Day 3: Isle of Man

It was so nice and sunny yesterday evening that we decided to go out for another walk after dinner. We retraced some of our steps towards the nature reserve we'd visited earlier in the day and got some lovely sunset views as we went.

We had to be careful not to walk too far though, as we didn't want to be caught outside in the dark.

When we woke up this morning the weather seemed surprisingly good again. We decided to start the day by driving to a place called Point of Ayre.

This is the northernmost point of the Isle of Man and home to the oldest lighthouse on the island.

Theoretically it was possible to walk along the coast here for a while, but the beach was very pebbly and also fenced off.

Eventually I found a sign which explained why - nesting arctic terns!

I didn't fancy being attacked by aggressive arctic terns, so we soon made our way back to the car.

Our second stop of the day was a rather unusual attraction: the Laxey Wheel.

This is the largest working waterwheel in the world.

It was built in 1854 to pump water from the nearby Great Laxey Mine.

This is another site owned by Manx National Heritage, which meant we were able to get in for free with our National Trust cards. Otherwise, a visit costs £13 for adults.

There are approximately 100 steps to climb to the top of the wheel.  You can see the spiral staircase on the lefthand side of this photo.

As we climbed, we had close-up views of the wheel.

And once we got to the top, we had views out over the surrounding countryside...

...and down towards the village of Laxey itself (which is where I'm working next week).

Here's me at the top of the wheel

There's a Manx flag at the top too.

Climbing down was easier than climbing up, although there was one tricky bit where we had to duck under a low beam.

We managed it though and made it back down to the ground, where we were able to follow a short trail.

At the end of the trail there's an entrance to a short section of the mine.

We were given hard hats to wear and warned that it would be damp inside. And it really was!

I think we only went about 30 metres in, but it felt like further with having to duck down and try to avoid all the puddles!

Once we got to the end we had to turn around and retrace our steps to the fresh air. Working in a mine definitely wouldn't be a lot of fun!

After the mine we went back to the car and drove a bit further south towards a place called Groudle Glen.

This was a really pretty location for a woodland walk, alongside a stream.

We met a slightly strange wood-carved figure along the way...

...and although they haven't come out very well in the photos, there were loads of bluebells growing alongside the path.

We passed a miniature version of the Laxey waterwheel, which was built here in the 19th century when the glen was developed as an attraction for Victorian tourists.

There was some very fast-flowing water here.

We walked under a viaduct...

...and the glen became narrower, with fallen trees across the stream in places.

There were more bluebells here too  

It wasn't a circular walk unfortunately, so eventually we had to turn around and retrace our steps back towards the car park.

We were only a few miles outside Douglas at this point so we drove into the town and found a lovely pub to have lunch. By the time we emerged it had started to drizzle with rain, which put an end to our exploring for the day. The weather has been much better than I expected this weekend though, so can't complain