Clay Head

The tenth leg of the Raad ny Foillan - sometimes you just can't see for looking

5th October 2009

 

    The route from Clay Head to Cornaa isn't my favourite section of the Raad ny Foillan.  Most of the route is along tarred roads - and, to make matters worse, it doesn't really follow the coastline . . . just visits it occasionally.  But it starts well.  We walked down the narrow Clay Head road until we reached the top of the footpath down to Garwick Bay.  This footpath, through the wooded glen to the shore, is one of the most pleasant parts of the walk.  Not many of the leaves had changed to their autumn colours yet, but the crunch of fallen sycamore leaves underfoot gave notice that autumn is approaching fast.

 

    Garwick Bay is one of the most secluded bays that can be reached by car.  It lies at the bottom of a steep, narrow, winding road and there is not a lot of space for parking.  It must be used though, because there are at least three boat houses on the pebbled shore.  There is a plaque on one saying that it has been restored in memory of its late owner.  I can't remember his name, but Trevor said he was a local character, who used to take take tourists and fishermen out in his boat.  This is the view along the coast from Garwick beach, looking north towards Laxey.  Garwick was our own private beach for the few minutes that we spent there taking photographs - our only company consisted of a few ducks floating near the shore . . . and a solitary swan paddling majestically through the shallows.  It surprised me to see one in the sea as I have only come across them on dams and rivers before.

 

 

 

    After climbing the narrow road up to the main east coast road, we had to brave the traffic until we reached Laxey.  Then we turned down towards the old town by the harbour.  We discussed going down a footpath at Gob y Rheynn - from the Fairy Cottage tram halt to the south end of Laxey beach, which leads down some steep, overgrown steps to the rocky shore.  It can only be used at low tide.  I was dubious about trying it but Trevor was keen so we started down.  Before we reached the top of the steps, we could see that the tide was too high, so we returned and followed the alternative route down to the road.  As we walked along, I kept looking apprehensively at the next climb - up to the top of the Ballaragh Road.  The further we descended towards the shore, the higher the climb seemed to loom above us. 

 

    Laxey beach was our last visit to the sea - until the end of the route at Cornaa.  The beach was deserted and ominous clouds were gathering over Clay Head - on the left, in the background - where we started out today.  Garwick Bay is hidden behind a headland in the southern corner of Laxey Bay.

 

 

 

    We left old Laxey and started the climb up towards Ballaragh.  The first part was along a steep, stony footpath which seemed to go on for a very long time.  Finally we reached the tramway and then crossed the main east coast road.  I took a photo of Laxey, way below us, while we were waiting for Dorothy and Trevor to catch up. 

 

 

 

  Then we crossed the road and continued to climb up a track until we reached the Ballaragh road.  I walked ahead because I wanted to look out for the "Spiral Stone" set into the bank at the side of the road.  But, looking back to check on the others, I saw the hills of north Wales on the horizon.  I was absurdly excited.  We often see the coasts of Scotland and Cumbria from the north of the Island, and even the Mountains of Mourne in the west, but it is more unusual to see Wales.  When the others caught up, I said "Look - Wales!"  The men were reasonably impressed but Dorothy kept insisting that she couldn't see anything.  We thought she might be too short to see over the bank, but when we stopped to look again - further up the road - the mystery was solved.  Finally, Dorothy said "All I can see is some hills" and the proverbial penny dropped.  She thought we had been looking at whales! 

 

    The "spiral stone" was easy to find - but the famous spirals were not.  It had been some years since we last stopped to look at the "spiral stone", it is quite a large stone, and we couldn't remember where to look for the small late Neolithic or early bronze age carvings.  We wasted quite a lot of time staring at it and finally gave up. 

 

 

 

  When we got home, I checked on the internet and realised that the spirals were close to the base of the stone and we had been looking too high.  (In the original email, I had a link to a website which showed a variety of photographs of the carvings from different dates.   It was interesting to see how much clearer the carvings were in the 1916 cast.  Unfortunately the website no longer exists.)   After discovering where to look, I was able to see the spirals in one of my photographs - but only faintly.  This is a link to one of David Radcliffe's photographs which shows the spirals clearly  http://www.flickr.com/photos/ballaugh/3995740687/in/photostream/

 

    In the next photograph, taken from the Ballaragh Road, you can almost see Wales!  Unfortunately, due to the reduction in file size, etc., it is just a faint blue blur on the horizon. 

 

 

 

    Dorothy wanted to stop at the top of Dhoon Glen for our tea break because she photographed some interesting fungi there last autumn.  But it really wasn't our day for seeing things.  There wasn't a solitary toadstool to be seen but the beech woods were lovely - as always.

 

 

 

  The midges, the first we have encountered on our trip, were not so lovely - so we didn't waste much time before continuing along the road to Cornaa.

 

    The tide had been coming in during our walk.  It was well out at Garwick, a lot higher at Laxey and just after its peak when we reached Cornaa.  I took two more photographs before we left.  The first shows Dorothy and Trevor on the shingle bank at Cornaa beach, trying to decide on good angles for photographs . . .  

 

 

 

. . . and the second shows the flooded salt marsh at the Cornaa river mouth at high tide. 

 

 

 

  This least favourite walk turned out to be enjoyable after all - even though we wasted some time searching for "invisible" spirals, and non-existent whales and fungi.