The Wall

ASL Colm Ennis recounts his experiences on the epic Mourne Wall Walk in Co. Down which he completed with AML Eoin Kelly on July 18th 2010.

Above: The Mourne Wall traverses Slieve Bearnagh.

I give a quick glance around. The rain on the left is swirling and misting or is it floating while on the right it seems to be just pouring straight down. The bog is moving at a different speed to the two hundredweight granite capstones and at times I am ten feet off the ground with the hazards below varying from huge stinking pools of water, skull unfriendly boulders or just plain evil bog. Each step on the wall has to be carefully judged. Some of the slabs are loose and rattly and are like well set traps ready to jump up and hurl me off. Others are quite polished but most probably haven’t budged since they were placed about a hundred years ago. At all times my left and right feet must be located in a narrow crack at least two or three capstones apart and I have to carefully judge the slope of the wall and the amount of surface water before finally putting my trust in my balance and the over worn vibram on my boot soles. If I lever one of the capstones, all those other factors should help to keep me on top of the wall. I step around some serious faced and fluorescently dressed mountain runners resting against the wall and later a large group of walkers flopping unhappily around in the bog also try to distract me. They look very jealous of my solid and unwavering path of travel. I am occasionally aware of the rattle of the capstones crossed by Eoin behind me who must be in a similar trance. I assume he will give a shout if he topples into the Bog of Donard or that I will at least hear him crash to the ground. Mostly though between the Brandy Pad and Long Seefin it is just me and the wall.

Above: The Mourne Wall before the ascent to Slieve Loughshannagh.

It was the Mourne Wall Walk that had us out walking in what had turned out to be atrocious weather. It’s described as one of the greatest mountain walks in Ireland and over a rollercoaster of a route with 2800 metres of ascent and descent it takes in the entire 35 kilometres of the Mourne Wall. The Wall was built between 1904 and 1922 by the Belfast Water Commissioners to enclose the 9000 acre water catchment in the Mournes and it passes over fifteen mountains including Ulster’s highest point Slieve Donard. It's described as "a grandiose folly" and never served any practical purpose. The first section up to Slievenaglogh had revealed the wettest conditions underfoot that I had ever experienced in the Mournes. On the way across to Meelbeg I had unwisely commented that at least it wasn’t raining and perhaps the mist was starting to lift. The UK Met Office had promised bright spells but at least four other forecasts had been less optimistic and on Meelmore “good fat rain” and a lively wind appeared. My mountaineer’s habit of finding a forecast that supported my decision to head out or not had backfired. By the time I decided it wasn’t “just a shower” and that I should put on the wetgear leggings I was soaked. The steep ascent up Bearnagh was pretty grim or was I actually now having more fun? At Hare’s Gap I half checked with myself and then with Eoin whether we wanted to continue or not. We could of course have escaped from there back down into the shelter of the Silent Valley and sensible walkers would have made that decision. We walked on and waited impatiently for a group to get out of the stone lookout tower on Commedagh so that I could get in and squeeze the water out of my socks. A walker with a lively looking dog asked whether we were going on to Donard? We confirmed that we were and got the reply “ye must be mad”. I decided not to share that we were actually walking the entire wall.

Above: Slieve Meelmore on a decent January day.

Eoin raced to the top of Donard while I raced down it. It was purely coincidental that in the past four months we had ascended all the so called “Four Peaks” by their longest and finest routes. Finally after crossing it two dozen times we were able to climb right up on to the wall and walk its epic section across the Bog of Donard. Walking on top of the Mourne Wall is in my view as excellent a hillwalking experience as you will come across anywhere on these islands.

Above: Walking the Mourne Wall below Slieve Donard in 2005. The rain adds something to it though.

When we finally dropped all the way down to the Annalong river we were ready for the Wall to take its last ‘lurch and curve’ to the summit of Slieve Binnian. It’s a slow gradual ascent but it’s hard not to find it cruel at that end of the day even with chocolate covered Kendal mint cake on board. On the summit the mist cleared briefly to give a view of the Ben Crom reservoir and for a while it seemed that all the peaks were clearing just to taunt us. Eventually we reached the closed Silent Valley tea shop where we negotiated for coke and muffins. We were far beyond soaking wet. “Were ye out for long lads?” We were.

Above: Finally a photo taken this year. The mist clears Slieve Binnian as we descend to the Silent Valley

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