Isle of Man Coastal Path. Aileen Evans
September). The tide races at The Sound and Point of Ayre run at 3–3.5 knots.
Another feature of interest to walkers on Raad ny Foillan is the influence the wind has on the height of the waves. I had heard of freak waves arriving from nowhere, but had never fully appreciated the extra wave height generated even by a modest breeze. The following chart will help you gauge the height of the waves on the sea and the extra amount of water they may throw at you above the normal high tide. I cannot resist the fascination of waves dashing over the rocks and exploding against the cliffs, a real bonus to be enjoyed in bad weather – from a safe distance, of course.
Maps and compasses
The maps in this guide are sufficient to enable you to walk Raad ny Foillan, but you will need to step off the route from time to time. A map of the island will help you to obtain the maximum enjoyment, replenish your supplies and be sure of your nearest point of help in an emergency. Along with the map you may need to take a compass (and know how to use it).
The Isle of Man Outdoor Leisure Maps North and South (3rd digital edition) show Raad ny Foillan and the shorter footpaths, the Millennium Way, Bayr ny Skeddan and the the Heritage Trail (10½ miles from Douglas to Peel along the route of the old railway), at a scale of 1:25,000. They are wonderful maps for detail that you can enjoy in your armchair afterwards. Almost every cove and headland is named, every field drawn and places of historical interest identified. The contour lines, imaginary lines passing through all places of equal height, are at 100ft intervals. For copies email [email protected] or write to Cartographic Section, DLGE, Murray House, Mount Havelock, Douglas, Isle of Man IM1 2SF.
By roughly orientating the map you will be able to identify the mountains and surrounding countryside. The top of the map is north. Place your compass on one of the vertical grid lines on your map and rotate the map until the grid line is parallel with the compass needle.
This method is approximate and is not good enough if you are enveloped suddenly by a thick mist. In this case:
Place your compass on the map with the rotating capsule turned so that the north arrow on the dial is in its correct position at 0 (or 360 degrees), with the whole compass pointing north to the top of the map. The grid lines will help you to do this.
Slowly rotate the map keeping the compass firmly in place, still pointing to the top of the map (north), until the compass needle swings and points to the magnetic north which is 3 deg. 10 mins. west of true north (2003). Your map is now set and you should be able to follow the desired direction.
The Ordnance Survey map of the Isle of Man – Landranger 1:50,000 sheet No.95 – is a revised issue 2016, but the marking of the three long-distance footpaths lacks detail.
The miners’ packhorse bridge over the infant Sulby river
Geology
If you have no interest in geology when you begin Raad ny Foillan you are sure to have your interest aroused in the first few miles. If you have a general basic knowledge, you will become excited at the strata on view. If you are a geologist you will be continually left behind and will have to restrain yourself from loading yourself and your companions with samples! As you progress from Douglas clockwise round the island you will be introduced to rocks from the very oldest to the most recent at the Point of Ayre, then as you move down the east coast you will be able to recognise them again as old friends.
Contorted strata in an isolated bay below the Marine Drive at The Whing
The Isle of Man has few crags inland, but the stone used in the old local walls and buildings, and the vegetation cover, will give you clues to the nature of the underlying rocks. At the coast, however, the rock strata is exposed, washed and ready for inspection.
The Isle of Man is part of the Irish Sea horst. In layman’s terms a horst is a ridge pushed up between two great faults (cracks in the earth). In Cambro-Ordovician times, layers of muds and silts known as the Manx or Barrule slates were deposited. Movements in the earth’s crust caused subsidence, which was followed by marine deposition, when the carboniferous limestones were deposited. Next was a period of uplift and folding. The movement produced the Irish Sea horst, the plateau-like area. This horst extends from Ireland to the English Lake District, the Isle of Man being the central part protruding above the waters of the Irish Sea. The folded Barrule slates can be seen from the Marine Drive, where they give rise to magnificent coastal scenery. In the Tertiary period dykes (vertical cracks filled from below with molten basalt) occurred in profusion, cutting through the strata and resulting in sudden changes of colour and texture.
During the Ice Ages glaciers covered the island. As they moved south they carried with them large boulders from Scotland, which were subsequently deposited as erratics. Many of these have been used in buildings. As the glaciers crossed the sea they scooped up and carried marine deposits from the sea bed. As the ice melted, sands, gravels and boulder clays were abandoned. During its passage the ice planed away some areas of the Manx slates to expose the underlying granite.
Fine examples of slates, flags and dykes are found on the coast north of Peel
In recent geological times raised beaches were formed in the north of the island. Accumulations of peat and blown sand are still in the process of settling, completing the geological picture of the island for you to examine at close quarters from the footpath.
The visible geological strata in evidence are shown in the table below.
Nature along the footpaths
One of the delights of Raad ny Foillan is the contrast of the vast expanse of sea and sky with the intimate environment of the plants at your feet and birds skimming over your head.
The mild, damp climate is without extremes of temperature, but the continually changing base rocks and the soil they support must be the main factor contributing to the variety of plant and animal life you are likely to see on the way.
Plants
The book The Flowering Plants of the Isle of Man counts 38 varieties of fern and fern allies, 853 flowering plants and nine types of conifer to be found on the island. Some are very rare and best left to prosper in their secret havens. Others show off their flowers, generously lining the footpath, and a limited description of what to expect, and where, is given below.
The mountains and headlands are mainly of Barrule slate. The highest mountain is Snaefell (2036ft) and is rather low for mountain species, although a few can be seen. The peaty soil supports a mixture of gorse and heather. The common gorse was introduced for fodder, fuel and reinforcing the banked hedgerows. The dwarf gorse, which flowers in the late summer, is native to the island. Bracken and cotton grass take no finding, but the tiny asphodel, white and yellow bedstraw, sundew, and the violet and vetches that seem to grow everywhere need a little more careful attention if you are to enjoy them.
Heather and dwarf gorse adorn the moors
The glens, sheltered from the winds, are veritable greenhouses, and the common trees and plants which grow there appear more vibrant. The stems are taller, the colours brighter, scents unrecognised hang in the air, ferns and mosses take on an artistic grace previously unnoticed. Palm trees and fuchsia grow with the abandoned