In February we walked the Grand Canal from Charlemont LUAS stop to the Basin and the confluence of the canal with the River Liffey. Those lock gates, which proclaim the endurance of Victorian engineering works, are impressive. En route we visited the Design Tower and were delighted to visit two of the workshops where we were welcomed by the resident artists. It is a wonderful creative space and a great use of an old and historic building. The modern buildings around the Basin are a showcase for a new image of Dublin and the whole area is alive and vibrant.
For the March walk we gathered in Dun Laoghaire and walked from the East Pier to Dalkey Quarry along ‘the Metals’. This is a beautiful quiet walkway, which follows the route that was used to bring the granite from the quarry for the building of Dun Laoghaire Harbour. For about half of the route the wagons were drawn by horses but on the steeper section closer to the quarry there was a funicular railway and there is an information board about this close to the quarry. Again we were lucky with the weather and whilst it has not been sunny thus far for our 2017 walks, neither has it rained.
Please do join us or call Margaret for more information (contact details in the current SandMill Newsletter (Lent/Easter 2017)).