An journey on the Waterford Greenway – a spot the place no automobiles go

It runs between Waterford metropolis and Dungarvan, a slim earthy kingdom that, as soon as discovered, stretches so far as the attention can see. The one engines listed below are the muscle tissues in your legs, and the one highway indicators make occasional requests to dismount when approaching a tunnel or let you know how far you’ve got come.

The Comeragh Mountains and the gorgeous wrinkle that hides Mahon Falls run alongside to your proper as you head south by way of farmland and pasture, leaf litter lining the verges and cranky blackbirds darting throughout your eyeline. The alternate world you might be in generally skirts close to to the one you are extra used to, so a passing automobile may thrum into earshot or an indication providing refreshments at a household pub may seem.

The bottom can fall away below you, so that you simply’re instantly trying down on treetops and a river vale from a ravishing Victorian viaduct that has launched you into the air. Earlier than you realize it, you might be underground, swallowed inside an outdated railway tunnel dripping with water.

It is pretty protected to say that the Waterford Greenway has reworked this nook of the south-east. As soon as depressed cities resembling Kilmacthomas (our level of embarkation in the present day from the unbelievable transformed famine workhouses there) at the moment are getting an important injection of income from this much-subscribed outside tour, as are age-old native companies resembling O’Mahony’s nation pub in Durrow that do not know themselves. Households and daytrippers from throughout the nation are flocking right here to drink up the quiet simplicity of the route, both on two wheels or two toes.

Which brings us in additional methods than one to Dungarvan itself, a cradle awaiting you with arms open and larder overflowing. The top level of the Greenway involves a halt proper on the mudflats by the Park Resort, which is actually very thoughtful of them. A marriage is in full swing once we arrive, and tempted as we’re to crash it, we’re undecided combats and fleeces would permit us to mix in.

From pedal energy to the soles of our toes hitting terra firma. All the pieces is walkable from the Park Resort, and it appears like we simply cross a highway and discover ourselves in the principle sq. of Dungarvan. The city, by all appearances, is booming. Our weekend go to is our first ever expertise right here and to say we have been impressed is a bit like saying the Greenway is a nice bicycle experience.

All the pieces is taken care of. Fancy among the finest delicacies within the nation? There’s Paul and Maire Flynn’s Tannery restaurant and cookery faculty, a eating expertise on par with the easiest in Cork or Dublin (the place a number of weekenders, we’re informed, are flocking from). Want one thing extra rustic, a hearty pub setting maybe, on the water and serving contemporary native seafood? The Moorings is your man. Tapas and tremendous bistro fare all ready utilizing native producers? There’s a queue out the door for a desk at 360 Cookhouse.

The city performs an identical trick with its pubs, providing all the things from oak-aged inns resembling Merry’s, the place dialog and an intimate ambiance are the order of the day, to the newly renovated Outdated Financial institution, a easy and silky cocktail joint that we really feel decidedly underdressed in.

Your legs and lungs revived after a day within the saddle and a night strolling from meals to drink to extra meals, the next day you might be set as much as discover the contained shoreline of this stretch of the county. Simply to the south is the headland of An Rinn, the Waterford Gaeltacht that juts out like Dungarvan’s decrease mandible, the place the wind and the ocean deliver the drama and the folds of the terrain conceal all kinds of issues.

Amongst them is Eamon Terry, whose face bears the concentrated expression of 45 years frowning over the tremendous particulars of glass and crystal reducing. He takes us by way of his course of at Criostal na Rinne, the small unassuming family-run workshop from which he makes and distributes beautiful glassware, whether or not that entails White Home shamrock bowls or whiskey decanters for New York high-flyers. Folks like Eamon fascinate me. The one-mindedness and integrity of their function is so compelling to witness, and that is earlier than you contemplate the hard-won mastery of their craft.

Helvick sits on the tip of the peninsula, below clifftop timber the place a kestrel rides the updrafts. It’s right here we discover the Sólás na Mara seaweed baths, tucked in by the pier and searching again on Dungarvan and its Comeragh body within the very far distance.

The Park Resort, Dungarvan – one of many finish factors of the Greenway

A personal bathing suite with two bathtubs greets us. As soon as immersed within the scorching seawater, a bucket of native bladderwrack is added and the pure gels which might be secreted begin to work their method by way of the bathtub. A listing of well being advantages is offered however they want say no extra. The one factor that may high this off is a piece of that hearty-looking carrot cake within the café cupboard and a espresso whereas we benefit from the sea view.

All that method away, Dungarvan seems to be twinkling within the early night nightfall just like the far shore of an excellent sea. And but it appears to take us simply ten minutes to drive all the way in which again there, one thing neither of us can fairly determine. Thoughts you, the 22km of Greenway we would cycled the day before today did not really feel like a cross-county expedition both, extra a rural safari that rolled alongside at its personal distinctive tempo.

And maybe that’s what has been so participating about Dungarvan and its surrounds since we arrived. There’s a sense right here of a singular setting inviting you in to be a part of what it has struck upon. Even the newly arrived London barman within the Outdated Financial institution claims to already really feel as a lot part of the city because the 12th-Century fort on the marina.

We wind our method out of the city the subsequent morning en path to Cappoquin and the Blackwater highway that takes us to Lismore and its Devonshire throne. One other path out of this discover of a city that locations you in a brand new world, similar to the peninsula of An Rinn, similar to the country tranquillity of the Greenway. All roads result in Dungarvan.

Getting there

* Dungarvan Aglow runs for six weeks till January 6, and options an enormous programme of sunshine installations, occasions, markets and actions for all of the household.

* Rooms on the Park Resort Dungarvan and Lawlors Resort begin at €109 mattress and breakfast per particular person sharing. Christmas packages are additionally out there. For extra info or to ebook, please go to www.parkhoteldungarvan.com or www.lawlorshotel.com

* The Greenway Man operates out of Durrow and is ready to shuttle bikes for all ages and ranges of health to no matter level alongside the whole Greenway you want to begin from.

* For extra info, name 086 8351233 or you possibly can go to www.thegreenwayman.com

NB: This characteristic initially appeared in The Sunday Unbiased

Sunday Indo Residing