[Slogger Jogger]

More work on our natural amenities which makes me a bit sad. Sometimes to do less is better.
New boardwalk through a wasteland that used to be lovely forestry.



The boardwalk looks good but it is too narrow on what is a heavily used trail. 2 prams will have difficulty passing each other.

What used to forest is demolished and replanting has been done but how long for it to grow?



The forest trail which leads up to Cushbawn hill is aggregate stone which is just awful. No effort has been made to flatten it so its terrible to traverse. I ran down it today and had to take care to not turn an ankle.

[BarryD]

I think part of that walk was badly damaged by floods last year, after the snow? Might the boardwalk be part of remedial work to restore the area?

[Slogger Jogger]

Originally Posted by BarryD

I think part of that walk was badly damaged by floods last year, after the snow? Might the boardwalk be part of remedial work to restore the area?

Thats true Barry but the works could have been more sensitively done.

[Alun]

Originally Posted by Slogger Jogger

Thats true Barry but the works could have been more sensitively done.

I've not seen the walk in question, but the same can be said of the 'improvement' works carried out on trails in many other places in Wicklow and the Dublin Mountains.

The new trail where the Wicklow Way leaves the road from Glencullen to go up towards Tibradden is a case in point. Before it was a bit overgrown in places and a bit slippery, but altogether not that bad, and only a small bit of remedial work would have sorted it out to a satisfactory level.

However, it looks like just they've driven a bulldozer up there, with mud, rocks, mangled branches and foliage just strewn along the edges of the path, and to top it all they've continued the rather odd practice found elsewhere on the path over Tibradden of building the path raised up in a mound. I don't know what that's about, maybe there's a reason for it?

Anyway, maybe in 4 or 5 years it might look OK, but now it just looks a complete mess IMO.

[BarryD]

I haven't seen that change in Glencullen, Alun. My last memory of it, was as you describe - quite a nice spot. As to raising the paths and mounding etc., might it be an anti quad measure or just to keep the track from carrying water & gullying?

[Alun]

You could be right there Barry.

[Slogger Jogger]

Theres a detailed response from the DMP on the imra site (see their forum) to the comments raised about that path widening piece...

[hmmm]

There's a big "conservation" agenda in the governing bodies for outdoor pursuits that shouts down anyone who dares to question them. I think there's a large group of people (I'm not saying it's a majority) who aren't happy with the attempts to funnel walkers into defined and often ugly manmade paths for conservation reasons. It's a difficult one to criticise because the groups like Meitheal is full of so many hard working people who really care about the conditions of the mountains.