Here is a link to another short but great walk just on the edge of Dundrum Village, it is listed as a cycle route here but most times I see people walking along it.

The route starts at the National Trust cottages at the Northern edge of the village but there is a scheme ongoing to bring the route right into the heart of the village, practically to the front door of the Holiday Homes.

The path is along the track of the old railway line and is perfect for any one with a bit of difficulty walking, or with a pushchair. It starts along the main road but soon disappears of into rural isolation between farmland on one side and the estuary on the other.

At times you could almost believe you can still smell the smoke from the trains making their way to Newcastle.

http://www.cycleni.com/99/dundrum-coastal-path/

Downpatrick is perhaps the town in Ireland most associated with Saint Patrick and each year the local Council, Down District, put on a fabulous festival, for details of this years festival click on the following link.

http://www.downdc.gov.uk/Leisure—Culture/News-(1)/St-Patrick-Gives-his-Seal-of-Approval-for-Fabulous.aspx

Walk of the Week: Get back to nature by the sea at Murlough, Co Down

I have what is called Google Alert set up on my Google Account and each Monday it alerts me if there has been any new items posted about the Mourne Mountains on the World Wide Web either in Blogs or in online articles or new websites. This is a great facility if you have an interest or passion in any topic, for example my other Google Alert Topic is the rather gruesome sounding of ‘ Humane Slaughter’, but I have it to keep updated on the most recent research on animal slaughter for human consumption. I have the view that we as a race will never stop eating meat, we are after all classed as omnivores, ie both a meat and vegetable eating species, however I respect totally the stance taken by vegetarians and vegans.  I acknowledge that animals have a relatively good life on farms whilst being reared and that their last few moments should be as stress free as possible so I like to keep up-to-date on the latest research. I do believe we will move to more stress free methods through time, paradoxically I am so sensitive on the subject I actually have difficultly reading the Alerts that Google brings in, not that they are gruesome or explicit but just that it is something that matters to me and I am afraid of reading something bad.

However, to use a bit of modern office jargon, ‘let’s get back on message’ my other Google Alert brought in an item published in our main paper in Northern Ireland, “The Belfast Telegraph” entitled Walk of the Week and coincidentally it is around the Bay that the holiday Homes at Dundrum overlook.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/environment/walk-of-the-week-get-back-to-nature-by-the-sea-at-murlough-15089748.html#ixzz1Ecvabmy8

This walk is from a series produced by CAAN, which is a kind of umbrella organisation here in Northern Ireland for outdoor recreation they produce guides on Canoe trails, Cycling Routes, and of course Walking Trails and Pathways, click on the following link to be taken to a longer walk in the Dundrum Area   http://www.walkni.com/Walk.aspx?ID=360 and from here you can click back to their home page for more routes all over the province.

I hope to post more links on the walking page of the Holiday Homes website one of which will be the new Newcastle Way which is development by CAAN.

At the end of Auctions on EBAY the seller always puts the cliché ’Happy Bidding’, so I will end saying ‘Happy Trails’, or is that from a Laurel and Hardy film.