This is perhaps the finest hill walk on the Isle of Man – a distinct ridge which, whilst never approaching what could be called narrow, still offers some sense of airiness. In winter I have seen fantastic wind sculptures in the snow and almost convinced myself of a small cornice! There are some wintery photos at the end of this post to contrast with the mostly sunny September day of my most recent visit.

Starting at the Hibernian road at the foot of the craggy east face of North Barrule, this route climbs through very rough and steep rock, heather, grass and bilberry to gain the ‘nose’ and then joins a path to the summit. The ridge is then followed across “Point 533”  Beinn Rein (unnamed on the OS map, point 550) and Clagh Ouyr before dropping to the round house in the upper Corrany Valley then to Park Lewellyn and back to the start.

The distance is 11.5km and it took me 3.5 hours including a lunch stop.

From the gate on the corner of the Hibernian road I crossed the field heading for the pile of stones at the base of the hill. I went to the right of this and then picked my way up through the rocks, bilberries providing the most secure holds, the rock mostly slippy after the previous night’s rain.

The views east across Maughold to the sea were superb.

A couple of the small crags provide some shelter form the prevailing wind, maybe a good bivvy site with a view.

After the last of the crags the views open up the the north of the island and Ramsey as the ‘nose’ is crested.

From here it was a plod to the summit and the freshly painted trip point. The views west along the ridge and to Snaefell were stunning.

The descent to the wall was in a bit of a headwind so a lunch break in it’s lee was next.

It’s a straight forward undulating walk now over the two unnamed summits on the OS 1:50000 map. I have read the higher one is called Beinn Rein. Whatever they are called the views forward to Snaefell is great but marred by the mess on top of our only mountain and the view back to North Barrule is fantastic, one of the best on the island.

After Beinn Rein I diverted to investigate some quartz outcrop and what may well be an ancient cairn of quartz stones. It was then over to the walkway across the very wet ground before Clagh Ouyr.

Next I climbed to the top of Clagh Ouyr and its two cairns. Only now did I begin to hear traffic from the mountain road between me and Snaefell. There is a memorial to our much missed Laxey doctor at the summit – he was a key member of the fell running community on the island.

then headed south and then East to slowly drop into the Corrany Valley, trying to pick up what is marked on the map as a “round house”. This is what i found – just about discernible:

The sheltered valley was alive with mountain hares and meadow pipits. I continued past the farm buildings, picking up the track to the ruin of Park Lewellyn.

The track becomes more substantial and returns to the starting point after a left turn with a short uphill section.

A good day out with a proper mountain feeling and i didn’t see a single person all the way round – not something that you would get in the Lakes!

So just to finish here are a few photos from a very different day on the same walk:

A mixed day weatherise, starting and finishing in Laxey.

This walk is about 20km long and took me 5 hours.

From Laxey I headed along Ramsey Road, turning left to King Orry’s Grave and left again to gain the uphill track. Climbing this track you get to a gate by a small plantation and going through this along overgrown lane you eventually reach a stile onto open land and then meet the main greenway. I turned briefly right before heading across open land to ridge and left to minor rise of Slieau Ruy (really just a slight ‘nose’ on Slieau Ouyr. This is made of the Dhoon granite and some outcrops of this rock can be found, probably contributing to the hill’s name. The views east form here are excellent down to Dhoon Glen.

 

I picked up a rough path and continued climbing to Slieau Ouyr which doesn’t have much of a summit cairn.

Descending from here I reached the saddle between Ouyr and Lhean where there is an unusual group of stones which used to be one of my favourite spots but has been a little spoilt by the increased use of this saddle as a way between the two greenway tracks.

From here it is a bit of a trudge to the top of Slieau Lhean and this is a featureless boggy place. There was a cold wind and light showers so I quickly deployed my Trailstar shelter and had a brew and spot of lunch in comparative comfort.

 

There is no clear track form the summit but it is easy to head west to the boggy saddle where the greenway track swings back east. Heading up the next rise I stayed to the right hand track which tends to be the one used by mountain bikers to reach Black Hut. There is a smaller path to the left but it can be very wet.

On reaching the mountain road I crossed, headed round the back of Black Hut and headed up Snaefell past the old quarries.

After crossing the mountain railway it wasn’t far to the top of Snaefell but no view was available on this day so I quickly left the summit, past a tram about to leave and headed down to the Bungalow.

 

After crossing the mountain road again I nipped through the small gate by the tram crossing onto the slopes of Mullagh Ouyr. Fine views were had from the flat summit before heading down the nice grassy track to Windy Corner.

I had thought about heading up Slieau Lhost and round to Conrhenny but instead just headed down the Windy Corner track into Glen Roy and back  into Laxey – a long walk but a good one.

 

I have lived on the Isle of Man for over thirty years and in that time have walked, cycled, run, climbed, dived, watched wildlife and studied the geology of this fantastic rock in the Irish Sea. Now, with slightly more time on my hands, I am making a point of going for a least one good walk each week in the relatively deserted upland of the island.

I have always been a bit of a ticker of lists and make no excuse for it. It can be a great way of making you get out and about and also to visit areas to which you wouldn’t otherwise go. I have climbed all of the Wainwrights in the Lake District, nearly 100 Munros in Scotland and compiled a list of Manx Summits over 300m, most of which I have climbed many times but first walked up all of them in a conscious effort in the Autumn of 2016.

Here is that list, all 33 of them!

A few of the summits on this list unfortunately do not have any public access to their summits. This is something that DEFA should negotiate with land owners as a list of summits is one way of increasing tourism to the island with minimal impact on the wild environment.

This blog started as an account of walking up all the hills in my list but that is something I have done several times now. Instead it is now just occasional updates on the various routes I have taken whilst walking on Manx hills. I hope it inspires others to get out walking in the Manx countryside.