The faint hearted heeded the weather warning, the brave, (or foolish), didn’t let the impending storm put the wind up them, and proceeded with the plan, (more out of morbid curiosity than courage I imagine). Marty was there to meet us, clinging to his van, as was Martin Bonar (who had walked over Muckish from the gap) and Terry and his incredible electric car.  We were, Marjan and Alan, PJ and Anthony of the hangovers, and me and the line manager.

The plan, was to abseil into the great cave on Muckish, and then go for a pint. The wind should be from the SW so the north face should be sheltered.  When we parked, inability to open any of the doors on one side of the car, and alarming rocking of same, indicated that the wind was not as anticipated, but undeterred, we climbed out of the other side, and crabbed our way towards the mountain. The wind, which occasionally dropped to hurricane force 17 (+ hail), relented somewhat as we got to the base of the miner’s track.  We met a bloke with a dog coming down.  Martin pointed out that the wind wasn’t too bad earlier in the morning, but we had timed out arrival impeccably at the height of the storm.

 To climb out onto the western flank of the mountain, scramble to the edge of a cliff, and abseil seemed suicidal (especially as Alan had never abbed before) so we decided to go up the miners track and see how it went.

 A splinter group of Martin and Marty (the mad Martins) was seen to veer off and head for the cave.  We pretended not to notice.  It was ok up the track, which turned to snow higher up.  Another splinter group, they of the hangovers, choose to go up a snowy gully, and met us at the sand pit.  A quick scally up the lower reaches of Crowe’s Gully was all we were allowed, as herself had plans for the coffee shop in Glenveigh.

Down we went, but I could see the mad Martins at the top of the cave, and still had ambitions of a photograph. Madder Martin had disappeared, but could I get there in time to take a photo of the lesser mad Martin on the ab?  I raced across meeting Terry (who had changed his mind about staying in the car) en route. When I got to the base of the cave and gazed aloft, there was madder Martin dangling euphorically below the roof, and in no hurry to rejoin humanity, (possibly because there was a big knot below him).  To be fair the knot was almost at ground level, but nevertheless hard to unpick, and almost as hard as getting Marty out of his pre-war harness.  Lesser mad Martin untied the rope and walked down, and we all went our separate ways, some to Glenveigh where we met up with the North West, and some elsewhere.

Malin Head Visitor Management consultation 10/12/2019  Feedback

1.       Bamba’s Tower. This could swallow a lot of funding.  There is already a viewpoint which is more than adequate.  It could be a future project, but at this time the money could be better spent, and appropriate repairs would suffice.

2.       Trails. Land Ownership is fundamental, as you cannot do anything until you have the agreement of the landowner, and this can be withdrawn at any time due to an incident, dispute, or change of ownership.   Visitors come to Malin Head particularly from inland Europe, for the clifftop walk experience, and currently some of the best bits of the Malin coastline are closed,  Skildren Bay to the Devils Bridge, Breasty Bay, Knockmany Bens, and the coastal walk from the Wee House to Glengad (one of the half dozen best such walks in Ireland, and one which used to be recommended in the Blue Planet guide).   Use the funding to purchase the land (by CPO if necessary).  A 10m wide strip of the clifftop would suffice, and this should not prove much of a loss to the landowner (in fact they would be less likely to lose animals off the cliff, if properly fenced).

3.       Path Building.  Consult Mountaineering Ireland, who have access to experts in this field.  They will provide advice on an environmentally sympathetic path which will not get washed away during the first flood.  Learn from the Slieve League experience, where the path had to be redone at great expense.   Spending large amounts of money on H&S infrastructure will not enhance the wilderness experience, and not every path has to be wheelchair accessible, or be wide enough for an excavator and tractor to get past each other.

4.       Car Parking.  The ideal place for the main carpark would be just off the Malin Head loop, which is walking distance from the crown for most people.  Traffic access to the Crown could be on a quota basis (counters and a barrier) so that on quiet winters days visitors can drive up, (but not on a busy day, when they will be stopped at the main car park).

5.       Dunaldragh.  This is a great idea, that is the bridge to the island, Ireland’s most northerly point.  It would be a great attraction, but visitors should be contained in one protected area, for safety reasons and the protection of nesting seabirds.

I am a walker, climber and past president of Mountaineering Ireland (the national representative body for Mountaineers, hillwalkers, ramblers and leisure walkers) resident in Culdaff, and I use the Malin Head area both for walking the headlands, and rock climbing on the cliffs.  This year the Donegal Climbfest was run at Malin head, which brought about 150 visitors to the area for the Mayday bank holiday.   The potential of an iconic place like Malin as an outdoor recreation hub is immense, walkers, climbers, kayakers, fishermen, Basking shark spotting, coasteering etc  but the main problem is that of access.   A couple of years ago, I researched a coastal ‘way’ from the ferry at Buncrana around the North Inishowen coast (linking existing paths) to the ferry at Greencastle (the Inishowen Wildway). The idea was a link with the North Antrim Coastal path, but I was obliged to leave out Malin Head completely, due to the number of intractable access problems.  Great opportunities for the local community are there, if they can convince some crucial landowners to buy into a more accommodating attitude to visitors, and that there is something in it for them.

Alan Tees

Bunagee, Culdaff, Co Donegal

alanwtees@gmail.com

A great weekend, with wonderful January weather.  On Friday we met up with Dennis, Damien, Gertrude, Brian and Martin at the bottom of Croaghmoyle 430m Just south of Nephin.  Brian had worked out a good route over this hill, which none of us had ever been on before. About 3 hours.

Saturday, we left the hostel in Letterfrack, and joined by Neil and Fergus, we drove around to the south side of Maumtrasna.  We walked up the beautiful Sruh Na Long Valley, scrambled onto the snowy summit, and then back down the ridge.  About 5 hours.  Blue skies all day, and meal out in the Bard’s Den.

Sunday. Fergus wanted to do Ben Choona, while some of them wanted a shorter day (something to do with a fitba match) so they went to Diamond Hill.  Our party of Gertrude Margaret, Fergus and I, boosted by two French girls from the hostel (eat your heart out Dennis), started up the hill from Lough Fee, hotly pursued by Westport Hillwalking Club.  They didn’t catch us, but on the top of  Garraun we met folk from Castlebar that we knew from MI, and we both descended the east ridge, and back along the lake to the cars.  Coffee in Kylemore Abbey.  Everybody else went home, but M and I stayed another night in the hostel, as I had part of the Irish Polar crossing to do.

Monday, biked from L.Inagh to Lenane, and on to Westport on the Western Way, then to Newport on the Greenway. Heavy going in a few places, but otherwise superb.  I would hate to walk it.  Margaret picked me up in Newport and then home.