| 1 The
Queen’s Pier and Toll Houses Opened to the public in 1886, the Pier was designed by Sir John Coode and built by Messrs Head, Wrighton and Co. At nearly half a mile long, it is the sixth longest in the British Isles, and provided Ramsey with a landing stage usable at all states of the tide. At low water, passengers no longer had to make the undignified journey ashore in small boats or on the backs of boatmen.
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 The Queens Pier looking back |
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2 Old
Pier and The Ramsey Fence During the 1600s the sea often caused great damage to the Old Mooragh (now the Queen’s Promenade area), where there was a line of cottages. As a result of a petition, The Ramsey Fence (original loose stone sea defence) was constructed in 1630 running up to the South Pier. Breaches in The Fence in 1744 led to houses and gardens being swept away and a further petition led to recommendations that ‘several new piers’ be built outwards from the Fence to prevent the town ‘from being entirely swept and taken away’. Close to the Queen’s Pier, on the north side, can still be seen the remains of one of these piers, with its unusual structure of slate-stone, laid upright. Note also, beneath the Queen’s Pier, the massive abutment, built by John Looney. At low water, further to the north of The Queen’s Pier, can sometimes be seen the posts of the wooden landing stage, nicknamed the ‘Fairy Causeway’ as it was to enable The Manx Fairy, a beautiful, fast passenger ship built in 1853, to land at low tide.
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3 Ascog Hall It was licensed as The Albion Hotel in the early 1900s and a main feature is the line of projecting dormer windows along the roof area. During World War II it was requisitioned to house the guards from the internment camp in Ramsey, and now comprises residential flats. 4 Early 18th and 19th century houses There are rumours of smugglers’ cellars, and the inventor of Marmite is said to have lived in one of these houses! 5 Ballure Inn One of the oldest buildings in Ramsey, it was originally a croft house and in the Martin family ownership until 1761. In Pigot’s Directory of 1837 it was mentioned as an inn and was typical of the ale houses of the time, when beer was brewed on the premises. |
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| 6 Ballure Promenade The Fountains Apartment Block (facing Ballure Promenade) was where the Mona Ville Hotel stood, later the Beach Hotel. Looking down towards the beach can be seen the site of a gun platform. Ordnance was placed here after a raid by Scottish pirates and it was also used during the Napoleonic Wars. Ballure Beach, up to The Queen’s Pier, was reserved for ladies only bathing in Victorian times, when their bathing machines were taken down the slipway onto the beach by horses. |
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| 7 Ballure
Cottage Probably built in the time of Captain John Christian (1742-1823), it was formerly the Quarterland Farmhouse of the Christians of Ballure. In the garden is a very large, old yew tree from which Ballure got its name (Balley Euar - Home of the Yew). Set in the wall to the side of the entrance note the old milestone: ‘Douglas XV miles’. 8 On
your left is an unmarked footpath, and at the base of the wall at the entrance, nearly
hidden, is the: 9 Ballure Glen Near the arches which emerge onto the beach is where folklore has it that the feared Carrasdoo men had their headquarters. They were ‘wreckers’ who lit fires to lure ships to their destruction. 10 Manx Electric Railway Bridge Opened in 1899. When you reach the road, on the other side is a track marked as a bridleway. This was the Old Douglas Road where an unsolved murder took place in December 1888. Betsy Crowe was battered to death and robbed as she returned home from selling milk in the Town. 11 Ballure Bridge First built in response to a petition in 1787 about the danger to travellers on the Old Douglas to Ramsey road, when the only way across the river was via a ford. After the bridge cross over to the road which runs between the Public Footpath to the Mountain Road and the MER tramlines. 12 Claughbane Walk An ancient mill road between Ballure and Milntown. There is a good view of the large yew tree in the garden of Ballure Cottage. On your left is Lhergy Frissel, once owned by the Frissel family (John, Attorney General, MHK and his son John, the first High Bailiff of Ramsey). Further along on your right is a view of Ballure Chapel. 13 Bog Lane This is part of an ancient right of way to a turbary (where turf, or peat, was cut) on the slopes of Barrule. In times past it has been the subject of disputes over access. Unfortunately some sections of the old sod hedge have been removed. Between the Bowling Club and Walpole Road stood the Queen’s Hall and Gardens, with its seven tennis courts. Originally built as The Pavilion, it could accommodate 1500 people and advertised ‘Daily Entertainments by a Superior Company of Entertainers engaged at Enormous Expense’ - difficult to imagine now! |
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14
Ballure
Chapel The history of this site extends back at least a thousand years, for it was originally a keeill, a small Celtic Church, one of which is believed to have been built in every Treen (a Celtic land division of about 400 acres). Most of South Ramsey comprised the Treen of Ballure and it was probable that the keeill was adapted for use in the early 17th Century for the people in this area to avoid the journey to the mother-church of Maughold, crossing either the Ballure River or the sands to Port Lewaigue at low water. The earliest tomb to be seen is near the north-west corner of the church and is that of Margaret Martin who died aged 5 years in 1750, but the first recorded burial is 1611. Twelve Ramsey cholera victims from 1833 also lie buried here. Other noteworthy tombs include those of the Gibbs of the Grove (now the Grove Museum) and the Frissel family (see number 12) whose memorial is one of very few on the island to be in Latin.
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In 1895 a 3' gauge track was laid for
its own railway.