North Barrule

Not for the faint-hearted!

 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

    I am beginning to wonder whether some malevolent weather god lives on the top of North Barrule and wreaks revenge on any stupid hikers that invade his territory.  The forecast Monday morning wasn't great but it wasn't too bad either so we really weren't prepared for the conditions on the mountain.  I shouldn't really call North Barrule a mountain as it is only 1860 feet high and we are told that a hill has to be 2000 feet high before it is entitled to be called a mountain.

 

    We drove to the parking area near Ballure Reservoir intending to walk up to the minor road between the Gooseneck and the Hibernian.  At the end of that road, a farm track continues all the way around the back of North Barrule and up the Corony Valley.  We could see patches of fog on the mountain and there were also patches of drizzle.   During a drier patch I stopped to take this photo of the lane.  It looks very peaceful but I realised that the wind was getting stronger when  I dropped the plastic bag that I had used to protect my camera and had to chase it back down the lane.  

We were heading for Park Lewellyn, a ruined farmhouse in the Corony Valley.  The name sounds rather posh but "park" is a variation on "pairk" which means "pasture" in Manx.  So it really just means Lewellyn's pasture.  On the map the name is spelt with a single L at the beginning, but the book of Maughold and Ramsey Place-names uses the usual double L spelling.  It appears that the original owner had pretentions of poshness because he chose the name Mount Atholl for this property.  The book says "The original encloser, John Llewellyn, evidently wished to honour the Duke of Atholl, Lord of the Isle, with this name but in more recent times the name Pairk Llewellyn is always used."

 

The wind was getting stronger as we approached Park Lewellyn.   I was amused when we were passed by a chunk of gorse which came rolling down the track towards us - giving an Oscar-worthy imitation of tumbleweed.

There is a route through the fields behind the old farm up to the top of the North Barrule ridge.  This route meets the path along the ridge near a stile in the stone wall which crosses the mountain just before the final climb to the peak.  Putting off the steep climb as long as possible, we stopped to look at the old farmhouse and take a few photos.

 

Inside the main building, there were two rooms at ground level, behind a small entrance porch.  This old oven was built into a chimney between the two rooms.  Judging by the heaps of slate, the upper part of the chimney appeared to have collapsed into the other room but this room was almost clear apart from the fallen roof timbers.

 

Reluctantly continuing on our way!  No more photos for a while because of the difficulty of holding the camera steady in the wind and then persistent drizzle.

Our original intention was to climb to the top of the highest peak on the North Barrule ridge and then descend the north east side of Barrule and return to the cars.  We had expected to be sheltered from the wind during most of the climb up the east side because the forecast was for north-westerlies - but part of the way up the hill we kept being buffeted by strong gusts of wind.  The valley seemed to be acting like a wind tunnel and concentrating the gusts.  We were all staggering at times. battling to keep upright.  Then an even stronger gust blew me off balance.  I tried to grab a rock to steady myself but ended up toppling over in a sort of swallow dive with half twist.  Luckily I landed on soft grass, rolled over, and didn't even get a bruise - or damage my camera which was in my pocket.  But I was worried about conditions up on top of the mountain where the wind might be even stronger.  If one of us fell on a steep, rocky part of the path we might be seriously injured.  After a consultation when we reached the stile, we decided to be sensible and aborted the walk up to the peak.

 

We headed straight down the other side, following the wall through the thick fog until we finally caught a glimpse of Ramsey as we emerged from the cloud just above the mountain road. 

 

Then we crossed the mountain road near Guthrie's Memorial and walked down to Glen Auldyn through the shelter of the trees in Brookdale Plantation.  After dropping in on our neighbours for some very welcome warmth, coffee and chat, we collected our other car and drove back to retrieve the cars which we had left at Ballure.

Cronk Sumark

Winter sunshine and frozen puddles

 

Tuesday 7th February, 2012

Our route started from Sulby Claddagh, took the road towards Ramsey, then first on the right to the farm gate at the end of the tarred road.  Then the stony track, through Ohio Plantation, and then farm tracks and footpaths through the fields to the top of the Narradale Road.  Walked down the Narradale Road to the Ginger Hall pub and then returned along the road back to the Claddagh with a detour up Cronk Sumark.

 

The temperature was down to 2 1/2º C when we drove to Sulby.  The ground was frozen underfoot but it was pleasant in the warm sun.  The only complaints about the temperature were early on when we were climbing up the track through Ohio Plantation.  We were sheltered from the wind and all felt too hot because we were wearing so many layers of clothes.  It was a relief to emerge from the trees into the cool breeze.

 

The first photo shows Cronk Sumark - one of the "high points" of our walk - bathed in sunlight behind Ballamanaugh mansion.

 

Ballamanaugh is not really a stately home - the foundations for the house were only dug in 1936 - but it looks as though it would like to be one.  The house was extended a few years ago.  I remember sitting on the hill, watching a whole new wing materialising, and wondering how they could possibly need even more rooms.  

After a long uphill stretch, mainly though the plantation, the track levels off on the Lezayre Tops.  We were grateful for the traditional Manx sod wall at the side of the track which enabled us to skirt this huge frozen puddle.

Very few people live up in the hills now. There is very little money to be made from hill farming, access is difficult and it is colder than the low-lying areas.  Most of the farm houses and cottages have been deserted - like this one in the valley between the Narradale Road and the Kerrowmooar West track - although the fields are still used, mainly for grazing sheep.

 

Walking down the Narradale Road we passed this slate gate post.  In the past there was a shortage of timber on the Island and holes were drilled in pieces of slate in order to hang gates. 

The Narradale Road is a very old route.  It was used by the men from Sulby who worked on the mines in the Laxey Valley.  It is too far for a daily commute on foot, so they must have boarded in Laxey during the week and returned to their families in Sulby at the weekend.

Tim and the dogs on the footpath approaching Cronk Sumark from the north.  It really annoys me that the camera always lies about hills!  It flattens them for some reason and they never look as steep in a photo as they do in real life.  You get a much better impression of the height from photos taken from the top of hills. 

A quote from my Illustrated Encyclopaedia of the Isle of Man . . . ."Cronk Sumark.  The name means "Primrose Hill".  It is a rocky outcrop 250 feet high, at the mouth of Sulby Glen, on the summit of which are remains of a vitrified hill fort of Celtic and Viking periods.  The hill is badly scarred by former quarrying operations." 

I wondered about the name because I have never seen a primrose growing there - but I found an explanation.  In the 1703 Roll it was listed as  "Knock Shemerick, derived from "Scand. Skammhryggr, 'short ridge.' With Gaelic knock or cronk added. Popular etymology is responsible for its present form 'Cronk Sumark,' meaning Primrose Hill."   While I was thinking about place names, I looked up Narradale and was surprised at the number of variations in spelling over the years.  Between  1703 and 1760 it was listed on various documents as Nerindale, Arridall, Aridale, Airydale, Airy-dale and Nardale!  Apparently the name is derived from Scand. Arg or Ergdalr, 'shieling dale.' With Manx article yn.

There are two knolls on top of the hill - some descriptions refer to them as "twin peaks" but that sounds a bit pretentious.  The other walkers were admiring the view from the western peak or knoll which can be seen above the quarry in the first photo (of Ballamanaugh).

The eastern peak is flatter and slightly saucer-shaped.  This must be the area where the early Manxmen camped while they were keeping a watch on the northern plain and surrounding seas - in  case they needed to defend the Island from invaders.  The black dog-shaped silhouette is Leo.

Leo examining a sign warning him not to injure the ancient monument.  A fairly recent housing development near Sulby Bridge can be seen beyond the farms at the bottom of the hill.

 

Heading home, the view from the top - looking west.

 

The Cronk

A beach walk - The Cronk to Glen Trunk . . . and back. 

 

Tuesday 31st January 2012

  

This is a far less photogenic walk than the last two, at Maughold and Peel.  First along the beach on the west coast of the Island and then returning to the cars along footpaths, the old railway line and backroads.  We chose it because of the cold weather, hoping to be sheltered from the icy easterly winds.  It was 3ºC when we left home.

 

We were surprised at the condition of the beach.  This is how it looked when we last walked south from The Cronk at the end of June 2009.

And this is the scene, taken from the same place on Tuesday morning.

It was quite hard work, walking through the pebbles and small boulders, and it wasn't made any easier by the fact that Alice wanted to be carried most of the way.  We thought she might be cold but once we got off the beach she was quite happy again.  She seems to have developed a beach phobia!

 

Dorothy got very interested in taking arty shots of some dark rocks which were exposed by the low tide and I amused myself taking photographs of a few things that caught my eye.   

 

First, the colours of the wet pebbles and seaweed in a little rock pool . . .

Then a few shells on a rather pretty boulder.  There were very few traces of marine life on the shore - possibly because it gets lashed by the westerly gales.

And then a couple of "rocks" that interested me and caused me to waste hours on the internet on Tuesday afternoon - trying in vain to find names!  Eventually I found a few clues.  This "lump of pebbles", reclining on the beach like some fossilised sea monster with a tail of seaweed, is very similar to a photograph in an article about a field trip of the Irish Geological Association to the Isle of Man.  They describe it as "A fallen piece of partially cemented till of the Bride Moraine, Shellag Point."   I suppose it could be described as a weakly lithified conglomerate - in the process of becoming a rock but not quite there yet.

The sand cliffs on the north of the Island are highest at the ends of the Bride Hills.  Shellag Point is on the east coast and we were near Orrisdale at the western end.  There is a lot of erosion caused by a combination of wave action at the base of the cliffs, water running from the fields above and the prevailing onshore winds.  The northern plain of the Island is getting narrower.  A lot of farm land, some houses - and even an early chapel site with some graves which was found near the cliff edge above this beach - have been carried away by erosion of the sand cliffs. But apparently some of the debris is being washed north and the Point of Ayre is gradually extending towards Scotland!

 

This is another type of "rock" which I have seen on the beach after the cliffs have been damaged by storms.  It looks as though it is half way towards becoming sandstone.  It feels hard to the touch but obviously weathers fast in the wind and water.

We had intended to walk to Kirk Michael before turning back but I was tired of carrying Alice so we turned off at Glen Trunk, planning at add a short detour to Cronk Koir (chest hill)  where 5 large quartz boulders are "set in a circle around a small mound".

 

There is a well preserved lime kiln in Glen Trunk.  A relic from the days when limestone was brought from the southern end of the island by sea to be burned before being used on the fields.

After this it was mainly boring road walking apart from the detour.  We turned off at Orrisdale and crossed a few fields.  There were some sheep with early lambs in the first field and cows in the next field.  We picked up the dogs because cattle have a reputation for disliking dogs and we hoped that the cows would be stupid enough not to notice the Schippies if they were being carried!  The rightful inhabitants of the field watched us with interest but luckily they didn't approach us.

 

We were looking for the inappropriately named "Druid's Circle - Also known as Cronk Bane y Bill Willy (Bill Willy's White Hill), this is the remains of a kerbed cairn of the Bronze Age. The white quartz boulders are unfortunately completely enveloped by gorse."   I rather liked the name Bill Willy's White Hill but this name isn't really appropriate either in its present gorse covered state. 

Peel

The Peel triangle

 

Monday 23rd January 2012

 

Although the days are gradually lengthening, the sun is still late in rising and the car's automatic headlights came on when we left for Peel at quarter past eight.  By the time we had parked at Fenella Beach and started the climb up Peel Hill, the sun was peeping over the hills and shining on St Patrick's Isle - but it was very cold on the exposed hillside in the strong wind.  St Patrick's Isle used to be an island - at least at high tide - but now there is a road across the causeway from the base of Peel Hill.  The road provides access to the castle, the life boat station and the deep water mooring at the jetty on the north west of the little island.

Photo addicts are spoiled for choice on this climb with the Isle and its ruined castle and cathedral to the west and the "City" of Peel to the north.  Peel claims city status on account of its cathedral but I am not sure whether this is a valid claim.  It is said to be the most Manx of the towns on the Island and the centre is relatively unspoiled although the old part of the town is surrounded by modern housing developments.  The marina development at the mouth of the river is fairly recent.  Like most of the Island's smaller ports, old Peel harbour in the mouth of the Neb is tidal and the boats used to recline in the mud at low tide.  Now a barrier holds back the waters of the Neb.  The best part of this (as far as we are concerned) is the footbridge above the barrier.  This means that we can cross the river from the town without walking all the way around the inner harbour to the road bridge near the kipper factory. 

Near the top of Peel Hill is Corrin's Folly and the little walled burial ground.  According to "An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Isle of Man"  the tower "was built in 1806 by a Mr. Corrin, a staunch Non-conformist, to demonstrate his belief that it was possible to be buried in other than consecrated ground."  There is a fuller description here  http://www.iomguide.com/corrinstower.php

 

Then we walked down the back of Peel Hill enjoying the shelter from the onshore wind, and along a public right of way through farmland to the Raggatt where we crossed the Neb River.  I have often wondered about the origin of the name of this area of wooded parkland.  It appears to have been taken from the name of a large property which belonged at one time to a nephew of Robert Southey and later became a school described as "a superior establishment for young ladies".  I found another reference which states "Kneen (place names) has Scand. Rargata,'roe path or track.' This estate is alongside of the river Neb, and there still exists an old road leading from the high lands to the river, along which, no doubt, the king's roes came to drink" 

Then we headed east towards St John's along the route of the old railway line.  The only sign of its original use is the occasional rotting sleeper almost buried in the mud.

The first section was wet with the river to the right and boggy pools to the left!

Just before we reached St John's we turned north onto the old branch line to Ramsey.  This runs through farmland with nothing of great interest to show you - unless you are particularly fond of sheep.  I have managed to resist the temptation to include sheep photos.  Finally we left the railway line and walked down to the coast.  This is the view along the coast (looking north) that we enjoyed from the bench where we stopped for a snack.

The final side of the triangle was the walk back along the cliffs to Peel.  This photo shows the path.  In the background you can see the silhouette of the castle on St Patrick's Isle and Peel Hill with Corrin's Folly just visible on the left.

Skyhill

A walk through the woods

 

Wednesday, 11th January, 2012

 

We had a good walk this morning.  It was a test to see whether we are fit enough to walk with Dorothy and Trevor next week after missing nearly all the recent walks due to having workmen fixing the roof . . .  and then health problems.  We passed the fitness test!

 

We started up through the plantation behind our house - past some very handsome fungi on the remains of the old sycamore. 

 

 

Then we climbed up to the edge of the plantation above the Ballagarrow fields, where I took a photo of the almost completed work on the reservoir. 

 

 

After that we walked down the main forestry track towards Lezayre Road.   I took another photo of the reservoir site.

 

 

We continued down the track until we reached the Millennium Way about a hundred yards or so above Lezayre Road.  Then we walked up the Millennium Way until we reached the edge of the Slieau Managh plantation and the route down into Glen Auldyn.  I took this photo of the Scots pines up near Sky Hill farm - to prove that we walked all the way up to the top of the hill!