Where to Next? - C’raad nish?

The Parade

The Parade is probably an Iron Age promontory fort with a series of three low banks and ditches cutting off the narrow neck of land and acting as ramparts to defend it from attack on the landward side. A café was built which cut into these ramparts and caused considerable damage to the archaeological site. The area has now been investigated by archaeologists and the earth banks carefully restored to their 19th century appearance.

The area is named the "Parade" because it was used as a training ground for soldiers garrisoned at Castletown. During the early 20th century, the Parade was used by local residents for egg rolling races at Easter. These Easter eggs were hard boiled in water with gorse flowers to give them a rich yellow or yellow-brown colour.

Burroo Ned

The promontory of Burroo Ned is surrounded on three sides by precipitous cliffs, with the substantial bank of a rampart protecting the landward side. Within this enclosure, remains of a group of structures, both circular and rectangular, have been found and are probably the foundations of houses dating back between one and two thousand years to Iron Age and Norse times. At least forty "cup marks" can be seen on the rock outcrops here. These circular hollows have been deliberately pecked into the rock and some are reminiscent of stone-cut art of prehistoric date found in other parts of the British Isles.

The view of Burroo Ned when seen from the Parade is said to look like the profile of Queen Victoria’s face!

Spanish Head

The rocks at Spanish Head rise 350 feet above sea level. According to tradition, the name of this area was given because of the wreck of a ship from the Spanish Armada, but no evidence has been found to support this belief. Fine stone lintels quarried from here were lowered into boats and taken to Port St Mary. In the early 19th century, some of these lintels were used at Castle Rushen for flooring. Several can also be seen in Cregneash as lintels over the chiollagh, the large open hearth.

Plants and Animals

The flowers on the Parade are at their best in spring and early summer. Thrift, Sea Campion, Sea-Spurrey, Stonecrop and Sheep’s-Bit thrive on the lichen festooned rocks facing the sea and the salt spray. Low growing plants dominate the coastal turf behind the cliffs, including the butter yellow Bird’s-Foot-Trefoil and Bluebell-like Spring Squill. Next to the footpath leading to Burroo Ned are the purple-blue flowers of Milk-Vetch and the pink flowers of centaury plants, stunted because of the exposed conditions.

On sunny days, the wild flowers attract butterflies and bumble bees, and in late May and June there are many Tiger Beetles, easily identified by their bright metallic green colour and short energetic bursts of flight. These predatory beetles harass the little solitary bees trying to provision their burrows for their larvae. The burrows are dug in near vertical bare earth banks, left by erosion alongside the paths. Small yellow and brown wasp-like insects near the bee burrows are cuckoo bees, which lay their eggs in the nests of the solitary bees so that their larvae can steal the food meant for the rightful occupant.

Later in the summer, plants such as the Wild Carrot come into flower. The flower heads, made up of several small flowers arranged in a round disc or ‘umbel’, curl inwards on themselves as they grow, mature and develop seeds. These little natural shelters are perfect for small spiders which can wait in relative safety for their prey to land on the flower head.

Overhead you may hear Choughs or Ravens; from Kitterland there is the call of the seals and the piping of Oystercatchers, and if you are eating outside, the attentions of the Herring Gulls are never far away. Listen for the ‘pebbles rattling in a pocket’ call of the Stonechat, a small relative of the Blackbird which often perches on fence posts, solitary bushes and tall heather. In spring you may also catch sight of Wheatears pausing in their migration to look for food in the turf.

The Coastal Footpath Raad ny Foillan

The national coastal footpath runs past the Sound.

If you take the path to the west, it leads along the coast to Aldrick, past Bay Fine and then on to Port Erin.

If you follow it to the east, it takes you across Burroo Ned, up to Spanish Head and Black Head, on to the spectacular rock formations at the Chasms and the Sugarloaf and then to Port St Mary.

Please take care on the footpaths as some are narrow and can be slippery in wet weather. Signs show where dogs are not allowed on the paths.

Cregneash

Follow the road northeastwards from the Sound and you will come to the village of Cregneash. The heart of the village is the National Folk Museum which shows how a working farm of the early 20th century would have operated. Here you may see traditional farming skills and crafts being demonstrated, look inside thatched cottages and workrooms and learn about the past and present life of the village in the Visitor Centre. Remember to sample some home cooking in the café as well.

Please see the Visitor Information page for details of opening hours.