Last Sunday was my first full day off for a while, so although we had a family BBQ with my sister and some visiting relatives planned for the afternoon, we wanted to ensure that we made full use of it especially with the decent weather forecast.
The plan this time was to walk up Bradda Head, Bradda Hill and down to Fleshwick before coming back to Port Erin to complete the circle.
Firstly, having driven up to the Glen, we walked past the café and along the sea side of the path. There are actually quite a few different ways to access Milner's Tower which was built in the shape of a lock in honour of Liverpool safe maker and locksmith, William Milner who was a great benefactor to the village.
I had always understood the Village Commissioners had ran out of money and he had had to finish the project himself but in researching for this blog, I found that it was supposed to have been a secret but he found out and insisted that he help with the finance but I don't know which is true.
A Welbeck connection is that a descendant, Ray Milner stayed in the Hotel in the 1990s when he brought cricket team to the Island.
This section of the journey took us about half an hour and you can climb up the 40 steps to the top and the view is tremendous. There is much evidence of disused mines in the area, as well as a World War Two gun emplacement.
If you thought this was the end of the ascent, you will be sadly mistaken as it is quite a hike up to the cairn which marks the top of Bradda Hill. The first time that Irene and I came up this route, very inexperienced, it was in November and we had packed the kids off to my mother and father in an attempt to walk to Dalby where there used to be a hotel called the Ballacallin.
Our guide book of the Raad-ny-Foillan (literally Road of the Gull or the Coastal Path) told us our trip encompassed three peaks, our current pace of being, Lhiattee Ny Beinnee, and Cronk Ny Arrey Laa. Of course with it being deep Autumn in the Island, the weather had gradually worsened on the way down and by the time we passed Milners Tower we couldn't even see the sheer drops to our left and the paths became streams.
We became totally disorientated and by the time we found the stack of stones, we thought we had completed the three peaks and were nearly at our destination. Therefore, it came as a complete shock as we descended to find that we had only reached Fleshwick, barely a 30 minute walk from Port Erin. |Needless to say after becoming very cold eating our packed lunch on the bench looking at the sea, we abandoned trying to do the other two hills, found a pub for a couple of hot whiskeys and finished our journey by bus.
The drop down to sea level is very steep, so you need a certain degree of fitness, not to mention strength and flexibility for this walk. Fleshwick bay itself is very peaceful and if you are lucky, basking sharks will come in quite close (as they do in Port Erin Bay itself from time to time.)
On the way back to the village, you walk back along the road for a little while and if you take the first footpath on the right you miss out the hill but also on a very interesting garden obviously tended by someone with much experience in topiary and collecting strange artefacts.
Either way, after a short time, you end up in the same place back on to tarmac and the final mile or so takes you past some fine houses, though it is possible to cut across the golf course. One of the poorer aspects of walking on the Island is that unfortunately, very few of the public footpaths actually inform you of their destination.
The round trip took us about an hour and a half, though you may be better allowing a little more time to stop and enjoy the views. Luckily, the new Bradda Glen Café has just re-opened and there cannot be many more wonderful places in the World to sit outside on a sunny day. Our lunch wasn't perfect but allowances would probably have to be made for it being their first day.
No comments:
Post a Comment