Ballaglass

The first sunhat walk of the year.

Tuesday, 30th April, 2013.

On Sunday we got a message from Dorothy "I have a cold, so I doubt if I will be out on a walk this week.  Trevor has suggested the Ballaglass Cornae walk and Tuesday has a better weather forecast.     As the walk isn't too strenuous I will come if this cold isn't a bad one."

The forecast on Monday read "A fine day tomorrow, with lots of sunshine and light winds. Top temperature around 12°C / 54°F."  And the weathermen were right, it was an absolutely glorious morning.  We met Trevor at Ballaglass Glen.  Unfortunately Dorothy wasn't with him.   She missed a special walk.

We started off through the glen and walked down to the entrance near the old mill.  Tim took this photo of me trying to get a good angle on the river.

After leaving the glen we climbed the steep tarred road up Ballachrink hill towards Cashtyl yn Ard  - a group of old stones (the remains of a Neolithic long barrow dating from about 2000BC).  The name translates as the rather over the top "Castle of the Height" but it could be a relatively recent name, maybe thought up to impress tourists.  Earlier the site was just called Ballachrink Cairn - and before that nobody knows for sure.

Alongside the path from the road to the cairn, is this old cottage - a well known image because its photo  was used by the department of tourism.  The gable end of the cottage, with the ivy growing up the wall, lost its chimney a few years ago but the ivy is still trying to grow up to its previous heights, in spite of the gales.

Behind the cottage we came across an old piece of farm machinery, rusting away in the long grass.  It reminded me of an incident a few summers ago.  We noticed a large lamb, which had crept under this contraption, apparently looking for shade from the hot sun.  The lamb panicked as we approached with the dogs and obviously couldn't find its way out again.  It took Trevor some time to release it.  While we were talking about that incident, Trevor mentioned that sheep must be very stupid because they are always getting into trouble.  When he was walking a couple of days ago he came across a sheep struggling on its back with its legs in the air - like a beetle!  He said it was a very heavy sheep but he managed to get it back on its feet.  There are a lot of sheep on the Island that have good reason to be grateful to Trevor.

The stones at Cashtyl yn Ard* must be fascinating to anyone with a knowledge of archeology - but I didn't need any specialist knowledge to appreciate the views from the ancient burial site.  They are breathtaking - and even more special when combined with the weird feeling of standing on a hill where long-forgotten ceremonies were being conducted four thousand years ago.

Tim took this photo of the stones - looking inland towards the North Barrule ridge . . .

. . . and I took this one, which doesn't give the full impact of the shining, silvery sea (a bit too much backlight), looking out towards England.

*Links:  History  http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/history/arch/aj16n4.htm    More photos  http://www.transceltic.com/isleofman/manxeast/492-cashtalynardiom


While we were climbing the hill towards Cashtyl yn Ard, I noticed more and more wild flowers on the banks at the side of the road.  At first they were ones which we had in the garden - mainly the ubiquitous lesser celandine, stitchwort and dog violets.  But then I saw some early red campion and ground ivy, which isn't ivy.  It has mauve flowers, a bit like violets in colour, and is a member of the mint family.  After we left the stones and walked down towards the ford, we came across our first bluebells of the year!

And down in the damp shade by the ford there were banks of the delicate wood anemones (Anemone nemorosa).

We continued along the road down to the shore at Cornaa and near the river we came to the celebrity flowers - the reason for our annual pilgrimage - the marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris).  Every year they seem to spread further up the valley.  They were later than usual this year but the cold weather hadn't spoiled the show.

The bluebells will be taking over from the marsh marigolds soon but there were only a few early flowers in the sun near the path.

We walked up the path through the Barony admiring the new leaves on the larches.  They are the purest and most intense green that I can imagine.  I couldn't resist one last flower photo.  The first blossom on the wild cherries (Prunus avium).

Then we returned to Ballaglass and the river.  In the last walk email I mentioned T.E. Brown's disparaging remarks about some of our waterfalls.  Well, there was one that he liked - in Ballaglass.   " . . . turn up the stream inland, till you reach Ballaglass waterfall. This I very much recommend."  I had been surprised when I read this because it had always been my impression that Ballaglass river ran down a series of rapids rather than a waterfall.  Brown said that "A little below the waterfall is a mill and bridge." - so we followed the river up from the bridge and decided that this had to be the recommended waterfall.  Rather surprising as it is very narrow and not at all spectacular. 

Perhaps it was more impressive in the past, or there was more water crashing down over the rocks when T.E. Brown was here.  Or perhaps it was the walk up the river that he recommended not the waterfall.  I took another photo, of the top of the falls, from the footbridge.  The same view as I photographed in autumn.

And on the way back to the cars we took a quick detour to visit the "old men", three particularly ancient trees that I photographed in autumn.  I had thought that they were all horse chestnuts but wasn't quite sure.  Well, I was right they are chestnuts and their new leaves are unfurling.  A curious counterpoint of very old and very new.