Walking on the Isle of Man. Terry Marsh

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Getting about

      By car or motor bike

      Driving around the island is generally relaxed and enjoyable. Typical A- and B-roads, together with country lanes, prevail. Speed limits vary across the island, and the best advice is to stay below 30mph in built-up areas and 50mph elsewhere.

      Many of the roads and lanes are narrow and twisting, and must be negotiated with care. It is an offence, as it is in the UK, to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving. Seatbelt laws apply on the island as they do throughout the UK. All vehicles must be insured and you should have your driving licence with you. Although not mandatory, it’s advisable to have vehicle breakdown cover, and a first aid kit, warning triangle and fire extinguisher.

      Parking discs, available free from a number of locations, including the Sea Terminal Building, are required in the larger towns and villages. Disc parking zones, which are clearly signed, range from 15 minutes to two hours. Trailer caravans are not permitted on the island, but tenting campers and self-propelled motor caravans are welcome.

      Because of the wide range of events held on the island each year, there are times when many of the roads will be closed for short periods. Information about road closures and events can be obtained from the Welcome Centre at the Sea Terminal Building.

      Steam train

      Running in the summer season (Easter to September) from Douglas to Port Erin, the steam train takes about 1 hour for the journey, with several stations to stop off on the way. Tickets are available from the main stations. Douglas Station is about 10 minutes’ walk from the Sea Terminal.

      Horse-drawn tram

      The horse-drawn trams complete a circuit along Douglas promenade, from outside the Sea Terminal to Derby Castle at the opposite end of the promenade. These operate during the summer season only. Travel time is approximately 30 minutes each way. Tickets can be purchased on board.

      Electric train

      The Manx Electric Railway operates all year round, except Christmas week, from Douglas promenade (Derby Castle) all the way to Laxey. You then have a choice to continue to Ramsey or (summer only) take the alternative route up Snaefell on the Snaefell Mountain Railway branch line.

      The time to Laxey is about 30 minutes. From there to Ramsey is about the same, and the trip to the summit of Snaefell takes about 40 minutes.

      Bus

      A national bus service operates throughout the island, connecting all the towns, villages and district areas. The frequency of the different services depends very much on the nature of the destination and the departure points. Prices are relatively cheap and multi-day passes can be purchased. Isle of Man resident OAPs travel for free – but there are no concessions for visiting pensioners.

      Taxi

      There are taxi ranks in all the main urban centres.

      Car hire

      Hire cars are available at the Sea Terminal, the airport terminal, delivered to your hotel or picked up at certain garages. Booking is advised. You will need to be 21 or over, have a valid driving licence and possibly your passport.

Accommodation

      There is a wide range of excellent accommodation, from prime hotels to inexpensive B&Bs and self-catering properties right across the island, though there are no hostels as such, and few campsites. All the walks in this book were completed from bases at Orrisdale (Kirk Michael) and Colby Glen (First edition), and Crosby (Second edition), but the island’s road and public transport network is such that it matters not which town or village is used.

      Looking across the bay to Bradda Hill (Walk 30)

Walking and access

      The scope for walking on the island is considerable, and with a very distinctive flavour. Being an island, and a smallish one at that, many walks touch upon the coastline at some point, and it is almost true to say that on every walk in this book you can see the sea at some stage. It is equally valid that with few exceptions all the footpaths are well signed, whether it is for the normal paths or one (or more) of the long- and middle-distance trails that criss-cross the island.

      There is limited opportunity for walks in excess of, say, 16km (10 miles), though the diligent person can string together quite a few smaller walks to make something more demanding. So, the emphasis here is on shorter walks, suitable for half days, or for families. More committed walkers will still find they can spend long days crossing the hills that form the central spine of the island, but the number of opportunities to do so is limited. Even so, you can come here for a month and still follow a new walk every day.

      And being so close to the sea produces its own brand of weather conditions for the walker to contend with – from hot balmy days to real howlers on the tops. Sea mist can be quite a problem, too, so if you can’t navigate in poor visibility, it would be a good idea to wait for a clear day.

      As in the UK great swathes of the Isle of Man are open access, here known as ‘Public Ramblage’. In essence this means there is a freedom to roam at will. Large parts of the high ground fall within this definition. Other areas hold ‘Scenic Significance’ or are held by the Manx National Trust or Manx National Heritage, and here access is generally not a problem, though there may be local restrictions.

      Elsewhere, the island has 17 National Glens, maintained and preserved by the Forestry Department, because it is largely in the glens that the island’s main areas of tree cover are to be found. There are two types of glen, coastal and mountain. The coastal glens – like Glen Maye, Groudle Glen, Glen Wyllin and Dhoon Glen – often lead down to a beach, while the mountain glens – Sulby, Glen Mooar, Colby Glen – have splendid streams, waterfalls and pools.

      Spread across the island is a network of ‘Greenway Roads’ and ‘Green Lanes’. A Green Lane is an unsurfaced road through the countryside for pedestrians, 4x4s, motorcycles, mountain bikes and horses, similar to a Byway Open to All Traffic in England. Some are ‘Greenway Roads’ which have restrictions. On Green Lanes, vehicle users should give way to pedestrians and horse riders, and be aware that farm animals may be in the road at any time.

Mapping

      One of the problems, probably the only significant problem, for walkers visiting the island is the mapping. The British Ordnance Survey produces a single Landranger map (Sheet 95), at a scale of 1:50,000, and experienced walkers will find this adequate. But, at the time of writing the first edition, there was no corresponding larger scale OS map. What existed was a two-sheet 1:25,000 Outdoor Leisure Map produced by the Isle of Man by reducing old six-inch maps. The result was often text too small to read with the naked eye, although rights of way were clearly depicted. This has been replaced by a more modern map which is a little better in this respect. A modern 1:30,000 map, produced by Harvey Maps, is probably the best map for walkers.

Using this guide

      Walking across Maughold Brooghs (Walk 10)

      The walks range across the whole island and are grouped, roughly equally, North or South, on no stronger relationship than that they have with the A1 Douglas to Peel road. There is no other geographical significance to the grouping.

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