Castletownbere to Allihies 16km

Weather wise yesterday may have been a ‘soft’ day but today was a ‘heavy’ day. We woke to very thick, low mist. It was warm and very humid so all day we felt we were carrying a heavy weight of air.

About 2 km out of Castletownbere, in a field beside a minor tarmac road we visited our first stone circle. Derreenataggart Stone Circle. Stone circles consist of an uneven number of free-standing, spaced stones. The number of stones varies from 5 to 17 and the diameter of the circles ranges form 2.5 to 17 metres. The stones are symmetrically arranged with the two tallest stones marking the entrance on the northeast side. The stones then reduce in height on either side of the circle. The axial stone set directly opposite the entrance in the southeast arc, is the lowest stone in the circle

Stone circles were constructed as ritual and ceremonial sites during the bronze age and are about 3,000 years old. A line drawn from the entrance to the axial stone will orientate on significant solar and lunar events and on some of the brighter stars. There are over 100 examples of stone circles in Ireland.

The stone circle at Derreenataggart has a 7.8 metre diameter. It is now incomplete and may have consisted of 15 stones. Twelve stones survive and of these 8 are standing. I had been hoping for a bright sunny morning to get some shadows on the stones but the misty morning made the circle seem quite ethereal and magical.

From the stone circle we quickly climbed up into the cloud layer and everything was white out. Our guide notes had us climbing further up across a hillside over boggy fields for some allegedly spectacular views down to Bere Island and Fair Head. We knew nothing would be seen from up there so devised our own route which kept us lower down on a minor tarmac road and kept our feet dry for most of the day. For our route we were using a large scale Ordinance Survey Map, without notes, so we made a few wrong turns which added a few kilometres to the day. Eventually we got it right and came down out of the cloud for a glimpse of Allihies, our destination.

From the bronze age Allihies had been a site for copper mining. In 1812 a company was set up to mine the area and in the next hundred years nearly 300,000 tons of ore were sent to Swansea in Wales for smelting. 1500 people, largely Methodist Cornish miners, were employed in the mines. However the price of copper fell because of discoveries in other parts of the world, the source here ran out and the mining company closed. Allihies went back to being a small farming community. There are three ruined engine houses, used for pumping water out of the mines, still visible, and we had a look at one of them when entering the village. The most prominent one we will see on leaving the village in a couple of days time. There is a very good copper mining museum which has a ‘copper cafe’ where we had a most excellent lunch.

Our B & B is called Beach View and sure enough there is a beautiful white quartz sand beach below us in Ballydonegan Bay. But the beach is man made. The sand is the ore left over from the copper mining.

Allihies is the western most village on the Beara Peninsular and is the furthest village from Dublin in all of Ireland. This is how Beara got its name.

According to the ancient annals, Conn Cead Cathach (Con of the Hundred Battles) fought a fierce battle against Eoghan (Owen) Mór, King of Ireland at Clough Barraige in the early centuries AD. Eoghan was badly wounded in the battle. Those of his followers who survived took him to Inish Greaghraighe (now known as Bere Island) as a safe place for him to recover. There the fairy Eadaoin took him to her grianán (bower) where she nursed him back to health. This part of Bere Island is known as Greenane today.

Having fully recovered Eoghan and his followers then sailed southwards until they reached Spain. While there he met and married the princess Beara, daughter of the King of Castille. Wishing to return to Ireland, Eoghan and Beara sailed north with a large army and landed in Greenane on the south side of Bere Island. Owen took Beara to the highest point on the island and, looking across the harbour, he named the island and the peninsula in honour of his wife.

Old Irish saying of the day: In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.

Castletownbere and Bere Island 5km

Castletownbere is a busy fishing port that sits on a sheltered bay which is covered on the ocean side by Bere Island. The town was once a stronghold of the O’Sullivan Bere clan. Their nearby Dunboy Castle was besieged and destroyed by sea borne English forces in 1602.

During WW1 the harbour was used as a base for American seaplanes. The harbour itself is one of what are known as the 3 “Treaty Ports”. One of the conditions of the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1921, was that after Irish Independence the harbour along with Cobh outside Cork City and Lough Swilly in County Donegal, were to remain under British control. The British wanted them to be able to be used as naval bases. In 1938 the ports were handed  back to the Irish government. Bere Island has many forts and gun emplacements built to protect the harbour.

The Beara Peninsular is by far the least touristy of the three we are visiting. Kerry has the most tourists, closely followed by Dingle. But Beara is nice and quiet and we haven’t seen a tour coach yet. They say it is like Ireland used to be 20 or 30 years ago totally tranquil and unspoiled. Compared to Kerry and Dingle it seems completely forgotten about.

Today was a soft day in two senses. A soft day of walking. We walked back into town and caught the little ‘landing craft’ car ferry over to Bere Island which only takes about 15 minutes for the crossing. The island is approx 10 km x 3km and has a walking loop of 28km. There is a little village (Rerrin) about 5km from the ferry and several other points of interest; a light house, wedge tombs, standing stones, military fortifications, castle ruins, signalling towers etc. All these involved long walks which we chose not to do.

The other sense of it being a ‘soft’ day is the Irish description of the weather. It was a day of low mist, no wind, quite warm, Not really raining but enough to get you quite damp. Quite a lot of glare with the sun trying to get through the grey skies. What here is called a ‘soft’ day. So it was the kind of day that didn’t engender a lot of enthusiasm.

Irish saying for the day: Sometimes I laugh so hard the tears run down my leg.

Adrigole to Castletownbere 23 km

Last night’s accommodation, Dromagowlane House caters mainly for anglers. Paul our host has won many fishing trophies and last night the four other guests (all male of course) were here for the fishing. The fishermen usually stay for a week whereas we walkers are just one night stands. It was entertaining at breakfast this morning listening to the guys. They were two pairs of friends, but the pairs didn’t know each other. There was instant rapport as they swapped stories of fishing locations, size of catches, equipment, the ones that got away, etc.

Paul drove us back to Peg’s Store and then went on to deliver our bags to tonight’s destination. Yesterday we had made a lunch order for baps. But Peg had forgotten our order, or the baps had run out or something, anyway we ended up with corned beef and cheese sandwiches. Much later on a hill side we were to learn this was corned beef like we had never tasted before. Sort of a pink spam like substance, that might have contained meat. But when you are in the middle of nowhere, hungry and need energy it all tastes good. Washed it down with luke warm instant coffee. Yum.

Our entertainment today was to keep an eye out for two insectivorous plants which can be found in the barren uplands here. They are the Sundew which is a tiny reddish plant and the Butterworth which is light green and star shaped. Due to the lack of nourishment from the ground these plants absorb tiny insects and flies to get sustenance. At first we didn’t know what we were looking for but we found them when we realized these plants were very tiny, and everywhere.

Today’s walk was 23 kilometres, to go by road was 10! Every time we thought we were getting somewhere we were turned in another direction away from Castletownbere and always up another hill. Several times we went way up a valley on one side of a stream, crossed over, and came all the way back down the other side. This might have been interesting if everything hadn’t been lost in the mist.

It started to rain an hour before Castletownbere and we arrived in town soaked to the skin. We decided to have dinner then as our B & B is a kilometer out of town. It was 4.30 and they were still serving the lunch menu. The first course was okay but the desserts were to die for. Barbara had pavlova with ice cream and fresh raspberries and strawberries. I had apple pie with ice cream and raspberry couli.

We are here for two nights and tomorrow will take the ferry over to Bere Island and explore. Or if it’s still raining, stay in bed.

Old Irish proverb of the day: If Irish eyes are smiling then they are up to mischief.

Glengarrif to Adrigole 17km

A different breakfast today. It was in a very elegant dining room and at one large table. It started with the usual, juice, coffee and a bowl of fresh fruit with yoghurt. We were then given a platter of smoked fish, salmon, salami, ham and about 10 different cheeses. All very nice and tasty, and very continental but we didn’t think it was the breakfast of champions who had a big climb ahead of them. We asked for something cooked and got one poached egg and two baby tomatoes. First stop was back up to the corner deli for some fresh made sandwiches.

Leaving the village was through the delightful Glengarrif Woods Nature Reserve. This forest is one of the best examples of ancient Oak woodland in Ireland. It was Saturday morning and there was a Park Run going on. The second we have come across. The first was in Tralee. All too soon we had left the lovely valley and were climbing up the steep side of Derrynafulla Mountain. 510m vertical climb in about 3km. The legs were strong but the lungs and heart were working overtime. Mist and then rain set in as we got higher but it wasn’t cold and there was little wind. The way marking was excellent in the mist. About every thirty metres was a yellow painted post so it would have been hard to get lost.

Derrynafulla has its own piece of history. After the loss of Dunboy Castle to the English in June 1602, Donal Cam O’Sullivan, Chieftain of Beara, continued to resist the subjugation of his territory. With an army of about 1,000 soldiers he waged a guerrilla campaign against Elizabethan forces. His men relied entirely for meat, butter and milk on their herd, hidden that winter among the valleys and woods of Derrynafulla. The herd comprised 2,000 cattle, 4,000 sheep and 100 mountain ponies. The Governor of Beara, Sir Charles Wilmot, in a strategic attack, seized the Irish herd stripping O’Sullivan of a crucial resource. Threatened with starvation O’Sullivan was forced to abandon Beara and flee north with 1,000 followers. The sick and wounded were left behind in the woods at Derrynafulla. They are reputed to have stoked the camp fires for four days convincing the English that O’Sullivan was still in occupation. When the ruse was discovered by Wilmot, these unfortunates were promptly put to death.

There was a long undulating trudge across the uplands following a fence line with about every tenth fence post painted yellow. There was also quite a large lake, Toberavanaha Lough, which we didn’t see in the white out until Barbara practically stepped into it. At the start of the descent we came to some signage indicating an emergency short cut down to a road. Conditions can get pretty bad up there. We were feeling good and didn’t think it was too bad so came down the normal longer route. In the mist on the descent we missed some ringforts but did find a standing stone.

At the bottom we made a slight detour to visit Massmount Church which has been derelict since the 19^th century. Also at the church were a German couple doing the same route as us so we might see them over the next few days. We hadn’t seen anyone else all day. Then just a short walk to Peg’s Shop at a cross roads in Adrigole. We were supposed to ring our B & B from there and be picked up. The B & B is about 6km up a side valley. Our phone didn’t want to work but Peg made the call for us. And also took our lunch order for tomorrow. She had some very nice looking home baking so we might stock up. Paul from the B & B soon arrived and we are now in his cosy farmhouse.

Old Irish proverb of the day: There’s nothing so bad it couldn’t be worse.

Postscript to yesterday’s post: Since we arrived in Tralee, ie all of the Dingle and Kerry Ways, we have been in County Kerry. As we drove in the bus to Glengarif we crossed into County Cork. The road from Kenmare to Glengarrif curves and twists over the Caha Mountains. It is a wild and lonely place even in summer. There are three tunnels on the Caha Mountain Pass. These seem to have been hacked out of the mountains, not drilled, and are left in a rough hewn state.

Killarney to Glengarif

A transition day to the start of the Beara Way.

There is only one bus a day from Killarney to Glengarif (with a bus change at Kenmare) and it departs at 3.10pm. It is only a summer service operating from June 25^th till August 26^th. Otherwise it is a four and a half bus trip via Cork. We stayed at the Larkinley B & B until check out time at 11.00am and then headed to the bus station which fortunately is part of a large outlet store shopping mall. Toni at the B & B had a ‘friend’ who would drive us to Glengarif for €100 but we decided to wait for the bus costing €17.50.

The most comfortable seats in the mall were part of the Costa’s Coffee House and so the game became what was the least we could buy for the longest time we could sit there. We did okay. Bought a pot of tea and muffin, then a sandwich and juice, which lasted an hour and a half each. At the mall we met up with our new young German friends Pieter and Maria and we have invited them to stay with us in Paraparaumu.

The bus from Killarney to Kenmare took 45 minutes with 5 minutes wait for a connection to Glengarif, another 45 minutes. It was a bit strange as yesterday it took us six and half hours to walk Kenmare to Killarney and today we returned in 45 minutes. Coming into Kenmare the bus went past the Brass Lantern B & B which we left yesterday morning and where we will return in 8 days. Talk about going round in circles!

Highlight of the day was getting off the bus and seeing  two beautiful three wheeler Morgan cars parked on the footpath. These date from about the mid 1930s. Reminds me of my days with my MG TF1500 before a wife, kids and mortgage – the full catastrophe as Zorba the Greek would say.

We are staying in a very cosy B & B which reminds us very much of our old 1850s home at Donald Street.  Although we never had the audacity to have a purple front door. We have got out our smelly old shoes and walking clothes ready for tomorrow.

Old Irish proverb of the day: There is no place like home.

Kenmare to Killarney 26 kms

Our last day on The Kerry Way. Total 218 kms

Surprisingly we felt okay today. Woke up with no aching muscles, just tender feet and generally feeling weary. A sugar hit of maple syrup and two coffees at breakfast didn’t seem to lift the energy levels much.

Straight out of Kenmare the tarmac just went up and up and up. Then down, down, over a bridge, then up, up , up to Windy Gap. And it was windy today. Battling into a head wind all the way. Over the gap was through rugged farmland, exposed and pretty wild. Then steeply down into a more sheltered valley.

We only had 10 kilometres of new walking today. At that point we met the path we had already walked from Killarney on day 1. The next 16 kilometres were retracing our steps in the opposite direction. We even stopped on the exact same log to have a coffee and muffin. Check out the photos.

Went back past Torc waterfall and as we had lots of time to fill in, called into the Muckross House Tearoom. To get out of the wind as much as anything. The last 4 kilometres along the busy road into Killarney was tedious and we were fast running out of energy when an Irish guy caught up with us and started talking about the Lions Tour. Said the Hurricanes match was one of the best he had ever seen.

Lots of rules at this B & B. Check-in time was between 1700 and 1900. No washing clothes . No tea and coffee in room. The lovely lady Toni made us feel welcome with tea and biscuits when we arrived.

Quite cold in Killarney. Last time we were here people were in shorts and singlets enjoying the heat wave. We celebrated the end of our walk with some wine and a chat with the lovely young German couple we had met several times along the way. Unlike in Spain very few people are walking the Kerry Way. There haven’t been a lot of opportunities to socialise. In 10 days we have only chatted with an elderly Belgian woman, two American lady cousins, the young German couple, three young German guys (travelling fast),and another young German couple (medical graduate). Yesterday, in 36 kilometres, we met no one going in either direction.

Killarney is preparing for the 34th  Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle Race which is on Sat July 1. 10,000 competitors racing 112 miles around the peninsular. From what I have seen there is a lot of stopping at remote pubs for a quick pint. It is all part of the tradition.

Tomorrow we have to organise transport to get to Glengarif to start the Beara Way.

Old Irish proverb of the day: A person’s health is in his feet.

Sneem to Kenmare 36kms !

A long, long day, perhaps the longest we have ever done. But very comfortable and enjoyable walking most of the time. Tarmac or gravel farm roads and grassy tracks. Nearly all of it dry for a change. And the weather was ideal. For long periods we were in woodland or forest and mostly only a mildly undulating path. In the middle of the day we were on the banks of the Kenmare Bay with good views over to our destination for next week, the Beara Peninsula.

On leaving Sneem we stocked up at the bakery and went to see a collection of stone structures in a park alongside the river. They are known as “Where the fairies went” or “The Pyramids”. They were created to celebrate Sneem winning the National Tidy Towns Competition in 1987. The artist was inspired by taking long walks through the area, the hills, rivers, bogs and rocks. As a boy he recalled the fairy wind which suddenly arises and knocks off the tops of haycocks and vanishes again. Out of this memory came his idea of a spirit emanating from the fairy land on the far side of the river, creating these fantastical shapes of stone by magic, and hastily returning home again.

I had my own fairy magic experience this morning. After leaving The Pyramids we were walking through very nice woodland when I could hear very faint music. I didn’t pay much attention thinking a farm worker or a farmhouse may be playing the radio. After walking another ten minutes I could still hear the music. I thought back to the sign in the Enchanted Forest the other day: the forest is music to those who listen. Maybe the magic of Ireland was getting to me. I listened harder and thought, hang on I recognise that music. It was Simon and Garfunkel, The Sounds of Silence. Opening up my back pack the music was louder. I realised that stuffing in the food at the bakery had switched on my iPod which was buried in the bottom somewhere.

There are many unusual things along the way. We came upon a derelict cottage, all boarded up. It had a white sign on it which I read thinking it would be the usual Keep Out, Danger etc. But this sign said it was a bat roosting site and unauthorised entry was prohibited because it would cause disturbance.

The day was really pleasant and we were enjoying it very much until we managed to make it 6kms longer than it needed to be. At one point we had to walk along the N70 which is the main tourist road around the Ring of Kerry. Lots of coaches and cars. There is no shoulder and it was not very pleasant having to jump into bushes every time a vehicle passed us. Our guide notes said that after two and a half kilometres we would come to a church and from there to go up a hill off the road. After only one kilometre we came to a church and there was our familiar Kerry Way walking man sign pointing up the hill. We thought this was odd as the distances didn’t match but decided to take the hill road anyway. This was a great long trek up a hill around a golf course and back down again. It came back to the main road at a second church, the correct one. We had added at least 6 kilometres to avoid about one and a half on the main road. This took its toll at the end of the day as it made a 30km day into a 36km day.

We are pretty tired tonight and haven’t looked around Kenmare at all as we will be back here for a couple of days after walking the Beara Peninsular. Left Sneem at 9.30am and arrived at B & B at 6.45pm.

Old Irish proverb of the day: It is a long road that has no turning.

Caherdaniel to Sneem 21km (with the extras)

Breakfast couldn’t come soon enough this morning. Trying to eke out lunch into dinner as well last night didn’t really work for two hungry walkers. More than made up for it at breakfast.

A one kilometre walk back to Caherdaniel to rejoin the Way. Once there Paul thought it was a good idea to go back down some of yesterday’s trail to try and find a stone fort we had missed in the rain. Barbara didn’t think it was such a good idea but we went anyway. We eventually found it and it sits on a rocky promontory covering most of the summit. The wall on the west and south side are almost intact and about six metres high. The wall is about 2 metres thick and the interior diameter is about 20 metres. It is more ruinous in the south and east. The floor level inside is only about a metre below the top of the wall. There are many stones scattered in the interior but no houses are obvious. This is the first time we have been up close and intimate with a stone cashel . This one dates from about 600AD.

Back in Caherdaniel we came across a gang repainting road markings. At home this is a very automated affair with a guy in a truck and spray equipment. Here it involved two guys with huge STOP signs, and three guys, one with a large bucket of paint, one with a sort of paint roller, and another with a bucket of sand. They were being very diligent though.

Not a hugely interesting day today. Early on we were above the coast but soon moved inland and went down two farmed valleys and across two spurs. Mostly out in the open but also through some small areas of woodland. No villages or refreshments anywhere along the way. As we had eaten all our own supply of food last night we had asked Cathy at the B & B to make us ham and cheese sandwiches and she had also given us bananas.

We did have one regret today. At about the half way mark we could have done a 2 kilometre detour up a steep hill to see the Staigue Fort. This is a pretty impressive stone ring fort built during the late iron age 300-400AD. It is large and is a considerable feat of engineering with huge dry stone walls. It has  elaborate stairways leading to terraces and passageways leading to corbelled cells. We only read about it after we reached Sneem. I would have passed up the small and simple Caherdaniel Fort for the huge and complex Staigue Fort any day.

Sad sight of the day. A black New Zealand beanie we found on the path. Some poor walker has dropped it and won’t be able to flash it around the bars in Sneem tonight, bragging about the America’s Cup. We did see one guy in O’Shea’s Bar tonight when we were having dinner wearing an Emirates Team NZ shirt.

For the first time in three weeks we have seen potatos growing!

We have sussed the Irish weather forecast: If it isn’t raining, it will soon. If it is raining, it will eventually stop.

Old Irish proverb of the day: It is afterwards that events are best understood.

Waterville to Caherdaniel 13km + 2km back to the supermarket at the beginning + 1km at the end to our B & B

Quite a contrasting day to yesterday. A steady climb up onto undulating paths traversing Farraniaragh Mountain with the sea ever-present and superb views of inshore bays and islands and in the distance the Beara peninsular.

We passed the ruins of a one room stone house. This was the house of a piper known as An Píobaire Buí. The story has it that on his return late at night from fishing on Ballinskelligs Bay, beautiful airborne music followed him from Rineen pier to his house. Once home, he began to play the mysterious tune on his pipes. But on hearing the dancing of tiny feet outside his door, he knew it was fairy music, and never played the tune again.

High on a ridge overlooking the ocean we saw the silhouette of a lone building. At the beginning of the 19^th century there was widespread expectation that Napoleonic forces would attack England using Ireland as a back door. Such attempts had already occurred at the end of the previous century. Coastguard stations were placed strategically, high on hills where they commanded wide views of the sea and were visible to each other for signalling purposes.

We also passed above a stone fort or ring fort. We had lunch in an unimpressive earthen fort in Ventry on the Dingle Way but this is a stone fort (called a cashel) probably built as a homestead in the period 500 – 800 AD. It is basically a stone encircling wall with stone dwellings inside. The inhabitants were largely self-sufficient and it was not uncommon to have neighbouring forts some of which may have been used to pen livestock. Stone forts represent the best examples of non-ecclesiastical monumental architecture which survives in Ireland from before the time of the Normans.

For a while we could also see the steep and rugged outlines of two rocky islands, Skellig Michael and Small Skellig, 12 kms offshore. In the 6^th century Christian monks settled on Skellig Michael and over six centuries built a remarkable group of chapels and ‘beehive’ cells. They left the islands in the 12^th or 13^th century to live on the mainland at Ballinskelligs.

Today we also saw our first wedge tomb. This type of tomb is typical of Neolithic and Bronze age communal burials. The tombs generally consisted of a chamber formed by upright slabs and a large capstone, with an open portico to the front, usually facing towards the south-west. Cremated remains as well as personal possessions were placed in the chamber.

Caherdaniel is a tiny little hamlet at a T intersection in the road. About a dozen houses, a Texaco petrol station, two pubs, a hostel and a curiosity shop. There was a sign advertising ‘seaweed workshops’. Remembering the lovely lady in Dunquin with Ireland’s best rhubarb crumble, whose secret was to use seaweed, I was tempted to enrol.

The day was slightly cool, perfect for walking, overcast and a bit of a head wind. Coming down off the hill side we passed through very pretty hazel woodland. For the last half hour the drizzle set in and we got very wet.

Our accommodation tonight is at The Old Forge about a kilometre beyond Caherdaniel. They don’t serve evening meals so we had the option of either walking back to Freddies Bar or the Blind Piper Pub in Caherdaniel or going on another kilometre to O’Carroll’s Cove Beach Bar and Restaurant. It is persisting down with rain so have decided to stay put and stretch out what is left of our lunch.

Old Irish proverb of the day: One look ahead is better than two looks behind.

Cahersiveen to Waterville 25km + 8km in a car

Cahersiveen is an eight kilometre dog leg off the Kerry Way and today we would have had to reverse our walk of Friday to get back on the trail. We decided not to do this and Mary at the bar in the Kerry Coast Inn arranged for Maureen to drive us back to Coars School to rejoin the Way. Maureen had purple hair and a bright pink top and was very jovial and full of information on the ten minute drive. €10, which we thought was cheap as it saved us two hours repetitive walking.

Today’s walk could be simply summarised as follows: walk along an undulating ridge for two hours, descend into a valley, cross a river, climb onto another undulating ridge, walk along it for two hours and descend a spur to Waterville. This tells you nothing of what a great day it was. Today we made up for all the views we missed in the rain and mist on Friday. It was a fine and clear day, warm but no wind. The undulating trail was rugged and remote and being on ridges there were wonderful wide views down into the valleys with their mosaic of fields and woods, Lough Currane and at the end of the day Inny Sands and Ballinskelligs Bay.

The trail was out in open grassland all day and it looks deceptively easy. In New Zealand it would be mostly firm and dry. In Ireland the grass hides six inches of water or bog. You had to concentrate all the time on finding a stone or thicker piece of grass for your foot. Inevitably we had soaking wet feet after about half an hour. This didn’t bother us. We were just enjoying the weather, the views and being out in the countryside. For the first time we saw wind turbines, saw more peat cuttings, crossed an old stone bridge over the River Inny and passed a few derelict houses and farm buildings.

Waterville has a special connection with Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin was English but made his fame and fortune in America with his character The Tramp. Among other issues he was accused of communist sympathies and in 1952 was refused re-entry into the United States so moved to Switzerland. From 1961 every year for a decade Chaplin brought his family to holiday in Waterville – it had been recommended by Walt Disney.  For a month they stayed in the Butler Arms, a resort hotel at the other end of the beach to our B & B. In 1998 with the help of generous funding from The Chaplin family a statue of The Tramp was erected on the sea front. Every August there is a Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival held in Waterville. Two of Chaplin’s daughters Josephine and Geraldine attend the festival as patrons, along with some of the grand children. That’s according to our purple haired driver Maureen.

Geraldine Chaplin is a prolific actor but you will all remember her as the wife of Omar Sharif in David Lean’s epic 1965 movie Dr Zhivago. Dr Zhivago is worth seeing over and over. For the girls to watch Omar Sharif and the guys to watch Julie Christie. But I digress.

Barbara is fully fit and healthy again and leading the charge powering across the hills. Paul is getting left behind, especially when he stops to take a photo.

Disappointment of the day: we had bought four little apple pies, but they did not travel well. By the time we came to eat them they were a bit munted.

Funny moment of the day: on a very quiet lane we were passed by a car. Barbara, the car and the only puddle on the road all coincided. See the result in the photos.

Old Irish proverb of the day: The man with the boots does not mind where he places his feet.