Photos taken on Friday 3rd July Night Hike led by Des & Nuala

Photos taken on Wednesday 24th June evening Hike led by Barry and taken by Michael & Nuala  also Friday night Hike led by John & taken by Nuala. ​

​Following a recent TMC committee meeting of the Officers on best practice for the safe return to hillwalking. The club have decided not to take new membership until September 2020 .This is generally due to Covid-19 restrictions. Also concerns were raised about car parking and considerations for Other interested parties . However, if you are not a club member and have any queries about local routes please contact John ( 0862772633) or Barry ( 0861098244).

Wednesday 24th June -
Evening Hike Contact Barry 086 1098244 for details

Friday 26th June -
Night Hike Contact John 086 2772633 for details

​Sunday Hikes
Are expected to resume later in the summer.

Wednesday 17th June
No Hike
Friday 19th June
Night hike contact John on 0862772633

Photos taken on Friday 12th June on Night hike led by Anthony & also Saturday 13th June John & Frank out training with the Navigation group all in the Blackstairs.

Tullow Mountaineering Club is returning to club walks again on a phased process. Following the announcement of Phase 2 of the Government Roadmap the club acknowledges that car parking will be a big issue as car pooling cannot operate until there are more announcements relating to social distancing.
The Friday night walks resume on Friday 12th June and will operate within Government and Mountaineering Ireland Guidelines. All walkers must be existing members and need to have pre-booked their walk and will be informed of the starting point and walk Facilitator/Leader in advance. Friday Night Walks will start in the Blackstairs and the Wexford and Carlow members will start walks within their own county.
Walkers will be advised to at least 2 metres apart at all times, travel separately to the starting point (people from the same household can travel together), adhere to the travel restrictions (20km from home or within the same county) to be introduced on 8th June, have a hand sanitizer (or antiseptic wipes) in their possession for crossing fences and handling gates and when crossing stiles try using walking poles if possible (and safely) in order to avoid handling the stakes or posts. If gates are to be opened leave it to the same person to open and close the gate and also bring first aid kits as normal, there is no guarantee that Mountain Rescue will call out.
The main facilitator for Friday Nights is John Byrne (086-2772633) and when the Wednesday Night walks resume Barry Delaney (086-1098244) will be the main facilitator. Club Walks on Sundays will not resume in the immediate future as the Night Walks need to be monitored first.
Report by John B -

TMC hiking From Lucca to Siena on the Via Francigena in April 2019

Photos taken by Lily & John 

Photos taken by Micheal, TJ, Lily & Michael

TMC hiking & climbing in Scotland June 2019 , Photos taken by Michael, Lily, Des, Amanda , Sharon &Pat

TMC members hiking in Castletown Bere 2018. Photos Geraldine

  Tongariro Alpine Crossing is a world renowned trek through the Tongariro National Park on New Zealand's north Island. The 19 KM hike is described as New Zealand's  most popular and greatest one day hike. Catherine took a shuttle bus to the start of the hike at Mangatepopo. The beginning of the walk was through gentle rolling hills in the glaciated Mangatepopo valley , taking in the beautiful colored alpine plants , totara trees and the large mountain daisies. As the trek became more challenging, the views became more stunning. There was volcanic boulders strewn across the landscape approaching the Devil's Staircase followed by a steep climb to the South Crater (1,650m). The scramble up to the Red Crater Ridge was steep, strenuous and dangerous with huge drops on either side of the ridge. The trail became  rough underfoot with loose rocks and gravel. The climb to the summit of Red Crater (1,886m) revealed the most truly spectacular views of the Red Crater, the Emerald Lakes, the Oturere Valley, Mt. Doom and even Lake Taupo off to the north. After a steep decent down a volcanic rock scree track to the Emerald Lakes, steam vents can be seen rising from the ground in many places indicating an active volcano. The views here are amazing in sharp contradiction to the rotten smell of the sulfuric air . As the trail leaves the barren volcanic terrain and descends down into the Rotopaunga valley the track passes the Ketetachi Hut. The Ketetachi hut is no longer used as a shelter after the Te Maari crater erupted in 2012 ripping holes through the roof and floor of the hut. Then the track drops into the tress and provides a shaded woodland walk down several wooden steps and over several bridges through a dense Forrest that is typical and unique to New Zealand.  While the volcanoes are behind you, the warning signs are not. almost seven hundred meters of track pass through the Lahar Hazard Zone advising you to turn back if there is noise coming from upstream, and to move quickly through this section of the trail. The Tongariro Alpine crossing passes through an amazing landscape , combining beauty and a potentially violent landscape in the same place.

Down on the South Island in Wanaka Catherine climbed Rob Roy's peak (1,300m) a 16km trek with no shade taking about 4 and a half hours. She also hiked The Kepler track: Fiordland National Park in Te Anau (1,400m) a 60km trek taking 3 days. Catherine says the South Island has so many walks it could be easily described as a playground for trekking , unbelievably beautiful.

TMC hiking in The Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland in march 2020. Photos taken by Bernie.

​ Replacement of the Cross on Blackstairs Mountain 2005
On the 7th September 1983 a Cessna 182 left Birmingham for Kilkenny with 4 people on board. Unfortunately the plane crashed near the summit of Blackstairs Mountain resulting in the death of  3 men and 1 woman.
Chris Forrestal of Rathnure was one of  four people who had gone up in the middle of the night and found the crashed plane and established that all four occupants were dead.
Several agencies Gardai, Civil Defence, Ambulance Service, Mountain Rescue and locals helped to remove the bodies.
A cross was erected by Eric Binions Ballycrystal to commemorate the 4 people but over the years the cross became eroded and eventually fell down. In 2005 the late Paddy Looney of The Tullow Mountaineering Club decided to replace the cross. Michael Monahan met with Eric who had no objection to the Club replacing it.
Through the good offices of several individuals and organisations a cross was made.  It was  carried to the summit of Blackstairs Mountain by Michael Monahan and the late Paddy Looney.
 
Quote for Michael Monahan "Eventually I collected the cross and brought it to the Carrigalacan Gap. It was heavy and I felt quite biblical as I staggered up to Caher Roes Den. I left it there for Paddy to bring it the rest of the way at a later date. and  was fairly confident that it would not be stolen in the meantime."
 
The pictures supplied are the late Paddy Looney's from  the 20th July 2005.  On a Club Wednesday evening walk, sand and cement was carried up by Club members from the Scullogue Gap to erect the Cross. Some members were able to carry a bag themselves while others shared the carrying of a bag. The evening turned wet and misty as the pictures show. Some of the pictures show the new cross tied to the old cross before it was finally erected.  According to Club members sand was carried on a 2nd occasion. On a later day  Paddy and Micheal Brennan mixed the cement and erected the cross where it stands to this day.
 
There were 2 other aircraft crashes on Blackstairs Mountain in 1941 and 2015
The following piece is taken from a Facebook post by EastWest Mapping on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/693816783963064/posts/german-heinkel-aircrash-on-blackstairs-mountainthe-main-photo-here-is-taken-just/866424140035660/
"German Heinkel air crash on Blackstairs Mountain 1941
The main photo here is taken just below the top of Sturra or Blackstairs Mountain. We're having a break in the remains of the bomb craters left after a German Heinkel HE 111 Luftwaffe bomber crashed here on the 11th October 1941 during 'The Emergency'. It had taken off earlier from France to attack shipping on the Irish Sea and was heard crashing about midnight on the above date. There seems to be two varying accounts - first that the RAF went in pursuit and shot it down over Ireland and second that it just got lost and accidentally flew into the east slope of the above mountain. However weather reports suggest conditions were clear with just a light haze, so take your pick.
Either way, the four German airmen who died were Kurt Tiggemann, Wilhelm Böhmer, Ehrfried Kolwe, and Hans Szuflita. The men were first buried nearby in Rathnure and then later moved in the 1960s to the German War Cemetery in Glencree, pictured here. This featured in our last post, as the mass rock lies just above. You'll find a report here http://knightsandrebels.wordpress.com/…/death-on-a-saturda…/
The Irish army attended the crash site and I've heard that they exploded the bombs on the hillside, leaving these craters. Part of the undercarriage and wheel are on display in Enniscorthy museum.
The site is accurately marked on our Blackstairs, Mount Leinster & the Barrow Valley 1:25,000 scale map."
 
Cessna Crash 2015 on the western side of Blackstairs Mountain
Two men died when their light aircraft crashed into Blackstairs mountain after entering an area of low visibility, an Air Accident Investigation Unit report has found.
Paul Smith (57) and Bryan Keane (69) departed Athboy airfield, Co Meath, at 10am on May 24th, 2015. The two, who were also travelling with their two pet dogs, were en route to an airfield near Taghmon, Co Wexford, to attend a “breakfast fly-in” event.
The men, as well as their two dogs were fatally injured about half an hour later when the Cessna T182T failed to clear high terrain on the Co Carlow mountain.
A hill walker came across the wreckage at approximately 13.40hrs and contacted the Emergency Services.
The bodies of the 2 men were removed by Rescue 117, the Coast Guard Helicopter based in Waterford and the bodies of the 2 dogs by the South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association.
Air Accident Investigation Unit link to 2015 accident
http://www.aaiu.ie/sites/default/files/report-attachments/REPORT%202016-016.pdf
 

Acknowledgements to the following Michael M, John F, Michael B, Deidre H, Michael C, Bernie B, Ann M, (Slyguff),