The first in a series of short walks along the Mourne Wall to check for potential obstacles and access issues.
Ever since I took up hillwalking in the late 1990s, I have always been fascinated by the Mourne Wall in County Down. There really is nothing quite like it in the whole of Ireland.
Walking all 19.5 miles of the Wall in one go has been on my ‘to do’ list for quite a while. In recent years, this particular expedition has been put on hold while I focused on my children’s early years development. Now that my young sons have reached a stage in their lives which permits me occasional full days in the hills, the Mourne Wall is firmly back in my sights.
My recent blog post Mourne Mountain mythical measurements attracted a large number of readers and generated some discussion on Twitter. Unfortunately, instead of sticking to the topic of the Mourne Wall’s length, side issues quickly became the focus of this discussion. However, the resulting discussion did prove to be a useful exercise as it highlighted the possibility of obstacles and access issues along some southern sections of the Wall.
And it is these sections that I am now investigating as I prepare for my Mourne Wall walk in June 2020.
Sunday 8th September 2019
Initially, I was planning to use my six-hour window of me-time as an opportunity to do some Highpointeering. Maybe a quick up-and-down of Slieve Donard, Slieve Muck or Slieve Gullion. Or maybe even to head a bit further down the road for a visit to Slieve Foye.
Over the preceding days, a niggling doubt had entered my mind that all 19.5 miles of the Mourne Wall may no longer be accessible to walkers. Personally, I see little point in attempting the Wall as a challenge walk if the only possible outcome is failure. For this reason, I have chosen to recce beforehand all sections where obstacles might exist. The first to be checked are in the Silent Valley.
The recce
When I arrived at Silent Valley Mountain Park, I was given an information booklet. Inside it, I was delighted to see a map of the park with the local section of Mourne Wall clearly marked.
Starting from the car park, I headed north towards the southeast corner of the reservoir. From there, I followed the top of the dam wall to the opposite side of the valley and proceeded uphill to intercept a junction in the Mourne Wall (Irish Grid Ref: 329920, 322175).
The portion of Wall I wanted to check that day was the more ornate-looking section constructed from cut stone stretching southwards from this junction all the way to Head Road. I also wanted to visit a summit that day, so I followed the Wall in the opposite direction up nearby Slievenaglogh. This section of the Wall is constructed from uncut boulders and doesn’t look all that different from the other dry-stone walls in the area.
After a short stop for lunch at the top, I descended back along the Wall to the aforementioned junction. At this point, there is quite a contrast between the different construction methods used and I wonder why it changes at this corner.
From here, I headed southwards along the Wall. Even though this section of Wall is in excellent condition, the ground either side was surprisingly overgrown with long grass, heather, gorse and brambles on the day I walked it. There were some soft spots to negotiate along the way too. Overall, no visible evidence of recent footfall along this section of the Wall. I also observed no obstacles to impede the determined Mourne Wall walker. At times, the Wall’s flat coping stones were tempting me to walk upon them, but I wasn’t entertaining that idea.
Then, all of a sudden, a welcome piece of path. One of the constructed trails in the Silent Valley Mountain Park. I followed this alongside the Wall for a couple of hundred metres to a stile. At this point, a small sign on the Wall read “MOURNE WALL – BUILT 1904 – 1922”.
From this point, arable farmland lies to the western side of the Wall. A short distance further along, my route on the eastern side was blocked by impenetrable forestry. Without entering the farmland, the only other way forward was along the Wall’s flat coping stones. I could see the road just 200m down the Wall. I looked for an alternative but there was none. So I climbed up and walked slowly along the top of the Wall to the road, taking short strides and soft steps all the way as though it were made of glass.
Heading east from here, the Wall sticks close to the road’s left-hand edge all the way to the entrance gates of Silent Valley Mountain Park.
Inside the gates of the park, just past a group of stone buildings on the right, the Wall continues along the right-hand side of the driveway for a short distance before veering off into the trees.
I looked for a way to follow the Wall through the trees and found one possible route beside the gatekeeper’s kiosk. I asked the man on duty if I could enter the trees in order to proceed along the Wall. He told me it was too overgrown and that I would have to follow the designated path to the Wall from the car park. So I followed the driveway back to the car park, the Wall veering further and further away from me. I watched it through the trees, but quickly lost sight of it.
When I returned to the car park, I decided to try the path suggested by the gatekeeper. When it met the Mourne Wall, I found a rough side path trampled through long grass along the Wall towards the gatekeeper’s kiosk. I followed this path to see how far I could go, but the thick overgrowth blocked my progress after a couple of hundred metres.
Based on this recce, it may not be possible to walk about 500m of Wall in the Silent Valley. However, I will continue to explore all possibilities.
My Mourne Wall Walk
For my pure version of the Mourne Wall walk, the primary goal will be to walk a complete loop which follows as closely as possible the actual path of the Mourne Wall.
To achieve this goal, my plan is to walk a route which does not stray more than 10m from the Wall. This is achievable along the vast majority of the route. However, unavoidable short deviations of 10m to 50m from the Wall will be acceptable over a length of no more than 100m. Any deviation of more than 10m from the Wall over a length greater than 100m will result in a failed attempt. Any deviation of more than 50m from the Wall of any length will result in a failed attempt.
This is the purest, strictest and toughest version of Mourne Wall walk there is.
Kieron Gribbon 