MOUNTSANDEL, COLERAINE

DATE : 15 NOVEMBER 2019

LONG WALK – 5.5 miles. The walk will take c3.5 hours, including a lunch break.

LEADER: Robert McDowell, Telephone No 028 93373084 (land line)

07711 706022 (mobile)

MEETING POINT/TIME: Coleraine Railway Station at 10.40 am.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT:

Outward Journey:

Train – Dep Whitehead 8.45 am, dep Carrickfergus 8.54 am, dep Jordanstown 9.06 am, arr Yorkgate 9.16 am. Change to Londonderry line. Dep Yorkgate 9.24 am, dep Mossley West 9.33 am, arr Coleraine 10.40 am.

Return Journey:

Train – Dep Coleraine 2.19 pm, arr Mossley West 3.26 pm, arr Yorkgate 3.35 pm, arr Lanyon Place 3.39 pm. Change to Larne line. Dep Lanyon Place 3.55 pm, arr Yorkgate 4.01 pm, arr Jordanstown 4.11 pm, arr Carrickfergus 4.23 pm, arr Whitehead 4.35 pm.

Note: There is a train every hour to Belfast at 19 minutes past the hour.

BY CAR:

As Coleraine is approximately 55 miles from Belfast city centre, you should leave 1.25 hours for your journey. Take the M2 North, following the signs for Coleraine. At the outskirts of Coleraine, go straight on at the Lodge Road roundabout towards the town centre, following the one-way system and turning right onto Railway Road, where there is pay parking at the railway station and at the leisure centre (beside the railway station).

THE WALK:

We will walk from the railway station through the town centre and via Mountsandel Road to Mountsandel Wood, where we will do a loop walk along the east side of the River Bann. This takes us through mixed woodland to Mountsandel Fort, which is the site of man’s oldest known settlement in Ireland. It pre-dates the Pyramids and Stonehenge by some 3,000 years! Thereafter we will take the footpath over the Mountsandel Road Bridge and walk down the west side of the River Bann into Coleraine town centre. The walk within the wood is on gravelled paths with slight inclines which, in a small number of places, may be muddy. The short climb up the steps to the fort is optional. The walk along the west side of the river is flat and well surfaced.

LUNCH:

We will have lunch at around 1.15 pm at “Rocca”, Bridge Street, which is a 15 minute walk from Coleraine railway station. Note that there are toilets at the railway station, on the west side of the river and in the restaurant, but none in the area of the wood.