Walking on the Isle of Man. Terry Marsh
year. When the paving ends, the path joins the grassy track, running close enough to the upper level of the beach to give good sightings of the birdlife here.
Ayres National Nature Reserve is a favoured breeding ground for birds, so during the breeding season care needs to be exercised in the placement of one’s feet, and any dogs need the control of a tight rein.
Regular visitors to the reserve include ringed plover, little tern, common/Arctic tern, oystercatcher, curlew, black-throated diver, eider, shag, cormorant, gannet, stonechat, meadow pipit and skylark.
The grassy track leads on steadily to the Point of Ayre lighthouse.
The Point of Ayre lighthouse
The Point of Ayre lighthouse – controlled by the Northern Lights Board of Scotland, not Trinity House, as might be supposed – was built between 1815 and 1818 by Robert Stevenson, the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Just beyond the lighthouse, the coastline heads south, so either bear right or get your feet wet. Offshore, it is not unusual to be treated to the sight of some turbulent water: two different tidal systems meet here and produce quite a frenzy on a good day. But on dry land, the route heads south, and continues just above the shore edge as far as a couple of cottages at Phurt. It is possible to turn inland a little earlier than this, when the ongoing track does so, but otherwise a narrow, field-edge path leads on to Phurt.
From here on, all is road walking; first to the lovely village of Bride, with its church dedicated to St Bridget. And from there along the A10, through Glentruan, continuing as far as the turning to Ballaghennie Farm (NX 439 019). There, turn right, down a road lovely in spring with wild flowers, leading back to the shore at the visitor centre.
WALK 2
Sulby and the Millennium Way
| Start/Finish | Sulby Claddagh (SC 386 940) |
| Distance | 10km (6¼ miles) |
| Height gain | 358m (1175ft) |
| Parking | Small car park by the river |
This is an exhilarating walk, beginning beside the Sulby River and climbing high onto the gorse uplands to the south. Choose a clear day (the map, the signposting and the paths don’t always agree and in poor visibility this could be a problem), and enjoy the airy freedom of mountain heath patrolled by hen harriers, kestrels and short-eared owls.
Set off alongside the Sulby River, going with the flow and parallel with a road, and when this bends right, go with it, soon to reach a bridge spanning an in-flowing burn. Ignore the bridge, and keep forward on a gently rising lane (signposted ‘Snaefell Mountain Road’). Walk up the lane until the road surfacing ends and there branch left over a stile beside a gate, giving onto a rough track rising steadily to the edge of Ohio Plantation.
Keep forward on a rising track that climbs to the top edge of the plantation and there leave it at a gate, going forward between gorse. The track is gated and eventually climbs to a convention of gates, a place where the right of way shown on the map and the tracks underfoot do not coincide.
Striding out along the Millennium Way above Sulby
Go forward, maintaining the same direction along a broad track with an earth embankment on the right. Continue up the track until a signpost directs the route left to a larger-than-normal ladder/stile. Over this, turn left again, along a broad grassy track, and keep going to a gate in a fence corner. From there, go forward through heather on a rough track that closes in on a wall on the left as it approaches two metal gates at the top of a rough road descending left to Sulby.
From the gates (ignore the road), turn right and strike up the heather moorland on a rutted track for just under 1km (½ mile). Keep going until the gradient levels as the track starts to swing towards the masted summit of Snaefell, and then look for a short branching track on the left, cutting through low heather to intercept the Millennium Way (though there is nothing immediate to confirm that it is the Millennium Way). Turn left, soon passing a right of way sign. Later, a low sign does indeed confirm that you are on the Millennium Way.
Now gently descending, with a fine view northwards across Sulby to the conspicuous white church at Jurby and the Ayres Nature Reserve, go as far as another gate at the head of a walled track. Here, without going through the gate, turn left alongside a wall to another gate giving onto a sunken track.
This track now leads all the way back to Sulby. Part way down it becomes partially surfaced, and is flanked throughout by gorse, stitchwort, violet, celandine, wild garlic, bluebell and intermittent stands of holly.
The track eventually descends to meet the main Sulby to Ramsey road. Take care emerging onto the road. Turn left and shortly go left again at the Ginger Hall Hotel. Turn left into River Meadow Lane, following this back lane past the prehistoric site of Cronkshamerk (Cronk Sumark) hill fort (accessible by a steep climb from the roadside), after which you reach the road bridge encountered at the start of the walk. Cross it and turn right to follow the road back to the starting point.
WALK 3
Slieu Curn and Slieu Dhoo
| Start/Finish | Ballaugh (SC 348 935) |
| Distance | 17.3km (10¾ miles) |
| Height gain | 445m (1460ft) |
| Refreshments | Ballaugh and Sulby |
| Parking | On-street parking (with care) in Ballaugh |
In spite of its length, this walk is fairly straightforward and undemanding, but does offer the option of including Slieau Freoaghane. There is also the possibility of visiting Killabrega, a deserted and ruinous farmstead high up on the western flank of Sulby Glen, although this will entail a longish amount of road walking to complete the route.
In Ballaugh, go down the road past a mini supermarket to a gated turning on the left onto the old railway line. Continue along the trackbed to the first main junction, at a gate, and here turn left and walk out to the main road.
At the road, turn left but after about 100m take the first turning on the right at Ballacob onto a side lane flanked by mature hedgerows. Follow the ascending lane and, when it forks, branch to the right. When the lane turns into Ballacurnkeil at the start of a greenway, the Bayr Glass, keep forward onto a dirt track between gorse hedgerows.
Follow the track, rising steadily onto the northern slopes of Slieau Curn. As the gradient eases, with Snaefell coming into view and, off to the right, the Mountains of Mourne in Northern Ireland and the hills of Galloway in Scotland. Continue to a gate and, through this, bear right on an ascending path onto open hillside.
Continue to a cattle grid and ladder/stile and then beyond continue along the greenway now with a spruce plantation (Slieau Curn Plantation) on the left. The track ascends steadily and levels out at the head of Glen Dhoo, and then keeps forward through a wall gap (old gate posts) with Snaefell in view on the left. Go on to a track junction where the track starts to climb again to meet a rough, stony track near a signpost. Here, turn onto the stony track, ignoring a branching green track on the left. Continue up the stony track, which gradually levels and then descends a little and runs