Ireland day 0993. Monday 17 June 2024- Howth Anticlockwise 2

Today’s summary	Took Val to the airport first thing then caught to 102 bus to Sutton. Walked right round the headland and back to Sutton to catch the 102 back again. Spent the rest of the afternoon working on tax and doing some washing.
Today’s weather	Overcast but relatively mild and dry. Light northerly breeze. Appx 17c

Today’s overview location (The green 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): Howth Anticlockwise from Sutton

Commentary

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

Val had to go to London today for a couple of meetings, so my first task of the day was to run her to the airport. She’s back tomorrow evening. The traffic was quite light so the return journey took well under an hour. And that did include a stop at the Applegreen station to fill up with petrol and to pick up some half price pop-pop meals from the in-store M&S shop.

Once back in the flat, I got some washing underway and did a bit of tidying up. Finally, by 11, I was ready to start thinking about what to do with the rest of the day.

As it looked like a decent day, I decided to get my walking shoes on and take the 102 down to Sutton. From there, at the end of the tombolo, you can do quite a good circular walk round the Howth headland. The route follows a “proper” path and has a decent amount of up and down, so it’s pretty enjoyable. I’ve done it several times before, so there’s no problem with route finding.

I didn’t have long to wait for a bus in Malahide so I was in Sutton and off hiking by about 11:30. It was quite mild and once I got going I found it was actually warm enough just to be walking in a t-shirt. A first in Ireland this year.

The path has lots of ups and downs and the first part – along the southern side of the headland – is probably the best as it’s the least busy (it gets a bit congested further on, closer to Howth town). The mild wet winter and spring had certainly encouraged the plant growth, and there was greenery and floral abundance in everywhere. In places the path was actually quite overgrown.

After a couple of hours I paused at a seat with a view and had my packed lunch. Once I’d scoffed the lot (I was quite hungry) I resumed my meanderings and was soon in Howth town itself. It was looking pretty today, and not too busy, but I didn’t linger too long.

Because the tide was well out, I was able to finish off my circuit to Sutton by walking along Burrow beach and round the golf club. Then once I got to the station, a bus pulled in almost immediately so I was able to return to base in next to no time.

Once back in Malahide, I walked down to the lagoon shore to inspect the works which have just started (hooray) to build a cycle path and walkway across the Broadmeadow lagoon alongside the railway bridge from Malahide to Donabate. It’s supposed to take until early 2026 to complete, but once it’s done it will be a fantastic asset. Definitely something good to look forward to!

From there, I returned to the flat via Hanlon’s Lane and, after a cup of tea (or two) put another load of washing on then returned to the grim subject of tax. Hopefully that will be finished soon so I can get on with the rest of my life!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


*Yellow flag (Iris pseudacorus) looking spectacular in a damp hollow fairly close to the shore*	The renowned gorse-clearing goats of Howth are somewhere in the area (though I didn’t see any)

The path is quite overgrown in parts	Beautiful blue Sheep’s Bit (Jasione montana) with pink wildflower stonecrop (Sedum anglicum) behind. The Jasione is sometimes called “Sheep’s Bit Scabious” because its flowers resemble scabious flowers, though it’s not actually related to the “true” scabious family at all

This house on the approach to Howth was recently sold for about €5m I believe. It was in a rather dilapidated state, but it looks as if the new owners are splashing the cash to renovate it. That’s got to be good news (I think)	Lifeguards’ huts are back! This one is on the Burrow beach, Sutton, and they always herald the return of summer. Hooray!

Classic view south from Howth Head back to the Baily lighthouse and the Dublin mountains on the other side of the bay