25 July continued: The entries below cover our two explorations on foot – Peel Castle and the Douglas Head Marine Drive. There was railway interest en route – remnant of the steam railway at Peel, and our steam-hauled journey from Douglas to port Soderick. Visit Peel to Port Soderick on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for the full(ish) story and photos.
Category: Photography
Just photos – no particular theme
Port Soderick to Douglas
25 July: Douglas Head Marine Drive – tramway no more
This standard-gauge (4′ 8½”) tramway closed immediately before the war in 1939, and never reopened. Providing a spectacular ride along the cliffs, the high-level route connected to sea level at either end using funiculars. Today we must use steps and feet… There’s a good road surface much of the way, though a short unstable central section is closed to vehicles, so there’s no through traffic, making for a quiet and most enjoyable walk.
Wikipedia: Douglas Southern Electric Tramway
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=236505&Y=473975&A=Y&Z=120
Day 2: Peel – the castle
25 July: The railway from Douglas to Peel closed 55 years ago. Can’t help thinking it would be a valuable part of the island’s transport infrastructure today (and a more relaxing journey that the bus…). Unlike Castletown’s Castle Rushen, Peel’s castle is a ruin – a spectacular one on its rocky perch above the sea, and great for an exploration on this fine sunny day.
Day 1: Manx Electric
24 July: After arriving at Douglas and getting to our hotel, a stroll along to Derby Castle is just what’s needed. Passing horse trams on the way, we’ll then watch the arrival and putting to bed of the trams on the Manx Electric Railway. Visit “Manx Electric: Douglas” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for more…
Manx variety
24-29 July: We arrived home yesterday evening after five nights in Douglas on the Isle of Man. There primarily for the railways and tramways, we intended to enjoy the island’s other attractions too, particularly some we missed on our last visit four years ago. It will take a little while to work through the hundreds of photos; in the meantime here’s a sample of some of the things we saw and did.
Ripening
The wheat and barley, the damsons, the lords and ladies – and the wild raspberries. There were only three or four, and they’d been eaten before I could get a photo…
View OS map in Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367470&Y=298250&A=Y&Z=120
Cound wandering
Up the lane to Harnage – and then it’s almost all paths and tracks in this interesting little area threaded by the surprisingly deep valley of Coundmoor Brook. The season’s first blackberries are ripening, there are fine apples near the ford and some good-sized puffballs beside the lane – reminders that, though it’s still July, autumn is little over a month away.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=356010&Y=304105&A=Y&Z=120
Dodging the showers at Dudmaston
Perfect choice – not a drop of rain, until we were half-way home in the car (it’s only about 10 miles away). Plenty of colour in the gardens, and in the various flying things – the camera caught a couple of damselflies, but the truly splendid dragonflies in the dingle just wouldn’t co-operate.
Vie OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=374425&Y=288752&A=Y&Z=115
A fine afternoon
Monday: just right for the walk up to Church Preen, along quiet lanes with great views. It’s a bit too breezy for the butterflies, though eventually a gatekeeper agrees to pose for us. Returning to the start, we’re looking out for a particular bush in the hedgerow, that had a good crop of wild gages a couple of years ago – ah yes, there it is. We’ll be back when they’re ripe!
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=354910&Y=298575&A=Y&Z=120
Later that day…
Saturday evening: it’s windy around Willey, but it should stay dry for an hour or so. The sun shines only briefly, and up Bould Lane the hedgerow vegetation is blowing around. A little later, now in the lee of the Shirlett woodlands, it’s calmer. Down by Lower Pool, first a wren and then a goldfinch make their presence known (along with the inevitable canada goose and woodpigeon (click the ‘play’ button below), and there are grey wagtails hopping about by the water’s edge
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367515&Y=298310&A=Y&Z=120
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