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.
