Ring of Kerry

The is the last of my Irish odyssey from July of this year. We had been staying in Tipperary and headed over to Kilarney as the scenery was reportedly worth the trip. It was around a couple of hours and we initially headed to Ross castle which was very picturesque on the edge of a lake. After a stroll in the sunshine we discussed the 'Ring of Kerry' road signs we had seen in Kilarney, looked at the map and decided to give it a whirl.

The Ring of Kerry is affectively a circular route around a peninsula on the south west coast of Ireland which we extended by taking the most westerly part the Skelligs ring as well. We had no set plan and headed off around midday and just stopped when we saw something that appealed. Around eight hours later, in fading light, we reached Torc falls, our final stop a little south of Kilarney. It had been a long day and we still had a two hour drive back to our cottage and needed to find somewhere to eat!

A little better planning might have been in order but never mind, it proved to be an enjoyable day, albeit a touch tiring. Here is some of what we saw.

First stop of the day was the Ross castle area

We then headed off to the Gap of Dunloe where we grabbed a sandwich before a fair walk up a restricted road that many others ignored the restrictions and drove along. Never mind, all good excercise! Moving on we detoured off to Rossbeigh a popular beach area backed by sand dunes Next up was Cahersiveen. We turned off on seeing a sign for a castle which turned out to be closed for repairs but we found a pleasing walk to a disused railway bridge and the former constabulary barracks, now a heritage centre and government building, that looks a bit like something from a fairy tale. We jumped back in to the car and moved on once more taking the aforementioned option of the Skeligs ring and a stop to look at the Kerry cliffs, one of the most rugged parts of the Irish coast in these parts. The weather closed in here and it started to rain but fortunately it was localised and we left it behind although the sunshine of earlier did not fully return. Time was getting on now and as we pulled in at a beauty spot known as Ladies View the low evening sun brifly popped out from behind the clouds. And so to our final stop, Torc falls. Fortunately always open as dusk was now falling but a slow shutter speed suited the location luckily. A lengthy post for what was a long day!

Blarney Castle

This was another part of our visit to Ireland back in July. Blarney Castle, near Cork, can trace its history back to around 1200 although the current keep dates to the mid 15th century. It has been the centre of conflict, changed hands several times, been damaged, restored and then partially neglected. It is perhaps though best known as home to the Blarney stone, a stone with supposed mythical powers of eloquence bestowed upon those who kiss it. There are many stories of the stones' origin which are largely fantasy tales but it serves as a good tourist attraction and generates a good queue of people willing to lie on their back and lean backwards over the battlement to give it a kiss. Kind of weird really but having gone all the way there I did it as well! For the ladies though its not advisable to go in a skirt, it can be a bit undignified!

The castle also has some extensive gardens and woodland walks and is home to the more recent Blarney House which is also open to the public but here are some images of the castle itself.

 

Sidmouth

Sidmouth, on the Devon coast, is a small resort that I had previously visited only briefly. We headed there last week for a short break to take in more of the area. Surrounding areas are linked back to Saxon times and Sidmouth itself is probably older. A lot of the town as it is today though is clearly Victorian. Quaint streets are largely pedestrianised and run on to a seafront walk that has red jurassic sandstone cliffs at either end. We were blessed with unseasonally warm weather which helped make our stay a relaxing getaway. The church within the town is worth a visit. A little unassuming from the outside the inside has some very nice features. On the western end of the seafront are Connaught Gardens which are well worth a look

Concrete Barges - Rainham

It seems hard to get a full story regarding these barges. They are of reinforced concrete construction and date to World War 2. They are Tank Lighters, commonly used for carrying fuel or water and it is likely they were constructed as support vessels for the D-Day landings of 1944 but it seems that they were not robust enough and were never used as part of the landings fleet. The barges were war surplus and were towed here in 1953 and sunk to shore up the estuary flood defences which had been damaged by severe storms and have remained there ever since. There are 16 barges on the shore line and visibilty depends on tide level which was quite high when I visited today on the way home from Hornchurch but you still get a good idea of what remains of these historic vessels.