"Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think what it might be." - Joyce Oates

<Author: Gerry O'Boyle (photos by Helen Byers)>

Saturday 1 April 2017

Stage Three: Kilkeel to Dundrum (Approx 35k or 22 miles)  

It was just Helen, Sean and I today. We were back down again to the Mourne Mountains to the nice fishing harbour in Kilkeel to start stage three of our journey. I must admit that we were a little apprehensive about today’s stage of our journey. Those of you who know the Kilkeel-Newcastle road will notice that it’s a busy, windy road and doesn’t always have a footpath along side it. Also, there isn’t really a proper coastal path and it’s a rocky shoreline too. To make our task even more difficult today, the forecast was for some heavy showers. 



Mrs Graham who waved us off in Kilkeel

So, it was hard to know how we should tackle this stretch. We are indebted to our colleague Terry Eakin (aka Herbie Herb) who covered this whole coastal route in 2013 and we are continuing to refer to his blog to guide us along the way. We left Bangor at 6.45am, hoping that a low tide at 9.10 might help us. We parked again at the Leisure Centre, near Kilkeel harbour. As we are getting ready for today’s adventure, Mrs Graham’s (Helen’s friend’s Mum) kindly came to wish us luck, giving us a £10 donation towards Clifton School. Thank you Tracey’s Mum!

Kilkeel Harbour

We run towards Kilkeel town centre, continuing along the Newcastle road for about half a mile until we came to a crossroads at Moor road. We then take a Right turn, running down towards the coast again. For a while we have, either a nice grassy trail, or a flat enough pebbly beach to run on. There are spectacular views here on both sides, inland across the Mournes, with Slieve Binnian towering in the distance and then on our right hand side the calm Irish sea. The sun was shining too and no sign of any showers on the way!

However, as we get closer to Ballymartin the terrain is getting worst, more rocks than pebbles on the beach now and adding to that, we are confronted by swarms of flies. Sean said they were Mayflies – not sure about that and anyway it’s only April! I read that in Ballymartin in 1858 a Spanish boat sailing from Liverpool to Barcelona went off course (slightly!) and hit the rocks. The impact was so severe that it split a huge stone in two and since then the stone in Ballymartin has been called Barcelona rock. 

Gerry avoiding the stones

We keep running/walking along the rocky shore, although there is a nice small sandy beach near Ballymartin. We’re stepping over more rocks now but as we get closer to Annalong we notice a trail slightly inland. This is definitely easier on the feet. We stop briefly to talk to a lone female runner (training for her local Longstone Camogie club). We arrive in Annalong harbour and get talking to a lady called Maureen Scot who is out walking with her dog, Bell. When she hears our story, she generously gives a £20 donation towards Clifton School. Thank you Maureen!



Longstone to Annalong

We continue north towards Newcastle staying by the shoreline. For the first mile north of Annalong, there’s a nice rough trail but eventually the trail disappears and we’re running through stones and rocks again. At one stage we find it easier to climb into a farmer’s field and run on the long grass, but after a while even the green fields disappear and it’s just a rocky shore. The good news is the sun is still shining and no sign of any rain. We can just about make out the Isle of Man in the distance. 




The rocks on the shore are getting bigger now and we realise that we need to go inland. We spot a farmer’s gate/entrance near the beach, which leads to a narrow hilly lane inland and eventually we arrive back on the main Kilkeel-Newcastle road about 2 miles south of Bloody Bridge. As we run along the main road heading towards Newcastle, the Mournes are beginning to tower over us on the left hand side. Helen says she’s getting thirsty but we know we need to keep going until Bloody Bridge. 

Bloody Bridge
This is exactly where the Mountains of Mourne ‘sweep down to the sea’ (as the Percy French song goes). Although we are at sea level, we’re only 2 miles from the top of the famous Slieve Donard peak (higher than any other mountain in either Ulster or Connacht and standing at 852 metres or 2,795 feet).    



Bloody Bridge River

I did a little research on where the name Bloody Bridge came from and I think it’s safe to say that the name goes way back to 1641 when there was an Irish/Catholic uprising in Ulster against the recent protestant planters from Scotland/England. The story goes that there was a massacre here and bodies were thrown into the river and so tainting it with blood. There is a lot of truth in this and I discovered that there were 19,010 pages of recordings of testimonials taken in 1641(and, believe it or not, these testimonials are still held in Trinity College, Dublin). All testimonials have similar stories of horrific killings, barbaric massacres and lots of drowning. I spent some time looking through these reports, looking for some mention of the area around Bloody Bridge. It was hard enough to find anything specific to this exact area and also some of the language, written 376 years ago, was quite hard to understand. The best example I could find was a testimonial from Mrs. Crooker recorded in 1641 which is typical of these kinds of killings.  

Elizabeth Crooker late of the Newry in the County of Downe sworne & examined saith she was stripped & had taken from her in leather and other houshold goods & Clothes at the Newry to the value of Ten pounds & vpwards by the Rebells there & that she her selfe and her son were taken by the Rebells & carried out to the sea to be drowned, others were carried to Newcastle to be hanged. 

Image taken from James Cranford, Teares of Ireland (London, 1642). Image produced by the courtesy of the Board of Trinity College, Dublin.



Newcastle
According to our Ordnance Survey map there is coastal path from Bloody Bridge to Newcastle. However we realise this is not true, unless we want to follow the same fate as the fictitious character Maggie who fell into the sea near this spot (now called Maggie’s leap!). So we continue running along the busy main road again. However, after about a mile, as we get closer to Newcastle, there’s a footpath which leads us all the way to the main promenade.   

Approach to Newcastle on footpath

We were so glad to finally arrive in Newcastle. It’s been very hard work today and has taken us 3.5 hours to get from Kilkeel. We stop for takeaway coffees and stroll along the esplanade and eventually pass the magnificent Slieve Donard hotel which has the most beautiful setting by the sea with the Mournes facing it. 

Newcastle promenade

Dundrum
At this stage the tide is coming in, but not too far in to stop us running along the coast. We still have another 10k to run before we get to Dundrum. The Royal Co. Down golf course (and then the sand dunes) are on our left as we continue along the shore. We run along the sandy beach and follow the coast all the way to Dundrum bay as the sand gets softer and softer, a little too soft for the tired feet of the runner! At Dundrum Bay we circle around Murlough (Ireland’s first Nature Reserve) and we can now see Dundrum village across the bay. Eventually we cross Downshire Bridge which brings us right into our finish line in Dundrum.

Dundrum bay

Twenty minutes later we are driving back to Kilkeel, when the heavens open and the rain comes down. It’s the first shower of the day!

So Stage Three is done! It’s now 6 weeks to our next run on Saturday 13 May. 

Total distance to date: 88k or 55 miles

Next two legs: Sat. 13 May (Dundrum to Strangford) and Sat. 17 June (Strangford to Comber) 


If you’d like to Donate to Clifton Special School, please see below. https://mydonate.bt.com/events/cliftoncoastalrun/381290