Divis and Black Mountain prove a huge attraction

Forty years ago, at the height of the Troubles, the men in white suits would probably have been called if anyone had predicted that the towering Divis and Black Mountain on the outskirts of west Belfast would one day become a significant tourist attraction.

But no longer is the idea the height of nonsense, because the National Trust’s magnificent facility, with its spectacular views over Belfast, the rest of Northern Ireland and parts of Britain, has caught the imagination of the public — and not just from the west of the city.

Josh Watts, the general manager of the Belfast property group at the trust, explains that when the 2,000-acre site was acquired in 2005, the target was to bring 30,000 visitors a year to Divis and the Black Mountain.

“But the latest figure stands at 200,000 a year. And we’ve a lot of international visitors from as far away as South America and Australia, because we have been featured as a major destination by international writers,” he says.

“The success has, however, brought problems, because the limited infrastructure and the narrow roads leading to Divis and the Black Mountain present their own difficulties. But there are plans to improve our offering and encourage ‘citizen science’ to connect people with nature and tackle climate change,” adds Josh. “There’s a huge opportunity for Divis to be a huge asset for Belfast. It’s probably the most accessible mountain in the UK and you can see five of the six counties from up here.”