Isle of Man - more information on walking holidays in the island
The Isle of Man is now a place to enjoy walking holidays, play golf, retire, or watch motorbikes in the TT Races. However, the island used to attract a lot of British tourists in the days of traditional seaside holidays, but those days are long gone. It seems to be more of a place to retire to, or to use as a tax haven, as it’s not a part of the United Kingdom or the EU. In other respects it seems like a chunk of the north of England deposited in the Irish Sea. There are ferries coming in to the main town of Douglas from Heysham, Liverpool, Dublin and Belfast. However the roads are much quieter than on the mainland, and it’s mostly pastoral countryside with small towns and villages spread around the coast.
One of the features to have survived from the tourism heyday is the collection of railways of different sorts on the eastern side of the island. The Isle of Man Steam Railway runs south-west from Douglas to Castletown and Port Erin. From the other end of the promenade in Douglas, the Manx Electric Railway runs north along the top of the cliffs to Laxey and Ramsey. There are even horse-drawn trams connecting the two little railway stations! At Laxey, the Snaefell Mountain Railway climbs up through Laxey Glen, past the famous Laxey Wheel, all the way to the top of Snaefell. Using the railway, we did get to the highest point on the island but it was covered in thick mist (until we had descended again, when we could look back and see the top!)
The rolling stock of these trains dates from Victorian times so it’s quite an experience to travel on them, and you can get an inclusive ticket that lets you link them up. They also enable you to go from one Glen walk to another, as you will see from the Ballaglass Glen story.
Whilst we were there, yet another little railway was operating in Groudle Glen just about a mile outside Douglas, along the coast to the north. There was a special weekend celebration of the 100th birthday of the railway’s steam locomotive the “Polar Bear”, and some of our group went along for the ride.
It’s not a big island – about 50 km (31 miles) from the north-eastern tip to the south-west, and about 18 km (11 miles) from Douglas across to Peel on the west coast. You can easily see around the whole island in a few days’ holiday.
More walking information gleaned from the 2005 What’s On guide to events and attractions
The small size of the island means that a tremendous variety of scenery and wildlife can be enjoyed in a short distance, and walking is the best way to appreciate it.
The coastal heritage trail is called the Raad ny Foillan (Road of the Gull) and is approximately 90 miles (145 kilometres) long. It is waymarked with the silhouette of a gull. The complete route takes about 4 days to complete, but can be split into sections.
There’s another (fairly) long distance hiking route called Bayr ny Skeddan – the Herring Road – which is about 14 miles (23 kilometres) long, following the route once taken by local fishermen travelling between Castletown and Peel.
A third long distance route was established in 1979 to mark the Millennium of the Manx Parliament. The Millennium Way runs for 28 miles from the western outskirts of Ramsay, a mile from Parliament Square, down to the former capital of Castletown. Fit and enthusiastic hikers can complete it in one day, but it can be enjoyed at a more relaxing pace over two or three days. It stretches across open hillside through the centre of the island, across the western flank of Snaefell and other hills, then uses some stretches of quiet country roads down to St Mark’s, before crossing fields on the way to Castletown.
Another Heritage Trail follows a disused railway line from the Quarterbridge in the west of Douglas, across to Peel along a winding valley.
As well as all these longer hiking trails, there are themed circular walks around Douglas, Peel, Laxey and Port St Mary. At the flatter northern tip of the island, the Ayres nature reserve has a nature trail and visitor centre, allowing visitors to see wildlife habitats that are different from those elsewhere on the island. Just outside Ramsey, to the south, is Ballure Reservoir and Glen, with a variety of wildlife habitats and a network of paths to enjoy.
The National Glens are perhaps the best known locations for short walks, and these are described in more detail in the story about Ballaglass Glen and Doon Glen.
Strangely, this guidebook didn’t even mention Snaefell as a hiking objective, perhaps because most visitors take the easy way up on the mountain railway. However, it can be climbed via a steep but short track from the Bungalow Station at the junction of the A14 and A18 roads – a legitimate starting point involving just 200 metres of ascent (650 feet) to attain a summit of 621m (2000 feet). For the purist, there is a longer route climbing almost the full height, from Laxey or Baldrine. It looks about 5 and a half miles from Baldrine, using minor public roads in places during the first half of the walk. You could easily start the walk from there, and finish it at Laxey, using the railway to travel there and back.
We did all get to the top of Snaefell on the mountain railway, but only saw the inside of a cloud. As the train took us gently back down into Laxey Glen, we looked back up and saw the summit appearing in sunshine – very annoying! My two brothers left the island later than we did, and managed to walk to the top in fine weather – even more annoying!!
Contributed by: Andrew Llanwarne - April 2006
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