2025 Foray: Carlingford Greenway and Newry Canal Way

 

Carlingford Greenway

Amid reports of the remnants of Hurricane Erin affecting Irish weather, I had rescheduled the foray from Wednesday this week to the day before. I consider myself blessed - apart from a few drops during the day the only proper rain started just a few miles short of my arrival home. It's now the day after as I write this and it is raining steadily, and is due to rain the rest of the week.

I can certainly recommend this foray, although it comes even better if you are 66 or over and thus able to enjoy free travel here in Ireland. And it can be done in a day: no need for the bother of finding a suitable wild camping site and the fear of being evicted. So I set out just before 06:00 with nose and tail lights affixed to my helmet. I got to Connolly station with time to spare (42km in just over 2 hours). After an hour by train to Dundalk I then cycled to Carlingford (26km) where I joined the Greenway, which has only recently been extended all the way to Newry (20km). From Newry I joined the Newry Canal Way which follows the West bank of the now defunct Newry Canal (not to be confuesed with the Newry Ship Canal) and thence to Portadown (32km). Finally I boarded the train for Dublin Connolly changing for the commuter service to Sallins from where I cycled back home (21km) via a pizza shop.

Both Greenway and Canal Way are pretty much level which is such a pleasure when cycling. There were plenty of other users, both cyclists and walkers (with their dogs). The Carlingford Greenway in particular seemed to attract cyclists who either can't cycle and have the tendency to ride rather slowly in the centre of the path and thus not making it easy for me, operating to my tight timescale, to pass.

Newry Ship Canal from Victoria Lock

The Greenway hugs the shore line and is largely tarmac, having only a few sections that are compacted small gravel, and a couple of amazing board walk sections. However the section between Victoria Dock and the Albert basin in Newry, where the path follows the narrow spit of land between the Newry Ship Canal and the River Clanrye, is paved with larger size gravel which was a bit scary for my road bike but I successfully navigated it without puncture.  In all a Grand Day Out!

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Some notes on the subject of free travel and travelling with a bicycle, for those for which the experience is new. There is the FT (public services free travel) card which entitles anyone resident in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) aged 66 or over to free travel on any state owned transport (rail or bus) and some privately run buses nation wide. You can also apply for a "ROI Senior SmartPass" card which extends this privilege to Northern Ireland (NI). I have both. Whether a paying customer or not your bicycle can accompany you on trains in both NI and ROI free of charge. You cannot take a bike (unless it folds up) on ordinary buses or the Dublin Luas tram. But a long distances coach (bus) with a large luggage space under the main seating area will also take your bicycle free of charge though I have yet to avail of this.  However the trains understandably have limited space for bikes.

In the ROI you are supposed to book a bike slot in advance, but obviously not everyone does, so on the above Connolly to Sallins route there were three bikes (including mine) vying for two bike slots. The the train was overflowing with ordinary customers. In NI you cannot book a bike in advance and space is allocated on a "first come first served" basis, which rule is of course largely ignored. For the bike space: older commuter trains in ROI have a sort of rack where one or two bikes can be stored, although it requires some dexterity to get your bike in the further slot, and if your destination is before the chap whose bike is in the nearer slot...  On newer trains including the "Enterprise" service between Dublin and Belfast there is a general area allocated to bikes and similar impediments, but no explicit "slot" so you have to lean your bike against pull-down seats and hope that not too many other bikes will be piled on top.

As stated, in ROI you (or you are supposed to) prebook cycle slot when you book a seat. The Enterprise service is run by the NI "translink" but when travelling north you book in the ROI "transport for Ireland" website whether a paying or free customer. When travelling south you book in the NI translink website. So for the return journey (going south) I attempted to book a seat, going through all the motions until the final "click to book" instead of which a notice was displayed telling me to instead present my SmartPass card to staff at the departure station (Portadown for me), and if that station was unstaffed, to present the card to the conductor on the train. I happened to arrive just as my train was pulling in, so I was flustered. I waved my card at the woman at the gate and she said I needed a ticket, so I found the ticket office waving my card and the woman there gave me all the options - just a single I cried and I need to catch this train!  Armed with card and free paper ticket I was finally admitted. And then I had to find the carriage door bearing the bicycle symbol. Fortunately I with my bike didn't have to leg it far, but on finally boarding I found the bike slot occupied by the refreshments trolley (which I was later to avail of). The trolley was hastily moved and all was well.

In summary, it helps if you have been through this rigmarole before, but whether or not you will find the station staff are always helpful and only once have I been challenged: "did you book your bike in advance?" (I had). And all for a service that cost nothing! And if there are others with bikes, talk to them: they just might know the ropes, or if not you can at least commiserate. 

Ballycorus lead mines

I was getting the Free Travel itch again so set out as before to catch the 0710 bus from the bottom of the road. From its terminus in Dublin I caught the south going Luas green line almost to its end and did my walking bit which roughly followed the green track in my map being this route.

My walking track in colour red, 7.75 miles

I then returned by Luas from the Brides Glen (last) stop all the way to the most northerly station Broombridge where I caught a regular commuter train to Connolly from where I jumped on a waiting red Luas tram showing destination "Tallaght" on its head-up display. In due course it regrettably proved to be a Saggart tram so I had to disembark and retrace somewhat. From Tallaght I caught the next 65 bus to Blessington, which sadly terminated there so did not take me to the end of our road, so then ran / walked until I was kindly rescued by a neighbour and delivered to my door.

As usual you can enlarge my pictures below by clicking on them.

Pigeons at home - Taken from the bus on the way in

Celtic cross at Tulley Cross

Old Tully church

Major redevelopment stark contrast with the Old

The green Luas currently terminates at Brides Glen but there are plans to extend it further to Bray in which case it will doubtless use the viaduct (see below). Everywhere the Luas' tendrils grow new developments are spawned and, I understand, existing house prices rocket.

Pucks Castle

Puck's Castle

Ballycorus lead mines chimney

The lead mines chimney was, of course, the real reason for this trip. Who could resist such a landmark and the story behind it?

Where the flue used to join the chimney

Looking up

The Ballycorus lead mines and associated smelting centre further down the hill, in deference to health concerns routed its fumes via a stone flue (duct) to this chimney. The chimney used to be taller but the top section was removed more recently for safety's sake. Likewise the spiral stairs have been partly demolished near the bottom to prevent people like me killing themselves.

According to Wikipedia, the flue was about 2 km long and this length allowed lead to be precipitated on its inside surfaces from the smelting fumes. Operatives were given the task of scraping the lead deposits off the inside of the flue, and they promptly died young as a result so that the area became called "Death Valley". Such is the greed and stupidity of man. Similar stories have been told about must-haves such as mercury and asbestos. In time I wonder what stories will be told of must-have cell-phones?

Was the stone for the chimney or lead mined here?

Showing the construction of the flue

Inside the flue (what little of it remains)

So I walked through these sections

My way out

View South to Bray from Carrickgollogan hill

View to North

View inland

Carrickgollogan hill

The Rath of Rathmichael, chimney in the distance

The writing (in Gaelic) is etched on this plaque

That plaque was next to this iron bench

Location of Rath

Bride's Glen Viaduct

I could not resist crossing it

Distant developments at Brides Glen stop, from the viaduct

The green Luas line follows part of the course of the old Harcourt street railway line, for example it uses its viaduct over the river Dodder near Milltown. So I naturally thought that, if extended, it would cross the Bride's Glen viaduct. But an aerial view makes this seem unlikely...

Aerial view of alignment of Luas line and viaduct

Harcourt Street Station facade

The terminus station building in Harcourt Street still exists, as indeed does the building that errant locomotive crashed through in 1900 which so reminded me of the similar crash at Montparnasse as depicted in my favourite film Hugo in the clip below.

North of the city centre the green line utilises the old MGWR route to its Broadstone terminus and thus passes under two handy ready-made bridges under the busy North Circular and Cabra roads. The diagram below is a helpful (though historic) summary of the contorted rail routes in this area and converging on Connolly station.  And thus the green Luas ends adjacent to the Irish Rail Broombridge stop at which I shivered (there is no shelter) waiting for an overdue train to Connolly station.

The green Luas uses the old Broadstone route

Broombridge, where Luas, Irish Rail and Royal Canal meet

Royal canal and Tolka valley

A short run whilst waiting for a friend's appointment in the Mater hospital. The Royal canal way was well worth the visit for barefoot running. The recently extended Luas tram line terminates at Broombridge where you can change to Irish Rail - one day I hope to explore these routes with my Free Travel pass.

Commuter train near Drumcondra

Up train from Broombridge

Down into the Tolka valley

Royal canal way

Flanges

Temple Mills Eurostar Depot

Several years back I was working for a company that supplied catering equipment for the Eurostar trains, and my work involved a visit to the Eurostar Temple Mills depot.

Making conversation with my host I mentioned how strange I found it that the flanges on real rolling stock seemed so small compared with what I was used to in the OO-gauge models my father excelled in. He explained that, of course, the flange is not normally what keeps the trains on the track anyway. Strange that, until then, this wisdom had not penetrated my thick skull.

The principle is explained on many web sites: The picture below is from one of the easier to follow. Of here for a video. A consequence is that, unlike road vehicles, train wheelsets do not need, indeed must not have differentials.

I find it hard to comprehend how hundreds of tons of rolling stock travelling at around 100 mph can stay on two narrow steel rails, bends and all, just because of the wheel profile. But they do. And here's how scale fails us - with OO-gauge models I have no doubt that it is the flange primarily, and not the profile, that keeps the trains on the track. Although die hards model to P4 standard which is true to scale which makes we wonder whether they suffer frequent derailments.

I miss my father's model railway. Living in a community as I do sort of precludes building one myself - there is nowhere to put it and would be little time to enjoy it. And how would I pay for it? I still have some remnants of my father's rolling stock gathering dust in the attic, kept in case any child developed a taste, but so far that hasn't happened. How could they?

Does this bother me? Frankly not all that much. But I still love railways in any form, shape or size and am looking forward to that grand age when the Irish government will allow me to travel anywhere in Ireland for free!