Slieau Curn

The Slieau Curn Walk

 

Monday 19th March, 2012

 

    It is time that I learned to think before I speak!  Monday was Dorothy's birthday and I had the bright idea that we should start the walk from her house - so that we could bring a bottle of sparkling wine to drink her health after the walk.  It would have been more inspiring to drink the toast on top of a mountain, of course, but those bottles are rather heavy (and there was the problem of keeping it chilled).  Dorothy offered to "have some nibbles at the ready" but it seemed rather cheeky to invite ourselves to her house and then expect her to provide snacks - so I said I would take "the nibbles".  Then I went into panic mode and asked her for advice because I know she has had problems with allergies but she said she was all right as long as the snacks didn't have too much sugar, spice or fat.  Well, that ruled out about 99% of the stock in the supermarket!  I decided the safest option was to make some sandwiches - cucumber would be suitable, and also smoked salmon.  I also bought a few of the less toxic looking cakey things in the shop and planned to get up early to make the sandwiches in the morning.  The consequence was that I had a disturbed night because I was worried about oversleeping and kept waking to look at the time.

 

    The dogs got very excited about the sandwich making.  They really approved when I pretended to be posh and cut off the crusts.  Those crusts barely reached the kitchen floor before being wolfed down by the waiting hounds. 

 

    Well, after far too little sleep, the climb past Ballacobb up the hill looked more intimidating than usual.  Luckily for me, Dorothy wasn't fighting fit either - so I didn't get left too far behind the others.  There was a cool breeze - and the blue sky and the views across the green fields were lovely and kept my spirits up.

    The birthday girl!   Approaching the gate which leads onto the moors.  The cluster of houses (in the centre right of the photo) is the village of Ballaugh where we started the walk. 

    There is something special about being up in the hills - even when the colours are rather bleak after winter.  The air seems fresher and the "emptiness" seems inspiring . . .  just us . . . plus a few black-faced mountain sheep, who also valued their privacy and disappeared as soon as they saw us coming.  Looking from Slieau Curn, across the eastern slope of Slieau Dhoo to Snaefell with Clagh Ouyr and the North Barrule ridge in the distance.

    At the side of the road down to Kirk Michael, I saw a flock of Loaghton sheep in a field and couldn't resist trying to photograph them.  Of course, they immediately turned their backs on me and stalked off.  I spent a while, first battling to get the camera steady by resting it on top of a gate, and then trying to set the zoom.  By the time I was ready, a group of the sheep had turned around and were staring at me in amazement.  I could almost swear that they were thinking "That woman must be really stupid if she is thinking of getting a new camera when she can't even use that one properly yet!"

 

    The next part of our walk was along the disused railway line.  The route from St John's to Ramsey opened in 1879 and closed in 1968.  According to the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association the Ramsey line http://iomsrsa.com/ramsey-stats was "By far the most spectacular of the island's lines, the ambitious northern section caused headaches throughout its lifetime, most notably the exposed section at Gob-Y-Deigan and the embankments nearby."     Our route followed a flatter section of the line further north.  So, sadly, we missed the remains of the viaducts across the glens, and the embankments.  The massive stone pillars which used to support the viaduct across Glen Wyllin, shown in this photo from 1895 are still standing but the "bridge" across the top was demolished after the line closed.  

    

    Instead of stone pillars and sea views, I had to be content with some old bridges.  We reached the "railway line" by climbing the steps near the bridge which used to carry the railway across the narrow valley and stream at Balleira.  This old bridge has now been demoted to carrying foot passengers and a couple of large diameter pipes. 

    Then we came to a series of three, almost identical bridges - supporting small roads above the old railway line.  They were all made of a combination of Peel sandstone and Manx slate.  The first two were topped by brick wall - and the third had a slate wall.  They must have all been built at the same time - when the railway first opened.

    The Island changes so quickly through the seasons that a repeated walk is never quite the same.  We often choose this route in winter so that we can enjoy the drifts of snowdrops in a farm garden near the footpath.  If we had walked in the beginning of March there would have been a froth of white blossom on the blackthorn . . . and it won't be too long before the leaf and flower buds open on the hawthorn.  But on Monday the gorse didn't have to share its glory.  The gorse hedges lit up the sides of the path.  The scent of the flowers was strangely reminiscent of North Beach in Durban on a hot summer day.  It is not unlike a mixture of almond and coconut - similar to some old brand of sun tan lotion.

    We slowed down to pass some other dog walkers and fell behind Trevor and Dorothy - but caught up when we found them in the corner of a field taking arty photographs of rusty farm machinery.  The most interesting item was this old bit of equipment.  I brushed the grass away from the footplate and found out that it is a "Lion" trip-action rake which was made by Bamfords of Uttoxeter.  Later I found a website which " is operated by the Bamford Engine and Machinery Group, a non-profit group of enthusiasts dedicated to renovating farming equipment from a time gone by" but I was unable to establish the approximate age of the rake.  I think it is likely to date from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

    The early wild flowers are starting to open.  There were masses of lesser celandines on the banks at the side of the path almost glowing in the sunshine like little gold stars.  I also saw the first few stitchwort flowers of the season and some red campion.  There were lots of leaves on the bluebells and wild garlic - but no sign of buds yet.  It will be another month before they are at their best.

 

    This enormous slate "bench" at the side of the path near the footbridge over the Ballaugh river has always intrigued me.  When we passed it on Monday, it occurred to me that it might originally have been used as a bridge to cross the river, which isn't much more than a stream, before the new footbridge was constructed.  This path would have been a route used in the past by local farm workers, to walk to church in Ballaugh, and they wouldn't have wanted to get their best clothes wet or muddy.

    Sadly, the very old people, with a personal knowledge of recent local history, are dying out and much of their knowledge has been lost.  So we can only speculate about things which were not considered to be worth recording.