Maughold

It doesn't look like Spring . . . yet!

Monday, 8th April, 2013

 

Another walk, another cold, windy but dry day. 

 

Dorothy is on a photo trip to the Lake District and Trevor phoned on Saturday to suggest that we met at Port Mooar on Monday morning.

 

There was an icy on-shore wind when we started and the tide was high, so waves were crashing against the rocks. 

 

Tim was interested to walk along the path around the rocky shore from Port Mooar towards the lighthouse because he chatted to the owner of a jewelry shop in Ramsey recently (while he was getting a new strap fitted to his watch) and the jeweller mentioned that he did a lot of walking and that there had been some damage to the footpath at Maughold.  We saw no evidence of recent damage.  Either the man in the shop didn't walk as often as he claimed - or he didn't make it clear that he was talking about the past.  Parts of the path were washed away by a landslip some years ago.

 

We didn't take many photos because we needed to keep moving to stay warm.  Also this is a walk that we have done many times before - so the photos tend to become repetitious. 

Tim took this photo of the waves breaking in the little cove at Dhyrnane . . .

. . . and this one of the lighthouse and lighthouse keeper's house at Maughold Head.  The lighthouses are all mechanised now and the lighthouse keeper's houses have been sold and are mainly used for holiday lets.

 

I was interested in the unusual colour of the vegetation.  Normally, in April, the new grass in the fields is bright green - almost emerald green - but on Monday the colours were more reminiscent of a harsh winter than verdant spring.  Also the coastal plants have been burnt by the salt spray after weeks of strong easterly winds.

 

We stopped at the shelter at the highest point of the walk along the Brooghs.  I took this photo of Ramsey.

 

. . .  and this one of North Barrule.  Trevor was surprised that most of the snow on the hills had melted.  He said it is taking a bit longer to thaw in Peel.  Apart from the snow that piled up against the walls, there are just small patches left on the sunny side of the hills although the shady slopes are more dappled.

Tim took this one of the view across the valley towards the south.  It is possible to pick out the Scots pines at the Quaker Burial Ground on the hill.  The fields are almost more beige than green.

It is hard to believe that this is what the fields looked at the same time last year.

 

 

We turned off the end of the Brooghs footpath onto the road.  There were very few wild flowers brave enough to flower in early April this year - just a scattering of lesser celandines and stitchwort on the south facing banks at the side of the road.  I did see one clump of green alkanet (a bright blue flower).  I was trying to keep up with the men who were walking fast and missed the opportunity to take a photo.  But I did find out something interesting when I got home.  The word "green" in the name of green alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) doesn't refer to the colour but to the fact that the plant is an evergreen.  And it isn't a true "wild flower" as it was originally introduced from Europe so it could be classified as a "garden escape".  I looked back at my photos of a walk in a similar area on April 11 last year and saw that I had taken a number of wild flower photos in 2012 - even some early bluebells.  What a difference a year makes. 

 

We couldn't turn down to the shore at Port e Vullan because the tide was too high and the beach was under water so we turned up Jack's Lane towards the Dreemskerry Road.  There were Road Closed signs along the lane.  The roadworks website had said the lane would be "closed to vehicular traffic from 13 March 2013 until 31 May 2013 to allow for a water main replacement."  We weren't "vehicular traffic" so we thought we might be able to get through but we were wrong.  The lane was completely blocked by a barrier and the men working on the pipe laying didn't look interested in stopping work to let us get past.  We had to choose between turning back, walking through a nearby field and hoping to rejoin the lane above the roadworks, or walking along the tram tracks (hoping the trams weren't running yet).  We opted for trespassing on the tram track.  After a while Alexander got tired of walking over the sleepers and the stone and needed to be picked up.  When we came to a gate, we decided to try a different type of trespassing and walked around the edge of a field aiming for a gate onto the Dreemskerry Road at the top corner of the field.  There were sheep in the field so Tim continued carrying Alexander until he got too tired and I took over.  We thought that an angry farmer wouldn't be quite so angry if he saw that we had gone to the trouble of carrying the dog through his field.  Fortunately nobody saw us - except the sheep.  They came over to have a closer look at three strange hikers and one fat little dog.

 

The rest of the walk was relaxing and uneventful.