Faded memories

It stopped raining! There were occasional glimpses of the blue stuff. We packed macs, a modest lunch, donned walking gear and headed out sharpish! We decided to try another of the newly signed Fastnet Trails - BechersWalk - which started at Lisheen, somewhere off the main road between Skibbereen and Ballydehob. Although the walk was all on roads, they were tiny and remote and very enjoyable. We saw:
* a boulder burial in a field
* an impressive number of Mass goers
* wonderful glimpse of Jeremy Irons' castle, looking very peachy
* the remains of a Gazebo or viewing point where the gentry use to swing up in their carrigaes and climb a tower to gaze at the surroundings
* the remains of the big house where said gentry came from, now looking rather sorry for itself and covered in ivy
* another interesting house - one of those where you're not sure if it's inhabited or not- Himself saw a dog tied up near an old tractor so I guess the answer was yes
* a large hare
* lots of little brown butterflies
* masses of wild flowers - honesuckle, yarrow, scabious
* a picturesque ruined church on the estuary - interesting in that both Catholics and Protestants were buried here, said gentry having been of the good sort
* a teeny holy well (see extra pic) - I hacked away at the bracken as a lot of ditching was being done and I don't think anyone knows it's there
* a small beach with good skimmers
* a standing stone in the distance
* interesting ruins with interesting windows (plus ghostly elbow), see extra

We ate our lunch on a tiny beach under the ruined church. Lots of interesting gravestones including a young man who had been in the IRA and had died of wounds in an ambush in 1922. I liked the flowers placed on top of this gravestone, faded memories.

A well deserved 99 in Ballydehob and home to pick blackcurrants - we have masses of them.The gooseberries are ready too.
And it's only just started to rain now!