Groudle Glen and Bradda Head

Friday 10th April 2026

On the last day of my holiday, with bad weather approaching, I thought I would adopt the plan that I had formulated for my first day on the Isle of Man, but not used, which explores the wooded glens to the north of the capital city, Douglas, so I set off along the Raad ny Foillan, the coastal footpath. After passing the southern terminus of the Electric Railway, I branched off the main road onto Seacliff Road around Onchan Head and before returning to the main road took to a path that branched down into a pretty, little harbour, thinking there would be a path out on the other side; there wasn’t. It was a great, lovely path, decorated with many wild flowers, but eventually I had to retrace my steps all the way back up and onto the main road. The coastal footpath continued beyond the harbour on a path that skirted the narrow gap between the sea cliffs and the back gardens of people’s houses, and was lined with flowers that had escaped those gardens including three-cornered garlic and Spanish bluebells. Back on the main road, I followed that past building work on my right and into Groudle Glen, which I had been in last year, but I had no hesitation in returning to a fabulous wooded valley that I once again found entrancing. Wood anemones decorated the banks of the stream of beautiful Groudle Glen, with bluebells just beginning to appear, as I slowly wandered along the path absorbing the tranquil surroundings while taking many pictures.

As the sun went in, I continued up the glen, which narrowed past a waterwheel and under a bridge with more wild flowers decorating the banks as I made my way along the excellent, well-made footpath eventually reaching a wider area where the river does a dramatic meander with woodland plants covering the floor, until finally I passed under White Bridge and into Molly Quirk’s Glen. Soon, I crossed the Groudle River and took to a path that climbed beside the road and is called the Bibaloe Walk. I had not taken this path before, but there was not much to see, just a few primroses, and soon I emerged onto the road. I had planned on retracing my steps into the valley, but now that I was there I decided to take a footpath that crosses several grassy fields and brought me to a minor road where I descended increasingly steeply into Molly Quirk’s Glen. When I had reached this end of the valley last year I had been confronted with a sign that the path through the glen was closed due to fallen trees, but now much work had been carried out and I was able to follow the path beside the small river through the glen, which was a lovely place, but possibly not up to the stupendously high standards of Groudle Glen, or some of the other valleys that I had seen on this holiday. Eventually I returned to White Bridge where I followed the road through Onchan and back onto the promenade in Douglas.

Despite the weather forecast, the sun was out again, which provided me with a pleasant walk around the bay until I reached the ferry terminal where I booked an earlier service for the next day, due to the coming bad weather over the weekend, and then made my way to the steam railway station. I was mindful of the fact that I was soon going to be leaving the Isle of Man and I hadn’t visited Port Erin, at the far end of the steam railway, so I caught the train and by the time I reached my destination the promised bad weather was finally becoming apparent, though it wasn’t raining yet. A tower sits on Bradda Head, to the north of Port Erin Bay, and when I was there last year I had been short of time so I hadn’t taken the opportunity to visit the tower. Now, I thought I would have time to do so, though I would have to rush so I could catch the train back to Douglas, so I hurried through the streets of Port Erin and through an archway marked Bradda Glen, across the hillside north of the bay past many wild flowers and onto the open hill to reach Milner’s Tower. Immediately, I set off up the spiral staircase to the top of the tower where I took some pictures under the overcast skies, before heading back down and along the road to reach the railway station in Port Erin.

This was a disjointed day, starting with a shortened version of the walk that I had initially planned for the previous Sunday followed by an excursion on the steam train interspersed by a hurried dash up Bradda Head. The weather for my holiday this year on the Isle of Man was not great, certainly not as good as it had been the previous year, and the wild flower mix seen this year was different, mainly because of being three weeks earlier. The Isle of Man is such a fabulous place for walking that arguably I need to go back again some time. I have loved walking through the wooded glens, which are filled with stunning displays of wild flowers and I’m sure there are more for me to see, and with more of the coastal path still to walk, I’m sure I will be drawn back to the Isle of Man eventually.

The Steam Heritage Trail

Thursday 9th April 2026

My knee started to hurt on the previous day’s walk. I don’t know what I had done to aggravate it because it started to hurt as soon as I started the walk and it just got worse as the day progressed. At the start of this walk my knee was feeling stiff and ideally I should have been resting it, but I find that difficult to do when I’m on holiday and the only thing I want to do is walk. Since the weather had deteriorated I felt that I could rest it by doing a relatively easy walk by walking along the Steam Heritage Trail, which runs along the course of an old railway that used to run between the city of Douglas, on the Isle of Man, and the town of Peel. I wanted to do this trail when I first came to the Isle of Man last year, but I felt it was too easy when there are many more exciting walks to do on this wondrous island. Now, with the poor weather and my dodgy knee, I thought this would be the best time to do it, so with drizzle in the air I made my way through Douglas from my accommodation to Quarter Bridge where I joined the start of the trial, which initially runs along a tarmac road alongside the busy main road. After I left the road, plunging into gorgeous woodland surroundings, wild garlic dominated the scene, though it wasn’t in flower yet, unlike at Easter last year. Wood anemones could also be seen and at Union Mills I could see some early flowering bluebells, as well as primroses and celandines.

The trail never strayed far from the River Dhoo and the best displays were often on its banks. Soon, the rain cleared and after passing Glen Vine blue sky appeared ahead of me, however, it wasn’t to last. Walking along an old railway line soon gets monotonous as there is little change in the view and the gradient is flat, which was helping my knee, but was tedious to walk upon. With nothing to interest me I just disengaged my brain and kept repeatedly putting one foot in front of the other, appreciating the wild scenery as it passed. Between Crosby and Greeba the ground by the side of the path was very water-logged, marshy, which helped the growth of marsh marigold whose bright, yellow flowers provided a welcome decoration. After passing St Johns, soon after passing over the River Neb, I branched right off the trail, despite having several more miles to go into Peel, to follow the course of the old railway line that used to run up the coast, around the hills and eventually reach the town of Ramsey. The Steam Heritage Trail had kept to the low ground between the hills in the north of the island and those to the south, largely running beside rivers and had a good hard surface underfoot, suitable for cycles. 

This path was very different, being grassy and passed through hillier terrain, dominated by farmland. It was lined by hawthorn and gorse and more railway engineering was required on this branch with cuttings and embankments often encountered as the old railway cut through the undulating farmland. Eventually I was joined by the coastal footpath, Raad ny Foillan, but despite the proximity of the sea the scenery wasn’t much better as the rain fell again, albeit briefly, until eventually I reached Glen Mooar where the railway used to cross the deep valley on an impressive viaduct, but this has sadly gone with just the tall, stone pillars remaining in remembrance. I wanted to explore the valley so instead of following the coastal path onto the beach I turned inland on a path that took me through gorgeous woodland, though my knees screamed at having to climb the side of the valley. Even though the woodland floor was filled with many green plants, none of the wild flowers were actually flowering, though I’m sure they were a few short weeks later. At the top of the path I could hear a noisy waterfall and a path led me steeply down to the foot of Spooyt Vane in its stunning woodland surround. After taking a few pictures I climbed back up the steep path, doing everything I could to ease the pressure on my knees, until I reached a lane that took me out of the valley and back onto the course of the railway. 

Soon, I reached another valley, Glen Wyllin, where a steep descent brought me down to the banks of the river and a caravan park where I found a path that led me back up the side of the valley, firing up my glutes on the steep ascent. The path continued into Cooildarry Nature Reserve, which was a great valley filled with many wondrous delights, enlivened by the sun coming out at just this moment. Unfortunately I felt I needed to rush to catch a bus so I didn't linger, walking briskly through the fabulous scenery until I finally climbed out of the valley and onto the road just outside Kirk Michael. These two valleys were a treat after my long walk along the old railway line and, apart from a few complaints in the glens at the end, my knees were quiet. Despite poor weather for most of the day I was able to do a great walk through some fabulous wild scenery.