Dreembeary

Another old ruin

 

Monday 21st November, 2011

We started from the Glen Helen car park and walked up through Eairy Beg plantation.  There were five of us (seven if you count the dogs) because Trevor's daughter came with us this morning.  About half the way up the hill we passed the old farmhouse, which gave the plantation its name.  It must have had a view down the glen before the trees were planted but now it is completely hidden amongst the conifers.  It wasn't as dark in the plantation as it is in summer because the larches have lost their leaves.

 

  

 

The main purpose of this walk was to take Dorothy to see the ruins of Dreembeary (or Dreeymbeary) - the remains of a small stone building in the middle of nowhere.  Dorothy loves taking photographs of ruins and Dreembeary must be one of the few on the Island that she hadn't visited.  It isn't easy to find but we had seen it from across the valley on a previous walk.  I wish I could find out a bit about the history of the ruin because it is rather unusual.  The openings in the front of the building were faced with old bricks which were set into the stone, and white quartz boulders were mixed in with the usual Manx slate. 

 

 

It is not a conventional design for a dwelling, with a wide opening at the back and four openings for doors or possibly windows in the front.  Also there is no evidence of a hearth or chimney at the one end.  It is impossible to see the construction of the other end because there is so much fallen stone.

 

 

    The lines of slate laid out behind the house didn't look as though they are collapsed dry stone walls.  I wondered whether the building had been partly demolished with the intention of reclaiming the materials and the slate had been laid out many years ago - ready to be transported away - and is still waiting for someone to fetch it.  One of the best known Manx sayings is Traa dy Liooar, which means "time enough".

 

    From Dreembeary we walked down towards the Rhenass River.  Cattle had been driven up the footpath and we had to pick our way through churned up mud.  We turned off the footpath near Ballasayle and took an illegal route across some fields and climbed over a fence into Glen Helen.  I don't like trespassing but there were no crops or animals in the fields - and they were a safe distance from the farmhouse . . . and any irate farmers.  We headed for an old hexagonal ruin in the glen - probably a summerhouse - but Dorothy stopped on the bridge to take photographs of the Blaber river below. 

 

 

    After having a short break for snacks at the remains of the "summerhouse", we continued along a path near the top of the Glen.  I had never walked along it before - didn't even know that it existed - as we usually take the more popular paths down in the valley alongside the river.  The "new" path took us back to the car park where Tim dried the dogs and wiped off the worst of the mud before allowing them in the car.

 

Block Eary

Fallen trees and ruined farms

 

Wednesday, 16th November, 2011 

    We started off along a path on the west side of the Sulby River.  Across the river there was still evidence of a ferocious winter storm six or seven years ago when many of the trees fell in the gales.  There was also damage to the footpaths and bridges.  The lower paths through Tholt-y-Will Glen on the far side of the river have remained closed ever since.

 

  

 

    We stopped for a rest on the way up the zig-zag path.  There are a number of deserted farm buildings in various states of decay up on the steep sides of Sulby Glen and they were reached mainly by zig-zag tracks from the valley below.  This track would have led to Slieaumanagh farm and possibly on to Block Eary farm at the head of the valley.  It has been maintained because it is the only access to the Block Eary Dam.  It wasn't quite misty yesterday morning but there was a damp haze in the air which makes the distant views appear in soft focus.

 

 

The view across the Block Eary valley - from the ruins of Slieaumanagh farm to the ruins of Ballaskella farm (on the left side of the photo).

 

 

    Is this the largest fence post on the Island?   At the top corner of a little plantation we passed through this opening in an old stone wall.  In the past there was a shortage of timber on the Island and there are still quite a few examples of lengths of Manx slate being used as gate posts - with holes drilled in the stone to hang the gate.  But I have never seen such a huge slab of slate used as a fence post before.

 

 

    We joined up with the Millennium Way and turned down into the valley above Block Eary dam.  Near the little foot bridge there are a number of mysterious mounds.  They are marked on the maps as mounds, shielings or hut circles.  I found a website which described them as Medieval Shielings.   Shielings are temporary dwellings used by earlier farmers during the summer months when they grazed their animals up in the hills.

 

    There are no pictures of the mounds because the photography came to an abrupt stop for a while.  There were a few sheep around and I had two dogs on leads and was concentrating on keeping upright while negotiating a steep, wet, eroded downhill path.  After we crossed the little wooden bridge we had a steep climb up the other side of the valley and around the back of Snaefell until we reached the road from Bungalow down into Sulby.  My legs don't like steep uphill climbs when they have just had to endure steep downhills so I was more concerned with survival than photographs - but it wasn't a very photogenic part of the walk anyway.

 

    Then we followed the road until we reached the gate into  upper Tholt-y-Will Glen.    I liked the look of these frail and pallid, leafless larches - almost like the spirits of trees. 

 

 

    Further down the path followed the course of the stream - and we came across a more cheerful young beech still adorned in autumn colours.

 

 

    And finally, yet another fallen tree - a huge beech supported by the steep bank.  High enough above the path to walk under it.

 

Brookdale

First frost

 

Monday 7th November, 2011

 

 

There is a high pressure system over the Island.  When I got up this morning, the back lawn white with frost. The temperature drops fast without our usual blanket of clouds but the lovely sunshine compensates for the frosty temperatures. 

 

We have a gang of roofers working on the roof and the dogs have to be shut in the house.  Alice needs to go outside more frequently than the boys so I took her for a short walk in Brookdale plantation.

 

 

We took a route through the conifers near the lower edge of the plantation and had a good view across the valley to the side Skyhill above our property.  Most of the year it is all green but this morning the larches stood out with their golden needles.  It was interesting to see the pattern of the trees, with the bare grey branches of the ashes in the ravines by the streams, the blocks of larch and at least two varieties of evergreen conifers.

 

 

Then I couldn't resist trying to get a view of our house and slid down a rather steep bank to take this shot through the trees - using the zoom.  It makes the situation of the house look even more idyllic than it is in reality, because I managed to eliminate the neighbouring houses with a bit of crafty cropping!

 

Laxey Glen

Mud!

Tuesday 1st November 2011

    Just when I thought it would never stop raining - it did!  We walked this morning in warm sunshine.  Perhaps "walked" isn't the right word.  For at least half the walk we seemed to be sliding or wading through mud.  But, at least, the weather was lovely!

    We started up some steep stone steps set into a wall near the Laxey Flour Mills.  About half way up the path we came across a rather mysterious old gate.  The rusting sign says Axnfell which is the name of the nearby plantation.  This must have been the entrance to an old house which was here before the plantation existed.

   We hadn't walked up these paths for many years and it was a pleasant surprise further up the path to come across a pretty pond in an area which had previously been overgrown with gorse.  Broad-leaved trees have also been planted in the area and they should grow in to a lovely little wood in a few years.

    And now the serious mud!  I asked Tim to walk ahead with Danny and Alice so that I could record the state of the path . . . 

. . .  and then around the next corner we came across this old car.   It looked as though it had got stuck in the mud about fifty years ago and had never managed to escape! 

    The next trial was a very muddy field which had been churned up by cattle.  There were two inquisitive cows near the gate but luckily they moved away as we approached.  Then we walked though Shonest,  a horse farm.

    And up to Conrhenny plantation - and yet more mud along the mountain bike tracks.  It was a relief to get out onto the road back to Axnfell Plantation.    There is a steep path through the Axnfell trees leading down to the river. 

The path along the river provided more mud - but we were able to walk along an old water channel part of the way .  It must date back to the time that water power was used to drive the flour mill further downstream.

And eventually we got back to "civilisation" and the old Victorian pleasure gardens. 

Some of the original trees and shrubs remain but not much else has survived.  Is hard to imagine what the gardens must have looked like in the past but I found the following etching at this website http://www.bbc.co.uk/isleofman/content/articles/2008/04/22/laxey_glen_gardens_feature.shtml