Parish Walk 2018 - Isle of Man
Parish Walk 2018 - Isle of Man
Sheadings and parishes
The Isle of Man is divided into six sheadings which are further divided into seventeen parishes each with its own parish church. The original Parish Walk involved touching the door (and then later the gate) at each parish church but this practice has been phased out. The course takes walkers from the National Sports Centre in Douglas past the first two parish churches, Braddan and Marown, without recording their progress.
The first church at which you will be registered as reaching is Santon (if you do not reach Santon you will not be included in the race results). The same process is repeated at Malew, Arbory, Rushen and Patrick. The next parish on the course is German where the parish church of St German in Peel became a cathedral in 1980. For many years the recording point has not been at the church / cathedral gates but on the other side of the road at Peel Town Hall. Peel is the furthest point to which under 21 year old entrants are allowed to compete and until 2006 it was the official finishing point for all women and also men aged 40 or more (although these entrants could opt to continue).
By tradition, most people will refer to retiring at or continuing beyond Peel rather than the parish name, German.
Walkers continue on to the parishes of Michael, Ballaugh, Jurby, Bride, Andreas, Lezayre, Maughold, Lonan and Onchan where they will be electronically registered at each church gate. Onchan is the 17th and final parish and so you may think it would be mission accomplished at this church however, to be a Parish Walk finisher, you will have to walk more than two miles further to the finish line next to the war memorial on Douglas promenade.
The start and finishing positions have also evolved over the years. In 1960 the start was at St Georges Church (not one of the 17 parish churches) and finished in the Villa Marina gardens hence it was almost a lap of the Isle of Man incorporating the seventeen parish churches. To improve safety, the course has been diverted (and extended) in places with a corresponding change in the starting position to the National Sports Centre in Douglas (to maintain the traditional 85 mile course length) with the finish on the opposite side of the road to the Villa Marina.
Manx Harriers - organising club
Manx Harriers are organising the Parish Walk for the 27th year in 2018. Between 1960 and 1964 the Parish Walk was organised by the Manx Amateur Athletic Association (later renamed Manx Athletic Club). Boundary Harriers revived it in 1967 and continued to organise it until 1991.
Since 1991 club teams have competed in the Northern Track & Field Leagues, its athletes have won numerous medals in Lancashire Cross Country and Track & Field Championships, its walkers have gained individual and team medals at national championships and in 2011 the club recorded its highest ever position in the National Cross Country Championships. Individual athletes have excelled at national and international level, represented the Isle of Man in the Commonwealth and won countless medals in the Island Games. The diversity of the club means that it has continued to promote what was the Manx Athletic Club’s Easter Festival (the famous runner Ron Hill was the guest of honour for the 50th event in 2012) attracting hundreds of visiting athletes, whilst promoting track & field, road running, cross country and race walking, to which everyone on the Isle of Man is invited to join in, and providing an outlet for youngsters to receive expert tuition from the club’s unpaid but highly qualified coaches.
The satisfaction that the club and its members derive from organising the Parish Walk for the walkers goes even deeper than witnessing so many personal achievements that walkers remember for a lifetime.
Every year hundreds of walkers raise thousands of pounds for their favourite charities and for the past few years there is an added incentive of, for those that so desire, of being part of a group raising money for one of the official designated charities.
Maughold - Isle of Man
Maughold - Isle of Man by Drone
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Maughold Head is the easternmost point of the Isle of Man and the closest point in the Isle of Man to England, being 50 kilometres (31 mi) from St. Bees Head in Cumbria.
Maughold Head lies in the northeast of the island, some 5 kilometres (3 mi) from Ramsey, at the southern end of Ramsey Bay.
Maughold Head lighthouse
Located at the very end of the headland is the Maughold Head Lighthouse which was built in 1914. Although now unmanned, it continues to be operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board.
Maughold is a village and parish in the Isle of Man, within the sheading of Garff. It is named for Maughold, the island's patron saint.
The village of Maughold lies on the coast some three miles from Ramsey, with mountainous terrain on its landward side. The parish includes most of the North Barrule, the second highest hill on the island. A proportion of the land in the area has been in Manx National Heritage ownership since 1965. Kirk Maughold (the parish church for the area) contains a number of historically important Celtic crosses, suggesting that it was the site of an early Christian monastery. Maughold Head to the east of the village is the easternmost point on the island and has a lighthouse. There are no other significant settlements in the parish.
In May 2016, the parish of Maughold was merged for local administrative purposes with Laxey and Lonan to form the parish district of Garff. Maughold is also in the Keys constituency of Garff.
The Isle of Man is located in the middle of the northern Irish Sea, almost equidistant from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland (closest), and Wales (farthest). It is 52 kilometres (32 mi) long and, at its widest point, 22 kilometres (14 mi) wide. It has an area of around 572 square kilometres (221 sq mi). Besides the island of Mann itself, the political unit of the Isle of Man includes some nearby small islands: the seasonally inhabited Calf of Man, Chicken Rock on which stands an unmanned lighthouse, St Patrick's Isle and St Michael's Isle. The last two of these are connected to the main island by permanent roads/causeways.
Ranges of hills in the north and south are separated by a central valley. The northern plain, by contrast, is relatively flat, consisting mainly of deposits from glacial advances from western Scotland during colder times. There are more recently deposited shingle beaches at the northernmost point, the Point of Ayre. The island has one mountain higher than 600 metres (2,000 ft), Snaefell, with a height of 620 metres (2,034 ft). According to an old saying, from the summit one can see six kingdoms: those of Mann, Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, and Heaven. Some versions add a seventh kingdom, that of the sea, or Neptune