The Tuesday U3A Walk – Eary Cushlin, Round Table, Cronk Ny Arrey Laa

What a wonderful day we had. Superb views, superb company and wall-to-wall sunshine. I have described this walk in detail on a number of occasions so today, I shall simply tell you some interesting facts that I related to the walkers en route.

The day started out not quite as planned as the Midweek Muckers (Manx Wildlife Trust’s sturdy volunteers) had taken up all the car parking spaces. This meant that we had to park at the far end of the track, but in reality this turned out to be an asset not an inconvenience, as we got all the track walking out of the way at the start. We were only 7 in number. A couple of people didn’t turn up, but I know that some of the regulars felt this particular jaunt would be a challenging step too many for them.

We set off down the Glen Rushen valley, stopping at the first tholtan (Thallaquaine, Claughbane). This is where I delivered my first interesting tale. But first, what a stunning location. It is set high up on the northerly slopes of Glen Rushen and has panoramic views of South Barrule and the moorland plateau. There is another tholtan in full view of Claughane, and the story involves both homesteads in the year 1906. Claugbane farmer and butcher, Robert Clarke, agreed to keep a light shining in his farmhouse all night and every day in case marauders came and he needed help. The light shone brightly for many a day, until one day, William Carran looked up from his farm across the Glen and noticed the light had gone out. Donning his overcoat and boots, he trudged off down the ‘main road’, crossed the river and climbed up the slopes on the other side until he reached the cottage. He knocked on the door – “Anyone there?”……. No answer. He tentatively pushed open the door to see everything exactly as it should be. Dishes on the side, clothes in the cupboard, furniture where it should be, but no people, not one. As he turned to leave, he spotted on the sideboard a slip of paper. Taking it to the light, he read “Gone to America”. The intrigue continues as a report I read states that not only Robert Clarke emigrated but also “Mrs. Christian, her son and daughter from Peel, gone to Ohio, Cleveland”. Do you think they eloped?

This set the scene nicely for the next stage of our walk to the other Tholtan on the other side of the river. This large farmstead has a rich history, but few details until 1820, when it is cited that the owner was Joseph Faulder. It is now called Carran’s Farm, but it is thought it had previously been called Glen Rushen Farm. In 1871 he put it (and Thallaquaine) up for sale and William and Anne Carran eventually bought the 350 acres for £230. They had 8 children all living here! It is reported that only one remained in the area, Thomas Carran, and indeed he inherited it and farmed it until 1932. At this point it was sold to the Peel Water Company, who promptly put all the assets up for auction, including cattle, poultry, horses, sheep and all the farm machinery, including a turnip drill, rabbit lamp and double barrel gun. Why did the Water Board buy the property? That’s odd you might think? Not at all once you know that this area had been designated to be dammed and the Glen Maye river and valley would have been swallowed up by a reservoir. Thankfully, this never occurred and we are able to enjoy all the benefits of rambling freely in this beautiful area.

Carran’s Farm contains the house, with an extension of a scullery and parlour, several outbuildings, a toilet (I wouldn’t recommend trying it), a theshing wheel and gardens, now all overgrown or in a state of disrepair. With such a rich history you do feel this farm warrants renovation by Manx National Heritage. There are many many similar tholtans on this section of the walk, as this was the ‘main road’ at the time leading from Colby down to Glen Maye and would therefore have been a thriving thoroughfare 150 years ago. There was no route contouring South Barrule as there is today, and the windy coast road to Dalby did not exist either. As we trundled up the track, we realised what a tough life these people had. Yet the valley had a large population whereas today people living in these hills are sparse.

Reaching Round Table we stopped for lunch before enjoying a most beautiful amble across the moorland. The heather had sprung into life since I last came, and the sheep were keen to see us. Reaching the corner at the foot of Cronk Ny Arrey Laa, two walkers decided they had walked far enough and made their way downhill back to their cars. The rest of us continued to the top of Cronk Ny Arrey Laa, also called Cronk Ny Irree Lhaa. The first term means Hill of the Day Watch, associated with Viking Times; the other term means “Hill of the Rising Day” associated with the herring fishermen. We discussed whether we could see Anglesey in the distance. We could certainly see Black Combe on the outskirts of the Lake District, and the mountains of Snowdonia further south. To the west, the Irish Mountains of Mourne loomed large, along with more northerly parts of the Irish coastline. To the north, Scotland was just visible. We spent a relaxing few minutes chatting away and enjoying the views before descending down the precipitous coast path to Eary Cushlin, where we stopped again for another chat and we all lamented the fact that we wished it were a pub or a cafe rather than rental accommodation.

So that was our day. This is a fairly tiring walk, especially in hot weather, but worth every tired limb and sunkissed arms and face to be treated to such delights. The full walk was just under 7 miles with about 1200ft of ascent and a similar amount of descent.

Apologies for the lack of photos. I only took 2 today, the two sunny ones! 🙂

Dalby Mountain & Nature Reserve

At last I am back out walking. Both feet and ankles are behaving reasonably well, so I am looking forward to getting out and about in our fantastic countryside on a regular basis.

Today, I was really just wanting to check an alternative route across the moors for a route I am leading soon; and, I also wanted to do a recce for a large painting I am planning for the autumn. I started off at the big bend in the road between the Sloc and South Barrule at the foot of Cronk Ny Array Laa, and followed the farm track as far as Kerroodhoo plantation. That wasn’t actually the plan, but I missed my designated footpath as I was examining all the different styles and steps leading off Cronk Ny Array Laa on the opposite side of the track. Note to self, pay attention if you have a plan in mind!! Not to worry, I would just do it in reverse.

I carried on the farm track as far as the coast road to Dalby/Peel, turned left and took the first track immediately to the right. When I walked this a few weeks ago the orchids were still out but they had gone now. In their place there is knapweed and heart’s ease and smaller flowers such as eyebright. I took this path in order to find a good vantage point for my painting, as it is a little higher up than the path leading into Glen Rushen and would give a better aerial view. I stopped for 15 minutes and did a quick preliminary sketch, then decided to walk down to the other footpath. Only when I got there, there was a massive hedge that was impenetrable so having checked for alternatives I decided I had no choice but to go back to the top of the hill.

As usual, this is where my original plan and my impetuous nature were at odds with each other, so rather than return to my original route, I turned right onto the track only permitted for horses and motorbikes (though I am sure walkers are fine too), the one with numerous gates with fastenings that are easy to manipulate. This skirts just below the top of Dalby Mountain and provides excellent views to the north, west and south. Peel seemed just a stone’s throw away but in reality must be 4-5 miles. Scotland was clearly visible too. I eventually joined the path that goes from the road to Glen Maye and turned left onto this to retrace my steps back to Dalby Nature Reserve. I really enjoyed this part of the walk and I discovered another track that I would take another time, and another route for the U3A (down to Dalby/Niarbyl).

Reaching the nature reserve, I didn’t know whether the path across the moor would be well defined or a mass of heather and gorse, so I decided to walk on a compass bearing back to the track at Cronk Ny Array Laa. As it turned out, this was totally unnecessary, but it’s good to remind yourself of your skills every now and again. The moorland was full of Bog Asphodel in its yellow clothes, some beginning to look rather tatty as they turn brown towards the end of their life. The bell heather is coming out, and in places there was bog cotten too. If you take this path and are using a map, you will notice that the woodland on the left (looking south) adjacent to the reserve has been felled. However, at the corner, there is a large ladder stile over a wall, so if you have binoculars you can look out for this. This is more visible from the opposite direction as you are going slightly uphill this way round. On the other side of the wall, the path is less well marked but still easy to follow. There is more grass and less heather. There are waymarks although some have fallen down. There is a small area of bog, even in this very dry weather, and the sphagnum moss was having a field day just there. It is passable. I was only wearing strong walking trainers, not boots, and my shoes didn’t get too wet. However, I can imagine this could be very different in winter or if we have a lot of rain. My phone battery had run down by this point so there are no photos of this section of the walk. But the cover photo shows you the moorland very clearly.

After about half an hour I was back on the track, with the short climb back up to the car. This was a most enjoyable and unexpected walk, of about 5 miles (without my painting detour). The total ascent and descent was virtually identical at about 741 ft, but there is nothing strenuous about this at all. It is easy walking, and the views are tremendous. Of course, it is uneven underfoot, but nothing that most people could not manage. A good morning’s walk.

Eary Cushlin Round 23rd Nov 2021

If you only ever do one walk on this island, this is the one to do. There is nothing more beautiful and I never tire of it. There is no walk that offers such variety, with a valley walk, a moorland walk and a coastpath, with fine views to all aspects of the island. Yes, you can see the four nations from Snaefell but on a good day you can see all these from the top of Cronk ny Array Laa as well.

This is a very accessible walk with no steep climbs. The coastal footpath is very worn in places and therefore there are some claggy steps down that require careful attention, but it is all passable and if this does deter you, there is an alternative route back to the car park at Eary Cushlin.

The walk starts at the picturesque car park of Eary Cushlin, half a mile down the track from the main road. There is room for about 8 cars here, and if full, you can revert to the car park beside the road at Dalby Mountain. It really doesn’t matter as you either walk the track at the start or end of the walk. Crossing over the main Peel road we take the designated footpath that contours around the side of Dalby Mountain and through the forest before descending to the bridge over the Glen Rushen river. It is two miles from Eary Cushlin to the bridge. All along this route there are tremendous views of the valley, and at this time of year the colours are magnificent, especially the rust coloured bracken and the green spruces. Notice the lone erratic rock left in the valley from the ice age. In the distance South Barrule stands magnificent and there are views of the mines to the north and looking over Dalby Mountain site of special scientific interest (the largest peat bog on the island) Cronk Ny Array Laa competes for our attention. The footpath is straightforward, mostly grassy or soil. Towards the bridge it becomes a little steeper downhill but is easily manageable.

There wasn’t much water in the river today. Crossing over the bridge I followed the wide farmer’s track that ascends steadily but surely up to Round Table, passing a large tholtan which has the most spectacular views in each direction. I have been here many times but never taken the time to look around the tholtan. It has many interesting features and it also gives an opportunity for a coffee stop after the climb up the hill.

Continuing on the same track we go through the South Barrule plantation to meet the road junction from Peel / South Barrule / Colby. This makes a good lunch stop as there is a nice flat grassy area with views of both South Barrule and Cronk Ny Array Laa and the moorland in between. After lunch, we continue across the moor in a south westerly direction, which is mostly flat and is a good path. I am always surprised how long it takes to walk this as the destination looks so close. It is a minimum of 20 mins walk across the moor only to be thoroughly enjoyed. Every now and again you come across small clumps of quartz shining brightly against the black peat. The picture below shows the easy path over the moor.

Reaching the corner, the walk continues up to Cronk Ny Array Laa at 1567ft. Most of the uphill has now been completed, but if you are unsure of foot and don’t wish to do the craggy sods of downhill footpath on the coast path to Eary Cushlin you can take the track (it starts as a road) that has a smooth descent and takes you back to Eary Cushlin car park. You can see this track on the map just to the east of the 5 mile marker. However, if you do this you miss some of the finest views you can have on the island, so if it is a good day when you do this walk, I would strongly recommend this last section. It only adds on another half mile and a few hundred feet of ascent. It was cool, dull and slightly windy day when I did this walk, so gloves, hat and scarf were in order when I got to the top, but I have done this on warm days in bright sunlight and spent many moments scampering happily around the top of this peak and exploring…

Views from the top of Cronk Ny Array Laa

As it was, I quickly followed the coast path down the hillside, at all times admiring the extensive views to the north and west. The descent is a little steep in places and worn as I have said, and poles are very useful on this section for balancing as the steps down can sometimes be a good foot down, or more. It is possible to walk on the heather in places, but not recommended as you can’t see the dips and hollows very easily. It is a relatively short descent taking about 20 mins and once you reach the wall the path is more amenable going over the grassy terrain, where we treated to a surprise view of the Carnanes and the Calf in the distance. We join the footpath that leads to Lag Ny Keilly, a hermit’s ancient stronghold about half a mile down the path at the foot of Cronk Ny Array Laa. However, this walk does not visit this and I turned right and took the path to Eary Cushlin house, now self-catering accommodation. From here it is a very short walk back to the carpark. I can’t emphasies enough how beautiful are the views on this descent.

This is not a walk to be hurried. You do need to pay attention to where you are putting your feet and there are a couple of tholtans to visit, as well as spend time simply being and immersing yourself in this wonderful countryside. This 6.4 mile walk with 1293 ft ascent and 1227ft descent took me over 3 hours on my own, so I would recommend you treat this as a day walk and take your time. It is sensible to start fairly early to be assured of a space in the car park, but if you are unfortunate, there are other starting points, such as the lunch stop, or the track by Cronk Ny Array Laa. Enjoy 🙂