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.
Killabrega - The Walk
Sunday 29th September 2013-09-30
We don’t usually walk on a Sunday but Trevor and Dorothy are in Ireland for two weeks so we could just pick any day that suited us – and Sunday had the best weather forecast. Strong winds were predicted but at least it promised to be dry with sunny spells. The strong winds are expected to last at least until Thursday so there was no point in waiting for calmer weather.
We started from the parking area at Tholt-y-Will and walked down the road towards Sulby. The gate by the footbridge over the river near the Craft Centre was taped shut and there was a notice saying that Tholt-y-Will Glen was closed due to fallen trees. The notice looked as though it had been up since the blizzard in March. Trevor and Dorothy mentioned last week that most of Glen Helen is closed too – so our choice of “autumn leaves” walks is going to be limited this year. I expect it will be a long time before the glens are cleared because government cuts have had an impact on the manpower available to deal with the problem.
As we walked down the road, Tim stopped to take a photo of the Irish cottages – now one house and called Irish Cottage.
This is the photo that he took on Sunday . . .
. . . and this is how the scene appeared in an old postcard. According to George E. Quayle “ . . . between the road and the river we come to two little cottages known as The Irishmen’s Cottages. Irishmen probably lived and worked here when the stone walls were being built at the time of the Enclosure of the Common Lands.” I tried to get a shot from the place where the old photo was taken but the house was completely obscured by trees.
When we reached Killabrega Cottage we discovered that a new fence had been erected and we were no longer able to turn off up the zig-zag path on the southern side of the cottage. We walked past the cottage and noticed a new gate on the far side of the little garden on the north side of the cottage. The gate led to the hillside beyond and the grass looked as though people had walked across it from the road to the gate. So we walked through the garden. The zig zag path dates back to the 1930’s when the last resident of Killabrega Farm moved down to the cottage in the glen. He walked up this path every day to feed his hens up at the old farm. The next photo was taken from the path and shows the back of the cottage. You may just be able to make out the gate on the left of a small tree but it is almost completely hidden by the bracken which was about head high. I tried to take a photo of Tim who was walking ahead of me up the track but only the top of his cap was visible.
A little further on I caught up with Tim because he had stopped to look at this hairy caterpillar on the path. I have often seen them out at the Ayres but never before on a bracken covered hillside. I think it is a fox moth caterpillar.
Eventually we battled through to the stile at the top of the zig-zag path and I balanced rather precariously on the stile and took this photo down into the glen . . .
. . . and this photo across the little stream to the lower slopes of Mount Karrin and a rather good stone wall which may have been built by the Irishmen. The leaves on the bracken are starting to change from green to gold in a rather patchy way.
There was another large patch of bracken to wade through before we reached the sloping grassy fields below the farm.
It was still uphill all the way but not nearly as steep as the beginning of the climb from the road. We soon caught sight of the tops of the trees near the farm buildings. Before all the conifer plantations were planted after the second World War, there were very few trees on the upland farms apart from those growing along streams and a few around the farm buildings. So a group of trees is usually evidence of previous habitation.
We spent some time examining the farm buildings but I will describe them in the following post and will continue with the walk.
We decided to walk back along the Druidale Road so we crossed the fields behind the farm, and Tim took this photo of the farm with Mount Karrin in the background.
The wind was strong and gusty. I was interested in these clumps of small rushes growing amongst the heather. They appeared to be green at the base and a sort of coppery bronze above. They shimmered as they waved about, almost flattened at times by the stronger gusts of wind.
The wind was unpleasantly strong on the road, once we passed the shelter of the trees, so we turned down into the plantation and followed the track to Sherragh Vane, another old farmhouse, that is best known for being described in T.E. Brown’s poem “Kitty of the Sherragh Vane”. By the path, near the gate into the plantation we saw a speckled wood butterfly. There are only a few butterflies flying in the garden now but the speckled woods seem to be staying around longer than most.
Little remains of Sherragh Vane which is now surrounded by a conifer plantation but we stopped to take a few photos.
And then we headed downhill, following the path that leads back to the Old Chapel near the parking area. On the way we passed this block of quartz. It is one of these rocks which gave the name to Sherragh Vane, which means “white foal” in Manx. It is easy to mistake these large pieces of quartz for a white animal if you see them in the distance.
The steep path passed many fallen trees.
And just before we reached the car I saw this rather handsome toadstool at the side of the path.
Killabrega – The Farm
Sunday 29th September 2013
I have read that Killabrega means Brega’s church. There was formerly a keeill in the vicinity of the farm which may explain the name. I assumed that Brega was a person but the only possible origin of the name seems to be “a petty kingdom north of Dublin in medieval Ireland”. Google’s other suggestions are 1. A port in Libya 2. A genre of popular Brazilian music 3. An Italian character actor who specialised in playing heavies in spaghetti westerns 4 A photographer. At that point I gave up the search.
According to the Manx Government website “In 1995 Manx National Heritage widened its portfolio to include an abandoned, but still almost complete small upland farm at Killabrega; an addition to its mostly coastal properties. Much has been learned of the farm’s history from archival, photographic and field name evidence, and its place in the rural economy of the past is intriguing. The farm’s location, next to land in public ramblage and with commanding views over the Sulby Glen and beyond, provides spectacular opportunities to appreciate the Manx landscape.”
We took Sue Cannell’s book “Rural Architecture in the North of the Isle of Man” with us and it was invaluable in identifying the various buildings.
First, Tim’s photo of the front of the farm as we approached. The building on the left is a barn (1) and the small enclosed field, behind and to the right of the building, is described as the orchard.
On the gable end of the barn (1) were two protruding stones with holes bored in them. I wondered whether they were for tethering animals but Sue Cannell explains that they were used for securing the ropes that tied down the thatched roof. I had only seen rectangular pieces of slate (jutting out higher up on the walls) used for this purpose before. But the gusts of wind were so strong at times that it was hard to keep my camera steady – so perhaps the roof needed to be tied on extra securely.
There was no evidence of fruit trees in the orchard, just some ashes, hawthorn and sycamore and one little elm.
On closer inspection it became apparent that the little elm was the remains of a large elm. The original tree must have blown down, just leaving a large splinter of trunk with some bark. The small elm had grown from the “splinter”.
Few of the trees had survived unscathed. There was a semi-hollow ash, which had lost most of the centre trunk which was now rotting away. And this ash, which appeared to be about one quarter of a hollow tree. It is amazing that these trees have survived and that bits of them are still growing.
In the field on the southern side of the orchard was this old bath, an example of Manx recycling. I have lost count of the number of old baths that I have seen in the fields. They make useful drinking troughs for sheep and cattle. The building in the background is the threshing barn.
The interior of the threshing barn. The mechanism was driven by a one horsepower horse mill. A Manx pony would have walked around the circular raised horse walk behind the building to turn the gearing and power the mill.
The interior of a building marked in the book as “Cattle”. This bwaane (cow or cattle house) was built into the slope and we were standing on the bank behind the building. Sue Cannell writes that “ . . . its size indicates that it may also have accommodated the Manx pony or other small animals.”
The front of the “Cattle” building with the Thie veg (small house) or outdoor loo on the right.
At the other end of the building was the dog house!
In the main group of buildings there are also two houses and a second barn.
Very little remains of the larger house. There used to be an interesting choillagh (kitchen fireplace) but the gable end containing the choillagh collapsed after Sue Cannell had completed her thesis.
Further up the slope, looking down on the other buildings in the main group, is the smaller house. It is more recent than the large house and was probably built for the farmer’s son in the middle of the nineteenth century. This photo (taken through one of the windows of the smaller house) shows the gable end of the second barn (2).
Some distance from the other buildings was a ruin marked “bothy” (basic accommodation for temporary farm workers) which was also used as a third barn.
Upright slate flagstones were used to make stalls in barns (1) and (2). They were also used at Killabrega for a more unusual purpose – as fencing.
It is possible to identify most of the buildings from this last photo taken from the slope above the farm. On the left of the photo is the smaller house. Below that, in the centre is the larger house, with the second barn (2) behind it. Below, and to the right of the large house, is the threshing barn. The square building attached to the threshing barn was the grain store - and to the right of those buildings you can just make out the circular wall around the raised horse walk.
On the extreme right, in deep shade is the thie veg and bwaane. The bothy was too far from the other buildings to include in the photo and the barn (1) by the orchard is hidden behind the trees below the threshing barn.
