Langness Peninsula and Colby Glen

Sunday 5th April 2026

The weather during the first three months of this year was very wet, which didn’t encourage me to go out for walks, so by Easter I had hardly done any walking for more than an hour or two since the new year, and I was eager to get my walking boots back on. When trying to decide where to walk at Easter I couldn’t think of anywhere better than where I’d been at Easter in 2025: the Isle of Man. That was the first time I’d been there and I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the island and the abundance of excellent walking opportunities, from the highest hills to the many wooded glens rich in wild flowers. There was so much that I hadn’t been able to see last year I had no hesitation in rebooking this year, however, when I got to the capital city of Douglas, Storm Dave was making itself felt with strong winds and a threat of rain, so I didn’t go far. The following morning the skies had cleared, but it was still very windy, which is especially frustrating when the weather is otherwise sunny and good. Since those winds were westerly I thought my best plan would be to walk on the east coast, sheltered by the hills, but I was reluctant to return to places I’d already visited last year. Another option was for me to walk around part of the coastal footpath, Raad ny Foillan, the Way of the Gull, and a part that I missed out last year near Castletown, and this was more appealing for me.

Therefore I caught a bus to Castletown, setting off along the road around Castletown Bay with the peninsula of Langness before me and the strong winds behind, which I was most definitely not sheltered from. Soon, I branched off the road to take a path between the pebbly beach and grasslands that inevitably contain a golf course, crossing the isthmus to bring me to the Langness Peninsula. This long promontory is shaped a bit like an anvil and my route was taking me towards the pointy end, past an increasingly rocky coastline, which was roped off with signs warning of ground nesting birds, so I was more than happy to stick to the path even after it joined a rough road. When I eventually reached the car park at the end of the road I took the footpath that led me towards a lighthouse, and branched off to head towards Langness Point. This was fun walk, that sometimes had me scrambling across rocks, but eventually I reached a point where steep cliffs meant I could go no further. My map indicates that the path stops at this point so I was more than happy to turn around and rejoin the coastal footpath to reach Langness Lighthouse at Dreswick Point. I was not in a hurry on this walk so I was enjoying the freedom to explore the area whenever I felt like it.

With a bit of shelter from the wind I had an enjoyable walk beside a craggy coastline but to my left was the golf course, which can be the bane of walkers because they are potentially dangerous places. Fortunately on this occasion it was too windy for golfing. When I reached the blunt end of the Langness Peninsula I was confronted by the strong winds again, which prompted me to put my hood up, despite the sunshine. A causeway led me onto St Michael’s Island where I passed the ruins of the twelfth-century chapel of St Michael to reach the much better preserved Derby Fort, built in the seventeenth-century to protect the then busy port of Derbyhaven, and still boasts cannons. I had good views across the bay and up the coast, which prompted me to take loads of pictures, but the strong winds soon prompted me to turn around and head back into the wind, around the bay. When I reached the small community of Derbyhaven I found some shelter from the wind where I could have my lunch before setting off along the road back into Castletown. On the western side of Castletown Bay I was sheltered from the winds and enjoyed the respite, but it wasn’t long before I rounded Scarlett point and I was facing the strong winds again. This was a good coastline with plenty of rock and the waves crashing against them were producing a spectacular display to keep me entertained as I continued along the path with stunning views across Bay ny Carrickey, despite a bit of cloud cover at this point. 

I had planned to do this walk in the other direction so the winds would be predominately behind me, but then I forgot and got off the bus in the wrong place, where I had intended on finishing the walk, so instead I was once again walking into the wind. Eventually the path brought me to a farm and from there I reached the main road where a footpath finally took me away from the coast, and the winds, across farmer’s fields towards the village of Colby. The contrast between the strong winds beside the coast and the much more pleasant walking inland made me regret having decided to walk along the coast this day, but it was too late for that. When I reached the village of Colby, initially passing the railway station, I headed up Colby Glen Road, which was initially very frustrating because houses were blocking my access to the stream. When the houses eventually stopped a path gave me access to the stream where a fabulous walk followed through a gorgeous wooded valley filled with many wild plants, though very few were in flower, mostly celandines and one or two bluebells or wild garlic. It was still an awesome walk albeit tragically short and soon I reached a bowl where the river turns first east and then all the way around to west enclosing a meadow filled with many woodland flowers and daffodils. 

After a long wander around I followed the path up the western bank towards the small village of Ballakilpheric, leaving the sounds of the stream behind and working up a sweat from the effort of the climb and the lack of a cold wind. On the outskirts I turned right to take another path that brought me back down into the valley, but only briefly and immediately I was climbing back out again to return to the road above Colby. The sunshine was great on this walk so it was a pity about the strong winds. I enjoyed walking beside a stunning coastline and the short walk up Colby Glen was a delightful extra treat which I was sure the Isle of Man would provide me with many more.

Tarn Crag and Blea Rigg

Friday 2nd January 2026

I had nothing planned for the time I spent in the Lake District over the New Year and even more so for my penultimate day because I didn’t have the forced structure imposed by having to walk to another youth hostel since on this day I was staying at the Grasmere Youth Hostel for two days, so I would be going back to where I had started the walk. The evening before I finally had to come up with something and it came into my mind to walk up the Wythburn Valley and to get there from Grasmere I had to go over the pass of Dunmail Raise, which I’d never done before, is the lowest point between the north and south of the Lakes and carries the main road. I kept to the quiet country lanes north of Grasmere for as long as possible to delay joining the main road, and when I eventually did I kept to the grassy verge that eventually brought me to the top of the pass where a cyclepath begins down the other side. I previously came down this track in 2016 when there was no traffic on the road due to a landslip and that was the only time I had previously been in the Wythburn Valley, which is notoriously boggy. I was hopeful that the bogs would now be frozen solid so I could better appreciate a valley that Wainwright said has many geological and geographical features of unusual interest. At Steel End I turned left and soon entered a conifer plantation where I lost all trace of the path as it disappeared into a swamp. Eventually I retraced my steps and found a broken gate that I had ignored which brought me to the Wyth Burn.

With the ground under my feet mostly frozen hard I had an enjoyable walk beside the stream with views ahead of me towards the shadowed Rake Crags and Black Crag while behind me the western slopes of Helvellyn were picking up the morning sunshine that I was sheltered from. The path took me past a scenically delightful stretch of valley with the burn tumbling steeply through a narrow wooded ravine until eventually I emerged to a levelling of the terrain around ‘The Bog’. Fortunately the path skirted the edge of the Bog and so I was able to keep my feet dry before rising again to Wythburn Head where I emerged into the sunshine and turned south heading into bitterly cold winds. It was difficult to stay warm in these conditions unless I kept moving so I did what I could with extra layers and pressed on, briefly joining the Coast to Coast path until I reached Far Easedale Head where I turned right to follow an unreliable line of old fence posts up the hillside. I came up this way just a year earlier but this is such a great, quiet route I was more than happy to take it again before branching left to cross the slopes. There was a lot of ice on the ground which had to be avoided, making the walking tricky, but soon I was on the ridge that gradually descends from High Raise with stunning views before me towards Grasmere until I reached the end of the ridge at the top of Tarn Crag where the views were even more impressive.

Turning around, I headed back up the ridge, branching left to descend onto the shelf that contains Codale Tarn, where I was blessedly sheltered from the cold winds. After passing the partially frozen lake I joined the clear path from Easedale Tarn which was very rocky and icy underfoot, so great care was needed until I reached the top where I turned left, ignoring the Langdale Pikes, to head towards Blea Rigg. The 1:50,000 scale Ordnance Survey map indicates that I was on Blea Rigg, a ridge that comes south east down from High Raise, past Sergeant Man and terminating above Blea Crag. However, in practice Blea Rigg is understood to be the peak above Blea Crag, so that is where I was now headed, gradually descending with fantastic views down the complex, undulating ridge with Windermere in the distance. I have had many enjoyable walks down this ridge and despite the familiarity I thoroughly enjoyed the descent again. Eventually I descended to the top of Blea Crag, i.e. Blea Rigg, with higher ground behind me a short distance back up the ridge. A steep descent from the top was necessary before I could continue the traverse of the ridge and, as is my usual practice, I diverted off the clear path many times to visit the summit of the many minor tops along the way. 

Great Castle How was followed by Little Castle How before another steep descent brought me away the outcrop-rich part of the ridge into an area that was predominately grassy, sometimes boggy, and less interesting. Before reaching Lang How I branched left to descend across the northern slopes of the ridge, but with no trace of a path I had to follow the route that the O.S. Maps app claimed was the route down, keeping constant careful attention on my location. Eventually I reached a clearer path amongst juniper so from there I was more confidently able to descend into Grasmere. This walk was at its best when I was sheltered from the strong cold winds and it was enjoyable ascending the Wythburn Valley through stunning scenery. It is remarkable that both Wainwright tops that I visited on this walk were descended to down ridges where the tops are at the end of the ridge and so only look like a top when seen from the other direction. The following day I walked from Grasmere to the railway station at Windermere with no attempt to create a notable walk out of it, except near the end when I stopped off at the crowded summit of Orrest Head where I had good views back to the fells of the Lake District before saying goodbye to them until next time.