Future Targets

The weather today was supposed to be good if a bit blustery. At about 6:00am the sky gaves us the "sailors warning" with a spectacular firey sunrise

Neither of us seemed to have much motivation to get started today though P did an early morning bike run. We were both feeling the affects of yesterday's paddling and an excess of fresh air.

We headed south and somehow ended up in the Republic without quite meaning to; made the most of it anyway stopping for a great lunch in Belturbet and refilling the van with diesel at a 15% discount.

When we got back into the North we checked out various locations though the wind was too strong for us to consider heading out. Knockninny: had a nice little marina with a stylish hotel & restaurant nearby; quite extensive water with islands within paddling distance (see picture). Carry Bridge: disappointing busy commercial centre though it does have a camp site adjacent to the river and hotel. Crom Castle: we looked over to the castle and Crichton's tower on the first day and on closer inspection it was even better close up; really interesting spot for exploring by either canoe or bicycle if we could find somewhere to park the van.

And eventually home - with a minor detour to Kinegoe Marina for a cuppa - for tea with the boys.

Mother of all Yews

Started the day with a cycle round Florence Court.

The entrance to the estate is wonderful; seemingly manicured lawns skirting a perfect little switch-back road. This took us up to the main car park before the house beside the walled garden.

The walled garden is currently being reconstructed. An original plan shows it to be quite huge with an Italianette entrance flanked by apple orchard. The apple blossom was especially striking with perhaps half-a-dozen mature trees crowded close together overloaded with blooms. By the entrance too were several varieties of Narcissus. So far work is progressing really well and looks to be near finished just waiting for the plants to mature.

A stone wall separates this part from the rest of the garden and of course out of sight, behind the wall and the garden is barely under control. Mostly seeded as lawn with the paths barely defined. Evidently this is work in progress. At the top is a small cottage available for rent. Constructed as the other walls are in a rather unusual brick pattern, the cottage looks an ideal holiday retreat. At the other end are more apple trees and quite a few saplings only planted very recently. FInishing the garden is a large wall stretching the full length with a couple of architectural features. What interested me most were several wisterias twisting their was up the brick-work. A few were even in bloom.

From here we cycled round the back of the house following various trails past the sawmill, ice house and such into woodland. Skirting pasture at times and just about staying within the boundaries of the estate we came to the FLorencecout or Irish Yew. According to a stone before the tree, it was found between 1740 and 1760. Being female it can only be propogated by cuttings and this has led to some severe pruning of the tree. See the Wikipedia article for more information and pictures. Despite this, the tree seems relatively healthy after almost 300 years!

From the tree, paths led back toward the estate entrance road crossing in front of the house far enough away to give a grand view of the house. Its not quite as I remember it when I played with Niall and Steve & Lynne Majury's eldest in the cut grass by the steps of the front-door - must have been well before 1984...

Back at the van, we set off quickly having planned our search for a new launch point. Just above the Share Centre and Smith's Beach is Killy Quay. We arrived here and started to assemble the boat. Considering this place is on the road to nowhere, it was like Picadilly Circus will all sorts driving by. Two sets of young fellas arrived with their flash motors which they drove right to the edge of the Quay so they could take photos.

Anyway we got the boat into the water again avoiding getting wet. This whole region is supposed to be very shallow - less than a meter as far as we could see. Indeed right out in between the bigger islands were patches of reed poking through the water - quite bizare. The wind was up today though and seemed to catch the boat quite badly. Made steering difficult and hard work paddling into the wind or even across it. We did not feel so confident in these conditions and came in fairly quickly.

On our way back to the Florencecourt site we were stopped by a force of 6 PSNI officers and nearly as many squad cars. Remarkable more for the fact they were all female.

Fermanagh Ahoy

Made good time leaving promptly at 5:30 from Bangor stopping for a dreadful dinner near Dungannon - tasteless faggots, yugh!

Reached Enniskillen while it was still light but mistakenly chose the wrong road which took us along the western side of the lower lough. Coincidently we took this road on our honeymoon (from the Killyhevlin) and at what must have been the exact same spot we were stopped again at a police check - 30 years on.

Even at this time the views along the lough-shore were spectacular. Not many islands on this side so the views were across to Boa and the likes. P was eager to get the canoe out at these jetties; even the river through Beleek looked inviting. Eventually we wound our way round to Clonelly after passing in and out of the Republic several times.

Saturday was a tourist day.

Starting at Clonelly we motored into Enniskillen looking for a rope for the canoe and maps of the loughs. The town was seriously busy; though we did enjoy the handmade posters for election candidate Stevenson as we sat stuck in traffic. We decided to head out of town and hopefully pick-up something by the Lough. Made it as far as Lisnaskea where we paused for refreshments.

Spent a lot of time checking out various jetties and slipways but nothing quite seemed to work. Eventually we found our way to Derryvoy jetty but there were too many cruisers tied up to the dock. Continued to the supposed part-time ferry to Crom; here the road just petered out becoming the grounds for Crom Church. This was to be our first launch point.

Moved the van down the path and assembled the canoe; carried it down to the slipway. Water too shallow so P climbed in dry and I waded in to push the boat out. Spent what seemed like ages pottering about from island to island and just sitting watching the herons & swans; but it was probably only 30 minutes before we came in. Despite this we were so exhilarated; the canoe was so stable and easy to control. We both managed to exit without getting ourselves wet.

By now it was getting quite late and light was fading so we headed for the Florencecourt site.