[From Footpath Guide #36 IoM]

THE DHOON

Leap from the crags, brave boy!
The musing hills have kept thee long,
But they have made thee strong,
And fed thee with the fulness of their Joy,
And given direction that thou might'st return
To me who yearn
At foot of this great steep —
Leap! Leap!

So the stream leapt ,
'Into his mother's arms,
Who wept a space
Then calmed her sweet alarms,
And smiled to see him as he slept,
Wrapt in that dear embrace:
And with the brooding of her tepid breast
Cherished his mountain chillness—
O, then — what rest!
O. everywhere what stillness!

— T. E. Brown

FOREWORD

GOING, going, or gone are the restrictive influences and barriers of a country at war, and once again one is able, amongst other things, to range the countryside with no inter ference with one's own sweet will beyond an innocent respect for the notice 'Trespassers will be prosecuted' and an ordinary regard for other people's property. I think that a special feature and attraction of the Isle of Man is that, wherever one lives or stays on holiday, there is beauty of coast-line, hillside or glen to be seen and easily reached.

But here like everywhere else how often does one say ' Let's go for a walk', and then lose precious time and opportunities through want of local knowledge or guidance as to where to go.

In this book Mr. Brennan solves this problem for us and shows the way to many enchanting walks in this lovely Isle of Man.

Air Vice Marshal Sir Geoffrey Bromet, K.B.E., C.B., D.S.O. Lt. Governor, Isle of Man.
March 5, 1947.

PREFACE

IF it were possible for the part to be greater than the whole then I think it would be so in the case of Douglas and the Isle of Man; my reason for saying this being that in the outside world the capital of the Island tends to be even better known than the Island itself. And no wonder, seeing the hundreds of thou sands who cross every year from the mainland for a holiday only to focus their attention on Douglas—its promenade, its organised entertainment.

Every time I write anything about the Island I find myself accepting the capital for what it is, namely, a sophisticated pleasure resort, immensely popular among the workers of Lancashire and the north where it is considered as a desirable alternative to Blackpool, and, consequently, is visited annually by many more holiday-makers than all the other towns on the Island put together. Nevertheless do I urge that Douglas is no more representative of the Isle of Man as a whole than Paris is of France or New York of the United States.

Especially does this apply in the case of the reader of this guide, which is intended to appeal to the walker who wants to get away from the noise and blare and bustle, and to range over mountain and moorland, to explore the country lanes, the green tracks and the lovely glens.

From this point of view Douglas should be regarded as only one of several excellent centres on the Isle of Man from which some of the most beautiful scenery in the entire kingdom can conveniently be explored. This guide has therefore been divided into three main sections under the general headings, Douglas and the Centre of the Island, Ramsey and the North, and the South. While the walks in each section will be found to radiate around these places, the size of the whole island—roughly thirty miles by ten—is such, and communications are so good, that it would not be difficult to enjoy all the walks while staying in any one of these centres, more especially if a car is available. There are plenty of these on hire but it is naturally an immense advantage to bring one's own across.

Without attempting to give all the information that is to be found in the ordinary guide books, it may be said that there are two main reasons why a holiday in the Isle of Man can be very different from one on the mainland.

Firstly, it has its own government, with its Legislative Council and House of Keys to frame its own laws, which do not always follow those passed by the British House of Commons. This entails a certain amount of ritual and ceremony which, while interesting enough to the passing stranger, cannot be expected to make the same appeal to him as to the native Manxman who sees in the pageantry the promise of the maintenance of his proud island history going back 1,000 years.

But the real importance of this home rule lies in its practical effect on the lives of the inhabitants of the Island, whether permanent or temporary.

To take a small example, there is no Manx entertainment tax so that cinemas and indeed nearly all amusements are cheaper than in England. It may not be altogether without interest to the walker to add that beer, too, is substantially cheaper.

The second main reason is that the Manx climate is in a class by itself. To say the worst about it first, the Island gets its full share of any rain and wind there may be about, especially during the winter months. Even within the limits of the Island there is a substantial variation in the average annual rainfall as evidenced by the fact that Douglas gets about forty-one inches a year, whereas in the north the figure is only twenty-eight inches and in the south as low as twenty-five inches. On the other hand, snow is rare except on the mountains, and thunderstorms are, I believe, practically unknown. 'The position of the island, so far north and west of the south of England, gives it longer summer evenings and more potential hours of sunshine. But the outstanding feature of the climate is its equability, and it is claimed that there is less variation between the maximum and minimum temperatures here than anywhere else in the British Isles. Put into other words this means that it is seldom excessively cold in the winter or oppressively hot in the summer.

The effect of this almost semi-tropical climate on the vegetation of the Island is remarkable. There are miles of fuchsia hedges. Exotics such as palms and hydrangeas grow with a profusion which will probably astonish the first-time visitor. In early summer the countryside is covered with gorse, and again in the autumn; gorse, which has a pleasant butter-like perfume unknown, in the experience of the writer, on the mainland.

Some of the scenic attractions of the Island and also of its specific items of interest will be dealt with in fuller detail in the course of the walks which follow. For the moment, and in order to give a broad picture of what the walker may count on finding in the way of scenery, it is convenient to divide these attractions into three categories—those of the sea edges, those of the famous glens of Mona which, starting several miles inland, often run right down to the sea, and those of the mountains, although if mere height is to be the criterion, these last are not much more than very high hills. The highest of them, Snaefell, is little more than 2,000 feet above sea-level.

The sea-coast of Manxland is greatly superior to that of Lancashire, Cumberland, or immediately opposite on the English side of the Irish sea. Much of it is free and wild, notably along the west coast of the Island. Some of it is tamed and pleasant, in and around the recognised resorts. Of these Douglas can claim one of the finest sea-fronts in the United Kingdom. Indeed, its famous bay has often been compared with that of Naples, but this is thought to be one of those comparisons which are slightly odious. However, it is more than something even to have been thought of in such a connection.

The mountains are gracious rather than sensational in their outlines. Tramping over them can be rough but there is never even an approach to real climbing. The views from their summits can, in clear weather, be superb; for example, from the top of Snaefell there can be visible the highest peaks in England and Wales, in the north of Ireland and in the south of Scotland. But it is not very often that they are to be seen all at once.

The fame of Mona's glens, great as it is, appears to. be of modern growth if one is to judge by the fact that one or two 100-year-old guide-books into which I have dipped scarcely give them a mention. For a general description of them—one which does them justice even if the language is a trifle exuberant — I would not seek to improve on that in Radcliffe's Isle of Man (Methuen 1925) which runs as follows:

'Though no two are exactly alike, they all contain exquisite features: richly wooded slopes, whose trees are festooned with ivy, and filled with singing birds; fairyland nooks of luxuriant foliage, carpeted with moss; crystal rivulets, whose banks are lined with graceful ferns; deep ravines cut by the rushing streams through the solid rock; cascades and fountains illuminated by the sunlight; deep pools formed by the plunging waters; gigantic polished boul ders lying athwart the current; and, when the impetus of its fall is spent, a gentle stream slowly meandering through the lower glen till it reaches the open sea.'

As these glens are among the best known and best loved of the attractions of the Island it may not be out of place to express here the hope that they will not again be allowed to become the subject of the commercialism which desecrated one or two of the best of them in pre-war days. On the other hand, it has to be remembered that it costs money to maintain them in proper order, as anyone who saw them during the neglectful war years will agree. Paths have to be made up and cleared of fallen trees, bridges and banks kept in repair, so that a small admission fee is justified in the case of those which remain in private hands. Perhaps the ideal would be for some such body as the National Trust to undertake their control and upkeep.

It is desirable to say something of the people of the Island, with particular reference to those of the counryside likely to be met with by our walker in the course of his wanderings.

It need hardly be emphasised that if a farmer be encountered, especially on what is in all probability his own property, he will be much more likely to respond favourably to an approach which is courteous. Like most other human beings he is almost certain to be allergic to types who try to take a rise out of him. Like farmers in all lands he abominates people who break down his fences and leave open his gates behind them.

The Islanders as a whole are quiet and urbane, and their hospitality is warm. With every justification they have a first-class opinion of their tiny homeland in all its aspects, and especially are they proud of its contribution to the war effort. I have heard it claimed that a larger proportion of its male population saw active service during the war than in any other section of the British Isles. They are not above poking a little mild fun at their own institutions but if any facetious remarks are to be made about the Isle of Man they have a prejudice in favour of making them themselves. So avoid satirical comment, even about the railways. You are not likely to say anything about them which has not been said before.

No conspectus of the Island, however brief, would be complete without a reference to the Manx Arms and to the Manx cat which, with the Great Wheel (dealt with in the walks in the neighbourhood of Laxey) are among the features for which the Island is best known to the world at large.

The famous Three Legs of Man with their motto Quocunque jeceris Stabit or 'Be thrown as I may, I stand' date back to the thirteenth century when the Island was ceded to Scotland, but it may be that the symbol really originated in Sicily, where the form of the Three Legs joined by the Sun Disc (in the Sicilian version) goes back to about 300 B.C.

The Manx cat or 'stubbin' as it is known locally is to be seen about in fair numbers. To the writer its most remarkable feature is not so much the absence of a tail for which it is renowned as the length of its hindquarters and legs which gives it a slightly uncanny general appearance. This lends colour to one of the theories about its origin, namely that it owes its inception to a cross, on the Calf of Man, between a cat and a rabbit. It may be a coincidence that there has also been in the Island a breed of tail-less sheep.

The Island has its own language and this was within living memory spoken by thousands of its inhabitants. Nowadays it survives al most exclusively in books and in place-names, including their prefixes. Among these is Balla, Celtic in origin, which preceeds the name of so many of the farmhouses and means 'home stead'. And then there is Sliew coming in front of the names of mountains, once again Celtic, as evidenced by its near relation Sheve in Eire. Apart from this the visitor is likely to hear Manx spoken only as part of the 1,000 year-old ritual on Tynwald Hill when the titles of the laws passed during the preceding year are proclaimed in that language, and when, occasionally, he will join in a toast to Ellan Vannin, which is Manx for the Isle of Man.

As regards accommodation, I have no hesitation in saying that, like for like, this is rather cheaper, or, as I would prefer to put it, is 'better value' than in most other parts of the British Isles. There is more than one reason for this. Much experience and tremendous competition have combined to fuse the catering industry into a high state of efficiency. The lower income tax on the Isle of Man has its reflection on prices generally. There is the proximity of sea-foods, to say nothing of farm produce. It would be contrary to policy to make specific recommendations in this guide, but full information on this and, indeed, on all other subjects of interest to the holiday-maker, such as golf, fishing etc., can be obtained on enquiry of the Secretary, Isle of Man Information Bureau, Douglas, Isle of Man. Where a particular resort is in mind a letter to the Town Clerk will achieve the same result. A stamped addressed envelope for the reply should of course be enclosed.

As regards the means of getting to and from the Island, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company have been carrying the masses backward and forward in their thousands, in one or other of their excellent fast steamers for the past 100 years. And there are other steamship lines which have done the same.

More recently, however, the air has come into the picture, and the English Division of the British European Airways is now flying visitors over by several services daily, the journey occupying but a comfortable hour. Accommodation on these services is nearly al ways severely taxed and the prudent will make sure of a seat by booking a passage well in advance, but it can be but a question of time before sufficient aircraft are available to provide room for thousands of passengers where at present they are numbered only in. hundreds. The last time I visited the Island I left Croydon Airport in soaking rain at nine forty-five a.m. In a few minutes we were 5,000 feet up enjoying bright sunshine above a sea of clouds which extended, unbroken, all the way to Liverpool. I was in Douglas for lunch whereas the same journey by train and boat would have occupied the best part of two days.

It is fitting that this preface to a guide for walkers should conclude with some account of the greatest of all walks on the Island, namely the Parish Walk. This is a foot-race during the course of which the competitors visit all seventeen of the Island parishes in turn, touch ing each parish church as it is arrived at—a truly noble test of endurance. The contest was first held in 1852 but the existing record was created by Colonel Anderson in 1864. The total distance is approximately eighty miles, and any walker who feels that the excursions now to be described are not sufficiently strenuous had better attempt the Island Walk and see if he can improve on Colonel Anderson's time of eighteen hours, thirty-four minutes.

Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2024