Glen Maye covers 11 1/2 acres. It is three miles south of Peel and it has a spectacular bridged gorge and waterfall. One of the features of this glen is the wheel case of "Mona Erin", a water wheel that once provided power for the lead mine. Access to the glen is by bus or car and a large car park is available for patrons of both the Glen and the renowned Waterfall Public House. This is a very popular place for lunches or evening meals.
History
The name of Glen Maye (or Glen Meaye) and originally Glion Muigh,
means "Yellow Glen," and it earned this name from the river which
flows through it, as most glens do. Whenever the river
flooded, it brought with it the iron residue, which was washed
down, from South Barrule and the surrounding hills, turning the
water yellow. Glion Muigh was later popularly translated as
Glen Mea meaning "Fat or Luxuriant Glen." The late William Cashen
suggested that the glen was in fact divided into two parts during
the 1500s, the outer part being known as Glion Mooie and the inner
part as Glion Sthie. This was caused by the old road crossing
lower down the river and dividing the area into two.
Owners
The glen was purchased by the Forestry Board in 1960 from the
proprietor of the Waterfall Hotel, Agnes Welstead, who had
previously acquired it from two men who owned the separate areas of
the glen, Richard Edward Hughes in 1950 and Thomas Samuel Caleb
Sidney Counsell (who owned the lower section) in early 1960.
The trees in the glen were valued for the Forestry Board at
£124.6s.6d, firewood value only, due to the difficulty in
extracting it.
Public House & Cafe
Entrance to Glen Maye is by the Waterfall Public House. The
car park at one time had a large sign instructing drivers to, Park
Prettily". The car park belongs to the public house but a
deed grants anyone visiting the glen to right to use it.
Expenses
There was a turnstile as you entered the glen which had the same
entrance fee of 3d for over 50 years right up to 1960 when the
takings for the year were £150. This is one of the examples
of why the private owners of glens could no longer afford their
upkeep, and we must be grateful that the Forestry Board started to
buy them as they came onto the market.
In 1980, the bridge above the waterfall was replaced at a cost of £14,000. This would have been almost impossible with private ownership. The lower bridge was replaced in 2001.
Hermit
After enjoying the walk down through the glen, visitors emerging
onto the sea shore could visit a little grotto in a small
artificial cave, or chat with the resident hermit who happened to
be an elderly Manx man paid by the owner of the glen to sit in a
cave and read his Bible.
A hermit was also seen by the visitors to Bishopscourt Glen, sitting and reading his bible in the cave there.
Mining
There was a small mine, known as "The Mona Erin", at the bottom
end of the glen and the wheel case can still be seen.
Quite a few glens had mines in them, although, because of the quantity or the quality of the ore, they were usually short lived. In the early 1980s, the Forestry Board cleared all the bushes and trees from around the site of the wheel case and then had the problem of trying to protect the walls from erosion etc. Dr Larch Garrad of the Manx Museum was contacted and was asked how to preserve it from the weather. Her reply was "SOD IT", so this was duly done and the tops of the walls were covered in sods of earth, which have been very effective.
At one time it was possible to drive down the road at the side of the glen almost onto the sea shore itself, but in the late 1800s it was said that access to the shore via the road was so narrow that there were passing places for one horse only.
To hire a horse and carriage for the day, to take you from Douglas to Glen Maye, at the end of the 19th century would have cost 12s 6d.
Tragedy
In 1928 a tragedy occurred in the glen. A young American
visitor to the island decided to dive into the pool at the base of
the waterfall and drowned.
[Source: Manx Glens - A stroll through history]
[Acknowledgement: Suzanne Cubbon]