B22 (Isle of Man)

This article is about the current B22.
For the original B22, now A28, see B22 (Ballanorris Road).

Passing the reservoir

The B22 starts on the A23 in the small village of Mount Rule and heads north, quickly climbing out of the village and over the hill to drop down into the valley of the River Glass. This section is a good wide road, and even when the centre lines ends there is room for traffic to pass. In typical Manx fashion, the width of the road is defined by the space between the banks, leaving some sections which must be nearing 10m in width, whilst it drops to a more normal c6m elsewhere. The quality of the road does, however, noticeably drop as it enters West Baldwin village. In the middle of the tiny village, a right turn crosses the river and climbs over the hill to the B21 at East Baldwin, while the B22 squeezes between houses before climbing a narrow, winding tree lined section.

As the road widens once more, the dam of the West Baldwin Reservoir can be seen through the trees, and soon the water comes in to view. A couple of small parking places are passed before the road climbs back into the trees of the Injebreck Plantation. The road is wider again, the climb steepening with a tight hairpin bend to negotiate before the gradient eases a little. However, around the next bend the route passes Injebreck Farm and becomes much steeper. The views are astonishing in places, but drivers are advised not to look, as the road requires their attention! A white line may just be visible, but the road is still narrow and remains steep as it climbs the slopes of Injebreck Hill, constantly turning this way and that.

Eventually the gradient eases a little, and the road finds a slight dip below the summit, grazing the 400m contour before dipping down. The B10 can be seen below to the right in a couple of places, but it takes some time, roughly half a mile, for the two routes to converge at a sharp west facing fork. A short link road allows traffic to turn east.

History

As originally numbered in the 1920's, most of the route was given the B15 number, although that route extended south to Braddan Bridge in Douglas, and ended rather randomly at Injebreck. It had been renumbered as the B22, on its current route, by 1963.