Ireland day 1174. Sunday 15 December 2024- Industrial

Today’s summary	Val was working at Wonderlights again, so I took a DART down to Sandymount mid-morning and joined a DWC walk round Poolbeg and the Docks. An absolutely fascinating tour of Dublin’s heartland. Back late afternoon and Val returned just after 10pm.
Today’s weather	Dry and quite bright with a little sun later in the afternoon. Moderate to strong westerly wind. Appx 11c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The black line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Poolbeg and Docks DWC

Commentary

Today was definitely a day with a difference. Val was working up at Wonderlights again in the evening, so I took the opportunity to go off and join a Walking Club tour round some of Dublin’s lesser-known suburbs.

I started out by catching a mid-morning DART which took me direct down to Sandymount, on the south side of Dublin. After pausing for a much-needed coffee, I joined the rest of the group at St Marys Star of the Sea church, and we set out to walk over to Poolbeg and then out to the lighthouse at the end of the Great South Wall. So far so conventional. That’s not to say that the walk wasn’t interesting and enjoyable – it was – it’s just that I’ve done it quite a few times in the past and what came next was actually of far greater novelty value.

Rather than heading back the way we came, all the way to Sandymount, we turned right when we got to the sewage works and struck north and then west on Pigeon House Road.

This unassuming road take a surprisingly fascinating route through Dublin’s industrial heartlands. Right past the sewage works, power station and waste incinerator. Not to mention a huge scrap metal recycling plant, a sinister looking wastewater treatment plant spewing vast quantities of foaming noxious water in to the harbour and, of course, the container port. All in all it was like the set for a nightmarish horror movie – but there was a sort of compelling fascination about the place which made you want to linger and explore it in more depth.

Sadly, time didn’t permit a prolonged visit (and perhaps the smell of the sewage was a bit too overpowering anyway). So we passed on, with this vision of Gormengast etched on our brains, and eventually found ourselves on the East Link and the bridge over the Liffey which deposited me right at The Point luas station.

I had a swift and comfortable journey to Malahide via Connolly, and was back in the flat by about 4pm. Val returned from work about 10 pm whereas I, meanwhile, spent much of the rest of the afternoon and evening fiddling around with my new Pixel phone and Locus Maps app. You can see some of the results in the photos below. Altogether, I am enjoying the experience very much, and I am beginning to get to grips with the quirks and features of my new toy. It’s almost as hard as learning Spanish!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Apple vs Android. This photo was taken on my iPhone this morning	And this one was taken on my Android at exactly the same time from exactly the same place. I can’t really tell much difference – the colours are perhaps slightly richer on the iPhone and I think there is a bit more definition in the sky – but the Android seems to be slightly wider-angle. I’ll have to continue testing

The iconic Poolbeg chimneys. They have recently been repainted – even though they are no longer in use. They have become a much-loved local landmark	And the Poolbeg lighthouse at the end of the South Wall, complete with the decorated walls. They seem to change quite often – the Olympic sailing mural (see banner image) is new

Rather lovely waste incineration plant	Peculiar, almost volcanic, wastewater treatment unit on Pigeon House Road. The whole place enveloped you in a slightly dystopian vision of an industrial wasteland

On the South Wall. Look at that hat! It’s a collectors’ item!