Port Erin – Colby Circular: 8 miles

After 9 weeks in almost permanent solitary confinement, I decided to venture further than Shoprite today. It was a mild but very breezy day and I needed to do a house visit to Colby. This provided the perfect reason to get myself off my bum and do some exercise.

I walked across the fields to Four Roads, then up Church Road to Ballachurry Nature Reserve, where I dropped in for a short visit. As I wound my way along the neatly manicured paths I suddenly heard a screech of a mother bird and two little fluffy chicks rapidly made their retreat into the undergrowth. I think they were pheasant chicks but I’m not awfully sure. They were very cute. They hid too well for me to snap them though.

Purple Iris at Ballachurry — Purple Iris

I followed the roads up to the Levels where I took a left turn up the hill. This begins as a road to various small settlements and eventually peters out at a farm. I turned right just before this point and passed an old chapel currently being renovated before meeting another lane, where I turned briefly left and then took a right footpath to Colby which I haven’t taken in 6 years of living here. There is sense of openness here. It is a strange combination of feeling as if you are in the middle of Derbyshire and yet still being able to see the sea. I really enjoyed watching the swathes of grass as they blew in the wind. I did take some video to show you, but WordPress doesn’t permit it 😦

From the countryside one enters the pretty village of Colby. Having taken this particular path I then had to follow the main road north for a short distance to go into Colby Glen itself. This lovely glen never disappoints, no matter what time of year, no matter what the weather. I thought there might be more people there now that our restrictions on the Isle of Man have been lifted to such an extent, but I only saw a couple of young people and a small gathering (up to 10 now permitted here) having a picnic in the glen.

Colby Glen 1 — First Glimpse of Colby River

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Then it was back down into Colby itself and my visit to the house I look after for my friend. I was somewhat surprised to see a boat on the drive, but this mystery was resolved after I spoke to the neighbour who said he was cheekily borrowing the drive. With our borders being closed, the owners could not travel to the island. Mm, they could have asked the owners first, but hey ho, it doesn’t really matter.

The afternoon warmed up nicely and the sun shone, but my goodness did the breeze blow – in my face, all the way back to Port Erin. By and large I won’t bother you with this part of my walk as I have commented on this section several times before, but I did like the sheep and the skyline of trees and the cows in the foreground as I made my way home. The river Colby is a delight to follow all the way to the sea. It is unspoilt and uninterrupted and you have the feeling that you are following in many people’s footsteps over centuries.

I will let the photos tell you anything else you may wish to know.

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And finally, here is the route I took. It is an easy route, on either roads or easy tracks.

My Local Wilderness – 7th May 2020

This was the longest walk I have done since lockdown, and surprisingly the most sociable. It being a warm, sunny day my intention was to walk down to Gansey, have a stroll on the beach and continue to Port St Mary. It started out that way, but as I was walking through Port Erin I saw one of my friends who, having reached the ripe old age of ‘over 70′, (and therefore considered vulnerable) was working in her front garden, so an impromptu visit was on the cards now that we are able to say’ hello’ from a distance :-). So we had a nice natter and I carried on my walk, down the one-way system, passing the tip with no queues, down to the Bay.

The tide was only just going out, but it was enough for me to able to stretch my legs along the sand as far as the Shore Hotel. This is where I had planned to turn back, but an idea came into my head that the butterflies might be out in my little wilderness just the other side of Kentraugh House, so my plans changed and within minutes I was engulfed by natural wildlife, including a lot of midges and insects and a few butterflies. On the way down the lane, I spied Kentraugh’s wonderful woodland through a keyhole in a gate, full of wild garlic garlic and ultimate charm.

In the reserve there were plenty of male orange tips sipping nectar from the various low growing plants, but the brightly coloured females were constantly on the go and never stopped for one minute – seems like an allegory for all male/female relationships doesn’t it!! The birds were tweeting in the shrubbery and I was able to go off piste and visit areas I had never visited before. Later in the year the grass grows thick and fast and many parts become impenetrable. In the featured photo you can see the yellow flags in the foreground and the village in the distance, this being the boundary of the wilderness.

See how well the butterfly is camouflaged. It looks just like a part of the flower! From here, it was a walk around the other side of Kentraugh House and back along the beach to Gansey. I passed these reeds to the right and I just loved the swirling shapes they made.

I have another friend who lives in this stunning location at Gansey, in a house overlooking the beach. She too is one of these so-called ‘vulnerable’ people, so I took a chance and rang the doorbell, or more accurately knocked the knocker to say ‘hello’. I was greeted warmly and invited into the garden for tea, at a social distance of course. How could I refuse? This is the first time since March 20th that I have shared a cup of tea with anyone, and it was very welcome. I had my hand sanitizer, so I used that as I left.

I walked around Gansey Point looking out for people who might stray into my way on the narrow path, but there were few people about, just a few dogs and their owners. On the beach I did meet a man having a run with his two children who said he was then going to have a swim. Very impressive. I didn’t stop in Port St Mary as I wanted to get home to listen to the Press Briefings, Isle of Man style. This is the first day I haven’t listened to the ‘live’ version, but I managed to catch up later on and hear about the small but significant changes that are happening to our easing of our lockdown.

Leaving Port St Mary, I came across another friend pulling up the wild leeks which have run rampant in her splendid, wooded front garden. I hadn’t seen this friend for a very long time, and it was nice to catch up at a social distance. From there, it was a short walk back home.

Total distance: just under 6 miles; Ascent 259 ft; Descent 223 ft, including scrambling over the boulders to the beach. I do wish whoever placed the (massive) boulders as sea defences had thought that people need to be able to get to the beach from the steps without having to negotiate these whoppers.

I finish with a short slideshow of other beauties in the landscape.

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Port Erin Beach and Athol Glen 5th May 2020

If ever there was a short walk, this is it! My customary stroll down to the village and then on to the beach. I have been asked for some ‘beach photos’ so after my shop I wandered down to see what was in store on the beach today. First though, a snapshot of life in lockdown. It was just after 1.30pm on a debatably warm, but definitely sunny Tuesday afternoon. Normally, Port Erin would be bustling with people and cars would be parked on every available square inch of kerbside. Not today. This is what lockdown looks like when it works properly, just the standard 2 metre depth queue for the Coop, a lone walker, and next to no cars. By the time I got there, the queue had developed to a massive three people and meant a wait of about 10 minutes to do my tiddly shop for eggs and milk.

Port Erin in Stage 2 — *Port Erin in Lockdown*

After that, I continued my solitary walk to the cliff top, where a man was enjoying a bit of relaxation on the bench at the top, where the featured photo was taken. I took the stepped path down to the bottom lane in the centre of the village, where I joined the beach passing by a young child, no more than 2 or 3 on the final section. As I walked passed her, her mum apologised for her young child not understanding social distancing.

You can tell it has been a little windy as the sand had carved out mini layers of sand and rocks. There were surprisingly few people on the beach given that the schools are not back yet and most people are working from home. I had it largely to myself. It was bright and clear today and very pleasant. There was even one brave soul swimming in the water. No danger of contracting Covid-19 there at least!

I walked along the edge of the sea and joined the path at St Catherine’s Well, and followed the lane back to the street corner and more importantly to the ice-cream parlour. I hadn’t planned a treat for myself but it seems rude not to take advantage of an open shop selling such niceties, especially when you aren’t expecting it to be open. In I went and had a pleasant conversation with the owner and we discussed the plight of Davisons in Peel, who had found unwanted fame on social network by someone posting a photo of a long queue and no-one social distancing. It turns out that Davisons had been targeted and the owner had had his tyres slashed – for opening the ice cream parlour!? – and the photo had been taken from such an angle to minimise the distance between people in the queue! It seems some people will find something wrong with anything. I will issue a word of caution as this is simply what I was told and I have no other evidence for or against this point of view.

I enjoyed my raspberry ripple ice-cream as I walked back through Athol Glen which is looking very attractive. A bit of rain wouldn’t go amiss to freshen everything up, but it was doing a pretty good job without it, and the birds were singing in the trees and telling us that life will go on and nothing really changes, so stop worrying and enjoy life.

I finish with a few photos from Athol Glen. I hope to travel up north (if we are allowed to travel, I’m not quite sure). We are now allowed to make unnecessary journeys but I think this is meant to apply to close to home, but I really could do with some air in my lungs. I would really like to walk along the miles of beach around Kirk Michael and tomorrow it is due to be warm and sunny, with less wind than today. I am enjoying it already…..

The distance is immaterial, as you will not be walking from my house. But if you were to park in Port Erin, the whole distance would be no more than 1 mile, with ascent and descent up and down the cliff of 100 feet, And you can follow a gentle road up and down if you don’t like steps. Just lovely to have all this on my doorstep. Aren’t I the lucky one!

Silverdale Glen 2nd May 2020

At last! A few restrictions have been lifted and we can now enjoy limitless hours of solitary entertainment walking along our wonderful riverbanks, through our forests or along green byways. Psychologically I feel liberated, and no longer feel that eyes are watching me as if I am a criminal when I walk down the road.

After potting up more seedlings and planting more seeds, the warm sunny weather drew me out to go further afield. One of my boys had sent me a heart-warming photograph of a forest of bluebells that he had encountered on his daily Derbyshire walk. Spurred on by his thoughtful gift, I was prompted to drive to Silverdale Glen where I hoped the ramsons and bluebells would be flowering. And indeed they were, though perhaps not quite as abundantly as in previous years maybe due to the exceptionally dry weather we have had over the last month and they certainly weren’t as pungent as they usually are in most places.

I parked in the top car park and walked down the footpath to where the path divides. To the right the boating lake and to the left the wilder side of the glen with the leat running north to south to feed the mill at the lake. This was marked no access but I knew this would where the ramsons and bluebells would be standing at their most proud so I flouted the footpath closed sign for the sake of getting photographs.

The reason for the closure became obvious as the bridge has been taken down and a low one put in its place. Whether it is to remain like this I don’t know, but it would allow pedestrians and wheelchairs access to the other side of the river. It was so quiet down there and the sunlight darted about about the trees and vegetation. It was like being in a fairies’ playground.

There were a few people around the boating lake, some with their children at the play area but this place usually bustling with activity on fine days was a shadow of itself, but still very lovely. I walked to the old Mill and crossed the road and walked up the lane to go to the other man-made lake where there were ducks chasing each other in the water. I was surprised to see butterflies, given that it is so early in May. I saw male orange-tips flittering about never stopping long enough for me to snap them, and what I think is a speckled wood, judging by its eye on the underside.

There were numerous spring flowers lining the paths and riverbed, some of which I have included in the slide show, along with the butterflies and ducks!

I continued down to Ballasalla, passing Abbotswood and saying a little prayer for all those struggling with Covid-19 and the key workers there cleaning up the nursing home to make it safe again for the residents to return. On to the bridge and Rushen Abbey, then following the river north back to the Mill. I hardly saw a soul in the 75 mins I was out.

So, I finish my ramble with a slideshow of the flowers I enjoyed and the interesting trees with the unusual shapes they throw, often looking like hands or monsters creeping over the ground.

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Distance: 2.3 miles; 121 ft ascent! 🙂

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

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