<Author Gerry O'Boyle>
Saturday 16 September 2017
Stage Eight: Donaghadee to Belfast (43k or 27miles)
This was our final Co. Down stage in very familiar territory. Sean is from Donaghadee and both Helen and I live in Bangor so the three of us knew exactly where we were going today. We hadn’t to worry about the tide either as we had a proper coastal path almost all of the way to Belfast. We were running from east to west today with a nice view across to the south Antrim coast and Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway) clearly visible in the distance
Today’s starting team
Our main team of three (Helen, Sean and I) met at 7.15
am at Donaghadee Lighthouse (where we finished on 12 Aug) and we were delighted
to be joined once again by Sarah, Claire and Jill. Also we welcomed five new first-timers
today, Melanie Patton, Donald Smith, Johnny McGrath, Michael Roberts and Lynne
Kerr.
Melanie has been such a good supporter of ours, ever since we came up with this crazy idea last October. Donald is another ultra-marathon runner, having recently completed 100 miles in a 24 hour challenge! Johnny is founder of the Sunday Morning Running/Coffee group -not sure if Johnny or I will make it tomorrow morning! Michael is a dedicated coach with North Down AC and has worked with and encouraged runners of all ages over the years. Lynne is another dedicated NDAC Coach and trains various groups of runners on Monday and Wednesday nights. So that’s eleven runners today and ten of us started in Donaghadee. Lynne joined us later in Bangor.
Donaghadee
Two very famous songwriters/poets both referred to
Donaghadee in their songs, although neither of them has actually been here!
Johnny Cash mentions Donaghadee in his ‘Forty Shades of Green’ and the great
Thomas Hardy wrote as follows:
I've never gone to Donaghadee,
That vague far townlet by the sea;
In Donaghadee I shall never be:
Then why do I sing of Donaghadee,
That vague far townlet by the sea;
In Donaghadee I shall never be:
Then why do I sing of Donaghadee,
Another famous writer Brendan Behan painted the
Lighthouse and I don’t mean drew a picture of it! He was responsible for
maintaining it and by all accounts failed miserably at his task! Remember we
passed St. John’s Point in May (Stage 4) and referred to Behan too – see
earlier blog.
Once again we were mostly lucky with the weather. It
seems like it’s been raining every day since July but we had a nice bright sky
for most of the day. It was a nice clear
morning too and we could easily see the Scottish coast and the famous Mull of
Kintyre, about 40 miles away in the distance.
We depart from the village of Donaghadee at about 7.30am.
We run along the main coastal road towards Bangor but
after about 2.5 miles (at the car park and opposite the Portavoe Reservoir) we
go through a gate/gap in the fence and find a narrow coastal path. Shortly
afterward we climb steep steps and now we are running on the edge of a low cliff
with the Copeland Islands so close on our right hand side. We are really in the
townland of Orlock now. We follow this path on the edge of the sea, descend some
steps and then shortly go through a narrow tunnel which has been cut through
the rocks.
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| Lingering beneath the tunnel hoping that rocks don't fall! |
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| Jill and Michael leading the run towards Orlock |
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| Keeping the sea on the right! |
Groomsport & The Eagle Wing
We eventually arrive in the small harbour village of
Groomsport -home to the famous Eagle Wing Ship that didn’t quite make it to
America. The boat set sail in 1636 and had already completed three-quarters of
the journey to America (in the strong winds and storms) when Captain/Reverend
Blair decided to turn back. Reverend
Blair saw the extreme weather as a sign of God telling him (and all on board) to
return to Ireland. The Boat is still remembered in Groomsport ‘s annual Eagle
Wing festival.
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| Jill, Sean & Melanie leading us through Groomsport |
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| Groomsport harbour |
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| Seacliff Road and Bangor skyline from Ballyholme Beach |
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| Gerry, Sean & Helen back where it began! |
Shortly we pass by Eisenhower Pier and are reminded of
Bangor’s connection to WW2. Eisenhower visited here to review the troops and
ships gathered in Bangor Bay prior to launching D-Day landings in 1944.
Jill is struggling with a hamstring injury but Jill
being Jill, keeps going all the way to Bangor. So, the ten of us arrive at Ward
Park in Bangor at about 9.15 just in time to run the Bangor parkrun.
Bangor parkrun
There are now 86 different parkruns on
the island of Ireland and the numbers are growing all the time! Bangor parkrun,
with an average of 259 runners every week (one week there was 420) is the most
popular parkrun in N.Ireland and excluding Dublin, Bangor is the most popular parkrun
in all of Ireland. To date, over 5,350 different people have completed Bangor’s
parkrun in just over 3 years.
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| Don't forget your barcode! |
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| Gerry running at Bangor parkrun |
We get a nice welcome from everyone at the parkrun and
we’ve already completed 13 miles this morning. After we finish the parkrun we
are treated to a great spread of tea, buns, biscuits and cakes by Alison, Debbie, Brenda and
their team.
Cannon Gun from U-boat U19 at Ward Park
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| Very appreciative of the catering at our half way point |
The Cannon in Ward Park was the main gun on the German
U-19 U-boat during WW1. After the surrender of the U-boat in 1918, the Cannon
was donated to Bangor in recognition of Commander Bingham VC (who was born in
Bangor). Interestingly the German Captain of the U-boat, Weisbach had
previously served as torpedo officer on the U-boat that sank the Lusitania in
1915 (which was really the deciding factor in American entering WW1) Also, during
his brief command of the U-19, Herr Weisbach delivered Sir Roger Casement from the
U19 U-boat to Banna Strand in Co. Kerry in April 1916. The knighted Casement, who
had switched allegiance to the Irish cause, was captured shortly after arriving
on the Kerry beach and hanged for treason in June 1916.
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| Ward Park Cannon - this marks the start of the Bangor parkrun |
At the McKee Clock in Bangor we also meet up with some
other Clifton parents (Janis & friends, and the Nickell family too) who are
walking from Bangor to Holywood. Maureen and our son Brian also walk with us for
a short while.
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| 10.30am meeting at McKee Clock, Bangor |
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| Gerry, Brian & Maureen lead out the Clifton coastal walkers |
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| Taking the easy route - the Pickie Puffer! |
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| Claire, Lynn, Sean, Gerry and Helen at the new bridge at Seahill |
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| Lynn, Claire, Michael, Gerry, Sean & Helen near Cultra |
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| Farewell to Claire and Lynn at the Dirty Duck, Holywood |
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| One of the famous yellow cranes in Belfast - some 100m high! |
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| Turbine assembly plant at the Belfast Docks (diameter bigger than the London eye!) |
Of course the Co.Down border is geographically the River Lagan and soon we arrive by the river at the fabulous new Titanic Building. The rain is coming down now, it’s turned out to be miserable day, but Helen, Sean and I are so delighted and relieved to have finally got to Belfast. As an extra bonus, Helen has arranged with her friend Ruth Cleland (who works at Titanic) to take us up to the very top of the Titanic Building where we get amazing views of the river Lagan and Belfast. This was definitely the perfect place to finish our Co. Down coastal challenge but the adventure continues........
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| FINISHED!! At the Iconic Titanic Building |
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| The Bridge in the Titanic Building |
PS. Yes the
rumours are true! We’re going to continue and try to complete the whole N.Ireland
coast over the next six months.
Total distance to date: 325k or 203miles
Next leg (start of Co. Antrim stage): Belfast to
Islandmagee: Saturday 7 October
If you’d like to Donate to Clifton Special School, please see below.
