The Way of the Gull - Day 7 - Laxey to Douglas - 9.5 miles

The weather feels like it's due for a change, we're on main roads for a fair distance today, and the most populated part of the island looms - we fortify ourselves with gargantuan Full English breakfasts and by 9-15 we are ready to face our final stage.

Word of the Day - "gull-esterol" - the ingesting of excessive amounts of full english breakfasts to fuel ramblage. After said breakfast, the dietary cholesterol is absorbed from the intestine and stored in the liver where it is pickled in the alcohol resident there and rendered safe. 

Flower tub in Laxey

We leave Laxey by the main road as the tide is full in and the alternative route is impassable. We pass by Garwick Bay, and Baldrine, up over Clay Head ( should definitely have got a picture of that signpost ) and into the Ballannette Conservation Wetlands area

We took a slight detour further on to visit the Old Kirk Lonan - the church by the shore - dedicated to St Onan, or Adamnan, an Irish saint who was the Abbot of Iona in 679. The walls date back to the 12th century but the site is a lot older ( dating back to the 5th century ) - wonderfully tranquil.

After another road section we then take a track down to Port Groudle where Brian wanted to show us Seal Rocks - the site of a derelict Victorian extravaganza where tourists were transported in to see sealions, polar bears and bear cubs ( reputedly fed on freshly baked bread and treacle )

I'm not normally a fan of walking on railway lines but Brian assured us that, now restored,  it's only operational on Wednesday evenings and weekends.

The sea-lions pool

A walkway was constructed over the chasm ( now long gone ) which gave access to the polar bear cave

( far right behind the concrete wall ) -  I  think we nearly saw a polar bear - but maybe it was just a

gull-impse of something else. While we're on the subject of animals I have to mention that I was promised basking sharks and Manx cats - neither of which have materialised. After the excitement of animal husbandry, Victorian style, we dropped down into the bay, only then to have to flog up the other side towards the main road again. The path wandered back to the cliff top just before Onchan and once more we were level with the gulls as they swooped and dived  around us, as we made our way slightly precariously past the ends of people's gardens perched on the cliff edge. Rounding the corner at Onchan, the whole of Douglas Bay opened up in front of us and we were welcomed in by the Manx equivalent of the Hollywood sign :

Liz and Douglas

After the best cup of coffee all week we left Geoff and Brian to catch the tram back to Laxey and retrieve the cars and Liz and I set off to walk round the bay.

To demonstrate we'd gone full circle I felt the need to go right back up to our start point, and at the far end of town I asked directions from a passer-by as the best way back up to Marine Drive:

"Across the bridge and up the steps" she said ....

"...but it's a long walk "

That kept me smiling all the way back up there

Many thanks to my April walking companions: Brian, for his car logistic expertise, his maps and his GPS, to Liz for finding and booking us 2 really good B& B's ( Rowany Cottier at Port Erin, and the Heathers at Ramsey ) and for my long suffering husband - whose hips and knees will probably never be the same again.