Mourne Mountains Off the Beaten Track


Mourne Mountains

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The Kingdom of Mourne is an area of outstanding natural beauty

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and our very own Peak District.

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But these granite crags prove that wilderness doesn't have to be remote.

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The 12 summits of the High Mournes are a short drive from civilisation,

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yet the scent of freedom fills the mountain air.

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We begin where the mountains sweep down to the sea

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on a famous hiking route.

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But if you fancy an adventure on the road less travelled,

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there are many ways into the Mournes.

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And this is certainly different.

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The Blood Bridge river near Newcastle

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is a natural playground for the young at heart...

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Keep your arms tucked in like this. Go on this side here.

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..a place where it's best to go with the flow.

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It's just another day at the office for Kieran O'Hara.

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He's head of mountaineering at the Tullymore Mountain Centre,

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teaching all the safety skills that ramblers and climbers might need

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in the great outdoors.

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Wet bouldering is an activity where you deliberately aim

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to get in the water and the river to make your way

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up through rivers and gorges using some handholds in the rocks

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and trying to make your way by swimming through pools.

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A lot of people are very apprehensive with this activity

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and trying to sell it to people is quite hard.

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But almost without fail, when people finish this,

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they think it's the best thing they've ever done

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and think it maybe appeases that childish side

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that you shouldn't really be in there - stay out of puddles!

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The Brandy Pad begins opposite Bloody Bridge car park,

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between Newcastle and Annalong.

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The smugglers' trail is a popular hiking route,

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running parallel with the river between Slieve Donard

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and Chimney Rock Mountain.

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It's a steady climb up through heather and rough ground,

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past a derelict Crannoge Quarry and on to the famous Mourne Wall -

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the gateway to the wild core of the mountains.

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It's somewhere I think of as home -

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even though I'm not originally from here, I love coming back here.

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This time of year, you get all the changes in the weather.

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Days like this are pretty special.

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You can see for yourself today - it's just fantastic.

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He travels the world, seeking the highs only mountain tops can gift.

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And yet it's easy to see why Kieran is inspired by home turf.

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One of the things you forget to do...

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you're concentrating on your feet

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and you're looking up to the mountains...

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-just look at the view back there.

-I know.

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-Look how far we've come already.

-The perspective is so different

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when you look back - you get to see things you didn't see on the way up.

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-It's class, and there's plenty more ahead.

-Lots to do. Keep going.

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I've climbed and travelled in Russia, South America,

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the Himalayas, Africa, a few venues, and across the European Alps.

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I want to get back and get a thrill seeing them again,

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but the rock climbing in the Mournes is fantastic

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and some of the best granite, so there's loads of scope here

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to do new routes, new climbs, climb old routes, routs you've not done.

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Walks on the right day, when you get on the top of the hill

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on a beautiful winter's day, sun setting, and you're looking across

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with the visibility - it's still a fantastic place to be.

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And in the Mournes, you can get four seasons in just a morning.

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You have to be ready for all weathers up here.

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It does change, and the forecast's always worth looking at.

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It's kind of doing what it said today - nice, clear start,

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it'll get showery as the day goes on.

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-It's definitely fresher and colder now.

-Fresh! That's the word!

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That's exactly the word.

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The Brandy Pad gets its name from the barrels of liquor

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smuggled along this route in bygone days.

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The ponies that carried the contraband are long gone.

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And so, too, are the ancient hunters, farmers and stoneworkers

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who've taken the high road down the millennia.

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There are echoes of that past as we head up the trail,

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crossing the river to the now derelict Bloody Bridge Quarry.

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It's an impressive relic from a more recent stone age,

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when granite curbs and cobbles were cut from the bedrock

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and shipped away to pave the streets of industrial Britain.

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This is quite something. You spend time coming up into the mountains,

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realising the scale of what it is that we have around us.

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Then you get here and feel even smaller still!

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Absolutely. Yes. This is quite a big working in here -

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over a large sum of years but on industrial scale, as well.

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So it was definitely one they used much more than hand and chisel.

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It was machinery employed here.

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History is indeed written in stone up here.

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And the 22-miles Mourne Wall is a significant landmark.

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-Here we go. We start to see a bit more.

-That's impressive.

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'Crossing it is a right of passage - a passport to a stunning walk.'

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The Mournes don't reveal themselves all at once to you

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-through that track.

-No.

-You have to earn this view, you feel.

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It draw you on - we've got a fantastic view now coming in,

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but you know there's a bit more down there.

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It's quite a moody sort of presence now we've gone up to meet the clouds.

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-Yeah. They've lifted across.

-Yeah.

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It's really gorgeous, this.

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You can actually see the Brandy Pad

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stretching all the way, threading its way through the hills there, too.

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Yep. The castle, Slieve Commedagh, just above the Brandy Pad,

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and you see the Mourne Wall dropping down into the saddle

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between Commedagh and Donard.

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Round the corner takes us down into Newcastle.

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You can see that from the main street.

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You're looking up between those two hills.

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Across the left, we've got Slieve Beg

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with its very distinctive big gash through it - Devil's Coach Road.

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-Quite evocatively named, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

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It's quite an exciting gully that cuts straight up, quite a feature.

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The sky is really dramatic today, as is the skyline.

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Slieve Bearnagh looks amazing from here.

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Fantastic - you can really see the profiles now.

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Do you see the wee silvery line of the lough just below it?

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We must be on eye-level with it.

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Must be at exactly the same height as Bearnagh Lough -

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you can just about make it out, looking across there.

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-It's absolutely beautiful.

-Yes.

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Spellbinding.

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If you've been inspired to pull on walking boots and see it yourself,

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check out the website...

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You'll find route maps, safety advice and links to walking clubs

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in your area.

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Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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E-mail [email protected]

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