School Visit

Written by Adrian Murdock

Thursday, 10 May 2007

On Fri 2nd July 2004 we had pleasure in welcoming 30 to 40 Children from St Francis' Primary School, Loughbrickland to the Trail.  They travelled in a large bus accompanied by their teachers, Mr McNally & Mr O'Malley to McCrum's corner, where they commenced to walk the Trail.  They were full of enthusiasm, as many had never walked in the countryside before, some had never seen cattle, yet most knew the different varieties of trees. In the "Meeting House Pad" field they had great fun, as Mr O'Malley had them join hands and dance around the tree and told them to make a wish.  Here they had a sit down for lunch. Along the way they were all very attentive to the history and stories they were told. Once they had about the first part of the walk completed, many began to ask if they had far to go, as they were starting to feel tired, so at "Loughorne House" they had another sit down.  Also after the walk up the Manse Hill they were glad to have a rest at teh Manse and when the bus came into view they quickly ran to it. On their way home they stopped at Donaghmore Church of Ireland to see the historic sites. That same afternoon they were to have a walk in the Mourne Mountains, but their teachers thought they had done enough, so the afternoon was spent in the classroom doing a beautiful display project of all they had seen and heard on the Harshaw/Martin Trail. A few weeks later D.H.P.S. were presented with a generous donation and photo from Mr O'Malley on behalf of the pupils.  They were all very grateful for a memorable day out as part of their Summer Scheme.