Maughold

Almost Midwinter?

Tuesday 17^th December, 2013.

After being threatened with a more demanding walk to compensate for the easy walk last week, I was relieved to get the following message from Dorothy “The idea for a walk this next week is from Port Mooar.  The weather forecast is good for a Tuesday walk, so hopefully we will see you at 9 o' clock.”  I think I was saved from an arduous hill walk by the forecast for strong winds.

We will have passed the winter solstice before our next walk but the weather still feels more like autumn than winter.  I sometimes think that the Manx year is consists of only two real seasons . . . spring and autumn.  We get an occasional week or two of real summer or winter (most years), but very hot or very cold weather is rare.

It looks like winter though.  The nights are long in December at 54 degrees north.  Because of the mountains we don’t glimpse the sun in the glen until about eleven o’clock.  Then, just a few hours after it peeps over North Barrule, it disappears again behind Skyhill.  

As we drove towards Maughold village on Tuesday the sun had just risen above the sea and was lighting up the clouds.  By the way, the camera lied.  It wasn’t really dark.  The strong backlight completely obliterated the foreground.

When we reached Port Mooar there was very little wind, the sun was shining and it looked like a perfect day for a walk.

The tide was fairly high and the only sign of life in the little cove was a group of ducks paddling around peacefully in the shallows.

We decided to do the inland section of the walk first because it would have been difficult to photograph the coast while the sun was just above the horizon.  So we started off in the direction of Dreemskerry Hill.  We paused to look at these horses and tried to work out whether the chestnut on the left was standing in long grass or whether it just had unusually short legs!

Near the top of the hill we crossed the tram tracks.  I took this photo of the extremely modest waiting room at the Dreemskerry station.  Someone had tried to cheer up its appearance with baskets and pots of geraniums.  Surprisingly they still had one or two surviving flowers.

From the same place – but looking north instead of south – Tim took this photo of the view across the Maughold fields towards Ramsey Bay and the northern plain.

We continued down the Dreemskerry Road and Jack’s Lane until we reached the coast just east of Port e Vullen.  The tide was even higher by now and this photo of the little hamlet at Port e Vullen shows why there is an alternate route for this section of the coastal footpath.  The classic route is along the beach and around the little headland at Gob ny Rona but that is out of the question when the tide is high because there is no beach.

The wind hadn’t strengthened much and I wondered whether we would be lucky enough to see some seals . . . or even dolphins.   We stopped to watch this boat.  I think the fisherman was retrieving lobster pots.

A little further on we passed the only trees tough enough to survive on the Brooghs – two Scots Pines.  The Scots pines are special because they are one of only three truly native conifers in the British Isles.   To complete the scene there were also three native Loughtan sheep on the path ahead of us. 

The wind began to strengthen as we approached the steep climb up to the small shelter at the highest point of the Brooghs.  In front of the shelter, facing north, is an engraved slab showing the main hills on the surrounding coasts . . . Black Combe and Scafell in the Cumberland Hills and Criffel in southern Scotland.

We caught up with the three Loughtan and I was amused by this little chap with his ridiculous hair style.  I wonder whether the other young Loughtan thought he was “super cool”.

The wind was strengthening by the minute and it was hard to keep a camera steady.  There was no chance  of spotting seals or dolphins and I didn’t take many photos  along the path from Drynane to Port Mooar - but Tim got this interesting shot of the sunlight reflected on the sea.

The Irish Sea is notorious for sudden gales and, by the time we approached the cars, the earlier tranquil scene had been replaced by breaking waves.  The ducks were hiding somewhere in the shelter of the rocks.  Only a few daredevil gulls were riding the waves.  Tim said “The sea has come alive!”

On the way home we stopped at Maughold Church.  Before going into the church, I took a quick photo of the little shelter in the churchyard which houses the collection of Celtic and Norse crosses.   There are photos and descriptions of the crosses on this link  http://www.iomguide.com/crosses/maughold/kirk-maughold.php

I wanted to photograph the old Maughold parish cross which dates back to about 1300AD and is thought to contain one of the earliest engravings of “The three legs of Mann” – the national symbol.  The old cross used to stand on the village green outside the church and can be seen it this position in this old photo from 1895.

It was later moved into the churchyard but was moved again, into the church, to prevent further weather damage in 1989.

The origin of the “three legs” has been lost in antiquity but the Manx symbol is similar to an old symbol used in Sicily which is now shown on their flag.  It has also been suggested that our “three legs” is an adaptation of the triskele an ancient symbol often associated with Manannan (which symbolised the three realms – land, sea and sky).

Now it has pride of place in the centre of our national flag.