Summerland Remembered

Culture Vannin has released hours of interviews with people who were involved with the Summerland disaster.

Fifty people lost their lives when Summerland went up in flames on the evening of August 2 1973.

The ‘Summerland Remembered’ series consists of hours of audio recordings, which collect together the stories of 16 different people, all of whom have telling and important connections to the tragedy.

It represents the most extensive ever project to record the memories of the Summerland Fire, and has just been released for free public access online by Culture Vannin.

The recordings available on the website are an extensive range of interviews conducted by James Franklin and Dollin Mercer for Culture Vannin. They include conversations with survivors, those bereaved, fire fighters, nurses, police officers, visitors, witnesses, entertainers, employees and more.

James Franklin, online and educational resources officer at Culture Vannin, said: ‘As a Manx person born after 1973, I had never previously been able to fully understand the Summerland Fire. Over the course of the past year and more, working on this project, I have been changed and greatly humbled by the stories which I have had the privilege of recording.

‘I hope that making these interviews available online will bring more people like myself to a better understanding of the event and the effect it had, and continues to have, on the lives of so many.’

All of the interviews ‘Summerland Remembered’ are available on www.culturevannin.im/summerland–remembered.

You can hear a preview of some of the interviews here.