Ballacuberagh

The Red Road

Saturday 5th October 2013

The forecast for Saturday was good . . . so next week’s walk was changed to the end of this week: 
Weather: Dry and bright
Wind: SW 10-15 backing S-SW 15-20 loc 20 later this evening and tonight
Visibility: Good
Temperature: Min. Air 12°C and Max. Air 17°C
Rainfall (mm): -

We had thought of visiting Lag ny Keeilley but decided that that walk was too good to do on our own and that we should wait until Dorothy and Trevor could enjoy it with us.  Instead we decided to walk up through Ballacuberagh plantation.  The greenway road was badly damaged by storm water last year and has only recently been reopened.  

We left our car at the Wildlife Park and headed off along the railway line towards Sulby.  The weather was dry but not exactly "bright" as there was low cloud over the hills.  We stopped to look at this massive oak in a field next to the path.  

We turned off the old train track, and crossed the main road, before we reached the Sulby crossroads, as we wanted to walk along the back road past Ballacaley Farm.  In one of the fields we saw this massive chap.

Then we turned up the Sulby Glen road until we reached the track which led up through the plantation.  While I was looking for information on an old burial site, I discovered that the track through Ballacuberagh is part of an ancient route to Castletown which was known as the Red Road.  I think this might refer to the fact that it crossed heather moorland because I once read that a hill called Slieau Ree (Red Mountain) has that name because of the heather.

There was evidence of tree damage at the bottom of the hill, probably due to the snow in March . . . 

But the higher trees seemed to have survived better.

It is a long steep climb so we were pleased to have the excuse to stop and take some photos of some Fly Agaric at the side of the track.  Tim took this photo of a "grown-up" toadstool.

I found a baby later in Ballaugh plantation but I will put the photo here to compare it with the adult.

Above the plantation we came to the area where we aborted our attempt to walk down the path last autumn.  

This is what it looked like last year when we had to climb over the fence and ask permission to walk across private property down into Sulby Glen.

Further up the hill the path skirts an old burial site.  I found some information about it on the internet.

The prehistoric tumulus of Oaie ny Foawr (Grave of the Giant) is in the corner of a field beside a footpath several miles south of Sulby on the northwestern slopes of Karrin hill. It is located about 1 mile due south of the Ballacuberagh Plantation and the A14 Sulby Glen road is 2-3 miles to the east. This circular feature is often hidden by bushes.

It is described as a former Iron Age burial mound or round barrow ? but now alas without it's earthen mound. It measures some 50 feet across by 4 feet high with an outer ring of small upright stones. However, there is nothing here that tells us anything about the site; we only have the short description given by P.M.C Kermode in his work regarding prehistoric sites on the Isle of Man. He says "the tumulus stands on an ancient highway (the red road) to Castletown".

When the site was excavated a polished stone axe was found along with fragments of urns and human bones - indicating that the mound contained several burials. These artefacts are now housed in the Manx Museum, Douglas.

It is difficult to photograph because it is not very photogenic, plus it is too close to the fence to get a shot of the whole mound without getting too much fence in the picture.  This is the south side of the mound with Mount Karrin behind.

We continued up the Red Road and I took a couple of photos of the ruined farm houses in the valley between Mount Karrin and the hill on the west, which we nicknamed "The Bare Mountain".

Bullrenney . . .

and Eary kellue

As we approached the top of the hill we came across a lonesome sheep.  She had managed to escape from her field onto the path, which was fenced on both sides, and was calling to her absent friends.  She ran up the path ahead of us until she approached the gate and could go no further.  She was extremely fat (or, more likely, heavily pregnant) and terrified of us.  We would have liked to return her to her field but couldn’t get close to her without causing panic.  So we stood very quietly next to the wall and eventually she summoned up enough courage to race past us.  I was worried about leaving her trapped on the path but there was plenty of grass for her to eat.  I hope she managed to find her friends. 

After climbing over the gate, we turned off the Red Road and walked through the wet heather to the gate above Bullrenney and then crossed the grassy top of The Bare Mountain.  This is the view to the west across Ballaugh Glen with Slieau Curn in the background.  The top of  Slieau Curn is still obscured by hill fog or low cloud. 

There used to be circular earthworks (possibly hill forts) on either side of the entrance to Ballaugh Glen.  I found this description:
"At the entrance to Glion Dhoo - the Glen of Ballaugh - were two circular earthworks occupying dominating positions on the flanking hills. The western one on Slieau Curn was destroyed early in the nineteenth century. The other, the Castal Lajer (strong castle) still stands high on Slieau Vollee. 
 There is no record of its ever having been systematically examined, and its original purpose is unknown. There is a tradition of an underground chamber, but whatever entrance it had is now hidden. 
The earthwork approaches sixty yards in diameter and on the lower side is still twelve to fifteen feet high."

So now I know that our Bare Mountain has a name, Slieau Vollee.  I should have guessed because the small plantation on the steep northern side of the hill is called Gob y Volley.  We haven’t visited Cashtal Lajer because it is on private property.  PS  If you Google "Cashtal Lajer" you are offered information on "Castle Lager" a famous South African beer!

The next part of the route was through Ballaugh Plantation.  There were numerous warning signs at the entrance . . .  about keeping to the paths, cleaning boots after visiting plantations, etc., etc.  We are all anxious about the trees as there is a dual threat from Sudden Oak Death and, more recently, Ash Dieback.  We couldn’t keep exactly to the track at the beginning because there were so many fallen trees blocking the track but we followed a small diversion path which had been used by previous hikers.  Further down the track had been cleared and we walked past the duck ponds (still duckless) and on down towards Ravensdale.  Near the top of a bank above the track there were big patches of brightly coloured fungus.  I think the common name may be “orange peel fungus” but I am not absolutely certain because there are other similar varieties in my mushroom book.

I scrambled up the rather steep bank (ignoring the advice to keep to the paths because it was just too good an opportunity to miss).  Here is a closer view.

Then we walked down the road from Ravensdale to Ballaugh village and the promised “bright” weather finally arrived.  

We crossed the road and continued past the One Stop Shop to the railway line.  The old railway goods shed had a notice on the wall about a project to convert it into an exhibition space and educational resource.  Beyond the shed we came across another very impressive tree – an elm this time.

The area around the old Ballaugh station, at the beginning of the final leg of our walk, appears to be called the Millennium Park.  There is a sign on the gate about all dogs, horses and vehicles being prohibited but all the walkers that we met were accompanied by dogs.  Either dogs are tolerated on the route of the old track – or the people of Ballaugh are not impressed by the notice.

On the grass in the Park I saw some red leaves which reminded me of a trip to Canada to visit our daughter.

It looked like some type of maple - definitely an acer.  Trying to identify the tree, I looked up and saw that the lower leaves were still green but those at the top were looking very autumnal. 

It was very pleasant walking along the sheltered path in the warm sunshine.  A few butterflies were out enjoying the warm day too.  I saw a speckled wood, a small white butterfly, which wouldn't settle long enough for me to identify it, and a red admiral near the Wildlife Park.  The cows were enjoying the weather too and we saw a group lying down having a siesta in a bright green field.

There were some very good blackberries growing along the side of the path and I was interested to see these ripe elderberries still on the tree.  The berries on our tree get stripped by the blackbirds almost as soon as they ripen.  

Further on I came across an interesting creeper growing through the brambles.  We were in a hurry to get home so I picked a small sprig hoping to identify it from my wild flower books.  I wondered whether it might be the native clematis known as old man’s beard but I discovered that it definitely wasn’t.  The flowers looked wrong and it was flowering at the wrong time of year.  Old man’s beard would be covered with feathered seedheads in autumn.  There was nothing like the creeper in the wild flower books – so I tried garden plants and discovered that it is called Russian Vine and originated in western China.  It is very fast growing and has the nickname “mile a minute plant”, so you definitely don’t want it in your garden even though the bees love it.