The Summerland Disaster: The Isle of Man Fire That Killed 50

On 2 August 1973, thousands of holidaymakers were enjoying an evening at Summerland, a vast state-of-the-art leisure complex on the seafront in Douglas, Isle of Man. Within minutes, it had become the scene of one of the deadliest fires in modern British history. What began as a small fire outside the building spread with terrifying speed, fuelled by highly combustible materials used in…