Blue Trail Walk

IN JULY, 2016, I WALKED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME ALONG MOUNT STEWART'S NEW BLUE TRAIL

Today is a Jazz in the Garden day at Mount Stewart, the National Trust's beautiful property on the Ards Peninsula, County Down.

However, my purpose was to walk the brand new Blue Trail.

This new trail doesn't officially open until next Wednesday, I gather, though visitors are being treated to a preview.

The trail passes a field of barley and a derelict cottage with a rusty corrugated iron roof.

I searched for the ruins of an ancient church in a field close to the Glen, though all I could find were several large stones.

The trail meanders through lovely woodland till it joins the Red Trail at a junction which leads to The Folly, where I lunched this afternoon.

I sat on a wooden chair in the folly, had a beaker of tea, and ate my fresh fruit.

Thence I walked along the track, past a wild-flower meadow with cornflowers, past the old piggery, and back to my car.

First published in July, 2016.