'A Review of The Manx Salt & Alkali Co Ltd Brine Pumping Station, Point of Ayre, Isle of Man'

Date(s): September 2021

Creator(s): Todhunter, Rosalind; Cunliffe, Juan

Scope & Content: Heavily Illustrated report with references and appendices produced following a request for geological information on the brine run from Juan Cunliffe in May 2021. Said brine run and beds of rock salt were discovered by the Craine Bros, prospecting for coal on the Point of Ayre between 1891 and 1898, leading to the establishment of the company in 1901.

The authors draws on evidence from the three bore holes drilled at the site; publicly available documentation and information supplied by Juan Cunliffe.. They note the identity of the brine source (BH6) and likely means used to extract it, closing with a comparison of Point of Ayre brine quality to Cheshire brine quality.

Administration / Biographical History: Juan Cunliffe, a distant relative of the Craine Bros who speculatively funded the drillings in the north of the Isle of Man has researched, with the assistance of his Manx cousins Ffynlo Craine and Joy Ling, how the rock salt discovered at Point of Ayre, was raised as brine for use in the production of white salt. Juan worked in the salt based chemical industry in Cheshire as a chartered electrical engineer. He is a volunteer at the Lion Salt Works in Northwich, the site of the last active open pan salt works in the UK.

Rosalind Todhunter, a Cheshire geologist, has investigated the geological background of the Point of Ayre brine run found by the Craine Bros.

Language: English

Extent: 52 pages

Item name: report

Collection: Manuscript Archive

Level: ITEM

ID number: MS 15039

Record class: Private

Access conditions: No regulations or restrictions are implemented on this material. Viewable by request during library opening hours at the Manx National Heritage Library and Archives, Manx Museum, Douglas, Isle of Man. Advance notification of a research visit is advisable by emailing library@mnh.im

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