Even on wet and misty days, the hills are full of colour if you look closely 😍 The lichen Cladonia floerkeana is common on heathland and drier areas of #peat 💚 Sphagnum mosses always add vibrant colour to peatland areas. Occasionally, we find 'gifts' left on sphagnum hummocks from a bird of prey 🦅

We have started growing locally sourced sphagnum moss for our #peatland restoration work 🌿 😀 This follows a small trial at the end of last summer and subsequent advice from Gill at the Calderdale Sphagnum Project 💦 To find out how it grows, watch this space 👀

On a cold and very windy day we were joined by Andy and Ann from www.ffpolymers.com 😊 They are the manufacturers of the low ground pressure digger tracks used for our restoration work, and were keen to see the tracks in action while they were visiting the #IsleOfMan

Despite the recent cold weather, we've been hard at work on Snaefell 🥶 The #diggers have been reprofiling the #peat hags 🌿 and ground workers have been installing coir materials to reduce erosion 💦 It's challenging to get these materials to the site, with much of the movement done by hand 💪

👀Check out our latest blog about #peatlands and people, celebrating World Wetlands Day 💦😊 www.manxpeat.org/blog/peatlan... #wwd2026

It's very atmospheric today and the diggers are making the most of dry the weather 😊 The wind and rain has been replaced with rolling mist, but a combination of a bespoke peat survey app and high-tech garden canes ensure that the drivers can find the peat hags. The dogs are also helping 🐕😂

There was a resurgence of #peat cutting on the #IsleOfMan during the war, including the use of #internee labour. There was also a strike by workers complaining about the weather and the challenging work! See: www.linkedin.com/posts/manx-p...

Peatlands are a great preserver of the past, giving an insight into the plants and animals that once inhabited the Isle of Man 🦌One of the most famous is the Irish elk, preserved in a kettle hole, which can now be seen in the Manx Museum. See www.linkedin.com/posts/manx-p...

The importance of #peatlands in #Manx culture is evident in the literature, art and music of the Island. This picture shows a couple sitting before an open 'chiollagh' or 'fireplace', where peat would have been burned for warmth and cooking 🔥

The old tracks from the days of #peat cutting are still visible on the #Manx hills if you know what to look for 👀 For more info see www.linkedin.com/company/manx... or www.facebook.com/profile.php?... #wwd2025 #yearofmanx

If you wander over the hills, you may be able to imagine what they were like in times past 🤔 Manx history is written in the land, and gathering #peat for fuel had a big influence on what we see there today. For more info see: www.linkedin.com/company/manx... or www.facebook.com/profile.php?...

'Moain y yiarrey', or cutting peat for fuel, was widespread on the Isle of Man, but was banned in 2020🔥 Previous legislation dates back to 1577, and defines to time of year and day that cutting could take place. One of the reasons given was to stop the stealing of peat under cover of darkness! ⛅

Some cold photos before the snow completely disappears ❄️😊 👀Look out next week for our posts about the importance of peatlands for #Manx people past and present. From cutting peat for fuel🔥 to hill farming🐑 to enjoying upland wildlife🐦, we're keen to hear any peaty stories you have!

💦World Wetlands Day 2026 #WWD2026 is celebrated on 2nd February. This year it focuses on the cultural heritage of wetlands, so we'll be looking at how our #peatlands are linked to our cultural identity and their importance to past and present ways of life 😊

The hills are pretty soggy after lots of rain recently💦 It's good to see that our newly installed peat bunds are working, creating shallow pools of water in an area that has just been reprofiled. These pools will help to keep the peat wet and provide a nice habitat for wildlife 🐦🦋

To celebrate winter ❄️ we've uploaded a whole range of video clips onto our website 🎬 You can view mountain hares 🐇and dragonflies, listen to the dawn chorus 🐦🎶, dive into a peat pipe, or see restoration work in action 👉 www.manxpeat.org/videos-1

What a day for #sphagnum moss planting 😁🌿 Despite the wind, rain and mist our hardy bunch of volunteers, including His Excellency and Lady Lorimer, got stuck in and planted hundreds of sphagnum plugs. This will help to keep the peat wet and eventually start to form new peat 🤞

Although our work is focussed on restoring natural #peatland habitats, it's also great to remember that there is a wealth of human history in these hills😊 It's important to retain these cultural connections to the landscape, while also trying to restore natural habitats for future generations 🌿

What a day to be on the hill😍 Slightly chilly if you're not in a heated #digger cab though 🥶❄️

Any suggestions? 🤔

We love before and after pictures😃Before work started, this eroding area fed water into a narrow but deep channel, causing further erosion downslope. After such a wet week, the impact of the work is clear to see! The large volumes of water are being slowed down, reducing the likelihood of erosion💦

Today is all about water 💦 Visiting our restoration sites after rain shows us how the ground is responding and can highlight any additional work needed. This small ditch was dammed to raise the water table in the surrounding peat. It's great to see how much the sphagnum moss is thriving🌿😁

Look at these little pompoms of #sphagnum moss 😍 As well as being great for peatlands, sphagnum mosses were historically used for wound dressings due to their absorbent, anti-bacterial properties 💦 For more info ⬇️ www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Check out 👀 the latest blog on our website, where we delve into peaty pools 💦 and their importance for people, wildlife 🐦 and the planet 🌍 www.manxpeat.org/blog/wetter-is-better

Digging peat on the #isleofman has been banned since 2020 and our efforts since then have been on protecting and restoring #peatland habitats 🌿 However, I'm wondering if we can make an exception and dig for the pot of gold that is obviously buried beneath this mound of sphagnum 🤔🌈💰

Digging peat on the #isleofman has been banned since 2020 and our efforts since then have been on protecting and restoring #peatland habitats 🌿 However, I'm wondering if we can make an exception and dig for the pot of gold that is obviously buried beneath this mound of sphagnum 🤔🌈💰

This wet area of #sphagnum moss has formed where water seeps out of the hillside 💦 The last two photos show the same feature after a week of no rain. In flatter places these sphagnum carpets sometimes hide a deeper pool of water, so if you like to keep your legs dry it's best to avoid them 😬

Meet our contractors 🐶🐾 These two corgis are very experienced at #peatland restoration work and are highly skilled digger operators. They have the added advantage of having nice warm coats, ready for when the weather turns cold ❄️😊

Peat and whisky have a long association🥃 As the importance of protecting and restoring peatlands is now recognised 💚 the Manx Whisky Company create their delicious whisky without the use of peat, using other ways of creating flavours 😋 It was great to show them around one of our sites!

One of the best things about Autumn is the gorgeous colours 😍 This is the time of year where #sphagnum mosses become more vibrant and really stand out amongst other #peatland vegetation 💚 Cotton grass turns autumnal red and cladonia lichen (aka reindeer moss 🦌) adds a splash of white 😁

What was once an eroding water channel is now a series of small pools 😀 Simple measures like installing these coir logs can slow the flow of water, reduce erosion and create small pools to benefit wildlife 🐦🦋

Just over ten years ago a landslide occurred😢 likely due to the presence of #peat pipes💦 A site visit today showed how the area is starting to fix itself 💚 #Sphagnum has grown around these tussocks, giving an insight as to how peatlands can start to develop after a major disturbance 😊

Another guided walk in fabulous conditions 😂, this time for delegates at the Inter-island Environment Meeting #IIEM25 . We saw nothing of the surrounding hills 💚 but saw enough #peatland restoration, interesting fungi, mist and #sphagnum moss to keep everyone happy 💦🌿

Peat pipes can sometimes be seen emerging from #peat hags, like this one on Snaefell. These underground channels form as water 💦 passes through cracks in the peat, slowly eroding the peat around it. Sometimes the roof collapses to form a hole 😱 This one (photo 3) was nearly a metre deep!

This piece of wood, likely hawthorn🌳 was found at the base of a #peat hag on Snaefell. Wet, acidic peat can preserve materials for a very long time. Without carbon-dating, it's impossible to tell exactly how long this wood has been buried, but it's likely to be THOUSANDS of years old 😮

Yesterday we made the most of the beautiful weather 😆 to show #Tynwald members around our Beinn-y-Phott site. Despite the typical 'bog' conditions 💨💦 we were able to look at the work that's been done to reprofile and revegetate eroding peat hags and slow the flow of water 😊

It was great to be joined on Friday by Gareth from www.conservefor.co.uk 😊 We had a look at some of our #peatland sites and discussed different restoration methods. Gareth has many years of experience in this type of work and was happy to share his ideas while on the Island 👍

Beinn-y-Phott is one of the few places on the Island where fir clubmoss can be easily found🧐 Here it was found clinging to the overhanging edge of a peat hag💪These primitive, ancient plants reproduce by spores, like mosses, but are part of a group of vascular plants that are 400 million years old💚

Find out about the depth and extent of upland #peat on the Isle of Man by viewing our new interactive peatland map 😁 You can also view photographs 📸 of restoration areas, at fixed points, which will show changes over time. Visit our website to find out more www.manxpeat.org/map

This gorgeous, glowing mushroom was found growing among the #sphagnum 😍 It's amazing what you can find when you look closely 👀

We've been impressed by how much vegetation has established on reprofiled #peat hags, however some places need a helping hand 👇 This hag had areas where the peat was still bare, so we've transplanted some small plugs 🌿 from the adjacent hillside 😊

Damming small drainage ditches can have an immediate effect. What was once an area of dried out bare #peat is now a small upland pool. This will keep the surrounding peat wet and create habitat for invertebrates and birds 🐦See the last three photos to see the pool infilling 😊

A magical moment 😍 when the newly created pools are visited by a dragonfly 🐉 laying it's eggs. The restoration of wet areas within peatlands benefits wildlife, carbon storage and drought resilience 😁

Cutting #peat for fuel in the past has left some areas of the hills with bare, eroding peat. In these places the first step is to slow the flow of water💦 which we have done here using coir logs. We are currently trialling growing our own moss for use on this site 🌿😊

It's nearly time for restoration work to start again, so we made the most of the calm weather to gather some drone shots of the site before the work😊 This site was historically cut for fuel, which has left exposed and eroding peat hags, shallow vegetated gullies and hidden peat pipes.

Invertebrates are an important source of food for upland birds 🦟🐦 Craneflies and midges are most common, but the warm weather has brought out the flying ants. Unfortunately these ones have landed in a #peaty pool 😬

One of the few cottongrass seed heads left on the hills 😢 But just as we lose these summer beauties, the autumn brings out the vibrant colours of sphagnum mosses ☺️ The seasonal change in peatland vegetation transforms the colour of the hills 💚🤍💜🧡

Some more before and after photos, this time from Beinn-y-Phott. The first two show a large peat pipe which was reprofiled last winter. The second two photos show a peat hag which was reprofiled just before a large storm, which caused some damage, but it is now looking lovely and green 🌿 ☺️

Bog Asphodel flowers are turning from yellow to orange as they fruit, but they still look beautiful ☺️ They grow in wet, acidic conditions and were once thought to cause brittle bones in livestock. The plants can cause problems for lambs, however other plants are usually eaten in preference 🐏

The purple heathered hills are awash with flowers at the moment ☺️Calluna vulgaris is the most common heather species found on the #isleofman but you can also see bell heather and cross-leaved heath 💜