Freoaghane

No hills but three valleys

 

Thursday, 5th September, 2013.

 

After missing a walk last week because of the road closures during the motorcycle races, we walked later than usual this week.  Dorothy wrote at the weekend  "Trevor's daughter is on holiday this week from Tuesday and Trevor would like to take her on the walk from Montpelier.    The one we did last time but going the other way round.  I am busy on Tuesday and Wednesday so would Thursday be OK for you?"   I missed the last "one going the other way round" which the others did at the end of May, because of a painful back, so I was glad that the walk was going to be repeated.

 

There is a small parking space next to the Druidale Road near the Montpelier Wood and we met there.  It was cloudy.  Patchy light rain and drizzle had been forecast but it stayed dry.  The cool weather was very welcome because there is a lot of climbing in this walk even though the route doesn't take us over a hill.  First there is a long climb from the Druidale valley up to the footpath on the side of Slieau Dhoo.  Then a steep drop down into the valley on the north of Freoaghane, followed by a bit of up and down (more up than down) around the west side of Freoaghane, and finally a long climb up the valley between Freoaghane and Sartfell  before the final descent back to the cars.

 

Montpelier Wood is a small stand of old beech trees.  There are recent broadleaf plantings surrounding the wood which will greatly increase the wooded area in the future.   In a field above the wood is the remains of an old farmhouse.  There is a sad story attached to the house.  The last farmer lived there alone and Dorothy was told by her old friend, Harry, that  " . . . the man from the farm was ill with appendicitis, at lambing time.     He wouldn't leave his sheep to fend for themselves and was found to have died there, on his own."

When we reached Slieau Dhoo we turned onto the path which leads almost directly to the top of a stony track, which is an extension of the Baltic Road.  The Baltic Road runs down from the hills to Kirk Michael.    There was a misty haze in the hills, but the hill fog which we had noticed earlier was at a higher level than our walk.  We stopped to discuss the pile of stones known as Carn Vael (Michael's cairn).  I read up about the old stories connected to these stones, and the ruins in the valleys, when I last hiked a version of this route in July 2012.  The stories are contained in the report that I wrote after that walk so I won't repeat them here.  But, if you missed that email or would like to read them again, I have posted that report "Over Sartfell and around Freoaghane" on the blog containing some of our earlier hikes.  This is the link to the blog  http://caillagh2.blogspot.com/    Just click on 2012 on the right hand side of the page to find the Freoaghane walk.

We climbed over a stile and headed along the rough path that led down towards the old mine workings in the head of the Glen Maarlys.  The blanket of fog was still clinging to the top of the hills.

 

I was surprised to find some ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis) decorating one of the ruined mine buildings . . . virtually in the middle of nowhere.  This little wild flower has a particular liking for stone walls but is usually found closer to civilisation.  I had assumed that it was a native wild flower but discovered that it originally came from the Mediterranean.

From the valley we walked uphill until we reached the "Wall of Death" where the path is so overgrown that we have to follow a very narrow sheep path along the side of an almost vertical bank.  The name occurred to me because it seemed almost as steep as the walls of the old funfair attraction - but there was an added reason for the name on Thursday.  An unfortunate sheep had died in the field below the fence and there was a strong smell of death in the air.

There were a few more obstacles to overcome before the long trudge up to the sheep-dip.   One was a short but steep climb into this gulley and a scramble across the little stream.

As we turned up Glen Kiark the view down to the coast was beautiful.  It was just as well that it was behind us because the path was rough and we needed to keep our eyes on the ground ahead.

It is always a relief to reach the sheep-dip because the climbing is almost (but not quite) at an end.  I wonder whether this old cast iron cauldron was used for mixing the dipping muti.*

*Explanation for non-colonials "Muti is a term for traditional medicine in Southern Africa as far north as Lake Tanganyika. In Southern Africa, the word muti is in widespread use in most indigenous African languages, as well as in South African English and Afrikaans where it is sometimes used as a slang word for medicine in general."

A welcome sight!  Snaefell and the North Barrule ridge behind the Druidale valley with just a distant glimpse of the Sulby Dam and the Montpelier Wood.  Now it is downhill the rest of the way.

We walked along the track until we got to the gate leading onto the "path" which follows the little stream down to Montpelier.  After a failed attempt to find a better route we scrambled down to the boggy path. 

This is a good place for wild flowers in spring but there wasn't much to see on Thursday apart from three types of heather, the ubiquitous tiny yellow flowers of the tormentil, and some devil's bit scabious.  The devil's bit made me think of the proverbial buses "You wait for hours for one . . . and then three come at once".   I have been waiting all summer to see the devil's bit and suddenly it has been a feature of two consecutive walks.  There is rather a nice story about how it got its name.  It is said that the Devil was so furious at the success of this plant in curing all sorts of ailments that he bit away part of the root hoping to put an end to its good works.  According to the legend, he left the plant with the abruptly shortened root it has today, but failed to destroy its healing powers.  It is recommended as a remedy for snake-bite, sore throats, wounds and the plague!  And it is also very pretty.

We got back to the peaceful shade of the Montpelier Wood but there were reminders that the weather can be wild up here.  The fallen trunks of huge beech trees littered the ground in places.  But a lot of the tough old trees are still standing, thank goodness.

There was one last photo stop while the others headed for the cars.  Dorothy and I couldn't pass up the opportunity of photographing the fungus growing on the remains of this old giant.

 

Next week we intend visiting the "real" fairy bridge - weather permitting!