Mourne Mountains Off the Beaten Track

The Kingdom of Mourne is an area of outstanding natural beauty

and our very own Peak District.

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

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

yet the scent of freedom fills the mountain air.

We begin where the mountains sweep down to the sea

on a famous hiking route.

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

there are many ways into the Mournes.

And this is certainly different.

The Blood Bridge river near Newcastle

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

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

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

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

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

teaching all the safety skills that ramblers and climbers might need

in the great outdoors.

Wet bouldering is an activity where you deliberately aim

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

up through rivers and gorges using some handholds in the rocks

and trying to make your way by swimming through pools.

A lot of people are very apprehensive with this activity

and trying to sell it to people is quite hard.

But almost without fail, when people finish this,

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

and think it maybe appeases that childish side

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

The Brandy Pad begins opposite Bloody Bridge car park,

between Newcastle and Annalong.

The smugglers' trail is a popular hiking route,

running parallel with the river between Slieve Donard

and Chimney Rock Mountain.

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

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

the gateway to the wild core of the mountains.

It's somewhere I think of as home -

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

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

Days like this are pretty special.

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

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

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

One of the things you forget to do...

you're concentrating on your feet

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

-just look at the view back there.

-I know.

-Look how far we've come already.

-The perspective is so different

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

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

-Lots to do. Keep going.

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

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

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

but the rock climbing in the Mournes is fantastic

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

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

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

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

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

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

You have to be ready for all weathers up here.

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

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

it'll get showery as the day goes on.

-It's definitely fresher and colder now.

-Fresh! That's the word!

That's exactly the word.

The Brandy Pad gets its name from the barrels of liquor

smuggled along this route in bygone days.

The ponies that carried the contraband are long gone.

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

who've taken the high road down the millennia.

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

crossing the river to the now derelict Bloody Bridge Quarry.

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

when granite curbs and cobbles were cut from the bedrock

and shipped away to pave the streets of industrial Britain.

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

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

Then you get here and feel even smaller still!

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

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

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

It was machinery employed here.

History is indeed written in stone up here.

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

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

-That's impressive.

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

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

-through that track.

-No.

-You have to earn this view, you feel.

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

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

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

-Yeah. They've lifted across.

-Yeah.

It's really gorgeous, this.

You can actually see the Brandy Pad

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

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

and you see the Mourne Wall dropping down into the saddle

between Commedagh and Donard.

Round the corner takes us down into Newcastle.

You can see that from the main street.

You're looking up between those two hills.

Across the left, we've got Slieve Beg

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

-Quite evocatively named, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

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

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

Slieve Bearnagh looks amazing from here.

Fantastic - you can really see the profiles now.

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

We must be on eye-level with it.

Must be at exactly the same height as Bearnagh Lough -

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

-It's absolutely beautiful.

-Yes.

Spellbinding.

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

check out the website...

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

in your area.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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