VARTRY UPPER LAKE WAS A MYSTERY TO MANY – UNTIL NOW
REPORTER DAVID MEDCALF RESUMED HIS TRAVELS WITH TERRIER CHARLIE ON A TREK AROUND THE BEAUTIFUL UPPER LAKE IN ROUNDWOOD, FORMERLY CLOSED OFF TO THE PUBLIC BUT NOW VERY MUCH OPEN TO CALLERS WHO COME ON FOOT
ROUNDWOOD is certainly not the largest town in Ireland but it is fast becoming the nation’s walking capital. The Wicklow Way has been bringing long-distance walkers of all nationalities into Roundwood for decades as they follow the line from Dublin in the north to the Wexford border in the south.
There are so many of these hardy hikers that the local B&Bs are hard pushed to provide accommodation for everyone who needs it. The world-renowned Way caters for those who like to cover long distances and who are not daunted by the prospect of tackling steep hills.
But the town has a second string to its bow, with an expanding network of less demanding trails around the Varty reservoirs which supply water to Dublin.
These alternatives are shorter and flatter and less exposed to the gales which whistle around the paths up in the mountains. Allow maybe two or three hours to complete one of a choice of lake circuits – go on, give yourself and your heart a treat.
The beautiful walkway around the lower lake is well established – a magical seven kilometre loop hugging the shore. Meanwhile the upper lake was until recently something of a mystery zone, even for most of the locals.
Though the mighty dam which created the lake in the 1860s was accessible to the public, the rest of the area was off limits. The only people who knew the ins and outs of the upper lake were Irish Water officials, forestry workers andd fly-fishing anglers hunting trout.
Now this too has become available, after a €300,000-plus investment in creating a new walkway. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar came to Roundwood last month to perform the officiall opening of upper lake trail. Whisper it soft butt the head of Government did not actually stayy long enough to enjoy more than a token strolll on a small section.
He missed out. The six and a half kilometree lap of the reservoir is a delight, already attracting hundreds of walkers and runners. With the addition of this extra facility, small town Roundwood now has a recreational area on itss doorstep comparable in size with metropolitann Dublin’s Phoenix Park. Granted, much of thee hundreds of acres are under water. Nevertheless,, it is a wonderful attraction for both residents and for visitors.
Your reporter (and his dog) joined a party of walkers who gathered at the soccer grounds beside the R755 main road leading north out of the town to enjoy an evening circuit of the lake. The exercise was a fund-raiser for Roundwood Cancer Support, part of their drive to develop a local service for local cancer patients.
Among those taking part was Phil Power who enthused: ‘ The walk is easy and secure. The views are breath-taking – and it’s flat.’
Also present was publican Joe Kavanagh who confirmed that local businesses such as his Vartry House are feeling the benefit of the walking boom: ‘I am selling food and drink. We get walkers winter and summer,’ he observed. ‘Now they come in midweek to do the shorter walks.’
The Vartry Lakes initiative is the product of a committee featuring Monica Byrne, Geoff Seymour, Wendy Seymour, Terry Kavanagh, Sean Pierce, Eddie Cullen, Karina Pierce and Shay Cullen. As a local councillor, Shay is the one who tends to end up as spokesman.
Taking part in the Friday night cancer support fundraiser, he recalled that the development took four years to bring to fruition. He paid tribute to contractor Martin Stacey whose team built three pedestrian bridges on the walkway as well as spreading at least 10,000 tonnes of stone.
And Cllr Cullen warned that the work is not yet completed as more signs and more parking places have yet to be put in place. By the time everything is complete, the total spend is likely to break the half million euro barrier.
Credit is due to the water company, to Coillte and local landowners for their foresight and generosity in allowing the public enter this previously private territory.
19:00 hours – we embarked on our journey after reading the signs which advised us to follow the green arrows – practically impossible to get lost. Just keep the lake on your right. We who tagged along with the cancer support outing were all going clockwise.
Among the company was Brendan Lawlor of Roundwood and District Athletics Club who was walking for once rather than running. The
club trains here on Thursdays, he revealed, and the walkway is a magnet seven days a week for all sorts of joggers and athletes.
We met one such coming the other way shortly afterwards, Brendan Belton from Trooperstown, preparing for the Dublin Marathon. He stopped in his gallop long enough to estimate that the circuit which we expected to walk in an hour and a half was a half hour run for him…
As we made our way through the trees, we passed a jumble of boulders – chiselled granite surplus from the great reservoir building of the 19th century.
19:07 hours – a big slice of the walkway budget was spent on construction of the new Mullinaveigue Bridge. The 200 metre metal structure cost around €70,000 to install, carrying pedestrians and canines over a boggy stretch of terrain.
A jumble of birch and ferns made way for the disciplined regiments of Coillte spruce as the walkway joined a forestry track. It seemed that we were shifting away from the lake but the glistening reservoir could be seen any time we passed a fire break in the trees.
19:27 hours – the councillor pointed to a section of the path where, he recalled, digging equipment became stuck in soft earth during the construction work. The marshy conditions were solved by importing 100 lorry loads of earth dredged from the Dargle in Bray to lift the level of the ground.
Such problems appeared a world away on this evening as the summer drought has reduced the level of the lake at least two metres below normal this year. This produced a large area of bright green grass where usually there would be lake water in the foreground as we admired the distant Sugarloaf mountain.
19:41 hours – we emerged from the pedestrian way through a stile on to the Ford Road in the townland of Knockraheen at around the half way mark of our evening’s exertions. The solid stone walls, the stiles and the green gates are all trademarks signalling the boundaries of the Irish Water land, adding to the character of the area. The water company took an active interest in development of the walkway with their local engineer Ned Fleming ever helpful.
THE Ford Bridge took us along the public thoroughfare over a river which feeds the reservoir before we shinned over another stile and back into more woodland. This time the trees were not Coillte’s but the property of the Nuttall family whose willingness to allow walkers walk, hikers hike and joggers jog across their land was crucial to the whole plan. The path through the Nuttall land skirts along the side of the local paint ball battlefield, with a screen erected to segregate pedestrians from paint ballers.
19:50 hours – after the formal lines of commercial forest came a section of Irish Water property where trees are allowed to grow willy-nilly with diverse results. So it was that we meandered through a splendid jumble of oak, hawthorn, holly, birch, alder and ash, with plenty of the willow inevitable so close to water. Wherever therethere was a gap in the trees, healthy green ferns filled in, many growing up to chest height as we explored a place which was out of bounds to ordinary mortals for hundreds of years.
20:14 hours – the dam which holds back the water to create the upper lake was a magnificently spectacular sight on a summer’s evening. It must have appeared to be the eighth wonder of the world to the folk who saw it take shape one and a a half centuries ago, as familiar roads, farms and houses disappeared beneath the rising tide to be lost forever.
We had the lake on one side and yet more forestry f below us on the other. There are more walking routes in those woods, bringing the total length of the Vartry Lakes walks waiting to be explored e up to at least 20 kilometres. The route pursues an immaculately straight line across the top of the dam towards the finishing line, which we reached almost exactly one and a half hours after setting out.
Waiting for us to arrive was Deputy Pat Casey from f Glendalough, which is of course another well-known w walking hub. He described the latest initiative as a great facility for Roundwood and beyond, while hinting at a friendly rivalry with his home place: ‘If Glendalough is too busy, people can pull in here,’ he joked.
For anyone who enjoys fresh air and fine countryside, the Vartry Lakes are indeed well worth pulling into.