History

This is the famous Slieve Donard Hotel where we had a spot of tea. It is enormous. It is in the town of Newcastle at the foot of the Mourne Mountains.

The Silent Valley is in the Mourne Mountains. It has a hollow silence to it that you can hear (if that’s understandable). There is a large reservoir of water held there for Belfast (that was the intention originally – Belfast obtains its water elsewhere also). There are stone walls about 3.5 feet high everywhere for miles. In two of these photos you can see the walls going up the mountain which is incredible. As you come out of the Silent Valley, you can see the Irish Sea with the Mourne Mountains coming down almost to the beach. On the slopes going down to the sea You can see little farms separated by these stone walls (they even separate their fields with them). These stone walls are simply amazing structures with the tops of the walls as straight as can be.

These are the spectacular Mourne Mountians which sweep down to the sea (Irish sea that is). It was such a beautiful day we could see them for miles (which is so unusual due to the bad weather – so far every day has been hot (dry heat) and sunny.