Corrany Valley

Not the best of days

Tuesday 12^th November, 2013

Apart from a fresh, north-westerly wind, the weather was perfect.  But that was the only good thing about the day.

Tim walked with Trevor but I stayed at home for what turned out to be a last, very sad morning with Alexander.  Although his health had been deteriorating fast, I had hoped for a few more days with him.  But I realised on Tuesday morning that the end was near and the kindest thing was to let him go.  So Tim phoned the vets’ surgery when he got home and we took Alexander in early in the afternoon.  He was such a sweet, friendly, cheerful little dog and I still can’t talk (or even write) about him without getting all choked up.

Alexander in his prime.

To return to the happier topic of the walk - Dorothy was still off the Island and the men met at the parking area near Ballure Reservoir.  They decided to take one car as far as the little road behind the Hibernian to avoid the muddy path up to the Gooseneck - and then they walked up the track towards Park Llewellyn.

The bracken is a lovely coppery colour at this time of year.

Instead of continuing along the track towards the sheep fold and the mines down in the valley, they followed the remains of a higher path which appears to be the route of an old pack horse track that crossed the dip between Clagh Ouyr and the first of the North Barrule peaks.

Further up the hill the old track has been eroded by water running off the side of the hill.  Tim was a bit puzzled by the narrow tracks running alongside the eroded track.  Sheep might create one path – but they are unlikely to create three or more.  Perhaps the narrow paths were made in the past by off-road motor bikes and the authorities have since succeeded in keeping them off the mountain which has allowed the vegetation to recover.

When Tim and Trevor reached the path along the top of the ridge, they were exposed to the full force of the icy wind.  We live in a sheltered glen and the force of the wind up on North Barrule is always a shock.

After climbing the first peak and seeing the next two looming ominously ahead, they decided that the cold wind was too much to endure and turned down  into the relative shelter of the Corrany Valley.

The contrast between the high ground and the coastal farms is amazing at this time of year.  The green fields don’t look at all autumnal – but the leafless branches on the deciduous trees prove that this isn’t a spring or summer photo.

Later in the afternoon, I walked up through Skyhill plantation with Danny.  I needed to get out of the house which contained too many sad memories.  We stopped near the Ballagarrow fields  and then set off up the hill though the conifers.  But Danny lagged behind an seemed reluctant to go any further.  I wasn’t sure whether he was tired so I turned back.  When we got back to the track, I climbed over a strand of sagging barbed wire to take some photos because there were no horses in the top field.  Standing on top of an old stone wall, I took this photo of Ramsey, sparkling in the late afternoon sunshine.

Then I zoomed in on the trees surrounding Milntown, on the left-hand side of the photo above.  The beeches are still looking pretty.

Before we returned to the house I took a photo of our last old "best friend", Danny.