Wed 21st December
Antrim Castle
The last Wednesday meet of the year and the weather was very kind to all 15 of us who enjoyed our walk in and around Antrim. We met at the Lough Shore Cafe where the early birds got the day off to a good start with coffees!
We walked along the banks of the Sixmilewater to Antrim Castle Gardens in which we admired the Long and then the Round ponds and climbed to our highest point, the motte! We rejoined the river and its mill race and then had a short road section before walking through Rea s wood on the shores of Lough Neagh.
We finished off the day with a nice bite to eat together in The Top of The Town. Festive mulled cider was enjoyed too! All in all a fine combination!
Isobel Montogomery
We walked along the banks of the Sixmilewater to Antrim Castle Gardens in which we admired the Long and then the Round ponds and climbed to our highest point, the motte! We rejoined the river and its mill race and then had a short road section before walking through Rea s wood on the shores of Lough Neagh.
We finished off the day with a nice bite to eat together in The Top of The Town. Festive mulled cider was enjoyed too! All in all a fine combination!
Isobel Montogomery
Wed 7th December
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Wed 31st August 2016
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Given that it was billed as the final day of summer as well as being the last day of operation for this year of the Mourne Rambler bus, there was a double imperative to launch the new season of Wednesday daytime walks on August 31.
And happily the walk from Trassey via Hare’s Gap, Brandy Pad and the saddle between Donard and Commedagh delivered on all fronts. Although we did experience a skiff of rain close to Hare’s Gap it was a warm day and by the time we had our lunch stop and were making our descent down the Glen River valley, summer suns were glowing. The 10am bus left more or less on time from Newcastle and left us off at the end of Trassey Road. By the time we had gathered more Spartans who had parked at Trassey car park, we were 11 in number. Going up the approach lane we marvelled at the generous crop of blackberries in the hedgerow, and admired the many rowan trees (aka mountain-ash) with their lush display of bright red berries. The chat was good and the hike up to Hare’s Gap was accomplished without difficulty. |
The wind was on our backs and the views all around were impressive.
We paused at Hare’s Gap for our first lunch and then, anoraks on to protect us against that skiff of rain, we forged our way along the Brandy Pad. As ever, the Brandy Pad afforded memorable views up across the range of peaks in the Mournes and down across Ben Crom reservoir. Plenty to savour. After a short stop to catch our breath below The Castles we cut up to the saddle where it was agreed we would partake of second lunch. Our restaurant, beside the cairn, boasted panoramic views down to Newcastle and across to the blue waters of Dundrum Bay. Even on a Wednesday the number of walkers ascending and descending Donard, or perhaps getting no further than the saddle, was notable. No doubt the encouraging weather forecast had tempted them out. Evidently the National Trust and Mourne Heritage have counters and it will be interesting to see what the total number is for this year. Certainly, an ascent of Slieve Donard must be on the bucket list of many tourists and day-trippers. |
For us, it was time to head down the stone path to the treeline and on down the Glen River valley and Donard Forest into Newcastle.
Close to the distinctive ice house we encountered a volunteer from Mourne Heritage who was using a couple of crowbars to manoeuvre a large stone aside, so that space could be created to put down aggregate to create a more even walking surface. Good work! As predicted, we reached Donard Park around 3pm and there was plenty of time to repair to Nike’s Café for a restorative afternoon tea. From there it was a short walk along the promenade back to the cars, and arrangements were made to ferry our Trassey car park participants back to their vehicles. And for the record, Florence’s trusty pedometer had clocked up 14.89km (9.25 miles) or to put it another way, 20,691 steps – twice the recommended daily target. Well done, everyone! ROBIN MORTON |
Wed 10th August 2016
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Getting to Divis proved an event last Wednesday - turned out the evening coincided with widespread road closures to allow motorbike racing. The walk leader eventually turned up 10 mins after time. The delay proved
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valuable as it gave the earlier cloud a chance to lift and the 5 who set out got just over 2 hours of good hiking in at a brisk pace - combing the lough, heath and summit trails. It stayed dry and with occasional reminders from the
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motorbikes in the distance that the races still progressed. We got back to the cars in the last of the light, still dry, as the cloud base began to drift down the hill once more.
Gerard |
Wed 27th July 2016
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Only 3 showed up for this evenings walk despite the lure of the Rinka's award winning icecream. We found the section from whitehead to blackhead lighthouse more challenging than
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usually - rockfall has led to barriers erected across the path and alternate plans had to be made. We still enjoyed the walking the views and chats with local fishermen. Dorothy turned
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back at the lighthouse while Jackie and I tackled the outgoing tide and some rock hopping to get to Cloghfin port and back to Ballystrudder. Gerard
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Wed 8th June 2016The Six Mile Water, Antrim
Joan had around 8 walkers for a pleasant walk around The Six Mile Water in Antrim. A beautiful sunny evening and lots of reminders of the areas industrial past - with remnants of old mills and mill races and wheels etc and evidence of how nature is claiming these areas back. Thanks Joan |
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Wed 18th May 2016Crawfordsburn.
The first Wednesday Evening walk was taken in beautiful evening sunshine with clear skies and an ever brightening and almost full moon attending. Jack lead about 8 walkers through the glen at Crawfordsburn and around the environs of Helen's Bay and the North Down Coastal Path. Bluebells abounded and the woods and paths had a wonderful Spring aura of wild garlic and other plant life. Thanks Jack. |
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Wed 13th April 2016
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Slieve Croob
Despite the poor weather forecast 12 intrepid Spartans, fortified with coffee and scones at Peter Morgan's cottage, set off |
upwards towards the '12 cairns' at the summit. The weather was kind and good visibility meant fabulous views of the countryside and city of Belfast beyond.The downward path was a bit
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soggy in places but quite passable. On our return some of us retired to the village for lunch.
Thanks to all who came. Marie |
Wed 30th March 2016Castleward
A group of 11 assembled at the main carpark in the Castleward Estate on a beautiful sunny Spring morning with excellent visibility-perfect for our walk.We started off by walking back to the gate lodge at the main entrance,and from there turning left onto the Boundary Trail. It was in good condition and dry underfoot despite quite a lot of rainfall in the previous days-this took us through the Windmill Plantation with a nice view of the front of the House appearing before entering the Deer Park. This eventually took us to the Barn/Farmyard area and we continued along the loughshore passing the Strangford Lough Yacht Club and Audley’s Quay,enjoying stunning views across the lough at this stage.A short distance beyond,just before Audley’s Wood,we encountered the increasingly familiar sight of a Game of Thrones group tour - I am not a devotee but I understand this part of the Estate has been used in many scenes (Winterfell ?). We continued through Audley’s Wood with good views of Audley’s Castle from every side-not really a castle but rather a tower house like many others in the Irish landscape-although it has the Audley family name it is 15th century and hence predated their ownership of the Estate in the 16th century. Moving on we came to the Temple where we had our group photo-one of our number wittily described it as an |
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Wed 16th March 2016Loughbrickland Lake
Fifteen Spartans assembled at Loughbrickland Lake just outside Loughbrickland on a cloudy but dry day. We strolled along the edge of the lake with its crannog and 2 swans, into the town itself and up to the entrance of the Whyte Estate. The walk then took us in a figure of eight around the boundary and woodland trails of the estate. En route we encountered the Ballyvalley Archers (fortunately they were not shooting that day). Highlights of the walk were the impressive Coolnacran Ringfort and Johnston's Fort. We returned to the car park via Loughbrickland Park with its convenient public convenience and swings. Lunch was had at Linenhill at the 'Outlet' on the outskirts of Banbridge. Stephen |
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Wed 17th February 2016Gosford Forest Park
Texts were coming in to the BBC weather studio of widespread snow in this part of Co Armagh. But this did not put off the hardy Red Soxs 22 of whom converged on the forest park car park by a variety of routes. Remarkably in view of the conditions this was a record turnout. Many of us did not know the area and were keen to find out more. We were all grateful to Florence who had downloaded a sheath of information and tell us about useful land marks such as Dean Swifts Well, The Gate House and Castle and gave us the detail. David led us off into the unknown and after going in various directions we emerged to walk along by the side of an attractive ivy and fern clad wall to arrive at the formidable Gosford Castle. It was built in a Norman style in the 19th century at a cost of £100000. It was sold by the family in 1921 and has gone through various owners and the american army, and has now |
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Wed 3rd February 2016Tollymore Forest Park
Wednesday walkers scored a hat-trick on February 3 when for the third outing in a row the weather was bright, dry, and occasionally sunny. Our destination was Tollymore Forest Park and we had a magnificent turn-out of 21 members in attendance. We mustered at the lower car park where the daily charge is a modest £5 per car. Or why not buy a season ticket for £25, it will last you a year and covers all the Forestry Parks in Northern Ireland. A rather brisk breeze was blowing across the exposed car park and we were glad to get on the move. Our leader Peter White set a steady pace and took us upsteam on the path alongside the picturesque Shimna River. On the opposite bank we spotted among the dense woodland some caped figures. They turned out to be extras from Game of Thrones - the latest instalment was being filmed at Tollymore. Sadly our star potential went un-noticed. Interesting fact from the Discover Northern Ireland website with which to impress your friends: Oak wood from Tollymore was the preferred material for the interiors of the White Star liners including the 'Titanic' which was built in Belfast. The path was a little muddy after recent rain but to compensate, the river was in full flow and all the more magnificent for that. We crossed the river on one of the three 200-year-old stone bridges and ascended a fairly steep track to jointhe Drinns path, completing the western end |
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Wed 20th January 2016Cavehill
David Wiggins managed to choose the best day of the week for his walk at Cavehill on January 20, and 18 walkers participated. It was a beautifully bright and sunny day, hardly any breeze, and relatively mild. We did the usual anti-clockwise walk and as David had predicted, our walk time was precisely two hours. Nice views over Belfast Lough and the city itself. A bit muddy in parts but we all managed the ascent and descent without incident. Afterwards most of the party decamped to the Cellar Restaurant at Belfast Castle where lunch was partaken of. Plenty of good chat around the table and the world was successfully put to rights. Thanks to David for leading. Robin Morton |
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Wed 6th January 2016North Down Coastal Path
A new record was set on January 6 in terms of a turn-out for a Wednesday morning walk. Although some came and went at different stages of the walk along the North Down Coastal Path, we had a grand total of 20. We gathered at Holywood Railway Station for a brisk six-mile walk along the coast to Crawfordsburn Country Park, pausing several times to admire the splendour of this marvellous route. Behind us a low mist was lifting from the Belfast hills, and we counted ourselves fortunate to have such a dry, warm and calm day. Quite amazing for early January but then this has been one of the mildest winters - and wettest - on record. Given that Tuesday had been a day of heavy rain, and that more was on the way on Wednesday night, we were delighted that we had timed the walk for a window of decent - and occasionally sunny - weather. Along the way there was so much to take in. Gordon Davis helpfully identified the birds at the shoreline and in the shallows and we were charmed to see a flock of turnstones along with the obligatory oystercatchers. Further out, we saw a couple of eider ducks further out and a cormorant drying its wings on a rocky outcrop. And several over-wintering Brent Geese, such majestic birds. But the pick of the bunch was a curlew making its way along the shoreline, a privilege to see a member of what is now an endangered species. After the recent rain the path was rutted and muddy in places but we made good progress. The objective had been to traverse the new footbridge at Rockport and we were most impressed. The bridge makes the path navigable at all tides. Clearly this is North Down's answer to the Gobbins! |
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