At risk of repeating myself, nothing could be further from the truth as I seem to be constantly finding new things to do and places that I have yet to visit and we have a wealth of venues to enjoy music, theatre and arts. Acting on a tip from a chum of mine (i.e. pinching the idea off his blog. Thanks Murray Lambden www.manxathletics.com) ) Irene and I set off for Santon Church.
Despite the fact that I have finished the Manx Telecom Parish Walk eight times, I have rarely ventured beyond the gates of many of them and to be truthful, even on this occasion with having done no research, I expected it to be a ten minute potter to the sea.
In fact, had we turned North East when we had the opportunity, this might have been the case but instead, we headed South and along a lane running almost parallel to the coastline.
It took us past Arragon Moar, a very strange modern, circular building, built by John Taylor, inventor and one of the owners of the local firm Strix which at one time was one of the World's biggest thermostat manufacturers, making them at several factories on the Island. Sadly like most of that type of industry, they are now being made in China. It has beautiful grounds and farmland, although we found the gateway to the house surprisingly understated.
Just past there, we met four other hikers who were somewhat sceptical about the claim in their guidebook that stated their entire circuit was only supposed to be 3 miles (5k.) It was a real shame they hadn't carried on just a little further because they missed some of the real highlights.
Eventually, you pick up the the Raad-ny-Foillan (Road of the Gull. the Island's 95 mile coastal footpath) though at this point it takes you along some very boggy paths where you have to traverse wooden planks to avoid being swallowed even after the long spell of dry weather.
This is a really beautiful area where you walk alongside the Santon burn which runs down to Cass-ny-Hawin an inlet much favoured by sunbathers when the weather is conducive.
From there the path follows the coast along to Port Soldrick and Jackdaw Cave which was much utilised by the Manx Running Trade (smugglers) of yesteryear. I believe you can actually sail into the cave and there is a hole in the roof where you can drag your illicit cargo.
The bird life should be amazing and there are promises of choughs, fulmars and cormorants in the guide book, though we were a little disappointed with the numbers and apart from the latter we do have to profess more than a little ignorance. We have actually bought a book but we never seem to have it with us. Like me the feathered population must have winged it for the day.
Confession time: It was the day after the Parish Walk and as I intimated earlier, we had only expected a gentle saunter, so by this stage, we were already late for our rendez-vous at the Woodie (The Woodburn Hotel to give it its official and overly grand title) to hear the tales of 'daring do' from our walking chums, so we ran the gauntlet of flies and marshland with a 'Michael Special Shortcut' across the fields.
Had we more time, we would probably have taken the route displayed in the 'Isle of Man - A Walkers Guide' by Terry Marsh to which I have provided the link below and carried on to Port Grenaugh which is another picturesque little bay. There is now little trace of the chalets that were there in the 1970s.
http://books.google.com/books?id=CKvm5ffThWAC&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=walk+port+soldrick+port+grenaugh&source=bl&ots=CUeoc7gmEU&sig=F4p9nbCDKBDPdx2ch0JdGIm-FFk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yqW6U-3oMcnD7AbalICgCQ&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=walk%20port%20soldrick%20port%20grenaugh&f=false
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