Ireland day 0766. Friday 03 November 2023- Calming Down *

Ireland day 0766. Friday 03 November 2023- Calming Down

Today’s summary	Val was at work and I wanted to get some fresh air today, after having been stuck inside all day yesterday. So I took advantage of the neap tides to walk round the Broadmeadow estuary to Newbridge (dry feet!) where I got lunch and then took the train back. Went to the Lú Festival of Light in Drogheda in the evening
Today’s weather	Dry bright and sunny most of the day. Moderate to strong westerly wind. Appx 11c

Today’s overview location (The grey mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Calming walk to Newbridge

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

In the end, yesterday I failed in my objective of getting out for a short walk in the evening. By the time it had stopped raining, we had discovered “Succession” on Amazon, and were engrossed in watching it.

So today, having discovered that I won’t get a decision on the possible consultancy work until next week, I was determined to put that right, as I don’t thrive on being indoors all day. So once Val had headed off to work, I packed my things and checked the tide timetables. I saw that we were approaching a period of neap tides, so decided to try my luck at a dry footed walk round to Newbridge.

It turned out to be a lovely bright sunny day – a marked contrast to the weather of the recent past. Although everywhere was sodden underfoot, much of the way was on tarred roads or gravel paths, so I stayed dry – at least until I got to the Flood Road where I was worried that the tide was still a bit high and I might get wet feet.

As it turned out, I was just about OK. The tide had fallen sufficiently that even at the most tricky section of the coast, between Ballymadrough and Kilcrea roads, I was just able to squeeze round with dry feet, by clinging to a narrow ledge above where the water would otherwise have been enjoying unfettered access to my boots.

Once round, I made my way directly to the visitor centre and house, to get some lunch. I was pleased to see that when I got there, the remediation works on the house had more or less finished. It was looking impressive, again, now that it has been shorn of its scaffolding envelope.

I treated myself to a full lunch which was quite good but (I thought) excessively expensive at €22 for a small piece of cake, a coffee, a bag of crisps, and a vegetarian pie with salad. A good reminder of why I normally try to sneak my packed lunch into the café and just supplement it with a bought coffee.

Once I’d finished dining, I walked a few hundred meters further to the station where I only had to wait 12 minutes for a train to come and take me back over the embankment to Malahide. I was soon back in the flat and once Val gets back, we are going to head out again. This time up the motorway to Drogheda, to take a look at the Lú Festival of Light which was on last weekend and this. It’s a sort of Son et lumière show and it promises to be fascinating. Then probably time for a couple more episodes of Succession when we get back. It’s addictive!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The Casino flats, where we live, looking quite colourful this morning	Overlooking the estuary of the Gaybrook Stream, where it enters the Broadmeadow lagoon

There’s a big funfair doing the rounds in the Malahide area. At the moment it’s in Swords, but it looks, from the heavy trucks parked outside, that it might be coming to the Fingallians GAA grounds at Lawless Memorial Park	Sadly you see all too many of these walker-unfriendly signs in Ireland

Always plenty of interest at the Broadmeadow Swannery	November rose! Kilcrea Road

St Peter’s Church, Drogheda, lit up as part of the Lú Festival of Light. There were about five public buildings similarly lit, and the animated illumination was accompanied by a historo-mythological narrative and music. Each show lasted about 5 minutes and was repeated every 15 minutes. We enjoyed it – they were well done and the town looked goo. The weather was perfect – clear, calm and dry – which probably helped contribute to the good turnout.