Staarvey Road

A muddy walk with ruins.

 

Tuesday 27th November 2012

 

A few photos from our last walk.  Dorothy likes this walk because of the ruins!

 

The first ruin  was just past a field of cows - one of which Trevor said might be a bull.  So Dorothy and I waded through thick mud behind a hawthorn hedge at the far edge of the field until we reached the remains of the old farmhouse. 

 

Tim took this photo while I was trying to get a close-up of the little alcove in the slate wall which looked like a very small built-in cupboard!  The remains of the horse mill are in the foreground.

The second ruin behind a "Manx hedge" (sod bank and hawthorns).

View across a field of turnips to Peel.

A muddy walk along the railway line.

Some gulls enjoying their own private pool in one of the fields alongside the railway line.  At least someone was benefitting from all the wet weather.

Tim noticed these cows huddled around their hay in a field alongside Brack-a-Broom Lane.  Lower slopes of Slieau Whallian in the background and some impressive mud in the foreground.

 

Slieau Dhoo

Still walking . . . with Alex this week.

Wednesday 21st November, 2012

 

    We walked this morning in "changeable" weather.  The forecasters had promised a dry day after two days of heavy rain and gale force winds.  They were wrong again.  It started raining as we left the house and we drove through a heavy shower, which stopped before we reached Ginger Hall, and then another shower which started as we approached the parking area at Tholt-y-Will.  We waited in the car for a few minutes until the worst of the shower had passed by and then set off up the road towards the dam. 

 

    I didn't want to risk getting my camera wet - so I left it in the car and nearly all the photos were taken by Tim this week.  I may not be sending photos every week for a while - it depends on the weather and the light which are not always great for photography at this time of year.

 

    We turned up through the plantation just after passing the old school house and followed the steep zig-zag track through the trees up to the old ruined farm, Sherragh Vane.  The wind was much lighter than predicted, and the rain seemed to be holding off, so we decided to head out of the trees and up to the top of Slieau Dhoo.

 

    As we climbed the hill, we could see a patch of sunshine across the sea on the Mull of Galloway, and another small patch lighting up part of the northern plain of the Island.  I said to the others that the little white church of Jurby looked so pretty in the sunlight and all we needed was a rainbow to complete the picture.

I almost got my wish.  A few minutes later there were a few drops of rain and a rainbow appeared . . . but we lost the patch of sun and the church was barely visible in the gloom.

 

Down the other side of Slieau Dhoo we picked our way along a sheep path - past the dub and through the heather.

Alexander has always loved puddles and he headed straight for this one in a little grassy depression on the side of the hill.  I always carry a bowl and some fresh water for the dogs but it seems pointless except in exceptionally dry weather because they prefer to drink from puddles.

We walked down the hill towards Montpelier and then returned along the Druidale road and past the Sulby Dam.  The rain clouds had gone and it turned into a lovely sunny morning.

have never seen the dam as full as this before.  It had reached maximum capacity and water was running down the overflow drain.

 

There was plenty of water in the series of little waterfalls down the sides of the glen, too.

 

This photo of the Sulby River below the dam gives an impression of the height of the dam wall behind the grassy terraced bank.

 

Ballaglass

 

Almost the full autumn experience

Wednesday 14th November, 2012

 

    Dorothy arrived back safely on Tuesday after her trip to London.  She saw "Singin' in the rain" and went to a couple of wonderful photographic exhibitions - the Ansel Adams exhibition in Greenwich, and the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum.  I sent her an email suggesting the Ballaglass/Cornaa/Ballafayle figure of eight walk for Wednesday morning and wrote "We haven't done that since spring . . . and the autumn leaves under the beeches in Ballaglass Glen may be quite pretty.  I don't expect there will be many leaves left on the trees."

 

    I was right about the leaves on both counts.  We got completely carried away and I took nearly a hundred photos during the walk.  Trevor even commented "Everyone goes to Ballaglass for the bluebells . . . but this is even better!"  So this is an email which should carry a Government Health Warning . . . If you have an allergy to wet leaves - delete before viewing!

 

    We started along the upper path from the car park towards the top end of the Glen  . . . walking over a carpet of beech and elm leaves.  The only thing missing from the "full autumn experience" was the crackle of crisp leaves underfoot.  The leaves were too wet and the best they could manage was a damp rustle.

We were heading towards a row of three of the oldest trees in the glen.  I wonder when they were planted.  I had thought that they were all horse chestnuts but now I am not so sure.  The first one we came to was definitely a chestnut but there didn't seem to be many horse chestnut leaves under the other two.  I will have to check next year when they have their new leaves.

We crossed the bridge at the top of the glen and headed up the steps towards the electric tram station.  Dorothy was lagging behind, reluctant to leave the river.

While we were waiting for her, I took a photo of the men outside the station . . . not quite Grand Central!  The gate is a fairly recent addition to keep the sheep out.  Sheep are rather good at escaping from their fields and used to shelter in the building.  I don't think the tourists appreciated having to wait for their trams in a litter of sheep droppings.

We walked along a muddy footpath outside the stone wall above the glen.  Tim was muttering about the mud.  I think he felt slightly cheated.  I had taken Danny instead of Alexander because I said that there would be a lot of road walking . . . and we hadn't walked along a single road so far.  The poor man didn't get much sympathy.  I just said "Whoever complains most during a walk has to plan the next one!" 

 

Happily, the next section was on tarred roads.  First up the hill past Cashtal yn Ard, down to the ford near the end of the Glen Mona footpath and then along the road to Port Cornaa.  On the way down the hill towards the ford, I climbed up onto a bank and took a photo of Port Cornaa in the valley below.  The tide was in - but it didn't look as though the path would be under water.

 

When we reached the shore, we saw that the tide had come in further and it was touch and go whether we would reach the bridge with dry socks.

Tim took the last photo of me and Danny - and I took the next one of him!

After crossing the bridge, we made our way up the track through the Barony Estate.   we passed this weird beech tree.  I had always assumed that the thick limb which juts over the path was a side branch but Tim looked at it carefully and said that he thought it was the main trunk which had been damaged and had grown at an odd angle.  I think he is right.

I have photographed these beech trunks before but I can't resist them.  They look almost like legs with little "toes".

A little further on, we stopped for coffee but we didn't time it well because there was a brief shower of rain.  I wondered whether it would be a good idea to scrap the Ballafayle section of the walk if it was still raining when we reached the track back to Ballaglass.  The rain stopped before we reached the junction, but Dorothy was looking a bit tired after all her travelling and I asked whether she would prefer to return to the cars.  She admitted that she was feeling "a bit feeble".  That is the last word that I would use to describe Dorothy but we headed back to the glen, went in the lower gate and wandered up the river - taking even more photographs.  Dorothy is standing on a mysterious structure.  It looks like the support for an old bridge dating back to the pleasure garden era but there is nothing visible on the other side of the river.  Perhaps the other pier got washed away during a flood . . .  but there are no traces of a path either.

 

And finally, one more river photo - taken from a wooden bridge further upstream:

 

 There was another shower while we were putting our backpacks in the cars so it was lucky that we didn't finish the planned route.

Ballaglass

 

PS Yet more wet leaves.

 

Wednesday 14th November, 2012

I must apologise for the surfeit of photos.  But, considering the number that I took, you are lucky that I didn't send even more!  I decided to split the photos into two batches to keep the main email under 2MB.

 

 

Soon after leaving the car park we saw this little beech tree.  Made me think of Kipling - If you can keep your leaves when all about you  are losing theirs . . . 

A view from the road down to Port Cornaa.  A variety of trees in the valley behind a row of ivy covered ashes.

On the Barony path we passed this popular picnic site by the river.  Very tough (or maybe very stupid) people have been known to swim in the pool below the little waterfall.

And after our coffee break we passed this peaceful scene . . . a field of loaghtan sheep . . . with North Barrule in the background.

Our faithful companion, Danny.  I wasted a lot of time trying to get a good photo of him.  Tim took one and it was better than any of mine.  I think Danny may have been watching me while I was photographing some yellow stagshorn fungus which was growing on the old stump.

 

Archallagan

No fireworks . . . but some weird weather!

 

Monday 5th November, 2012

 

    We started early because it is a fairly long drive (by Isle of Man standards, anyway) from Glen Auldyn, which is in the north of the Island, to Crosby which is almost dead centre.  It was slightly frosty when we left home after a clear night.   As we drove down the glen, the car "pinged" at us to let us know that it was feeling cold after leaving its warm(ish) garage.  The temperature reading had dropped to 4 degrees.  We were puzzled by this 4 degree ping when we first got the car but decided that it must be warning us that it was down to a temperature where there was a possibility of residual ice patches on the roads.  When we got to Glen Helen it was even colder - down to 1 degree and the fields alongside the river were white with frost.

 

    We met the others near the Crosby cricket ground and set out along the old railway line.  We had decided to do a walk that was based on a route described in a little booklet "Holiday Walks in the Isle of Man".  It would take us up to Archallagan Plantation and then back along a farm track and down Old Church Road.  Not a very long walk.  The book said that it was seven miles but we didn't follow the route exactly because we took a different path through the plantation. 

 

    This stretch of the old railway line runs through the central valley between Peel and Douglas.  It was muddy in places but is reasonably well hardened.  There is a ditch on one side and a swamp on the other and in places we were only a few inches above water level.  Not a lot to see . . . so you will have to put up with the obligatory swampy pool and mossy willow photo.

    We walked along this path for about two miles, looking for a path on the left which was supposed to lead up through a farmyard to the old mine workings at the edge of the plantation.  Trevor was keen to turn up a concreted driveway which looked too much like the entrance to an expensive house for my liking.  After dithering a bit we decided to continue along the railway line and, after some semi-rational thought, I realised that it couldn't be the right turning because the plantation behind the house was too close to the railway line.  And plantations or woods don't move unless they are part of the plot in a Shakespearean drama.   Further on we came to a much more promising rough track through a property which looked and smelled like a real farm and had a footpath sign at the junction.

 

    We climbed up a steep track between high hedges until we emerged in the sunshine at the top of the hill.  We planned to take photos of the old Cornelly Mine buildings.  The chimney is visible at the left of this photo of Tim's . . .

 

 . . . but Dorothy (and Trevor) got distracted by these ruins.  I didn't walk down to have a close look because I don't like to trespass in fields of sheep when I have a dog with me.  So I am not sure whether they are farm buildings or the remains of old cottages built for the miners.

    Although the sun was shining there were ominous clouds on the horizon.  The ones you can see in the photos (to the west) didn't appear to be getting any closer but there were others creeping up behind us, unnoticed, and a few drops of rain started falling as we eventually walked on towards the mine.  I wondered whether we would find any shelter at the mine buildings.  Then the heavens opened as we climbed over a stile near a house.  But the age of miracles hadn't passed.  Just beyond the stile was a rough carport and we stopped to shelter from the rain, which got even harder and then turned to hail.  The individual hailstones weren't large but there were plenty of them and we were extremely grateful to be under shelter . . . even if the roof was a bit leaky.  The only member of the party who would have preferred to continue with the walk was Danny, who is a fanatical walker.  When the hail finally stopped we decided to forget about the mine photos, in case there was another shower, and to head straight into the nearby plantation where we would be sheltered by the trees.

 

    I took this photo of some hailstones on the moss under the conifers.

    The reason for our deviation from the holiday walk was that we wanted to visit a pool in Archallagan.  According to Stan Basnett, it is a man made pool and is the source of the River Dhoo which flows east to Douglas.  The Dhoo is said to give Douglas half its name - the other half being provided by the River Glass.  The Ordnance Survey map appears to show another stream from the other side of the pool which becomes a tributary of the river Neb and flows to the west coast at Peel.  The pool doesn't seem to have an official name.  Stan Basnett, who describes it in his book "Hidden Places of Mann" just calls it the hidden pool.  A good name because it isn't easy to find.  We had been there before - a few years ago - but the path that we used last time looked very muddy and overgrown with gorse . . . almost impenetrable.  So we made our way through the conifers, hoping for the best.  Just when we thought we were lost, we caught a glimpse of water through the trees and suddenly we were there.  Our first view of the pool.

    We walked around the edge of the pond and took photos from all angles.  The clouds were retreating, sun was starting to shine, and there was even a little blue sky reflected in the water.

    We found our way out of the plantation without any problems and walked along a puddley road through farmland.  Tim took this photo across the central valley, showing the King's Plantation (or Greeba Plantation) with Greeba and Slieau Ruy behind.

    The next bit of excitement was finding the road ahead completely blocked by hurdles and a large flock of sheep being herded in an adjacent field.  It sounds a bit sexist to call this woman "the farmer's wife" so maybe "female farmer" is better.  Anyway she asked us to wait . . . so we stayed well clear of the action in case we scared the sheep . . . and watched proceedings. 

 

 

The female farmer, who was on foot, was assisted by a male farmer on a quad bike and a sheepdog (also on foot).  And they managed to get the whole flock penned on the road.  

 

    Then they moved the hurdles on the right side away from the wall so that we could get past.  I asked whether they were moving the sheep further up the road but apparently they were just working on the road because the field was too wet.  I expect they were inoculating the sheep or just checking them. 

 

    There was an interesting arrangement of stones in a field further down the hill.  It isn't mentioned on the maps or in any of my books and doesn't appear to have any significance . . . but it looks as though it should!

    Our final photo stop was at Marown Old Church but I have so many photos already that I think I had better send the church photos in another email!

Marown

Part 2 - Marown Old Church

 

Monday 5th November 2012

 

As we approached the gates to the churchyard we came across this notice:

 

The grass around the church had just been mowed and it all looked a lot tidier than it was last time we visited - a few years ago.  Then it was high summer and only the path from the gate to the church door had been mowed.  The rest of the churchyard was knee high grass.  Tim took this photo which shows the view of the church from the gate.  This old St Runius church was replaced in about 1860 by a new parish church down by the main Douglas to Peel Road.   After that the old church was used as a  a mortuary chapel.  Part of the east end was demolished around that time and a door constructed in the east side.  You can see the position of the door in this end of the building. The east door was probably filled in when the church was restored by volunteer labour a hundred years later.  It reopened on August 9th 1959.

I did a bit of internet research on the history of the church and found this sketch which dates from 1834.

When this sketch was drawn, the church had already been enlarged.  "The church was extended westwards by about 5m in 1750-55; a record of 1798 states that the much earlier, moulded jamb-stones were removed from St. Trinian's (a ruined church down in the valley).   "About the same time a western gallery was added (the stone steps are still visible) to house musicians (violins and flutes). Like the doorway below the entrance to the gallery is flanked by massive masonry derived from an earlier site." http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/parishes/mn/marown.htm#old

The sketch shows six windows on the south side and the existing church has four windows.  So it seems as though about one third of the church was demolished in the 1860's.  There is an account of the history of the church, written in the 1924 at this site http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/wma/v1p131.htm

 

This photo shows the "new" part of the church on the west side.  The steps up to the original gallery are on either side of the doors below the bell tower.

 

There was a notice taped to the doors which read:  PLEASE CLOSE THE DOORS TO STOP THE PIGEONS ENTERING THE CHURCH   Made me think how lucky we are to live in a place where doors can be left unlocked and the only vandals around are the feathered variety.

 

The interior of the church is plain but with a peaceful, uncluttered atmosphere.

Near the altar table were some old Celtic crosses.

This photo of the windows gives an idea of the thickness of the walls.

 

And in the north west corner we saw these quaint old fonts.  They must be the ones described in this account of an excursion to the church in 1892.   "Outside the porch lay an old Font, of sandstone; it measured 2ft. 8in. across, and 1ft. 4in. high-the basin, which hard no outlet, being 2ft. across and 8½in deep. The outside was shaped into fourteen panels, formed by as many plain, perpendicular, narrow mouldings. Alongside the Font was a curious granite block, roughly triangular, the side measuring about 18in., hollowed out in a rough basin 9in. deep, this also was supposed to have been an ancient Font."  ( http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/iomnhas/lm2p002.htm ) They must have been brought into the church when it was restored.

As usual, I only read up about the church after the visit.  This makes the research more interesting but always leaves me wanting to return to take more photos and look at the things which I missed on the first visit.

Skyhill

A walk in the woods

Saturday 3rd November 2012

 

    Not quite Bill Bryson and the Appalachian Trail - just a stroll with Tim and Leo on Skyhill on a lovely autumn morning. 

 

    I have been meaning to go up with a camera ever since the work on the service reservoir was finished because I wanted to photograph the completed project.

 

    We started off from the gate at the top of our garden and I stopped to photograph some fragile little toadstools growing on an old log.  They looked prettier (and a bit less mashed) a few seconds before I took the photo.  Leo was impatient about the holdup in his walk and stuck his big, clumsy nose in for a sniff while I was getting my camera ready.

Higher up in the plantation, under the pines, there were some perfect, shiny little toadstools.

The service reservoir across the glen - photographed from the edge of the plantation above Ballagarrow Farm.

I like this photo which Tim took of Ramsey in the morning sunshine.

We stopped to look at an old Scots pine at the edge of the plantation.  It was obviously much older than the other conifers and must have been there before the plantation was created.  Tim told me about the old pines in Scotland, remnants of the Caledonian forest, and mentioned that the oldest trees are sometimes called "Grannies".  I took this photo of the bark on our Skyhill Granny.

Then we walked along a very muddy mountain bike track near the Skyhill Farm boundary.  The sun was shining through the remaining needles on the larches

And at the top of the main track we stopped to take a few photos of upper Glen Auldyn.