the world to experience some unusual technical challenges and we’re looking for people to help.

The app has been designed to work offline for both Apple and Android smartphone users, triggered by small beacons called waypoints along the path. Beacons have only ever been used in an indoor environment before – so the wilds of the Raad ny Foillan have been a bit of a surprise to them!

We love the heritage and views of the coastal path in Rushen and we’re committed to developing this trail further. Although our current technical delays mean that we won’t be able to launch as hoped in May, this gives us a fantastic opportunity to expand our walks across Port St Mary and Port Erin.

Our volunteers are continually researching content for the app and we’ve already built a fantastic library of images, films and audio pieces to bring our local heritage to life between Port St Mary and the Sound. These are very high in quality and have been checked by our local team of experts. We’re really excited to be able to develop this further and make our walks even more accessible to people of all walking abilities across a broad range of interests.

We’ll be launching our expanded version of the app later in the year. In the meantime, if you’re interested in joining our group of pilot testers, we would love to hear from you! Get in touch at www.isleofmanwalks.com.