Beary Park – Gill's Isle of Man Walks

This is a delightful walk of contrasts. It begins with a 2 mile walk along the wooded river valley. For a small river, it makes a lot of noise, with tiny cascades and small waterfalls along its route, culminating in the dramatic, if relatively small waterfall deep in its heart.

The path has recently been upgraded. It is wide, open and mostly flat, but this does not detract from its beauty. To the right, the scenery is wild and majestic as it has ever been. At this time of year, there are many different shades of green, and a mix of leafy and bare trees. You will find a good deal of fungus if you go looking for it too.

On reaching the end of the Glen, you can either retrace your steps or continue on, which necessitates a short climb to take you almost to the top of the tree line. This is still an easy walk, with well-made steps and boardwalks over boggy bits. You then return to Glen Helen on the opposite side of the river, which is just as beautiful. Looking at a map there is an ancient keeill in the fields immediately above the footpath, but sadly, no way to reach it.

On nearing the end (or start) of the Glen, I maintained the high path when the path starts to drop down into the valley, but if you prefer you can take the lower path back to the glen entrance. The higher path takes you into the plantation. The easiest way to describe the next part is to say to ‘keep left’ and ‘keep climbing’, as the paths are indistinct and there are many variations, so you can basically pick your own way. It is a moderately steep climb and takes about 30 mins from where we enter the plantation. My aim was to reach the top where it meets the moorland. Once you reach the wall, you can follow the track without deviation and you suddenly find yourself leaving heavily wooded plantation behind you with extensive moorland (and views) in front of you. It may be a little boggy here in places, but nothing extreme.

Walking along the edge of the plantation you will spot some tracks leading over Beary Mountain. You often see bikers of all descriptions and today was no exception, although they took a different route from me and didn’t bother me. There is a clear junction, where you can turn left to head through moorland to Lhargee Ruy, continue straight on, which takes you down to Greeba Bridge or turn right along a stoney track to our high point for the day of just over 300 metres (about 1000ft) called Beary Park or Eairy Beg, depending on which map you are reading. This commands fine views in all directions, though it is more enclosed than other high points on the island.

To return to Glen Helen, continue on the same path in a westerly direction. Where there is a track and gate leading to the pylon, there is a direct path going into the plantation. There is another path, continuing alongside the plantation which is the one mentioned in the Warden’s Walk No 5, but today this was quite overgrown so I took the path going into the plantation.

Whichever way you go, the descent is steep in places on grassy, peaty tracks that in places are worn down by cycles and motorcycles. It is perfectly passable but you should take care as there are a number of tree roots that can be slippery. Walking poles and very definitely walking boots are recommended for this section. The path through the plantation is not always clear with several paths criss-crossing each other; if in doubt, keep moving downhill and slightly to the right. Eventually, all paths will meet up. The path I took lead me to Eary Veg tholtan. This was in use as recently at 1946. At the turn of the 20th Century farmer Billy Quirk lived here, with his 10 children. It is worth a nose around to remind yourself of the local history and how the landscape changes. The farm house was sold to the forestry commision in the late 40’s, early 50’s and the plantation of Sitka Spruce was created in 1959.

From here, it is just a short walk back to the car park. Depending on which route you take downhill, the whole route is a very enjoyable walk of around 4.5 miles with 1000ft of ascent.

You may want to watch another Ray Kelly’s youtube videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c-iaAK68aA

This was Day 2 with a difference, hence calling it ‘2 minus’ – the difference being I was unable to go with the group yesterday and decided that I would make up for it by doing two circular walks involving the same peaks over the next week. The bonus is that I had never walked from the starting point I chose, or been up Beary Mountain, or made my way up the skirt of Slieau Ruy, so lots of new things.

The weather was glorious warm sunshine, only the sun was not strong enough to push through the haze in the distance, so my photos are somewhat lacking. The atmosphere was wonderful and being on my own I could choose when and where to stop and I shall long remember my extended stop on the slopes of Slieau Ruy taking in the vistas, brushed by a gentle breeze.

I parked at Tynwald Mills car park (St. Johns) and started my ascent immediately on crossing the main road from St Johns to Kirk Michael. There are two options here. Either follow the signpost for horses or take the left turn through the woods, which theoretically at least was the actual path. It was a delightful walk through the woods until it petered out at the stream, which meant I had a mini adventure making my way through the undergrowth in the trees to get to the top path (the horse path). It was fun anyway.

This path is clearly a very old path and once you reach a certain point it contours around the midriff of Beary Park (the hill with the mast that you can see for miles). This path is very accessible but stony. The path on the map shows it continuing to join the lane from Greeba, but there is a very pleasant path left which takes you to the southern edge of the Beary Park plantation and eventually joins at the crossroads to Beary Mountain. I then went into the plantation to bag my first peak over 1000ft, being Beary Park itself. Last time I was here, a year ago, it was completely shrouded in mist so it was nice to have views this time. If you are new to the island, if you continue on this path it eventually takes you back down the hill to Glen Helen, a very pretty stream and waterfall.

I retraced my steps to the crossroads. I could see a clear path ahead leading onto Beary Mountain. Bear in mind that the paths on the ground do not necessarily match those on the map, so you need to keep an idea of where you are eventually heading. In my case, I hadn’t actually decided and I was quite happy mooching around on Beary Mountain enjoying the countryside. The plantations too do not look like their designated areas on the map either and they are a little misleading. I never did find the Cairn (not that I was actually looking for it) but I am certain I went over the highest point of Beary Mountain, so that is Peak No 2 for today. Not that it seemed like any kind of peak being largely flat, and as I looked back, Beary Park peak seemed clearly higher. Of course, it must be an illusion, but you can see for yourself what I mean.

I followed a path that lead southeastwards skirting the forest, which I presume is the Glion Gill plantation, climbed over a gate and followed a non-descript path to the lower saddle of Slieay Ruy. It is on this slope, which I took steadily as it was relatively steep for my legs at the moment, that I stopped to admire the view. It was so peaceful. I hadn’t seen a soul all day, and I watched the pippits hopping from heather to heather and the clouds skimming across the sky. Pure joy.

Once I met the official path I veered left to the trig point and cairn of Slieau Roy (479m). I thought about continuing but I decided Lhargee Yuy could be attained on my 2nd trip out from a different direction. I then retraced my steps and continued on to Greeba Mountain. This is typical peat moorland with little else to comment on, except the extensive views in all directions; but still it was hazy and unfortunately there would be no great views for me today. There is no footpath directly down the ridge here, so it is necessary to follow the very stoney trail to the edge of the forest to make the descent.

I was struck by the immediate change in colour, from the dull greens and browns of the moorland, to the vivid bright greens of the vegetation and trees. This is an easy walk down a well trodden path, although longer than I remembered it, it being more than a mile from Greeba Mountain to the bottom. As you descend you can appreciate the soft colours of the farmland and the undulations of the middle valley, separating the north and south of the island.

I had a choice at this point, whether to walk along the road or cross over and walk along the heritage trail. I opted for the former and was pleasantly surprised by the number of wild flowers growing on the wayside, which made up for the constant noise of the traffic! Another time, I would probably take the heritage trail, but as my route was northwards at Ballacraine, it seemed sensible to keep things simple. However, it was over 2 miles on road. It’s worth keeping in mind that there are buses along this route so if you have had enough of walking, you can wait for a bus instead of taking either route.

I really enjoyed the peace and quiet of this walk, and of course the miles and miles of views in all directions. I only saw a few pedal bikers in the distance and one family just before I hit the main road. For four hours I had seen no-one at all. Bliss. I finish this blog with some photos of the wildflowers I came across, and a final look back at one of the hills: