Millennium Way - Isle of Man

Statistics and Files

 

 

Summary: The Millennium Way Trail which generally follows the central spine of the Isle of Man was developed to celebrate the Manx Millennium in 1979, the 1000th anniversary of the establishment of Tynwald, the Island's Parliament. The walk is based on an ancient ridgeway route which was known as "Via Regia" the Royal Way, along which the former Kings of Man travelled to Castletown, the former capital of the Island. The Way crosses the island, climbing from Sky Hill near Ramsey to open heather moorland on the western slopes of Snaefell to reach the Way's highest point on the north-west slope of Snaefell though a diversion from the route is required to summit the highest point of the island on the mountain at an altitude of 621 metres. From Snaefell the way descends to Crosby and follows lowland paths, roads and the banks of the Silverburn river through Ballasalla to the medieval castle of Rushen in Castletown. Though guide books and other web sites describe the distance of the walk at around 28 miles my mapping plot only measures 22 miles. I have followed the guides and Millennium Way route line on Ordnance Survey mappping, both correlating to the 22 mile distance which I attribute to the walk.