Glendalough

The Gleneolo River flows softly in Glendalough, a valley famous for its monastic city

which grew up in the 11th Century, its buildings and 30m tower a popular film location today. But we are heading from here up past waterfalls and through a wood to gain the high ground

from where can be seen the two lakes that give the valley its name, Glendalough, or the 'glen of the two lakes'.

Walking further up and along the ridge on the boardwalk which in this area of high rainfall helps one over the mire although as we were here in June, and in the middle of a heatwave, the ground was dry(ish).

Eventually reaching the head of the valley and crossing the stream that will become the Glenealo River which will flow down the valley to keep the lakes full but only the higher lake can be seen at this point, the lower lake hidden in the bend of the valley.   As we come down to the valley floor we come to the remains of an old mining village

which grew up in the 1800s when lead, zinc and silver were discovered here and thousands of miners worked in this remote location which they called Van Diemen's Land (after the distant colony in Australia) because it seemed so far from civilization.  Today

the area and its lakes is a popular leisure destination. This is the lower lake with its little beaches.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at G here

 

Fishing

I'm continuing my nautical theme from last week but this time watching the fishing boats come home. Here the Fran Leon III is entering Wicklow Harbour on the south east coast of Ireland, the last of the fleet to come into port.

 The day was hot and hazy with the sea like glass, the only ripple on the water was from the ship's wake.

The other fishing boats had already tied up

and the catch had been sealed and stacked ready to be taken away.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week anchored at F here

Elbfeeder

I always love sailing into ports and harbours. The romance of arriving into a small island harbour or the bustle of a large port both have their charms for me.  Here I am camera clicking away on the Stena Adventurer ferry deck as we sailed into Dublin port in June. Container ship loading was in full swing as the ferry slowly entered the dock system.  This is the Elbfeeder, one of three ships, bought a couple of year's ago by the Irish Continental Group from the German shipping company Elbdeich Reederei.  Unfortunately I didn't get a photograph of the crane swinging a container into place

but just managed to capture this stevedore directing operations from the deck before he disappeared from view.  I wonder what are in all those containers and where their journey will eventually end?  The Elbfeeder can carry 974 containers and it and its sister ships, Elbcarrier and Elbtrader ply their trade between the ports of Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Rotterdam and Antwerp.  Here is a 51 second time lapse You Tube video of the ship leaving port -  'Farewell to Antwerp' complete with rowing boats sculling past at high speed. 

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week docked at E here

 

   

Hall Dunnerdale

I parked by what must be the only patch of municipal land in Hall Dunnerdale because all the electric and telephone communications boxes have been set up here at the crossroads.  The phone box has no door and has done so for many years so one could say it is easy access, essential when the mobile signal around here is zilch. I wondered what the stone with the round  metal ring is for and why it is resting on a palet?  It will remain a mystery. With shortage of space the post office has been creative with the post box location because it is in the middle of Hall Dunnerdale Bridge in the background. 

once a county boundary between Westmorland and Lancashire before they moved the administrative borders in the 1970s but it is still a parish boundary.  Time to journey on

and follow the signpost.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at D here