YN ARRAGH is Manx Gaelic and translates as The Spring or The Springtime
This mural by local artist Michael Starkey is a celebration of the landscapes and colours of the north of the Island, inspired by Ballaglass Geln, the pool at Cornaa, Bishopscourt Glen and Ballaugh Curragh.
The mural on the rear wall of the site is 30 feet wide by 12 feet high.
The owners of the site, Peter Lloyd's company, allowed it to be landscaped and the mural to be painted in 2009 pending development, which is still awaited.
From IOMtoday.com,im:-
Monday 26 March 2007
ARTIST MICHAEL POSTS A NEW CAREER AT 58
POPULAR postman and landscape painter Michael Starkey, 58, will exchange the sorting office for an artist's studio when he retires at the end of the month after 33 years with IoM Post. When he began, all deliveries were on foot or bicycle. He used to walk eight miles twice a day and as well as keeping fit, he got to know the town very well. The narrow, winding streets of Old Ramsey and buildings long since gone feature in his watercolours, evoking a sense of nostalgia for the way things were. The electric tram would carry the mail to and from Douglas in a goods van. 'We used to collect it on a handcart and push it along to the sorting office,' he said. 'Parcels were delivered on the handcart too.' The postmistress was Miss Darbyshire, the inspector was Maurice Bell (father of Allan Bell MHK) and the head postman was Wilf Dailey. 'It was a fantastic job — especially in the summer when you'd be as brown as a berry — and it kept you fit.' He enjoys keeping fit and still swims in the sea every day throughout the summer, from May to October! In time, he worked his way up to become delivery manager, a job he has greatly enjoyed, but he feels the time has come to concentrate more on his painting. 'It's not so much retirement as a change of lifestyle,' he explained. 'I want to have the freedom to paint and perhaps teach. I see it as the start of something new.' The youngest of three brothers, Michael comes from an artistic family. His father, Alfie Starkey, was a talented painter as well as prizewinning gardener, his brother Paul is a keen photographer and his other brother Richard is gifted in pencil drawing. In his youth, Michael studied at Kensington Road Art College where his tutors were Norman Sayle, Maurice Day and the late Eric Houlgrave. His contemporaries included Ian Coulson, Martin Hearne, Barry Pitts and the late Mavis Coffey and Roy Quayle. 'Quite of few went away to college, but I didn't want to leave the Island,' he said. 'There was so much going on here in the 1950s and 1960s. Everything was happening here. We got to see all the big groups. There were two picture houses in Ramsey and an open-air swimming pool. What more could you want?' He had several jobs before joining the Post Office, but the one he enjoyed most was working with his father, tending the gardens in Mooragh Park — another place that features in his work. Michael was promoted to postman higher grade, taking over the sorting office role from Trevor Ball, who had succeeded Maurice Bell. He has seen many changes over the years. A big change came 16 years ago when the sorting office moved out of Court Row to a unit at Gladstone Park where parking is easier. When he began, deliveries were twice a day — now they are only once. Football pools coupons were delivered to every household. Postmen used to empty the letterboxes on their way back from their rounds, but that no longer happens. Where deliveries used to be made on foot and bicycle, the country districts are now covered by van. When foot and mouth restrictions were introduced a few years ago, mail was left in boxes at the end of farm lanes. The number of houses has multiplied many times to around 7,500 today. There were no postwomen then — now there are several and he appreciates how hard they work. He said it had been a very interesting job, often calling for ingenuity: 'You have to be a mini detective! Every day, staff have to decipher insufficient or obscure addresses. Quite often you get just one name on the envelope. Postcodes certainly speed things along'. His successor is Billy Crowe, who moves to Ramsey from Douglas. Michael will miss his colleagues: 'They are a wonderful crew here in the north. They care about the customers. There is still that sense of community in the north. They provide old-fashioned service at today's pace.' As an artist, he has built up quite a reputation, especially since winning the prestigious Singer and Friedlander prize in 1999. He designed a studio that has been built alongside his home in Jurby Road and plans to paint there and open it occasionally for art exhibitions and perhaps film nights for invited guests. With future paintings in mind, he takes this opportunity to ask if any reader has a photograph of the cinema where Raymotors showroom is now. He would love to borrow it for a painting and can be contacted on 452182."
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