February’s club night featured a visit from Ray and Carla Kelly, who shared pictures and stories of Manx Tholtans.
Ray is a former member of the SPS, whose name adorns several of the club’s trophies. He has published extensive photo studies of many of the atmospheric ruins that dot the Manx countryside, and we enjoyed stories about the buildings and the people who lived and worked in them.
Ray began with a few photos from the early days of the SPS and its members (including a very young Andy Kennaugh, our late treasurer), before moving on to the equipment he uses.
His Canon 1D mk3 and 24-105mm lens are always used with a tripod and polarising filter, and he uses 5-shot HDR to capture the full dynamic range of the scenery. buildings and sky.
Locations included Glen Dhoo, Cringle plantation, South Barrule, “Clough Willey” in Stoney Mountain, Grenaby, Druidale and as far north as Jurby. We learned that many of the isolated dwellings had thorn bushes (now trees) to dry washed clothes, and Ash trees to ward off evil spirits.
The talk and pictures left many of us planning our own visits to some of the accessible sites, and Ray and Carla’s pocket guide was a popular purchase at the end of the night.
Ray and Carla received warm thanks for a fascinating evening, and a small selection of images are on this page. You can visit their Facebook page here.
