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.