This walk visits the rocky wooded gorge of the O’Cahan’s – the ancient clan which controlled the Roe Valley area up until the time of the Plantation of Ulster. Even after they were displaced, the site of their castle remained a local seat of power and its associated community – the original Limavady (from the Irish Léim a’ Mhadaidh – the leap of the dog). Only later was Newtown-Limavady founded in its current location two miles to the north.

So this now uninhabited wooded riverbank was once a place of dwelling, agriculture and commerce. Few signs remain today save the ‘Holy Well’ (often an indication of pre-Christian origin) and the mound on which O’Cahan’s stronghold stood defiant high above the river gorge.

This walk explores the riversides upstream of the Dogleap Centre. This is a landscape moulded by the human requirements for water power, linen production and the milling of gain for bread, feed and even whiskey. There is a Linen Green,  the remains of three weirs and mill race systems and many ruined mills and associated buildings. At the turn of the walk you have an option to leave the Country Park and visit a tranquil church following the “old ways” along a rough unmade path.

This walk visits the enigmatic Mountsandel Fort on the outskirts of Coleraine, but tries to do so in a way which maximises the sense of place of this narrow strip of ancient human habitat, which for thousands of years has offered shelter, food, transport and more to many different peoples.

Between the coastal settlements of Downhill and Castlerock there is an extraordinary richness of place. Here you have great beaches, substantial sea cliffs, a classic railway tunnel, a demesne (domain) landscaped on a grand scale and several iconic buildings including the clifftop Mussenden Temple. The human inputs to this landscape came largely from Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry (1730 – 1803), a remarkable man. Brian Fothergill, his biographer, sums him up thus:

Traveller, politician, scholar, collector and the subject of a series of amorous adventures, he was a continuous source of amazement to his contemporaries. Horace Walpole condemned his profligate folly, John Wesley praised his plenteous good works, and George II denounced him as “that wicked prelate”.

‘The Mitred Earl’ by Brian Fothergill

His other popular handle ‘The Edifying Bishop’ referred to his fondness for constructing grand edifices of which Downhill Castle was one. In this walk you will experience a great natural landscape, but one curated and adjusted by a showman with style!