Women Today

On July 13th Ian Meikle joined Beth on the Conister Rock to share music and memories. Born and bred in the Isle of Man, he now owns and edits a weekly magazine in Canberra, and co-hosts a radio show every Sunday.

Beth and Ian spent a lovely hour reminiscing about days gone by, the Regal (or Royalty?) Cinema and his music choices reflected the earliest memories Ian has of growing up on the Island.

Former Manx politician Leonard Singer joined Beth on the Conister Rock on July 20th 2018. He shared some wonderfully witty and often very poignant memories as he explained the pieces of music he had chosen.

Christy was joined on the Conister Rock on Sept 21st 2018 by Roger Smith OBE, one of the world’s finest craftsmen, creating exceptional and highly sought after timepieces, working out of a purpose built studio in the North of the Island.

He shared memories from his childhood, from his early years learning his craft as the only apprentice to Dr George Daniels CBE, talked about important figures from his family life and about setting up and building his own successful studio, training up apprentices of his own and how important it is to him to have the Isle of Man marked on every watch and mentioned in all of the promotion for his extraordinary creations.

Christy spends on hour on the Conister Rock sharing memories and music with John and Emma Quirk, the husband and wife team behind Manx Litfest, one of the Island's biggest events in the cultural calendar. They chatted about Manx Connections, about changing life circumstances, about their love of the Island and its community, about the importance of libraries and reading with children - and about giant beasts in movies...no, really! Find out more about the festival, the team and events past and present on the website here: www.manxlitfest.com

We find out about a fabulous initiative designed to make single-use plastic reduction even easier; and one that could be coming to a coffee shop near you very soon...Christy caught up with "Cup Club" founder Safia Qureshi and operations manager Rosanna Capper. Visit www.cupclub.com to find out more

Christy was joined on the Conister Rock on 17th August by Dylis Watson, former Head of 6th Form at Ballakermeen High School. As a Teacher to hundreds - if not thousands - of students in a career in education that began in 1955 and continues today, Mrs Watson has helped shape the lives of many young people, she is a teacher who manages to maintain a balance of respect and friendship and she delights in continuing to follow the progress of her students throughout their adult lives, staying in touch with many of them.

She told us about the many changes she has witnessed in the education system, about the inspiration of people like Alan Pickard, her friendship with artist Norman Sayle and her love of the great outdoors, camping and her glorious garden.

Dylis also shared some wonderful pieces of music - from Eva Cassidy to Verdi - and we must make special mention of the fact we didn't have time to fit in her final choice of 'Lady in Red' by Chris De Burgh as she arrived resplendent in the colour to honour that choice!

Christy was joined on the Conister Rock on 3rd August by star of stage and screen David Artus, who has bagged some of the biggest roles in musical theatre in his time, from Jean Valjean in Les Miserables to The Phantom in Phantom of the Opera; he has written and produced 7 pantomimes (and gave Broadway star Samantha Barks her first professional role!) and now lives The Good Life in Kirk Michael with his lovely wife Victoria, their children and a some miniature sheep and tiny horses. As y'do... Dave talked about what it was like being one of the only young boys in tap shoes, about dealing with dyslexia, about his adoptive parents and finding his birth family and, of course, about some of the fantastic times he has spent on stage playing everything from human cats to Biblical bad boys.

Christy was joined on the Conister Rock on July 4th 2018 by Southern 100 Races Press Officer and Media Co-Ordinator Phil Edge. He first became involved the ‘Friendly Races’ in 1994 and is most definitely the right man for the job - saying that “Road Racing has been and still is my passion – something that has held me together for most of my life. it is in your veins and once there – never leaves you.” He shared fabulous memories from childhood through to today, reminiscing about his first bikes race meets, his favourite moments, encounters with Geoff Duke and Joey Dunlop and so much more. The 2018 Southern 100 races started on Monday (July 9th) and you can catch up with all the coverage from our race team on our MW1368 channel but also around the course on 87.9FM.

Christy is joined on the Conister Rock by a Man of Mischief with a very recognisable voice and one or two famous catchphrases under his flat cap... Derry Kissack is a proud Manxie, skilled tradesman, champion sidecar trialsman, after dinner speaker and published author; he can hypnotise a chicken with a piece of chalk and - and we're not sure if these two things are related - he’s the man tasked with keeping control of the World Famous Purple Helmets…He shared some wonderful music and memories over the course of our time with him and was, as expected, more than a little mischievous.

As regular listeners will know, Rowan Henthorn – who has worked recently as an advisor to the Isle of Man Government on the issue of plastic pollution – has spent the past few weeks floating around in the North Pacific Ocean. This may sound like a lovely marine adventure but sadly, Rowan and the all female crew of the SeaDragon were actually making their way through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, something they described as ‘plastic soup’. Christy caught up with Rowan via satellite phone just as she was starting her watch on night shift, to find out how the expedition has gone. As you can imagine, the quality of the call isn’t ‘what you’d call crystal clear – but then, neither is the ocean...