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The Ramblers Guide Age
1 to 3 - Pramblers John Price |
Saturday
2 Feb 08 - Murlough, Co Down Saturday
1 March 08 - Hen and Cock Mountain Saturday
5 April 08 - Rostrevor Saturday
3 May 08 - Slieve Meelmore Saturday
7 June 08 - Kearney Point, Co Down Saturday
5 July 08 - North Coast (Portrush area) *NOTE: For Rambles in the Mournes Area please meet in Lidl Car Park Ballynahinch at 9.30 am
Down the Glen - Up at Banagher Weather forecast for Saturday 2nd June was for a rainy day - and it was. That did not prevent fourteen fool-hardy ones meeting in Dungiven and going via New Street to the Car Park at Banagher Glen. We were eagerly received by a pen and paper wielding gentleman for registration for the walk. We quickly came back to our non entity status when we discovered we did ot have the expected password or group name. Not being put off by rejection we donned our dry "wet" gear and started off along Banagher Glen leading to the reservoir. Lunch time was upon us and we did not have to "drink" our sandwiches but found a lovely dining area. We sat on a fallen tree trunk and were covered by a beautiful natural canopy of Larch trees - perfectly dry for our dining half hour. It was back to the cars and off - some foolhardy (in the raw) to look at Banagher Old Church - 1100AD. The rest made for Moneynick cafe near Toome where we all met for tea and scones plus for some a cholesterol busting cae treat - YUM YUM! And to "crown" it all, we remembered the special 2nd June 1953 when a certain Elizabeth got her tiara at her Coronatio in London - specially poignant for the writer who had his very own "Queen Elizabeth" along onthis special 2nd June 2007... A DAY ENJOYED BY ALL OF US. John Bingham
Seventeen Ramblers and One Four –Footed Friend Saturday 7th April MMVII saw 17 ramblers plus one four-footed friend set off from the lower car park at Kilbroney Park Rostrevor on a dull but pleasant morning. Following a rough track by the side of the river and through the trees we quickly ascended the lower slopes beneath “Cloughmore” or the 40 Tonne Big stone -- An ice age boulder. The river track led us to a very good tarmac road which continued up and leading to a second car park cunningly known as“The Upper Car Park”. Here the road ended and we continued ever upwards to the “Big Stone” where we had a marvellous view of Carlingford Mountains across the sea inlet. Leaving the stone (it wouldn’t fit in the rucksack) we proceeded up Slieve Martin, 485 metres where we relaxed, enjoyed our lunch and could even have fallen asleep had we been allowed! ! !. Again we took time to enjoy the wonderful view and I think everyone agreed – we must return another time. We descended via a different forest track just in time for the 3 pm tea on the Park café. Betty Bingham
MOUNTAINEERING
IN COUNTY ANTRIM The peaceful scene meant we did not have to escape at a fast pace back to our iron steeds which sped us to half way house near Ballygally. There were no half measures of the delicious snacks served to us hungry mountaineers. They were consumed, Al Fresco, at leisure in the balmy air from the east overlooking the azure blue tranquil sea at Barbados Bay or some said Ballygally Bay. It was just a wonderful ending to a lovely day - Enjoyed by all. The following newspaper cutting might precipitate a review by each rambler on the need for a new rucksack!
John Bingham RAMBLING
ON - IN THE MOURNES The sunny calm day meant we were in no hurry to continue up to the Devil's Coach Road. The wind spring at this altitude must have been would tight as were in danger of becoming human kites, though somehow we just managed to keep anchored to mother earth and got back safely to ….. YES …. Meelmore Lodge café a little bit of our heaven on earth. On our morning jaunt we spied a bunting bird and in the afternoon two finches were spotted --- This information contracts to the extract below (with editors permission) from our Rambling mate Rita Holyoake of Hythe near Southampton report of her local club walks. (Extracts
taken from the Natural History Society Newsletter February 2006)
During 2005 we have enjoyed field trips along our local coastline and visited several interesting new locations such as Cheesefoot Head where we had splendid views of hares and Bentley Wood where some of us had our first sightings of purple emperor, white admiral and white letter hairstreak butterflies. Shown below are Sheila, Rita, Jill and Brenda exploring Fletchwood Meadows CHEESEFOOT
HEAD (SU 53 27) 20 MARCH 2005 Birds:
Blackbird, Buzzard, Great tit, Greenfinch, Kestrel, Long tailed
tit, Meadow pipit, Mistle thrush, Pheasant, Robin, Skylark, Song
thrush, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals: Brown hare, Roe deer. Insects: Bumble bee (Bombus terrestris). Leaves
only: Primrose (Primula vulgarly), Wild Arum or Lords-and-Ladies
(Arum Rita hijacked / adopted the RTC ramblers during our visit to Lllanfairfechan in Wales and has remained in regular contact ever since. John Bingham
RENDEZVOUS
RAMBLE TO WINDY GAP LEITRIM - 04 March 2006 The
traditional route to the summit is a fairly straightforward track
and Irene suggested A golden rule on any ramble is not to get too far ahead of the leader. This leader however was most grateful that John B had other ideas. Thanks John. I would never have spotted that bog. Hope Betty got your socks dried out. Lunch
was enjoyed at the summit with a few after lunch jokes adding to
the "craic". The
leader was a bit concerned when some people described this as the
best bit of the day! Ian
Bradley
RENDEZVOUS
RAMBLE TO CAVEHILL - 05 November 2005 Led by Ronnie James we climbed the steps from Bellevue Car Park up to the first cave and after a short stop took the narrow path to our right and soon reached another viewing area where we again stopped and gazed at Belfast below us. After a short climb and a walk on a level track we reached Napoleon's Nose and McArts Fort where we ate lunch and enjoyed the tremendous panoramic view from Slemish to the Mournes. We descended by the broad path towards Ballysillan and then turned left on a narrow rocky path which brought us past Belfast Castle and back to our first viewing spot under the First Cave. We descended the steps and were soon back at the car park. Ronnie has invited the Ramblers to his home on the Ravenhill Road and once there we enjoyed light refreshments and a slide presentation illustrating Ronnie's travels to Holland, Thailand, Morocco and Australia. This brought a good day out to a most enjoyable conclusion and we are most grateful to Ronnie for his leadership and his hospitality. As a token of our appreciation a small gift was presented to Ronnie. David H Linton
RENDEZVOUS
RAMBLE TO STRANGFORD - 03 December 2005 The ramble commenced at the slip way car park at Strangford and though we set out for the Castleward Estate we quickly diverted into Cuan Hotel both to escape the heavy rain and to enjoy coffee and scones. We resumed the ramble when the rain stopped and and turned into the estate, walking along a very muddy path which gave us good views of Strangford Lough. We came across a sign "To the House" and dutifully following our leader, Olive Burgess we headed towards the house and soon found ourselves in a courtyard where a "Victorian Craft Fare" was in progress. We visited the stalls and some purchases were made. The event was of particular interest to Betty Bingham whose handicraft skills are well known. After an all too short visit to the Craft Fare we made our saggy way back to the car park and having abandoned the hiking gear we returned to "The Cuan" where we sat down to a most welcome Christmas lunch. We were pleased to have our Chairman - Robin Mulholland and his wife Hazel join us and at the conclusion of the meal Robin spoke to the gathering and expressed our thanks to Olive Burgess for once again organizing our Christmas lunch. We returned to our cars and headed home but rumour has it that one rambler made a second visit to the Craft Fare. There are no prizes for guessing who that rambler was !!! David H Linton
RENDEZVOUS
RAMBLE ALONG THE LAGAN TOW PATH - 07 January 2006 We stopped beyond Shaws Bridge and Edenderry at a pinic area and our packed lunches before turning back. We reckon the walk would have been between 7 and 8 miles. Some folk finished with afternoon tea at the Cutters Wharf before returning to their cars. A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL. Margaret Dougherty
October
Ramble to Ballygally / Robin Young Hill Following a brief discussion it was agreed we would return to Ballygally and walk through the forest to Carnfunnock . The rain did stop and on reaching the country park the priority was to rearrange the furniture in the café and enjoy the leisurely cuppa, where the few non-energetic walkers who chose to travel by car rather that walk eventually found us. We tried to get rid of a few unwanted bodies by directing them into the maze but alas they quickly found the exit and a return trip through the forest soon had us back in Ballygally where we were reunited with our cars. In spite of the rain and change of plans we did have an enjoyable day. Betty Bingham Pigeon
Rock Mountain Ramble - 4th June 2005 We were approaching the lower slopes of Pigeon Rock Mountain when the inevitable occurred - it started to rain and the "wet gear" was hastily brought into use. Thankfully the rain was of short duration and did not hamper our climb which was interspersed with welcome rest stops. Once
at the top we took shelter from the wind behind a wall and had lunch.
This was a day of almost perfect visibility and we could see across
Lough Neagh to the Sperrin Mountains and across County Down to Belfast
Lough and the Antrims Hills. We commenced our descent to the Rocky River Track and some keen mountaineers included a climb of Cock Mountain before we all met at the Car park. From there some of the party headed to Dromore for refreshment and others "ate locally" in Castlewelllan. Thank you lan Bradley for guiding our footsteps. David H Linton Bloody
Bridge Ramble - 02 April 2005 Led by Muriel Torrens we made the difficult ascent to the Hare's Gap and once there turned left in the shadow of Slievenaglogh and headed towards the coast. Shortly on our right we could see Slieve Beg, Cove Mountain, Lammagan and Slieve Bernagh and the full extent of the Annalong Valley. The path took us across the Bog of Donard and when we reached a suitable location with lots of stones to sit on, we had lunch. Late in the afternoon we arrived at Bloody Bridge and though it seemed that we had a simple level walk we did have to contend with crossing fences, boggy patches and several rivers, so we had more of a "mountain challenge" than a mountain walk. We were fortunate to have experienced superb weather conditions as the sun shone for the full day and some sun hats were in evidence! It was, as some remarked "a perfect day". We
returned to Meelmore Lodge, enjoyed some refreshment and then headed
back to Belfast. Thanks to Muriel Torrens for guiding our steps. David H Linton Fofanny
Dam and Butter Mountain Ramble - 5 March 2005 We congregated in the Meelmore Lodge car park and led by Irene McAvoy we proceeded up a track which brought us up into the mountains and shortly we turned right in the direction of Fofanny Dam. As we approached the dam we could see extensive construction work in progress. We walked the length of the dam, then through a wood and up a slope to find ourselves on the Hilltown - Kilkeel Road. We crossed the road and walked a short distance to a small car park from there we ascended Butter Mountain and once at the top we found a sheltered spot where we lunched. After lunch we descended the mountain and retraced our steps back to Meelmore Lodge where we enjoyed refreshment. We
returned home having enjoyed a totally sun-filled and totally rain-free
day in the Mournes. David H Linton Rendezvous
Ramble at Tollymore Forest Park The weather could not have been better as we strode around the forest - sunny with a cool breeze and though we did not meet other ramblers we did meet five ponies and their riders on several occasions. Some of the party stopped to collect fir cones and almost became lost, but thankfully they didn't. We were joined by eleven visitors (i.e. Club members who do not ramble) at the hotel and so a large group of thirty-two sat down to a four course lunch which had turkey and Christmas pudding on the menu. Following
the meal our Chairman addressed the party and thanked the "professional
ramblers" for allowing the "amateurs" to join them.
He also paid tribute to Olive Burgess who not only had led the morning
ramble but had also made all the lunch arrangements. I wonder where next years Christmas Ramble will take place - "Any ideas , Olive?" David H Linton
Led by Ian Bradley, a party of seventeen peopl set out from Helen's Bay car park and proceeded down a path towards the Belfast - Bangor road. The path took us throuogh woods and under a bridge which carried the Belfast - Bangor road and emerged into open countryside with fields flanking each side of the path. The weather forecast had warned that heavy rain was approaching from the west but for most of the walk we had dry conditions, dull skies and sometimes the sun broke through the clouds. At one point we were amazed to see a little clump of primroses in full flower. We did not have time to walk the full length of the path which continued to Craigantlet and the Clandeboye Estate so we turned and walked back to Helen's Bay. As we approached the car park the rain which was threatened fell heavily and we made a dash for our cars. The party had been invited for refreshments to the home of our Chairman and so thanks to the generosity of Robin and Hazel Mulholland we enjoyed pizza, tray-bakes and tea in the most convivial atmosphere, talking about the walk and recalling exciting moments on other rambles. It was a most pleasant conclusion to the New Year Celebration and our thanks go to Ian, Robin and Hazel. David H Linton Rendezvous
Ramblers Ascent of Bingian - 5th February 2005 Seventeen walkers set up the Carrick Little track under Rosemary Kerr's leadership and as we ascended we saw heavy machinery at work removing huge boulders from a field on our right. When we came to the Mourne Wall the party divided with one group climbing Bingian Mountain and the other taking the easier gradient and walking towards the Blue Lough and Lamagan Mountain. Your reporter was in the latter group. In the USA, Mount Rushmore depicts the faces of several presidents and it would seem that we have a similar feature in the Mournes as Rosemary discovered the face of Abraham Lincoln on the cliffs on our left. We stopped to observe but one of our party just couldn't see "Old Abe's" face anywhere (Guess who!). We had lunch under the shadow of Lamagan and then proceeded down the track to the carpark. The other group members told me that they had an enjoyable ascent of Bingian, that cold winds swirled around the summit and that the view was magnificent. We drove to Newcaatle and as is the tradition we had refreshments in the Strand Café which we found was under new management. While we were there a phone call was made to a recently arrived resident in Newcastle - our own Wilfie Hodge. We were soon returning home having had a most enjoyable ramble in fine, spring-like conditions. Thanks to Rosemary Kerr for keeping us on the right track. David H Linton |
