After a bit of a break due to having to be in Dublin every day last week and the canal walk, I was back in the forest for a quick lap at lunchtime. Not a lot has changed really, the weather has been showery so the water levels were about normal. The main addition is that the buttercups are now in flower. I used to hate these when I was gardening a lot but I guess they are a sign of summer.
The day was overcast but clear enough. I’ve kind of given up bothering with the long-zoom landscapes but this view of the church down the village was quite nice I thought.
We took the longer route around and I managed not to get too soaked despite the recent rain-shower. This tree has been slowly decaying for years but the root ball has provided an interesting habitat. I don’t think it will be there for much longer though as there are a few holes appearing and the soil is falling down.
It was nice to get back out for a quick walk. I have fully recovered from my exertions at the weekend but I think it will be a while before I attempt such a long section again. I certainly won’t be trying it in such hot weather.
So, suitably refreshed after a nice lunch of Tuna roll, crisps and a can of Coke, I pushed onwards. The heat really was starting to get to me at this stage and as usual it was beginning to stop being fun. But I still had 14 km to go and was on a reasonably tight deadline for a train at Enfield. So I had to just put the head down and get on with it. The railway was pretty much a constant companion at this stage with the odd milepost being visible. The railway is the only transport mode in Ireland still using miles.
There is lots of canal activity visible in this shot with both cyclists and canoeists enjoying the fantastic weather. I must admit, that at this point I was praying for less fantastic weather and was trying to find shade wherever possible.
The next major feature on the canal was the Boyne aqueduct. This is another landmark I have seen hundreds of times from the train but had never set foot on. There was quite a nice view of the river from here but it was a bit of a major diversion to try to get a picture of the aqueduct itself.
The county boundary took a bit of a diversion a this point and I had to wait another 5 kilometres or so until crossing the Blackwater to pass into county Meath. My pace had dropped below 5 km per hour by now and I was having to stop to take a rest every hour given I was now knocking on the door of 35 km and was in a bit of pain. I stopped for a quick chat with a couple of boaters at Moyvalley and then came out onto the old main road at Furey’s.
Much as I would have loved to stop for a pint, I was looking nervously at my watch as I was going to be cutting it really fine for a train or face waiting at Enfield for two hours. So I pushed on as fast as I could. After Moyvalley, the path got quite overgrown and it was really pleasant. There was quite a bit of shade about and it was a very welcome relief for the sun.
At about 40 km, I decided to chance another quick rest. I had a bit of a sit down, ate a chocolate bar and drank the remains of one of my (long-thawed) frozen bottles of mineral water that I use for stopping my chocolate from melting. This gave me another burst to finish out the walk.
The next feature was the Blackwater aquaduct which finally marked my transition into County Meath and left me with about 3 km to go.
From there on in I was on the home stretch and the sore legs and feet didn’t really matter any longer. There were a lot of teenagers hanging about Enfield harbour enjoying the fine weather.
All of a sudden, I spotted the bridge at Enfield station and knew that I had only a couple of hundred metres to go. I got into the station about 10 minutes before the train was due but I needn’t have been that rushed as Irish Rail weren’t too rushed either and the train was about 15 minutes late.
So without much of a pause, I pressed onwards from McNeads bridge for a few kilometres. When I spotted a sign for a bar and grocery shop at Killucan, I left the line for a few hundred metres to replenish my water supply. I got another 2 litres of water and replenished my water bladder from what I had. It was turning into quite a hot day and I reckoned I was going to need whatever water I could carry.
Immediately after Killucan I hit upon my first lock of the day and over the next 5 kilometres or so the route dropped through about 10 locks from the summit. I’ve taken pictures of most if not all of the locks but it gets a bit boring after a bit so I’ve not bothered uploading them all.
There were quite a few people about partaking in various canal-side activities. I met a few local walkers, runners and the odd cyclist. The route in this part of the canal is particularly suited for cyclists with pretty much uninterrupted paving along the canal all the way from Mullingar.
I had done a deal with myself to have lunch at or around the half-way point but then I realised that I had managed to talk myself into doing the walk by persuading myself that it was about 4 kilometres shorter than the 44 km that the walk was planned at. So I left the 20 km behind with this harvesting operation being the only thing of note to see.
The day was getting so hot that I resolved to go for a quick swim when I got significantly past half-way. I wasn’t really feeling particularly hungry so I decided to leave lunch for a bit longer. So at 24km, I had a quick dip in the canal which was indeed very refreshing. It wasn’t as cold as I was expecting but it was certainly a relief from the heat of the day.
While I wait to dry off I had a bit of a rest and admired the various insect life buzzing about. There were fantastic dragonflies but they were too fast for my bridge camera to be able to nab a quick shot. So I satisfied myself with a coupe of shots of this butterfly which was quite fabulous.
So resting aside, I got my act together and kept myself moving. Every now and then I would come across a heron who would promptly take off and move elsewhere. This guy was on the other side so wasn’t too bothered about me
So from this point, it was another couple of kilometres into Hill of Down where there was a lovely little harbour and they were setting it all up for a bit of a festival. There was what looked like a nice pub with tables outside but again, I was loaded for the day and in any case it was a bit early for partaking. I reckon you could easily take on this section without too much in the line of supplies as there were a few spots to get food.
So I pushed on for another couple of kilometres until I came to a reasonable looking spot with a bench to have a bit of lunch.
I got up early and drove to Mullingar as the first train was just a little late to be getting started. I was on the trail by about 7:45 which was about when I wanted to be setting off. The day was shaping up to be a real scorcher but I had my sun-hat, sun-screen, 4 litres of water and the prospect of being able to stock up on water en-route.
Just before I got to Mullingar harbour I come across this interesting railway bridge that I must have crossed closed to 4,000 times over the last 10 years yet have never seen once from the other side. This is going to be a common feeling for the day as I’ll be following the railway line that I commute on and will be seeing lots of things for the first time that I caught as a glimpse from the train hundreds of times before. You can see from this bridge, that the stone structure is capable of carrying a second line but this line was singled nearly a hundred years ago and nobody has saw fit to restore it since.
The first part of the walk is a great loop that the canal takes around Mullingar. As I am on the summit level and the town of Mullingar is in a hollow, a more direct route is impossible and even with the loop the canal is on large embankments for a lot of the time. The scale of the engineering involved here is pretty impressive when you consider it was constructed entirely using manual labour,
Mullingar harbour was looking particularly peaceful. There were a few people about walking dogs and getting a quick run but the town really hadn’t woken up yet. The canal is quite extensive and even has a dry dock.
The other feature of note in the Mullingar loop is that this is the point where the main water supply comes in Lough Owel. This is another feature that I shoot by on the train every day yet never see. This little bridge crosses the supply channel as it joins the canal. Back in the day this channel did most of the work in keeping the summit level but in these days of pumps, there are several other sources of water which is pumped in from the Inny at Ballymahon and from the Brosna. This is mainly because the council now takes a lot of water from Lough Owel and so the lake is no longer capable of supplying enough water to meet all demands. So the main supply no longer supplies a major component of the water for the canal at all.
Another kilometre or so saw me at the other side of Mullingar and once I was done there that was the last I’d see of towns of any size until Enfield. There is a small bridge a this end of the town that is big enough for boats but forces walkers across the road.
At this stage I was beginning to hit my stride and so got moving at a good rate along the line. The path was a mixture of tarmac and compacted gravel and was a good surface if not a little hard of the feet. There were fabulous Irises in flower – well some sort of Iris or Lily, I’m not that bothered about looking them up.
A bit out of Mullingar and we entered into an area that looked to have been cut out of rock. It was quite a deep cutting and the path rose to about 7 or 8 metres about the canal in places.
After this, the country opened out a bit and we rejoined the railway which was to stay our relatively close companion for the whole journey. At about 9 o’clock, I got to The Downs where the main road also joined the canal for a bit of company.
This continued on and off for a few kilometres although it wasn’t much of a disturbance as it was on the other side of the canal and there were plenty of trees keeping the volume down. I stopped for a cup of coffee around 9:30 in a nice quiet spot opposite a farm. I didn’t stop for long and pushed onwards. I came across this rather bizarre-looking contraption of a lifting bridge.
From there it was about 15 more minutes to McNeads bridge and Mary Lynch’s pub but I was so early that they weren’t even open yet. Even so, I probably wouldn’t have bothered as I’ve gotten in the habit of carrying what I need for the day. There were a few boats moored up at the bridge but there didn’t seem to be much signs of life apart from a Waterways Ireland pickup truck.
Although I didn’t stop here, this is natural point for a page-break given that it is a major place of interest. I’d made good progress over the first 2 and a half hours of my walk with about 12km put behind me. There was still a long way to go though.
I got home early in time for a walk but it wasn’t looking too great on the train home. But we broke through into clear skies in Edgeworthstown and it was actually a fabulous evening. So I quickly got changed and hitched up the dogs when I got home.
Up the top, there was a beautiful blue sky and the sun was shining which rewarded me with this rare vista.
I had a fair old stomp around and did the lap in under an hour which was good going seeing as I met somebody in the woods and stopped for a chat for a few minutes. For once the dogs were well behaved and didn’t try to savage the interloper.
It is nice to see others using the woods for walking. The place is so incredibly lush at this stage of the year. This is actually one of the bigger tracks running through and it is amazingly overgrown.
So that’s another walk done and I’m getting quite close to the half-way point. I don’t think I’ll quite make it by the end of may as I have to travel every day this week and I’m planning another chunk of canal for the week.
Another lunchtime walk and I was in the mood to walk quickly so I didn’t bother with the camera too much. We had this new arrival in one of the hedges near the forest today – probably a garden escape. Aside from that I didn’t see a lot of note.
The cuckoo was keeping to himself today which was a little bit disappointing. I hope he’s around at the weekend so that the children can hear him. The weather was dry again and I didn’t need to bother with my raincoat at all. It was quite a rushed walk as I wanted to get finished up at work relatively early. The only other picture I took was this view of one of the clearings up near the top.
This was another lunchtime walk and for a change the weather was fine. In fact it was rather fabulous in that while it was overcast, the sun seemed to be shining through for most of the walk. There was a fabulous view of clouds and wide open country from the top
The cuckoo has obviously taken up residence as he was calling again. Strangely enough both today and yesterday he only let out one sequence of 4 calls. It will be interesting to hear if he does the same again for my next walk.
Once we got under cover, the sun was a bit less evident but there were still patches of blue sky visible.
It was very refreshing to get to do a walk without having to bother with my raincoat and we all had a good hour outside. Hopefully that will mean an end to the recent streak of wet walks.
I got home early from work and although it was pouring with rain, I decided to get out for a quick walk with the dogs. I took the shorter route as it is a bit dicey doing the longer route on your own in the evening in heavy rain when the bridges are very slippy. I didn’t get the camera out much as it was raining so heavily.
Most definitely the highlight of the walk was hearing a cuckoo which must have been in reward to my perseverance in the bad weather. Although they were in fine fettle during my trip to Mayo earlier in the month, this is the first time in years I’ve heard one in Longford.
There wasn’t a lot new out. I’m still amazed by the devil’s matchstick I spotted last week but there is no sign of the red tips now. There were a few clovers in flower.
It turned into a bit of a trudge once I crossed the road and headed into second half of the walk as the ground was very wet and the rain was pelting down. I got moderately wet by the end but nothing much to complain about.
After a fews days’ break due to work and other commitments, we took advantage of a break in the weather to go for a family walk around the forest. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t stay broken for long and it started raining after about 15 minutes. There is more an more stuff coming into flower and we are moving beyond the spring yellows
Just before it started raining and the sky was an angry-looking dull grey. Sunblock is not quite necessary.
The holly is in flower at the moment. Compared to the bright red berries the flower is quite a dull white thing.
There must be hundreds of types of willow and sally tree in the forest but they are mostly done flowering at this stage. Here is one straggler
The final sign that summer is upon is that the great ash tree in our garden has finally got its leaves. It is always the last of the trees to get its leaves and tends to hang on to them right up until late October. There is no sign of the dreaded dieback disease that is supposedly going to kill 90% of ash trees so here’s hoping.
We had a nice but slightly wet walk. Nothing too bad but it would be nice to string together a few decent days.
We this is supposed to be the number that holds all the answers but unfortunately I haven’t achieved enlightenment yet. However, the weather was a whole lot better than the previous couple of walks although to some extent I did strike it lucky in getting out between showers. It was dry, warm and there was a fabulous blue sky. What a change.
I didn’t spot any interesting little things to take pictures of but I did notice that the cow parsley was in full flower. This is an absolute menace in the garden with a tough easily broken tap root that is almost impossible to get out. But it is a quintessential part of the Irish summer flora and as such can’t be all evil.
The pine cones are developing quite nicely at this point. Tree fruits and flowers are something you just tend to ignore unless you are being particularly observant but I think they are interesting looking things.
Deeper into the forest, the ground was relatively dry and for once I didn’t end up soaked to the hips from tramping through undergrowth. At this time of years, gaiters don’t quite cut it but I’d rather have wet trousers than deal with waterproof trousers. The bluebells are beginning to get a bit bedraggled – probably here because there is a bit too much cover but I do believe that they are slowly managing to colonize the resting place.
The path down past this bit is starting to flood again a bit after the last couple of weeks’ worth of heavy showers but I guess it won’t be long going back down if we get a couple of dry days. Nothing worth worrying about with my boots anyway.
We had a grand lunchtime walk and the dogs were pretty exhausted after their exercise. Just the thing to clear the head for an afternoon’s work.
Walking forests and trails in the midlands of Ireland
