Isle of Man Nature Journal

A brown sign saying Onchan Wetlands on a wooden fence in a leafy area.

Onchan Community Wetlands

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by

Emma Butler
in ,

I was recently looking at the Manx Wildlife Trust website and noticed that they have a reserve in the centre of Onchan. I thought I’d take a look on my way home from Douglas and was amazed to find a mini wetland reserve tucked between the Onchan streets. I took a few photos while I was there and thought I’d share them in this week’s blog post.

A brown sign saying Onchan Wetlands on a wooden fence in a leafy area.

I parked on Church Road in Onchan, just opposite St Peter’s Church. This church was built in 1833 to replace an earlier building and several Celtic and Norse carved stone slabs are preserved on site (to learn more see isleofman.com). I didn’t investigate these but will likely return to have a good look around the church grounds as they’re beautiful!

Just across the road from the church, is the Onchan Village Green and it’s this that gives you access to the wetland from Church Road.

A granite sign with Onchan Village Green carved into it and guilded gold writing. The sign is on a stone wall and there is a green leaved plant with a purple flower growing from the wall above the sign.

The green is small, but picturesque, and it’s a short walk through it to get to the wetland.

A small park with lawn surrounded by green bushes and trees. A monument with a standing piece of slate is in the centre of the picture with a round trough of pink flowers with silver foliage plants is in the foreground.
Onchan Village Green
Clusters of green and black berries ripening on a bush with green slightly tapered leaves.
On the way to the wetland I passed these beautiful elderberries ripening in the sun.

I crossed the village green area and came to a fence with a gate and several signs, announcing the start of the wetland.

A printed sign saying MWT Onchan Community Wetlands

On entering the gate, I immediately came to one of the deep pools. Luckily there are boardwalks to follow around the site, although some of these are a little spongy, so care still has to be taken when walking around this area.

A small pool of brown water with lots of green plants growing in and around it.

There were a plethora of umbellifers to greet me as I started to walk around the nature reserve. I find it hard to identify these as they are often very similar, but it looks like I’ve photographed some hemlock water-dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) Manx name ‘Daaue bane’. A search on Google confirms this is probably the case as I found a good description of some of the species in this wildlife haven on the Onchan Commissioners website.

A white flower head with lots of little white flowers arranged in clusters on green stems.
A white flower head with lots of little white flowers arranged in clusters on green stems.
A white flower head with lots of little white flowers arranged in clusters on green stems.
A white flower head with lots of little white flowers arranged in clusters on green stems.
A white flower head with lots of little white flowers arranged in clusters on green stems.
A white flower head with lots of little white flowers arranged in clusters on green stems.
A green leaved plant with two clusters of small pale purple flowers. The leaves are arranged opposite each other on the stem in pairs.
A large amount of green leaves with small white ball-shaped flowers arranged in clusters.
A green leaved plant with purple cones of flowers. Some of these have turned brown.

I also noticed these water mint (Mentha aquatica / Mynthey yiarg) flowers, along with some buddleja and ivy that was just starting to bloom.

A branch with two thick light brown woody root structures running down it.
A branch with a tangle of woody light brown root structures running down it and lobed leaves coming from stems attached to the roots.

There were loads of very impressive ivy plants growing up the trees, with their intricately entwined root systems.

A thick covering on moss on a branch. There are two very small mushrooms growing from the moss.
A thick covering of moss on a branch. The moss is sending up small stalks with a green round end. These are the reproductive structures.
A branch with green moss and pale grey lichen that forms crusty patches on the surface of the bark.

The trunks and branches of the trees were brimming with life. Coverings of moss, lichen and fungi created interest wherever I looked. Can you spot the small mushrooms on branch in the picture to the left?

Part of a branch with moss covering part of it. There is a crevice in the bark and some small green leaves are emerging from it.

I also found some vascular plants growing on some of the trees. The ivy in the photo above was a very young plant that had taken root in the hollow of a tree and the plant below had taken root in a shallow crack in the bark, at a point where the branch was growing horizontally. These epiphytes (plants which grow on other plants) have probably found their way onto the tree as a seed by accident and been forced by circumstance to set root there.

Part of a branch that has some green moss covering part of the surface. A small plant is seen to have sent three strap-like leaves from the surface of the bark.

It was only a short walk around this small wetland area, but there were many little treasures to be found. I’m so glad I found this little oasis tucked within the houses of Onchan and will be sure to return. I’m now in my final couple of days at Studio Umami and would like to thank everyone who’s made it in to visit me during my time there. I’ve loved working with the staff there, meeting people and sharing my artwork. I’ll be organising some more drawing workshops soon, so keep an eye on social media or sign up to the IOMNJ newsletter is you haven’t already.

Have a wonderful week!

Emma

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