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Strange Seaside Tales of Terror and Surprise 6 March 2006 Learn how society’s view of the beach changed from horror to infatuation with Trevor Norton’s witty talk about the history of the seaside at the Manx Museum on Friday 10th March. This intriguing talk, including the topics of monsters and mermaids; piers on wheels and saucy postcards we were not allowed to see, will reveal a time when the wild coast and the ‘dark, serpent-haunted sea’ were shunned.  Professor Trevor Norton said: “Few stories are stranger than the history of the seaside. We all have childhood memories of paddling in the shallows and getting braised scarlet. But it had not always been so. It was the promise of ‘terror and surprise’ that first attracted visitors seeking cures for melancholy and ‘phrenzy’. Much worse was to come in the form of concert parties and ‘Professors’ bound with chains, who flung themselves from piers into the sea in the name of entertainment”. Learn of resorts that boasted of having the ‘coldest water of all’ and others where the patriotic could breathe only ‘British Air’ and hideous amphibious creatures would thrust them beneath the icy waves. These and many other unbelievable stories will be revealed and illustrated by weird and wonderful pictures. As well as delivering this fascinating lecture, Professor Norton will also be signing copies of his latest book Under Water to Get Out of the Rain. This highly acclaimed book has received many commendable reviews, including The Times: “Lovers of the sea and sands will be swept away by Under Water to Get Out of the Rain” and The Guardian: “Beautifully written…his literate, witty, luminous prose makes this a book to take to the seaside and to bed”. Professor Norton’s lecture, entitled ‘We Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside’, will start at 7.30pm and will be held at the Manx Museum lecture theatre. Doors open at 7.00pm and admission is free. The Manx Museum is part of the award- winning ‘Story of Mann’ and is open Monday to Saturday all year round. Other Story of Mann heritage sites will be opening for the summer season on 8th April and will be open daily from 10pm to 5pm until the end of October 2006. 6th March 2006 More stories >>>
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