Laxey

Laxey Glen Gardens

 

Monday  30th April, 2012

 

    We arranged to meet at Laxey Glen Gardens.  It is now a National Glen - a sort of wild park.  Planting of the trees started in the early nineteenth century and the area was later developed into Victorian pleasure gardens and opened to the public.  Entrance fees were 3d!  Now it is free.

 

    After over-estimating the time for the journey, I wandered around and took some photos while we were waiting for the others.  When we got home, I wasted hours trawling through sites on the internet looking for old photographs of the Laxey Glen Gardens.  I love old scenic photographs.   I mulled over the idea of doing a comparison of scenes past and present . . . but I will have to return to take more photographs of the aspects shown in the few remaining old photos available on the net (if it is possible to identify them) . . .  and also to take the photos from the same position as the original photographer.

 

   I haven't written a full account of the last walk but here are a couple of random examples of Laxey Glen Gardens . . . then and now.

 

The boating lake end of 19th century.

The boating lake 1972

The boating lake 2012 - only the base of the bandstand remains at the edge of a soggy lawn.

The dance floor in front of the Pavillion 1930's?  Trevor says that an elderly friend once told him that it was still the height of fashion to visit the gardens in the 1930's.

The dance floor 2012 (viewed from the opposite side).   I think the tree at the left edge of this photo is the purple beech in the background of the old photo.

    I wanted to try a new route from the gardens up to the road above Axnfell but the path we took followed the side of the old mill race until we reached the end - on the hillside above the flour mill.

 

  Rather than walk all the way back along the path, we decided to climb straight up the hillside through the trees.

    It was rather steep but we eventually found a way to the top of the plantation and climbed over the wall onto the road.  From there it was all road walking - apart from a short detour up the track towards Windy Corner to find a good spot for a tea break.  Dorothy and Trevor found a couple of "new" ruins en route - old farm houses which had lost most of their roof slates - so they were happy.  We also stopped to take photos of this old stone bridge in Glen Roy.

    On the Baldhoon road we passed the old Ballacowin Wesleyan chapel.  An inscription said that it was built in 1857 and rebuilt in 1870.  I looked it up because I wanted to find out the reason for rebuilding so soon - but this is all I could find "Little is known about the chapel other than there were cottage services in the area before the chapel, which claimed to accommodate 90, was built in 1857.  It was rebuilt 1870; had 6 pews, 2 pairs facing near pulpit + 1 singing pew along wall.  Closed June 1966 + sold 1967 for £157, now used as an agricultural store for the nearby farm of Ballacowin."

  Tim took this photo of Ballacowin Farm from further along the Baldhoon Road.  The chapel is almost completely hidden behind one of the bungalows on the left.