Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Mooragh Lake - My World

Who let the water out again!




Mooragh Park contains conveniently Mooragh Lake, otherwise known as the boating lake. I know it's hard to believe as it's so shallow but normally you can see canoeists and very small sail boats on the lake. If you have read any of my earlier posts you will also know I am one of the locals of that have actually swam in this lake. Not by choice may I add. Capsizing out of a canoe fully clothed taking a swim in the blackness of the water below and climbing back into the canoe fully sized and sopping wet is well no fun. I hasten to add it was most definitely unintentional and in much deeper water than this. You can see why we need a lot of rainfall here.


Can you believe at one time this area was a 200 acre tidal swamp. In 1881 the Ramsey Town Commissioners purchased the land for the princely sum of £1,200 with the idea of creating a pleasure park. Now we are not talking Disney World or Central Park, but 6 years later the park was opened. We still have the boating lake, two cafes, crazy golf, crown green bowling, wooded area, grassy area, skateboard park, kiddies playground and tennis court. The lake is the dominant part if the park being viewed from any part of the park. As you can see I have actually taken this image close on the edge of the lake looking towards Ramsey Town with North Barrule Mountain in the background on a very sunny day. As much as I hate to say this as it's so lovely to have the sunshine we could do with one very heavy downpour just to top up that lake. After all I might need to go swimming again when I fall out of a canoe. It's dark too when it's full. Can't see a thing. No sharks though, well only the financial ones. I dedicate this post to Jim and Sally who very kindly(OK nagged me so much by email) to " show the lake we used to canoe on as kids" again please. There you are then. A wide shot as requested. You never did say if you two fell in,... er I mean went for a well intentioned swim in the Lake? Let me know.


68 comments:

Carole said...

Fascinating, as always!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info, it's always nice to learn something new every day.

Fio said...

Breathtaking view!

Thank for for visiting Gliwice Daily Photo.
Greetings form Poland :)

Anonymous said...

It is so low.

imac said...

Always a great post, its a pleasure to visit.
#Great shots and info.

imac said...

Always a great post, its a pleasure to visit.
#Great shots and info.

Anonymous said...

Now this is what I call an interesting post.
And a very nice photo too.

By the way ... still wondering how you beaten me with your early comment on my photo of ice tea :) that was quick as lightning!

Jane Hards Photography said...

Ferreira- Manx Fairy Magic of course.

Guy D said...

Beautiful shot, I love the reflection of the sun on the water.

Regina In Pictures

Reader Wil said...

It doesn't sound nice: swimming in the lake fully clothed. Thanks for sharing every beautiful spot on your island.

Carver said...

Beautiful shot and interesting to be able to see the rim where it's low on water. I hope you do get some rain soon. I have gotten to where I love rainy days because we had a long drought from 2007 to spring 2008. We pulled out of it but I am left thinking of rainy days as pretty ones after the long water shortage.

Kathie Brown said...

Fun post. Does it attract birds and other wildlife?

Arija said...

You call that low? There is still wate in it. Recently someone opened the sluice gate of the ornamental lake in Adelaide's premier park to flush out some blue green algae and, hey presto!, drained the whole lake leaving diverse car wrecks, shopping trolleys, bikes etc and a lot of most ungainly mud in our show case, as well as all the boats stranded just befor a major festival!
We all had a great lough at the discomfityre of the city fathers.

Jane Hards Photography said...

Kathie-Plenty of birds but I've yet to see the escaped wallaby.

max said...

the reflection of the sun on the water, the colour , it's very very nice!! very good job!!

Susan at Stony River said...

What a beautiful lake, and the photo is gorgeous!

I've tipped a canoe in freezing weather; God I'll never forget it. Getting back to dry land, then back to the house, and finally into dry clothes to try to warm up, I remember every... single... slow... step. Stay warm and dry now! LOL

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Babooshka: Neat story and an interesting post on your old swimming hole. We went rafting this Summer and had one canoe which my Son-in Law managed to capsize fooling around.

Ruth said...

I have fallen out of a canoe too. It seemed to happen in slow motion and was quite a shock, even though the water was summer warm. Beautiful photo and interesting post.

Anonymous said...

Rain's a mixed blessing, isn't it? We'd all like it to follow the Camelot rules, and (sing) never rain 'til after sundown ...

I should know what to call those sunbeams, too, from all my SkyWatching on Friday. Crepuscular rays?

Indrani said...

I do hope you get some rainfall soon. Fantastic shot of the lake. It looks beautiful!

Grammy said...

I love the photo. You must have been scared to have to swing and get back in you boat.

SandyCarlson said...

Taking a header in that water wouldn't be any fun! But it's a beautiful place.

Janie said...

Pretty photo with the sunrays and the red structures in the background.
Hope you get some rain to fill up the lake.

nonizamboni said...

Always a good to visit your site--I come away with something new everytime.
Thanks for sharing the beauty in your world. Happy week!

Anonymous said...

B. I see you haven't been around on Facebook or any blogs recently. Say the laptop hasn't let you down.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

That's a beautiful photo. So sad that the water level is down, though. Do you have a 'rainy season'?
We are very dry here, too. We are way behind on our snowfall and we won't have our monsoons until July and August.

Thanks for sharing,
~Lisa
New Mexico, USA

Gaelyn said...

Very sad to see water that low.
I remember having to do the tip test in a canoe in a gungy lake when I was a girl scout.

Jerez Sherry said...

always running out of water...I'm glad somebody notices tho..

Julie ScottsdaleDailyPhoto.com said...

truly stunning. It is very hard to believe this was a tidal swamp.

Mojo said...

I can just picture the scene when a fully clothed, soaking wet Babooshka came spluttering to the surface all full of righteous indignation.

Then again, the unintentional dip I took in Falls Lake would probably compare favorably. And I was fishing! From the shore!

George said...

Thanks for this beautiful picture of the lake. Thanks, too, for the history of the park. I hope you do get some rain, but I hope don't feel obligated to take another swim!

Maria said...

Thank you for this interesting post! I hope you get some sain soon!
Have a nice week!

George Townboy said...

Very cool pic, and a very entertaining post!

Loran said...

What a wonderful boating experience you had! Do a happy rain dance soon.....

Lilli & Nevada said...

Love the that reflection and color.

Diederick Wijmans said...

A beautiful area!!. It looks indeed inviting for going out with the canoe and I hope that there will not be too many commercial activities going on, which so easily spoil could such an area.

magiceye said...

love the composition

Inkivääri said...

Great pic and view!

Brett said...

Really find the history interesting, i must try an add more of that on my posts

magiceye said...

superb composition and interesting info

Marie Reed said...

The soft ripples are so calming... Ahhh! I want to sit on the shore.. even if it is low low water...

Olivier said...

je ferais bien une promenade le long de ce chemin.

Anonymous said...

So long since I was up the Mooragh, so long since I was in Ramsey. Forgot what I was missing.

penny said...

Well I guess it was sink or swim. Love you sence of humor;) Thank's for the visit;)

Susie of Arabia said...

A swamp in your area? Just sounds so wierd! As always, very interesting commentary and fantastic photo. How lucky you are to have grown up and continue to live in such a scenic place!

Laurie Brandriet Keller said...

Very pretty and interesting!

Small City Scenes said...

Super shot----again. Fascinating info as usual. that's why we keep coming back. LOL MB

Anonymous said...

Marvelous :)

Gattina said...

Looks as if it is a beautiful parc !

Unknown said...

Now if you lived in Okieland you'd have a proper excuse for not swimming in the lake - water moccasins! The development sounds like fun, I love crazy golf, now I just play it on a Wii!!

Lisa Wilson said...

An unplanned swim like that does not sound fun! Pretty photo. :)

nobu said...

Beautiful....
I like the light on the water.

chrome3d said...

I´ve also capsized with many kind of boats including a canoe. It´s always so refreshing!

Nancy said...

From my experience, it wasn't so bad falling out of the canoe but damn hard getting back in!

Nancy said...

From my experience, it wasn't so bad falling out of the canoe but damn hard getting back in!

Gerald (SK14) said...

not read the other comments - it seems a lot of reservoirs are quite low at present - the ones i;ve been snapping recently anyway.

Anonymous said...

Interesting post. The lake doesn't look that bad but I have seen bigger ones.

EG CameraGirl said...

Loved this post, Babooshka. The story about the lake, the park and even the part about you falling into the lake. But I AM sorry you fell in. ;-)

Tarolino said...

Oh I'm sure falling fully clothed into some black water of a lake is not that much fun ... except for the onlookers of course.
Lovely sunny shot and I can see how some heavy rain is called for. Looks like a bad drought to me ... ha ha.
Curious about the very pink things in the background, or are they just tricks of the bright sun beams?

maryt/theteach said...

How lucky you are to have such a lovely place to visit and enjoy! Babooshka, I know exactly what it's like to top over in a canoe fully dressed, have to swim for it, and get back in the canoe... in one trip down the Delaware River, my husband and I tipped over 3 times!!! Don't ask! LOL!

angela said...

Your shot of the lake looks very romantic but I don't think I'd enjoy swimming in it

Anonymous said...

Oh, how I'd love to canoe too, but the 'falling out into the water' part makes me nervous; I'm not a good swimmer.

Pat said...

Beautiful photo. Shallow water is fine with me--I don't swim well.

Unknown said...

Great composed. Very fine lines and great depth.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful lake. A good place to view the sunset/sunrise.

airplane5312 said...

Falling out of a canoe into was used to be a swamp. That's the stuff horror movies are made of. Good thing it turned out ok

antigoni said...

Wonderful post!

Anonymous said...

We have too much rain and so many places have too little..not fair. I must say that my sister and I loved to 'fall' out of the rowboat on the pond at my grandparents...They hated it..we loved it..Hee..Hee

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