Chairperson Claire Dolphin presenting a  cheque for €310 to Aidan Curley, chairperson of the  Creagh/Ballinasloe Community First Responders Group this morning. Once again, many thanks to all who donated to this great cause.

Club walk 27th January

Local walk in Garbally. Easy to moderate grade. Duration approx. 1.5 hours. Boots essential. Meet Gullane's car park Sunday morning 10am. Leader P. Barrett.

A cheque for funds raised on the Flaggy Shore walk will be presented to the Creagh/Ballinasloe Community First Responders (CFR) group before the walk. Huge thanks to all who donated. 

Evening walk 17th January

Around Ballinasloe town walk tonight. Meet side door Gullane's  8pm. Leader: Mike Glynn

Glen of Aherlow Winter Walking Festival 2019

The Glen of Aherlow Winter Walking Festival will take place over the weekend of January 26 and 27, 2019. The event will feature A, B and C walks on Saturday and B+, B and C walks on Sunday. 

The festival base is Aherlow House Hotel and buses will be provided to take participants to and from walks.

For more details see the Festival Page or the Festival Brochure.

The festival is organised by the Aherlow Fáilte Society and the walk leaders are provided by the Galtee Walking Club for the two days. 

Footsteps in the past

Thanks to Claire and Kathleen for leading a great walk yesterday-they even managed to organise perfect weather. It was fantastic to see so many people out, especially so many new members.  Our walk followed a section of the Hymany Way along the old towpath of the Ballinasloe Line, a branch of the Grand Canal, before re-joining the road at Pollboy. The gorse was blooming and the birds, including a pair of herons, were, like ourselves, making the most of a very early Spring. Our enthusiasm was buoyed early on by Liam and Jim, who greatly added to the walk by showing us the remains of an early 19th century aqueduct- where the Canal crossed the Cloonascragh River- and a fantastic example of a lime kiln. 

Inspired by our guides, I did a little research on the area, which I hope you don't mind me sharing with you. The Ballinasloe Line extended from Shannon Harbour to Ballinasloe, a distance of  23.3 kms or 14½ miles. It was built between 1824 and 1828 at a cost of £43485, with an additional £2769 for a wooden bridge across the Shannon. It had two locks: Fanning's Lock, located at Shannon Harbour and Kylemore Lock, about 4 kms south-east of where we started the walk yesterday. During its lifetime the Ballinasloe Line contributed hugely to the economy of the town. It was closed in 1961 and is no longer navigable largely as a result of the construction of the M6 motorway. The aqueduct over the Cloonascragh River which Jim showed us yesterday is one of two on the Line-the second is located at the old Kylemore Lock. The double-arched aqueduct is built of local limestone. Sadly, this neglected piece of Ballinasloe's industrial heritage is obscured by dense vegetation and unless you were aware of it, you'd pass it by without thought.  

The lime kiln is located a little further along the towpath. Although many survive from around the country, the large kiln in Cloonascragh is a very fine example. Constructed from cut limestone and red brick, it is likely to date from the late 19th or early 20th century. It's marked on the 25 inch Ordnance Survey map dated to between 1888-1913. Two gravel pits are also marked on the same map just to the West of it, which may have been the source for the raw material. As our informative guides told us yesterday, the structure was essentially a large chimney where limestone was burnt or to produce quicklime, a versatile mineral mainly used for building, although it was also commonly used as a disinfectant and spread on land to reduce soil acidity and improve structure.   

As enjoyable as the walk was yesterday, it served to remind us of the resources that we have in Ballinasloe. Over a distance of less than 10 kms, we experienced the pleasure of walking along a peaceful canal towpath between river and bog. We were delighted and amazed to have our attention drawn to what remains of our local industrial heritage. If that didn't float your (canal) boat, the species-rich wetland environment had to be seen to be believed.  Although the Line closed in 1961 and is now in a very neglected state, how difficult would it be to repair the sins of the past and enhance the experience of the Hymany Way, with an emphasis on our locality. Would it be so difficult to erect some discreet information boards to let people know about the historic canal and the attendant structures and the diversity of flora and fauna to be found there? Walking has become hugely popular in the last few years and this could be a fantastic introduction to the town.


References

Delany, R. 1973 The Grand Canal of Ireland. Published by David and Charles, Newton Abbott.
 www.osi.ie  



Thanks to Claire for this pic.














Listening to Liam at the limekiln in Cloonascragh.

Lanzarote walking week

Information meeting upstairs in Gullane's tomorrow evening Monday 14th January at 8pm sharp ✈🌋☀⛱⛱🍹🍹✈

Club walk Sunday 13th January

Local walk. Lismany A to B. Meet Gullane's car park 11am to car pool. Flat 8km walk on grass/road. 1.5 hrs approx. Boots/raingear. Leaders Claire & Kathleen.

Membership form/Gear lists/Calendar 2020

Link to membership form, which can be downloaded and printed, here Registration Form

The fee for 2019/2020 will be €60, which includes membership of Mountaineering Ireland and insurance. Membership renewal October and January each year. For further information please contact Club Secretary on 086 2250973 or email roswaywalkers@gmail.com.

New members are required to attend a gear training session before going out on a walk. Notification of training dates will be sent out by text and posted on this blog.  Links below to gear lists/general advice. Please read both documents.

Basic gear list
Essential gear list and general advice

Walking calendar for 2020 here 2020 calendar. Times, meeting points and any further relevant info will be sent out by text close to the date of the walk.

Access and conservation debate

Interesting article below from yesterday's Irish Times regarding a recent request by by the MacGillicuddy Reeks Mountain Access Forum for clubs or groups of 10 or more people to register with them, observe recommended parking/access areas and provide insurance details. It's a fairly controversial move. The article makes the point that the landowners, who up until now have allowed access based on goodwill, are looking at industries cashing in on the boom in walking, while they are left to deal with the consequences, including damage to land, fencing and livestock.  

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/macgillycuddy-s-reeks-landowners-goodwill-should-not-be-taken-for-granted-1.3746198

Evening walk Thursday January 3rd

The Club evening walks will start this Thursday January 3rd. Meeting point is at the back door of Gullane's Hotel at 8pm. Duration approx. 1 hour. Hi-vis vest recommended. This week's leader is C. Dolphin.

The evening walks will take place every Thursday for the next 6 weeks from January 3rd until February 7th. The routes are all local. Meeting point is Gullane's Hotel. Further details will be sent out by text.

Flaggy Shore

Many thanks to all those who came out to walk yesterday. Beautiful day and beautiful walk in good company. Claudine would have loved it. We'll update you with how much was raised for CFR in the next few weeks. Thanks to Bríd for photos (small selection below) which capture the beauty of this part of Clare.

The weather was one of the many topics of conversation. It was unnaturally mild, more like a day in Spring rather than January 1st, with scatters of daisies and dandelions covering the fields.  I was reminded of the mild morning and daisy-filled fields while watching the weather forecast after the 9 o'clock news last night where the forecaster Siobhán Ryan observed that the extreme weather conditions in 2018 were caused directly by human action. On the first morning of the new year, here was direct evidence for climate change along the beautiful Flaggy Shore. It's incongruous to feel so terrible about seeing daisies and dandelions growing in a field but it is a sharp reminder that the world we live in is a limited resource. This is it folks and unless we change now, it will be lost to us. What a loss it will be.

Wishing you all good walking for 2019 and hoping you make it your year for change.