Glen Helen

Eairy Beg Plantation, Beary Mountain and Glen Helen (A damp walk)

 

Tuesday 3rd July, 2012

We were lucky with the walk this week.  Trevor suggested Tuesday and it turned out to be the "driest" morning of the week so far.

 

The wet weather seems set to continue for a while.  It has been too wet to mow the grass so I have been writing a long and tedious account of our last trudge through the countryside.  I don't know whether the historic photos are of much interest to people who don't know this part of the Island.

 

By the way, I don't know the Latin names of all the wild flowers that I photograph - I look them up when I am checking the identification.  Jane like to use the Latin names and common names can be confusing because they vary in different areas.  I am about 95% sure that I identify the plants correctly but sometimes there are very similar species so there may be the odd mistake.  Orchids are particularly difficult because they hybridise.

 

We parked at Glen Helen, crossed the river and walked up through Eairy Beg plantation.  It was very wet underfoot, and misty, but it wasn't quite raining - although it was hard to tell at times because there were drops of water falling from the wet trees.  Believe it or not, it was the driest morning of the week, so far. 

 

We followed the track up past the remains of the old farm house.  Then followed this old dry stone field wall with an impressive coating of moss up to the edge of the plantation.

We emerged from the trees and continued to climb up a strip of moorland which had been mowed to form a fire break at the edge of the plantation.

 

There were numerous little clumps of cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix) growing on the damp hillside.  It is the least vigorous of the three types of heather on the Island and flowers earliest.

 

After reaching the forestry track we turned right and followed the road up to the top of Beary Mountain.  There were patches of tiny white eyebright flowers and this pink lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica) growing at the side of the road.

Almost at the top of the hill we came across a few wild orchids growing around the margin of a boggy area. 

 

I crouched down to take a photo of this orchid (most likely a heath spotted orchid Dactylorhiza maculata subsp ericetorum) and Alexander came to see what I was doing and promptly sat on the flower.  He refused to move until Trevor dragged him away.  Luckily the flower wasn't damaged but you may be able to see a couple of strands of dog fur clinging to it - and Alexander lurking in the background.

 

Then there was a steep downhill path alongside the fence between the plantation and the neighbouring fields.  It was muddy and slippery in places and we were pleased when our route turned back into the plantation.  We decided to follow a mountain bike track instead of the recognised route and wandered through the trees. not knowing exactly where we were but heading in more or less the right direction.

After passing the old farmhouse again, we got onto a proper forestry road and I was delighted to find a some valerian growing near a little bridge.  I had been looking longingly at big patches of valerian on the bank above the main west coast road as we drove between Kirk Michael and Cronk y Voddy on the way to Glen Helen but I knew better than to ask Tim to stop on a busy road while I took photos.  This is "real" native valerian (Valeriana officinalis) not the ubiquitous garden escape commonly called Red Valerian which is not a valerian at all - but Centranthus ruber.

The forestry road took us to the edge of the plantation and we crossed into Glen Helen.  We followed the path along the upper edge of the southern side of the glen until we reached the Rhenass waterfall.  This old photo shows the Rhenass waterfall towards the end of the nineteenth century . . . .

. . . . and this is the lower section now.  This photo was taken from a bridge in the same position as the lower bridge in the old photo.  The higher bridge for viewing the falls from above no longer exists.

The glen has an interesting history - part fact and part myth.

 

This is the earliest photo that I found of the buildings near the entrance to Glen Helen.  It is not dated but judging by the growth of the trees it predated the 1893 Francis Frith photographs which I am unable to copy but they can be seen at the following site:   http://www.francisfrith.com/glen-helen/photos/

 

The original family home which was sometimes called the Swiss Cottage was incorporated into the hotel (on the left) which stood on the area currently used as a car park.  The hotel was demolished in the late 1960's.   The Swiss Chalet (centre right) was a cafe.  It burned down in 1983 and was replaced on the same site by the the present restaurant.  The Glen Helen Inn was built on what appears to be a croquet lawn in front of the old hotel.

 

There is also a rather nice early (undated - probably late nineteenth century but definitely pre-1902) photo in colour.

I found an account of the early development of Glen Helen as a pleasure garden at http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/tourism/glens/ghelen.htm  It has extracts from from Jenkinson's Practical Guide, dated 1874, but the photos which accompany the text must have been taken a few years later because the house on the far side of road (just to the right of the hotel in the next photo) did not appear in 1893 Francis Frith photo although it is possible to see part of it in a very small photo in an extract from Mate's Isle of Man Illustrated, 1902.  This house is the only building in the photo which still exists.  It is currently for sale (asking price £359,000) and is called "The Old Coach House", which explains its original purpose.

I love the flowery descriptions in the old guide books but they are not always accurate.  Jenkinson's Guide includes the popular story about Glen Helen being named for Mr Marsden's daughter and the "fact" that he planted a million trees.  These stories are still repeated today but are more myth than fact.  According to the Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture  "The romantic myth that the glen was created by Mr A.F. Marsden who planted over a million trees and named it after his daughter is incorrect. Mr. Marsden was deceased at the time, had four daughters none of whom were named Helen and a planting of that scale would represent the implausibility of 3.57 trees per square yard!"   

 

Probably the most accurate history of the glen can be found at http://www.isleofman.com/places/countryside/glens/glen-helen/

 

This photograph shows the old Victorian fountain which features in all the photos.  The new Swiss Chalet - recently under new management and renamed Swiss House - is on the right and the end of the Glen Helen Inn can be seen behind the fountain.

And this is what has happened to the row of little trees along the side of the path leading up the glen from the cafe.