11: BSW1 Traditional routes

Speaker: Helen MeehanFrom the Bluestack Way - Part 1 playlist.GPS LOCATION: 54.673090, -8.067167You'll be coming to a T junction around this point. You'll be taking a left here - as always, it is signposted so look out for the Bluestack Way sign. Traditional Walks There are two old traditional walks in the Bluestacks, still practiced to the present day. The first one is the walk up Carnaween on the first Sunday in June. Hundreds of people still do this walk on the day to keep the old tradition alive. People usually climb from three sides: Drimarone, the Glen of Glenties and Silverhill. Traditionally, it was a way of meeting and keeping in touch with people from the other sides of the mountain before the days of the mobile phone. Manies the match it is said, was made on the top of Carnaween. The other traditional walk, which is sadly dying out, was on the third Sunday in July is Bilberry or Heatherberry Sunday. In olden times people went to the mountain on this day to gather Bilberries or Heatherberries to make a kind of wine. It was used as a tonic to keep the body sound.  The Bluestack Ramblers The Bluestack Ramblers grew out of the demand from walkers coming to these hills requesting locals to show them the spot where a World War II plane had crashed. On the 31st of January 1944 just before midnight a Sunderland M43 flying boat (DW- III) on a return mission in the North Atlantic, crashed into the Northern face of Binmore. There was a crew of twelve men on board of which seven were killed in the crash. There is now a memorial plaque to these men and the survivors at the spot where the plane crashed. Little of the plane remains except for part of the engines.  The Bluestack Ramblers Walking Club was founded in the year 1995, and has grown into a very successful club since with around one hundred members at present. It organizes walks most weekends, mostly local, but they have travelled extensively also, all over Ireland, Britain and the European Continent. They also organise the Bluestack Walking Festival every May, which attracts a large number of walkers to the area. As interest in walking continues, they are going from strength to strength.  In the audio piece, Helen Meehan tells us how folk in these parts used near cuts to get about.