The Cave Hill Campaigner is published every spring. It is free and we usually manage to cover the cost of printing by carrying advertising from local businesses. We deliver it to as many private homes in the vicinity of the Cave Hill as possible. In May 2008 over 3,000 copies were distributed in this way and a further 100 were posted to decision makers such as councillors and to other environmental organisations. A selection of articles since the year 2000 can be read below.

The Cave Hill Campaigner - May 2007

Chairman's Report
Education Matters
Hazlewood Woodland Management Project

Invasive Species Not Welcome!
Reds or Greys?
The Great Cave Hill Rights of Way Case

Chairman's Report

It has been a good year for Cave Hill. Last year, in the Campaigner, I reported that one of our aims for the Hill was that Belfast City Council should have a management plan so that there would be a series of criteria against which to judge proposals for change. This should ensure a coherent and sensitive approach to the Park, its development and its problems. I'm glad to report that such a management plan is being developed by the Council Officer responsible for Cave Hill and is being implemented this spring.

One very positive development is that The Cavehill Conservation Campaign has been consulted throughout the process; the committee had a meeting with the Council Officer late last summer when he was drawing up his proposals, and we also have had a preview of what is being planned.. The draft was considered at a committee meeting and warmly received. Our view was that it contained a great deal that was laudable; our only reservation was that there might not be enough funds to implement it.

That consultation was part of a noticeable trend this last year or so; we are in much closer contact with the City Council officers responsible for Cave Hill. Apart from the officer in overall control, there is a City Council Biodiversity Officer and a City Council Countryside Officer. We have worked with the Biodiversity Officer in tree planting and in putting up nest boxes, and the Countryside Officer has drawn us into the scheme for the upgrading of the paths below and to the north of the caves. There has been one major new problem on the Hill this year. Those who frequent its upper reaches cannot have failed to notice the amount of plastic rubbish caught in the high fences and entangled low among the roots of the shrubs further down the hill. This is not unconnected with the grading work being carried out in the MacWill landfill site on the Hightown Road. That process is bringing a lot of loose plastic rubbish to the surface and prevailing westerly winds are carrying it into the Park. We wrote a letter of complaint to the owners of the site and the Council Officer also made strong representations to the company. The result was an acknowledgement of responsibility and an agreement to pay a group of men for a short time to remove the offending material. But that was a short-term solution. As I write, more plastic rubbish is being blown into the Park and this is likely to continue while the landfill site is being graded. We have to hope that the site owner can be held responsible for this, and will either provide men to remove it while the grading work is continuing, or that funding may be made available to enable the Council to deal with the problem.

We have also been engaged in seeking protection for a badger sett in the vicinity of the Park. We are, at present, lobbying the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) of the Department of the Environment, to determine precisely whether such a sett exists and, if so, to ensure that the developer takes action to safeguard these wonderful and beautiful creatures. Last year we began the process of trying to link all our members electronically. We asked all members for their email addresses, and in return we promised to keep them informed of all our activities on the Hill. To that end we have sent out summaries of our committee meetings every two months along with details of any future projects. We will continue to do this. It is an excellent way of keeping members aware of developments, and I would urge members with email addresses to pass them to us for inclusion on our database. Don't forget that our website editor details our activities on the website and this is an additional way of keeping up-to-date. Check out: www.cavehill.freeuk.com You can also contact us electronically by emailing me direct at cormachamill@ireland.com

Cormac Hamill

Education Matters

An important element of any education is the transmission of a community's cultural heritage to successive generations. Schools play a vital role in this process. In some respects, they are the designated guardians of the natural and cultural heritage of society. An understanding of and respect for the local environment is - arguably - best attempted in primary schools. At this stage, when their sense of wonder remains undiminished, children are more likely to respond to appeals for an empathetic understanding of the world into which they are emerging. Early development of a sense of place might, one may hope, survive to inform the sympathies of the adult and thus help to protect and, indeed, enhance the community's idea of itself. Three primary schools, long established and well respected in the Cave Hill area, make important contributions to this process. Embedded as securely in the affections of the local community as they are in the geography of the area, Cave Hill Primary School, Ben Madigan Preparatory School, and Our Lady of Lourdes School, in their different and very singular ways reflect the history of the locality and, by imaginatively and creatively interpreting curricular requirements, introduce their pupils to a sympathetic engagement with their environment both natural and man-made.

Many people who live in this part of the city are aware that a light railway - the first in Ulster and the third in Ireland - was constructed to transport material from the limestone quarry on Cavehill for use in the prodigious development of 19th century Belfast. Fewer, perhaps, know of the connection between this industry and Cave Hill Primary School. As a former Principal and historian of the school, Ken Robinson, has pointed out, Cave Hill School began in 1844 as The Cavehill Railway National School. The original application to the National Commissioners for Education in Ireland to establish a school was made by John Wallace, solicitor to the railway company. The school was then constructed from limestone quarried from Cave Hill and when completed, provided instruction for the children of the railway and quarry workers. The school was transferred to the Antrim Education Authority in 1927 and was known thereafter as Cavehill Public Elementary School. Closed during the Second World War the school was used as an Air Raid Warden's Post. However a new prefabricated school for 360 pupils was built after the war and opened its doors in 1954. Nowadays the site is occupied by the most recent reinvention of Cavehill school: an impressively modern, light, airy building complete with wind turbine and solar panels. By a nice irony of history, the principal of this splendid new school is also a Mr Wallace. Off the main Antrim Road, The Preparatory Department of Belfast Royal Academy, more generally known as Ben Madigan, from the name of the 9th century chieftain who dominated the region, lies within the former Castle Estate. The Academy's playing fields, known as the Castle Grounds, were acquired from the then Lord Shaftesbury in 1934, and in due course trees were removed and playing areas levelled and drained under the supervision of the groundsman who had just two years before laid out the new grounds for the Northern Ireland Parliament at Stormont. Although the grounds had been intended as the site of a Preparatory Department for the Academy, this development did not take place until after the war, a consequence of which for the school was the dispersal of many of the Academy's pupils to temporary accommodation in some of the smaller towns in Northern Ireland which were deemed safe from German bombing.

By 1965 a new purpose-built school was opened at the Castle Grounds. An extended single-storey construction designed by Allan Dorman, a former pupil of the school, Ben Madigan was very much in the architectural idiom of the time with a flat roof and plate glass windows overlooking the playing fields. Situated just below the tree line, and in the benign shadow of Cave Hill, the building cheerfully but unobtrusively complements the natural beauty of its surroundings. A near neighbour of Ben Madigan is Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School more colloquially known as Park Lodge School. The original Park Lodge was the great house on the site of which the present school stands. According to the imformative prospective of the school, Park Lodge was a splendid building apparently modelled on the mansion in which Napoleon Bonaparte was imprisoned on the island of St Helena after his final defeat at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. It sat, complete with tower, and in its 19th century grandeur, surrounded by "fruit gardens, outhouses and glasshouses." Latterly it was owned by the Baird family, proprietors of the Belfast Telegraph and during the second world war it became an ARP station, as had Cavehill School. The first pupils of Park Lodge School were enrolled in 1958 when the Christian Brothers purchased the by now rather neglected old building and converted it to a school. Work on the present modern building, which has such a distinctive presence on the Antrim Road, began in 1964 and it was formally opened in 1967. In 1990 girls were enrolled for the first time. A nineteenth century authority on what was then known as elementary education held that it should "benefit the health, cultivate the mind and train [the pupils] in habits of benevolence and virtue."

These three schools, in bright attractive buildings, and situated as they are in one of the most picturesque districts of the city, beneath the brow of Cavehill and overlooking the great sweep of Belfast Lough, are ideally placed to express a less stern version of this ideal. And in doing so they display a sensitivity to their immediate environment which their Victorian predecessors perhaps lacked.

Edward McCamley

The Great Cave Hill Rights of Way Case

Next year sees the 150th anniversary of what can deservedly be called the great Cave Hill rights of way case of 1859. This secured the right of way which enters today's Cave Hill Country Park facing Gray's Lane, rises via the Volunteer Well to the caves, and then to McArts Fort (though the latter part is now virtually impassable owing to landslips). The formation of the Association for the Protection of Public Rights of Way in 1856, and its epic struggle against the speculative builder Joseph Magill, culminating in the court case victory of 1859 was pioneer stuff indeed. The Association was almost certainly the first in Ulster to seek to protect rights of way for recreational purposes. Given the weakness of rights of way protection in Northern Ireland 150 years later, the episode retains its relevance today, and of course has enduring significance for those of us who love the Cave Hill. It is an anniversary that we must mark.

The most obvious way to do so would be to organise an anniversary walk along the route threatened in the 1850s. In doing so we can explore the rich history of the route, and of the people who lived and worked on the Hill at the time, and who campaigned to protect free access to it. One of the reasons that we know so much about the episode is that an 88 page transcript of the 1859 trial was published at the time by the Northern Whig, and the original rules and membership list of the Association are also available in printed form. We are fortunate too that L'Estrange and Brett, who acted as solicitors for the Association survive to this day, and Adam Brett of the firm has recently located maps from the case in their archive. An obvious anniversary objective must be to re-publish these invaluable documents with an appropriate introduction and illustrations.

If anyone has in their possession other documents or early photographs of the path, and relating to Joseph Magill's ill-fated villa at Martlett Towers, we would much appreciate copies. They can help enhance the proposed publication. In the meantime for anyone who wants to know more now, a longer account of the case was published in the 2004 Cave Hill Campaigner and can be accessed here.

John Gray

Hazelwood Woodland Management Project

Belfast City Council is undertaking extensive woodland management at Hazelwood Local Nature Reserve within Cavehill Country Park. Previously the site was dominated by hazel with sycamore occurring as scattered specimens. Sycamore, however, is an invasive species and now dominates parts of the woodland. If not controlled it will significantly alter the habitat and reduce the woodland ground flora for which Hazelwood is particularly noted. It is not desirable to remove all the sycamore at once, but in parts significant removal of mature trees, capable of producing large amounts of seed was required. Other areas of the woodland are still in pristine condition so minimal woodland management was undertaken. The trees have been left in-situ to provide dead wood for invertebrates.

Over 400 hazel whips have been planted in the north western section of the site to re-establish hazel woodland). A very successful tree planting event was held in March. Many thanks to the staff of White Young Green who worked extremely hard planting these trees and to Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland for providing the trees. Future proposals for the site include monitoring sycamore on the site and coppicing over mature hazel stools. This project is funded by the Big Lottery Fund, Breathing Places grants programme. If you would like further information on this project or would like to become involved contact Orla Maguire at biodiversity@belfastcity.gov.uk or 028 9066 2259.

Invasive species not welcome!

The recent news that one of the lakes at Belfast Waterworks has been threatened by a fast-growing lily has highlighted once gain the threat which non-native invasive species can pose to our native flora and fauna. The lily in question - Fringed Water Lily - is native to parts of Europe and the Mediterranean, but because of its attractive yellow flowers, it is sold here as an ornamental pond plant. It tends to grow in dense patches, excluding native species and creating stagnant areas of water underneath the floating mats. Fish and other aquatic creatures are threatened by low oxygen levels. At the Waterworks, the lilies have spread rapidly and threaten to eventually turn the lake into a swamp if no action is taken. Belfast City Council is aware of the problem and has applied to EHS for permission to use chemical spraying to remove them.

Unfortunately, these lilies are by no means the only non-native invasive species in the area of Cave Hill. Regular walkers in the Country Park will be aware that there are large areas of Rhododendrum and Laurel, particularly in the area close to Belfast Castle. Both of these were originally introduced as part of the formal gardens but have escaped into the wild areas and rapidly colonised. They cast a dense shade under which nothing else can grow, including native wildflowers such as bluebells. Some of our volunteers have been active in recent years in reducing their presence, but a complete solution will require contractors, because of the large extent of the areas affected and because to prevent re-growth it is necessary to either remove the roots or treat the stumps.

We have had more success in tackling Japanese Knotweed (pictured). This is established in an area close to the Hightown Road car-park and also close to the Upper Cavehill Road entrance to the Country Park. Like other non-natives, it provides nothing for native wildlife in terms of either food or habitat and it soon crowds out native species such as hawthorn and blackthorn. But it can be treated using systemic weed-killer during late summer, and last August we did just that. It is likely that two further treatments will be needed, but we are looking forward to getting it completely eradicated from the Hightown area and replanting with native species.

Peter McCloskey

Reds or Greys?

A recent article in The Times by Jack Malvern highlighted once again the problems presented by the remorseless progress of the grey squirrel. This threatens (and not least in the environs of Cave Hill) to drive the red squirrel to extinction unless drastic, and to many people, no doubt, unpalatable, action is taken to control or, say it quietly, locally exterminate, the grey squirrels in order to preserve the native red.

First some facts: according to The Times the population of grey squirrels in our sister island is about 2 million. Classically, the grey is about 25 cm long and is easily recognised by its 20 cm tail. It was introduced to Britain, from whence it has spread to Ireland, in 1876 when a breeding pair was released to Henbury Park in Chesire. The population of red squirrels is about 120,000 and thee animals are about 22 cm long with a 22cm tail. According to the experts, the reds have been native to Britain for about 10,000 years. So what's the problem? Well the problem is that the grey carries the squirrel parapox virus but is resistant to it, and mates once or twice a year, producing between one and seven young. The red has no immunity to parapox and produces litters of up to six young. The consequence is that the grey is well on its way to replacing the native red. Unless steps are taken to sustain the population of native red squirrels, its American cousin, the grey Sciurus Carolinensis, will soon be dominant. In a recent debate in the House of Lords Baroness Butler-Sloss, who, as Malvern points out, was the most senior female judge in England and Wales, urged getting rid of the grey to protect the red. This means shooting, and already the border between England and Scotland is being manned by those authorised to do just that. For those who are repelled by such a policy the alternative is simply to accept the inevitable replacement of reds by greys.

Read more at The Times online, wildlifeonline.me.uk, Redsquirrel Protection Partnership, The Ulster Wildlife Trust.

Edward McCamley

Editorial: "Improving" the Cave Hill?
Chapel of the Resurrection - progress at last
Police blitz the park
Saint Clements development update

The Cave Hill fires - a possible solution?
Cosmopolitan Cave Hill
Enduring City: Belfast in the 20th Century (book review )

Editorial
The Chapel of the Resurrection - a sad tale
A development tale

Waste in the Belfast Hills
Saint Clements development - the story so far
Protect our countryside from bungalow blight!

Dumping and developers - twin threats
The annual clean up Cave Hill day always provides a useful nose to terrain view of how we look after the environment. This year less than a dozen volunteers lifted thirty sacks of rubbish off the hill and we can assure you that they stank! As the clean up is done annually that is thirty new sacks of rubbish since last year.

There are obvious culprits. Amidst the bluebells and wild garlic of spring are the drinking dens. It is not our purpose here to make some moral point: it is to say that those who use the Cave Hill as a private sanctuary for partying in this way show a particular disregard for the sanctuary itself leaving a squalid legacy of their entertainment for others to clear up.

But are our standards generally any better? The main walking routes up the Cave Hill are liberally sprinkled with the cartons and bottles of non-alcoholic seekers after good health, and drinkers and non-drinkers alike leave copious evidence of their appetite for crisps. Then there are those who, for some perverse reason, make special journeys to the Cave Hill to dump their domestic rubbish. Almost everything that is dropped is non bio-degradable, and, apart from the visual disfigurement of a litter bestrewn hillside, endangers the wildlife that lives there.

The first responsibility for stemming this tide of filth lies with each of us individually, but we would advocate applying the principle of making the polluters pay. It is a mystery, apart from inertia, as to why our government has not gone for the easy win achieved in the Republic by applying a tax on plastic bags, which are amongst the most damaging forms of litter on the Cave Hill and elsewhere. Beyond that there is much to be said for creating a tax regime favouring deposits re-payable on the return of bottles and penalising non bio-degradable crisp and other packaging. Ultimately issues of this kind and of the environment generally have to be moved further up the government and local government agenda. We can inspire private individuals to change their ways but so long as a regime of public squalor prevails there are limits to what can be achieved.

If, as is the case, the government is planning to have three quarters of Northern Ireland's waste dumped in the Belfast Hills, the removal of 30 sacks of rubbish from the Cave Hill is only a small if vital contribution to better times. Jim Bradley of the Belfast Hills Partnership examines the whole issue of waste in the Belfast Hills on page 10, but this issue of the magazine also contains a number of articles with a strong planning theme. Although as an organisation our primary focus is the hill itself, we cannot ignore threats to the built environment on its doorstep. And there are several significant ones at present.

John Gray

The Chapel of the Resurrection - a sad tale of a listed building
The Chapel of the Resurrection in Innisfayle Park is arguably the most 'at risk' historic building in Northern Ireland. It is also one of our earliest listed structures (Grade B+), having been designated by the Department of the Environment in November 1974 - a mere five months after the Grand Opera House, often proudly proclaimed as Northern Ireland's first listed building. Its descent into disrepair, however, over the last 30 years has been characterised by slow, incremental decay, with intermittent incidents of vandalism. That its future should still be so uncertain is an indictment both of the owner's intentions, and a failure of the Department of the Environment for not taking timely enforcement action.

It could, and should, have been so much different. The Chapel of the Resurrection, originally Belfast Castle Chapel, was built in the late 1860s by the third Marquis of Donegall as a memorial to his son, the Earl of Belfast. Ownership transferred in 1938 to the Church of Ireland, and it was used as a place of worship until the early 1970s. It has since passed into the hands of a private developer. The diverging fortunes of the Chapel are stark in comparison to several other Belfast landmarks. Christ Church on College Square North, for example, provides a contrasting lesson on the 'art of the possible'. Like the Chapel, this former church was de-consecrated due to a dwindling congregation. It was severely fire-damaged in 1996, reducing it to a shell, and eventually featured opposite the Chapel in the UAHS's Buildings at Risk Catalogue, Vol. 3 (pp. 20-21). The subsequent history of both buildings has a common link - the Belfast Buildings Preservation Trust - but so far only one has had a happy ending. Christ Church was the subject of an award-winning reuse scheme some eight years after the fire, thanks to a partnership between the Belfast BPT and the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. But the Chapel of the Resurrection has not been so fortunate, in spite of a similarly ambitious rescue package having been in place. Somewhat incredibly, the vision advanced by the Belfast BPT for the Chapel was left in tatters after the owner reneged at the eleventh hour on an agreement to donate the building to them. This was all the more devastating, because not only had planning permission for reuse as a single dwelling been secured following a feasibility study prepared in 1997, but over £200,000 in grant aid had to be handed back to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

A golden opportunity was lost, and the manner of its unravelling naturally left a bitter taste, not just for the Belfast BPT, but for all those who had hoped that this important building had found a new future. One might have expected the government at this point to step in and use the enforcement powers at its disposal. Any hopes that this might happen have proven premature, and there have been numerous calls since for the DoE's compulsory acquisition powers to be dusted down and put to the test. Indeed, following the serving of a Repairs Notice on the owner of a listed building in Sion Mills, County Tyrone the first compulsory acquisition should soon be complete. The UAHS would urge that a similar approach be applied to the Chapel (we are eternal optimists) and we will continue to press the DoE on this matter. Vocal encouragement from local residents, and other interested parties, would undoubtedly stiffen any DoE resolve.

Note that a remarkably incomplete planning application was submitted by the owner in 2005 for the conversion of the Chapel to 3 apartments, with 33 new build residential units proposed for the grounds. The UAHS strongly objected to this application.

Andrew McClelland - Heritage Projects Officer Ulster Architectural Heritage Society

EDITOR'S NOTE: We understand that the property is currently owned by a company called Merit Homes Ltd, whose registered office is at 58 Moneymore Road, Magherafelt, BT45 6HG.

A Development Tale (With apologies to Geoffrey Chaucer)

Previous issues of the Cave Hill Campaigner have drawn attention to insensitive developments, driven by short term commercial interests, which have been proposed for the vicinity of the Cave Hill. Recently we have had another example in which planning permission was sought for a proposal which would have allowed a significant change from one "use class" to another, despite convincing evidence that this was not in the interests of local residents.

The proposal was to convert the former offices of the Milk Marketing Board on the Antrim Road facing Fortwilliam Park into a complex of flats with some adjacent housing. The site, which is close to the designated Somerton Road - Chichester conservation area, has been acquired by a developer, who, in collaboration with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Oaklee Housing Association, initially submitted plans for the construction of 34 flats with a concierge, and 31 houses. This was subsequently amended to 33 flats and 34 houses. In addition, at a meeting with local residents in December 2004, Paddy McIntyre of the Housing Executive and Niall Sheridan of Oaklee expressed their determination to develop further in the vicinity of the Milk Marketing Board area. Had this plan been implemented it would have constituted the biggest and least sympathetically considered development in this part of Belfast. Since the plans were first made public in 2004, a number of cross-community residents' associations have campaigned vigorously against the proposals. The objections were to the scale of the project, its high density, low-cost character, and the adverse impact it would have on both the stability and the infrastructure of the area.

On all occasions when the residents, and those public representatives who shared their concerns, met the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Oaklee, the NIHE stressed their willingness to consider proposals based on the highest standards of social provision. Their emphasis was on providing high quality buildings to both existing and future residents of the area. But the original plans were based essentially on a cheap conversion of the existing office building into living accommodation. In October 2005 Mr McIntyre admitted that "public sector cost allowances" were the determining factors in the standard of construction. It is clear that such a development (if one may use that much abused word without irony) based upon low-cost, failed concepts of social housing that have blighted the lives of its occupants in similar projects all over Europe since the 1960's. In Belfast, the misnamed Unity Flats at Carrick Hill provided a brutal example of how not to do public accommodation. The early proposals for the Fortwilliam site represented a farcical repetition of that failed experiment. At meetings with the planning officials and the developers, residents insisted that the quality of design was vital to the development. Indeed, there very quickly emerged a consensus on the abysmal quality of the original design and the negative effect that it would have on the neighbourhood. The objectors argued that the conversion of an ugly, dilapidated 1960's office block was simply unacceptable. Recently, the speed at which this building had become vandalised in itself gave rise to much local speculation of a sinister strategy of allowing the site to become a festering ruin as a means of putting pressure on the local community to accept any new use without further argument. In addition to these dispiriting considerations, there was the possibility of further plans to increase the scale of this project by between 33 and 50 percent by the acquisition of the Salisbury Bowling Club. While it is true that residents received assurances that there would be no Phase Two, these were muted by the qualifying phrase, "supported by the Housing Executive," which did little to inspire confidence.

The bold vision of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan, and the more recent Dunlop Report on the future of North Belfast, urged carefully thought-through initiatives based on the existing heritage and traditions of this part of the city. This is the kind of community-based approach that would contribute to the eventual creation of a vibrant and sustainable community in the area. Over the past two years, residents' groups, supported by some local politicians, have made strenuous representations in order to modify the proposals outlined above so that they might be more sensitive to the character of the area. As a result, Ian Elliot, the Chief Executive of Oaklee Housing Association, arranged a series of meetings with the Housing Executive and with the architects associated with the project.

The good news is that significant changes to the original proposals have been made. There will now be two apartment blocks instead of four and alterations will be made to their design. Tree preservation orders will ensure the continued existence of the mature trees on the site. Community groups and residents' associations will be consulted on the management of the project. And there will be no Phase Two. If this tale holds any lessons, it is surely that planners and politicians serve the community best when the interests of those most profoundly affected by their decisions are consulted. It is the residents who should have a decisive say in development proposals that will shape the circumstances in which they live. Those who are part of a neighbourhood are the best equipped to sustain a sense of appropriate public space within it. As Chaucer put it, "intent is all."

Edward McCamley

Waste in the Belfast Hills

For many years it has been apparent that waste disposal is one of the most important issues in the Belfast Hills. A series of campaigns and clean ups have shown the depth of feeling and concerns around the use of the hills for all sorts of waste management, be it landfill, recycling or fly tipping. Given the high levels of illegal waste and the high number of legal sites, it was actually very difficult to get an overall view of exactly what was happening in the Belfast Hills. Any detailed studies have only been environmental assessments carried out for single planning applications, specifically restricted from looking at the cumulative effects e.g. of multiple landfills. This greatly hampered any hope of a concerted and planned approach to improving waste management in the hills - you can't get where you want to get to if you don't know where you are in the first place.

The Belfast Hills Partnership therefore wanted to gain an objective view of the overall levels and impacts of waste management in the area that went well beyond the usual environmental assessments and would act as a solid first step towards proper planning and management of waste in the hills. We therefore commissioned a Strategic Environmental Assessment of waste management policy and practice in the Belfast Hills which was carried out by RPS Planning and Environment Ltd. The results of this study were successfully launched at Belfast City Hall on 15th March 2006. The report highlighted that:
* There are 27 times more waste facilities per acre in the Belfast Hills than the NI average.
* Almost one million tonnes of waste can be legally land-filled in the Belfast Hills every year, including roughly 30% of all Northern Ireland's construction and demolition waste.
* It is estimated that 150,000 tonnes of illegal waste are dumped in the Belfast Hills every year.
* Current plans to close the Dargan Road site will add a further 400,000 tonnes every year. Following recent planning decisions, levels of household waste legally dumped in the hills could hit 66% of the total NI level.
* High levels of illegal domestic fly tipping across the hills have a significant detrimental impact on the landscape and scenic value of the hills.

In summary, current waste policy and management give cause for serious concern for the well being of the wildlife, landscape, residents, visitors and agriculture in the Hills. Publication of the report got good coverage in the press, radio and TV, but even better was the timing of the launch, perhaps more by good fortune than judgement! The publication of a damming parliamentary audit committee on the performance of the government's handling of waste management in Northern Ireland the following week and the launch of the Northern Ireland waste management strategy meant that the issue has kept bubbling in the news with frequent reference to the Belfast Hills. The recent Dispatches programme highlighting just how dire the situation is with regards to waste management both afar and very close to home has intensified the debate.

So where to now? The report has a series of recommendations ranging from the general aspirational to the specific, which we are currently working through to decide which we must immediately implement. There is some concern that a plethora of plans and consultations about waste are in the pipeline, such as the regional arc21 plan. These might act as an excuse for key agencies to prevaricate at a time when substantial action on proper monitoring and enforcement is absolutely critical. At the very least, we hope that our report highlights the urgent need for greatly improved waste management and policy for what is recognised as a precious environmental asset to the citizens of Northern Ireland.

Jim Bradley- Belfast Hills Partnership Manager

Saint Clements housing development - the story so far

After 45 years the Redemptorists have found it necessary to close St. Clement's Retreat House. The Retreat has been in a steady decline since the 1980s and the buildings have gradually fallen into a state of disrepair. The estimated cost for the buildings to comply with the necessary legal requirements was approximately £3million and, having exhausted all possible options, the decision was but to sell the St. Clement's site for residential development.

The grounds of St. Clement's would be classified as a mature area of outstanding natural beauty. They are bounded on the north and west sides by the Cave Hill Country Park and are an important element of the landscape character of this part of north Belfast. The mature trees are subject to a Tree Preservation Order and provide a natural habitat for the many species of birds and wildlife. An application for outline planning permission for 65 dwellings was submitted to the Planning Service on 13 January 2006. The plan also indicates "significant improvements to the existing access onto the Antrim Road" and this upgraded road is to run between St. Gerard's Church and the Community Centre. The concept statement document states: "The proposal provides for a quality residential development that respects the mature landscape setting, and will deliver low density, high quality housing which respects the special characteristics of this unique development site."

While this proposed development appears to be sympathetic in nature, changes can occur as proposals move from one stage to the next. Should approval be given at this outline stage, there is always the danger that a developer will seek to increase the density and perhaps try to alter the nature of the development. The document states: "The proposal will not lead to any significant adverse intensification of traffic flows" onto the Antrim Road. ( 8.2 ) The consulting engineers claim in their Conclusions of the Transport Assessment ( 7.0 ) that: "Detailed modelling has been undertaken to demonstrate the site access is adequate to accommodate the traffic generated by the proposed residential traffic". ( 7.4 ) " We have demonstrated the development will not have a detrimental impact on traffic, air quality or traffic noise and the site will be accessible by a variety of transport modes." ( 7.5 ) " On the basis of this study, it is our opinion that the proposed development will not have a significant impact on the surrounding road network." ( 7.6 )

How can these claims be justified? The type of development proposed will probably equate to at least two vehicles per dwelling which will create an additional traffic hazard, so this will surely cause a considerable increase in traffic of around 130 vehicles per day, every day. If at the final application stage the developer is granted approval to increase the housing density it is likely that there will be an even greater increase in traffic onto the Antrim Road, intensifying the use of the existing access / egress point. There are other road junctions in close proximity to this point, so any additional traffic will be of grave concern for road safety. Yet it is claimed in the conclusion of the planning document that the "proposal will have no adverse impact on road safety." ( 8.3 )

It is imperative that the planners, in conjunction with the DoE (Roads), carry out a more accurate transport assessment to determine the increase in traffic at this junction on the Antrim Road before any full planning permission is granted. It is also imperative that the development is not allowed to become larger in terms of housing units.

Brian Callaghan

Protect our countryside from developers!

Planning Policy Statement 14 (known as PPS 14) is the new policy on Sustainable Development in the Countryside led by the Department for Regional Development. The main point of it, and the issue which has received most attention, is the presumption against construction of new single dwellings in the countryside. Technically, PPS 14 is out for consultation until 9 June, but a moratorium on new applications was announced in April. The background to this is the huge growth in recent years in the number of planning applications being submitted for one-off rural dwellings in Northern Ireland. The number of single new dwellings approved here is more than three times the combined total of England, Scotland and Wales - and was still climbing. In 1994-95, planning approval was granted for 1,845 single homes in rural parts of the province. By 2004-05, the annual figure had soared to 9,520. The total for 2005-06 will be over 12,000.

Clearly, we were on a totally unsustainable path, even if you allow for different settlement patterns to England. But there have been predictable howls of outrage from rural dwellers and their political representatives. With many farmers struggling to survive financially, selling land for building has become an important part of their retirement plans. But the figures quoted above make it obvious that if the previous planning regime was allowed to continue, our countryside would be destroyed within a decade. So be in no doubt that opposition to the new policy implies the eventual destruction of our countryside, with the building of perhaps12,000 single houses every year. Many readers will be familiar with the "bungalow blight" which has defaced costal areas of Donegal and a similar scene can be found in large parts of Kerry and other formerly-scenic counties in the Republic. PPS 14 is the last chance of stopping this happening in Northern Ireland. The Cave Hill Conservation Campaign is in full support of this and urges you to support it as well. The opponents have made most of the running until now, but you can register your support for the new policy by logging on to the website of CPC (The Campaign for the Protection of the Countryside) and signing their online petition. The site can be found at www.countrysideni.org and there is also a link to it from our website which is at www.cavehill.freeuk.com

EDITOR

Editorial
The Belfast Hills Partnership is here!
Latest on BMAP
News from the Waterworks and Belfast Zoo

The Land of the White Crow
Folk who live near the hill
The Cave Hill throne?
Book Review: Wild Belfast

Planning - new hope or false dawn?
The long-awaited draft Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan issued earlier this year represents a major break with previous planning priorities, and for the better. Environmentalists can only welcome its commitment to "a compact metropolitan area with a protected environmental setting".

As Cormac Hamill reports inside, the draft plan offers protective status of one kind or another to the whole of the Cave Hill. It also does so for the wider Belfast Hills area where the entire Belfast basalt escarpment from Black Mountain to the Cave Hill is designated as an AOHSV or Area of High Scenic Value. This is of course a draft plan, and in the coming period we can expect every kind of developer to try and push back its apparent constraints. Around the perimeter of the Cave Hill we expect the following to be pressure points: the hill fringes of Glengormley, Hightown Road and Mallusk, the Horseshoe Bend, and the last remaining area of farmland above the top of the Upper Cave Hill Road. In these areas private developers will be applying the pressure.

In one other crucial area, the old zoo at Bellevue, the City Council has already tried to influence future designation, in the hope of windfall profits, by having the area opened up for residential development. We believe that this is an area that should be opened up for free public use creating a linear park running from the Belfast Castle to the zoo entrance. As the Council elections loom, you should ask your North Belfast candidates to support this option. The draft BMAP suggests that even some of its stronger designations are not immune to future development. Thus with regard to SLNCI's (Sites of Local Nature Conservation Importance), there is a developer's get out clause: "Where exceptionally development is permitted which might adversely affect the nature conservation value, the Department will endeavour to ensure that such adverse effects are kept to a minimum." Of course! Confidence that the Department of Environment can properly serve the environment, and actually deliver a strong BMAP has been severely undermined by the well disguised announcement on the eve of Good Friday by Minister, Angela Smith, of approval for no less than three super dumps on the fringes of the Belfast Hills at Aughrim, Cottonmount, and Mullaghglass. All are within the Belfast basalt escarpment which the draft BMAP, and her department, are simultaneously planning to designate as an area of High Scenic Value! As is so often the case with respect to the environment, laudable sentiments are all too easily overwhelmed by destructive commercial priorities. The dumps announcement shows how blatantly this is already happening in this case.

John Gray

The Belfast Hills Partnership is here!
The Cave Hill Conservation Campaign has been involved since the early 1990's in efforts to ensure an overall approach to the problems of the Belfast Hills. This has culminated in the new Belfast Hills Partnership, and we welcome Partnership Manager Jim Bradley's overview of the issues which the new body is facing - John Gray

Introduction
After years of hard work, late nights, reports, debate and setbacks, the Belfast Hills Partnership has finally arrived. Launched in February 2005, the Partnership is the culmination of years of work by a variety of groups from the community, commercial, agricultural, government, sport and environmental sectors. This very breadth of interests means that the Partnership can carry some clout with respect to some issues, while having to take a balanced approach with regard to other issues on which partners may have differing opinions. T

The main objective of the Partnership is to provide a practical way of integrating management of the Belfast Hills which is carried out by a whole range of public and private bodies and individuals. We are currently based at the Colin Glen Forest Park Centre, which has been a very welcoming and useful first base. Currently we have three staff, but the range of work that needs to be done is such that we must expand our staff as soon as new funding is found. We will probably be looking for new premises shortly.

Waste
Most would agree that this is the number one issue in the Belfast hills at the minute, with the high levels of illegal fly tipping and landfill to date plus the recent announcement of planning approvals for major landfill sites based at Aughrim, Mullaghglass and Cottonmount. Whether you agree with these approvals or not, this means a very high proportion of Northern Ireland's waste will probably end up buried in and around the Belfast Hills. The impact on aspects such as landscape, traffic and other environmental effects of these combined has not been investigated. It is therefore timely that Belfast Hills Partnership is carrying out a Strategic Environmental Assessment of present and future waste management in the Belfast Hills area. This will hopefully show the overall impact of waste management, legal and illegal, on this unique area. It will also make recommendations both to control and to positively manage this key industry in the hills. Watch this space!

Planning
One of our first jobs after starting up was to respond to the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan or BMAP as it is known. Important aspects affecting the Belfast hills include the development stop-line and proposed housing areas on its edge, access points to the hills and a wide range of nature conservation designations to name a few. In addition to this, the Partnership regularly reviews and comments on key development proposals such as for large housing, landfill and recycling projects.

Access
This is a key issue for many in the Belfast hills, with some pushing for access generally across the hills while others have grave concerns in terms of impact on farming and landowners' liability. The Partnership can play a vital role in making sure both sides hear and understand the other's views. We need to actively manage existing access, making sure that visitors understand where they are welcome or should avoid and also how to behave. The acquisition of Divis by the National Trust is a watershed moment for the Hills and will help bring a lot of these related issues and opportunities to the fore.

Agricultural support
This is a time of great change for farmers in Northern Ireland, with Single Farm Payments and the Nitrates Directive greatly altering local agriculture. Farms in the hills, being marginal land, are particularly vulnerable to such changes. We need to do our utmost in supporting our farmers during this time and also helping with problems specific to urban / rural fringe farming such as chronically high levels of vandalism, including fire setting and indiscriminate use of scramblers and quads.

Biodiversity
Many of you will know that there are still parts of the hills which are not only like the wilds of Donegal or the Glens of Antrim but also have similar wildlife. There are lots of changes afoot, with Biodiversity Officers recently appointed for Belfast, Newtownabbey and Antrim to write action plans for key habitats. Our role will be to help ensure that they cover the Belfast hills with plans for upland heath, key species such as Irish hare and Curlew and also to take a lead in writing and carrying out these plans if necessary.

Awareness & Volunteering
Amongst all this work, we will be ensuring that as many people become more aware of the fantastic resource the Belfast hills are and the threats and issues that they face. We are doing this through events, press releases and articles such as this one! If you want to know more about our work, our events or would like to register as a potential volunteer to help us with our programme, please get in touch via phone (028) 90603466 or email us at info@belfasthills.org. More details are on our website: www.belfasthills.org.

Jim Bradley - Partnership Manager

The Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP)
BMAP is a very comprehensive development plan at present being drawn up which will guide planners in the Belfast area up to the year 2015. The draft document was published in December 2004 and submissions were sought by a January 2005 deadline. Within a fairly short (but unspecified) time BMAP will replace any other development guides.

Its stated aim is as follows: "To provide a planning framework which is in general conformity with the RDS (the Regional development Strategy, drawn up by the Assembly in 2001) in facilitating sustainable growth and a high quality of development in the Belfast Metropolitan Area throughout the Plan period, whilst protecting and where appropriate, enhancing the natural and man-made environment of the Plan Area"

The aspects of the Plan which have drawn the Campaign's attention have been its declared intention to protect and enhance the natural environment and we have given close scrutiny to its implications in the immediate area of Cave Hill. We have submitted a written response to the document which in broad terms welcomed its proposals. As it stands at present, BMAP appears to have taken its conservation role seriously. It intends "to limit expansion at the periphery of built-up areas and to promote regeneration within" and to promote "the development of healthier lifestyles… through increased provision for walking and cycling facilities"

To help it in its conservation role, BMAP has proposed various designations which will convey different degrees of protection against development. The Belfast Basalt Escarpment is to be designated an Area of High Scenic Value (AOHSV); this area stretches from Carnmoney Hill to beyond Colin mountain, along the skyline. There are to be two Local Landscape Policy Areas (LLPA) near us: around Fortwilliam golf course up to Throne Wood and also the Carr's Glen area. There are to be four relevant Sites of Local Nature Conservation Importance (SLNCI). These are the whole of the Belfast Hills Area, an area around the zoo entrance road, an area behind the zoo and virtually the whole of the Cave Hill and Colinward area. These areas are all additionally designated Areas of Constraint on Mineral Development. The whole of the Cavehill Country Park to the east of the escarpment is to be designated an Urban Landscape Wedge. These are open areas where planning permission will be granted only for recreational uses with various provisos and safeguards. Belfast Castle grounds and Bellevue (Belfast Zoo) are to be ranked among the Historic Parks, Gardens and Demesnes.

If the Plan is implemented as presently drafted, all these designations should provide a great deal of protection to our open spaces around Cave Hill. However, it is well to bear in mind that these designations do not provide absolute protection against all development. They merely provide a framework against which development proposals will be assessed. But BMAP's protection, nevertheless, will be better than that provided at present. There is one other caveat: the document has yet to incorporate submissions made by various interested bodies such as builders and developers. The results of their lobbying will only become clear with the publication of the actual plan and when that happens, we will need to scrutinise it again.

I contacted the Planning office in March this year (2005) to check progress on the implementation of BMAP. At present, following the consultation process, submissions are being considered preliminary to holding a public enquiry. It appears that that enquiry will probably not take place until early 2006. The public enquiry may throw up issues which will need further discussion, which means that no one can predict when the development process will draw to a close. Best guesses are that it may not be until some time in 2008 that we might expect BMAP to be in place. It is generally assumed that the years that the plan will be in force will be extended beyond 2015 to compensate for the delay in its implementation.

Cormac E Hamill

News from the Waterorks and Belfast Zoo

Is the waterworks now safe?
Last year we headlined disastrous plans to build a leisure centre in the Waterworks Park. At the time this plan was enthusiastically supported by both Sinn Fein and the SDLP, who were in a race to prove who could get a leisure centre for Nationalist North Belfast first. That race is still on, but happily the Waterworks is no longer going to be its victim. No sudden environmental conversion has taken place, but we now know that Girdwood Barracks is to close and the seven acre site there should provide ample space for both new housing and a leisure centre. It is a welcome solution. It is also good to see that Queen Mary's Gardens, at the Antrim Road corner of the park, is being re-landscaped. Is it too much to hope that the Council will go on from there, and deal with the dereliction elsewhere in the Waterworks?
John Gray

Future of the zoo in question?
A visioning process with regard to the future of Belfast Zoo has led to some far more fundamental questions being asked at the April City Council meeting. Ulster Unionist, Chris McGimpsey, announced that he planned to start a campaign to close 'the abomination on Cave Hill', his colleague Davy Browne also stated his opposition to zoos, and Alliance's Naomi Long argued that 'just because something is popular doesn't make it right'. In the opposite camp were Ulster Unionist, Jim Rodgers, and the DUP's Nelson McCausland and Ian Crozier. All councillors should be worried about the enormous cost of running the Zoo - the estimates for 2005/6 indicate running costs of £1.5 million, and a total outlay, including capital costs, of £2.1 million. According to Councillor McGimpsey, it is costing Belfast ratepayers £40,000 per week, despite attracting 200,000 visitors a year. Indeed, the only time that the Zoo ever made a profit was during the Second World War, after the more dangerous animals had been shot as a security measure! There is a growing debate worldwide about the morality of zoos. These questions were last asked here in the 1970's when the old zoo came within an ace of closure. Nobody can deny that the conditions at the zoo have greatly improved since the new development and re-siting in the 1980's, but the propriety of keeping wild animals used to roaming hundreds or thousands of acres in warmer climes on small pockets of land on the dank north face of Cave Hill, has to remain open to serious question. Much is made now of breeding programmes for rare animals, but this remains a fig leaf for the captivity of the vast majority of zoo animals that are neither rare nor endangered. We support Chris McGimpsey and others prepared to ask the fundamental question: Is it right in this day and age that our Council should intern wild animals at our expense?

While much is made of the role of the Zoo in preserving rare breeds, one of its most positive and wholly uncontroversial roles in this respect has been wilfully dismantled. Over a number of years the Zoo had built up a herd of the rare Irish moiled cattle, which grazed the Cave Hill.. Last year these were sold off at short notice despite representations made by the Belfast Hills Partnership and the Ulster Farmers' Union. We regret this short-sighted abandonment of concern for native rare breeds. We also note that no confirmation has been forthcoming from the Council of arrangements for continued grazing of the upper areas of the Cave Hill, an essential ingredient in the maintenance of the fragile eco-system of the area.

John Gray

The Land of the White Crow
A small area of land in the Belfast Hills was acquired a few years ago with the intention of returning it to nature. Early in April, I went for a stroll round the fields and moors nearby. No wild flowers to see - the primroses long since eradicated by over-grazing and pesticides. On the moor-land were charred clumps of gorse, the remains of last year's vandalism. Unfortunately, this is now an annual event on the Belfast Hills, killing ground-nesting birds and animals. I met a native who lamented the disappearance of pheasant and hare. He asked how the land got its name and I told him that in the past a pure white crow had often been seen over this moor, although not for many years now. As I walked on, I gathered litter blown from lorries on their way to landfill sites and saw the black plastic strips caught on the barbed wire fences. Soon I was trailing a sack full of rubbish and it seemed to me that the whole area was treated as a dump. My dog shared my dejection.

Then I glanced back and caught the sunlight as it brightened the first hint of green from some of the 11,000 native trees which have been planted here in the past few years, some already near two metres tall. And I reminded myself that this landscape was changing from an area of over-grazed fields to a woodland of growing diversity, where primrose and wood sorrel can hope to flourish. As the dog bounced across the heather he raised both a skylark and a flock of meadow pipits. As I listened to the twittering lark, I took comfort from the fact that the future habitat for these birds is now assured. The long hedgerows which frame and divide the land were planted as a community effort. Soon they will froth with the white flowers of the blackthorn and next winter they will offer more food and shelter to a wider variety of birdlife.

I glanced over towards Belfast, below the hills and looking almost beautiful and renewed in a soft azure light, after the April downpour. In the distance a solitary bird ascended, too far away to identify, and circled for a moment until it finally merged into the shadow of the hillside. And I wondered, could this be the white crow returned to reclaim his kingdom?

Katherine Hall

FOLK WHO LIVE NEAR THE HILL
A fascinating aerial photograph of North Belfast was taken in 1928 by a Belfast Newsletter photographer, Robert Martin, from a Shorts Calcutta flying boat. It shows clearly how the area around Cavehill has been developed in the years since then. It shows that the lough side of the Antrim Road between Fortwilliam and Gray's Lane had, already been substantially built on. The development of the northern side had halted briefly at the Cavehill Road but by the 1930s development had resumed. Prosperous modern villas of the type celebrated in the poetry of John Betjeman, "recalling laurel, shrubs and privet," now stretched themselves along the lower slopes of Cave Hill. One of the features of the inter-war period was the development around cities of extensive urban fringes. In the nineteenth century most accommodation in industrial centres such as Belfast was rented. The modern preoccupation with owner-occupation did not develop until after the First World War, when great numbers of houses like those then built on the Antrim Road were built by the new middle classes with the aid of building society loans. This expansion was encouraged by the development of both public and private transport.

Where houses led the way, other developments followed. In 1935 Belfast Royal Academy, after a surprisingly prolonged bout of agonising, purchased land on the lower slopes of Cave Hill from Lord Shaftesbury for development as playing fields, and as the site of a preparatory school. In due course trees were removed, the area levelled and the Castle Grounds, as the facility was named, were prepared by the landscape gardener who had recently laid out the new grounds for the Northern Ireland Parliament at Stormont. The Academy became increasingly anxious to secure the purchase when it suspected that the elusive 9th Earl, whose circumstances had obliged him to present the estate and the Castle to the City in 1934, was negotiating with another school in the area. The school in question was apparently the Dominican Convent which in the 1930s took over 'Walton' an Italianate sandstone house at Fortwilliam, originally built by the nineteenth century linen merchant Henry Kirk, and which, as the architectural historian Paul Larmour points out, is one of the few surviving mansions of the old private park. This had extended from the Antrim Road to the Shore Road, contained many detached residences, and was made exclusive with gates, of which only the piers remain, at each end. Additions to the college were made after the Second World War and now Fortwilliam School has a new and conspicuously modern building.

Belfast's Jewish community is strongly identified with the northern suburbs of the city. Active in the commercial life of Belfast its numbers peaked at around 1,400 in the 1940s when, boosted by fugitives from fascist persecution in Europe and living mainly on the Antrim and Somerton Roads. A new community centre and synagogue was opened on the Somerton Road in 1964, replacing the previous Annesley Street building and itself reflecting the outward movement of the community along the Antrim Road in the previous half century. Designed by Eugene Rosenberg, the synagogue has been described as one of the most accomplished modern buildings in Belfast.

In recent years the area surrounding the Cave Hill has changed again. But ill-considered development threatens the balance between heritage and the needs of a growing community. Unrestricted property speculation and political opportunism, if not contested by those who live in the area may undermine both the natural environment of Cave Hill and what remains of the neighbourhood's historical and architectural legacy.

Edward McCamley

THE CAVE HILL THRONE?
Sir Samuel Ferguson is one of the most celebrated literary figures with North Belfast associations. A Presbyterian by background, he was also a romantic enthusiast for the ancient history of Ireland. His story Corby MacGillmore was actually set on the Cave Hill and deals with imagined conflicts of medieval times. Even when dealing with facts Ferguson was a romantic, and in 1833 he gave birth to the Cave Hill 'throne' in a letter to the celebrated antiquary, Sir George Petrie:

"Pray do you know whether the inauguration of Irish kings was uniformly by placing the foot in a track of its shape, or did they ever employ the hand? My reason for asking is that I think what is generally called the Giant's Chair on top of the Cave Hill has been a crowning stone. But instead of the impression of a foot, I find on one of the arms of the seat a hole, to all appearances artificial (vulgarly called the Giant's snuff box), which is just the shape of the inside of a glove, and fits the right hand pretty exactly. The stone in which it is, seems to have been brought thither. The others appear part of the rock. If that was the O'Neills' crowning-stone in Lower Claneboy, they must have had a fine view on the coronation day…"

We don't know how Petrie replied, but we do know that he had already written about the crowning seat of the O'Neills which had been located in Castlereagh in the eighteenth century and which survives in the Ulster Museum to this day. We also know that the inauguration of Irish kings or chieftains usually involved a flat stone or leac rather than a chair or throne.

Ferguson's speculation might never have reached a wider audience if it had not been for the publication in 1896 of a biography by his widow, Sir Samuel Ferguson in the Ireland of his day. She brought to light the old speculation of 1833 and she did so just as Alice Milligan and a group of associates with strong North Belfast connections launched The Shan Van Vocht , a gaelic revivalist and Irish separatist magazine. A major focus of its brief history was the memory of the United Irishmen and the centenary commemorations planned for 1898.

What was already well known was the symbolic importance of MacArts Fort in the history of the United Irish enterprise. It was here that in the summer of 1795 Wolfe Tone and others had sworn 'never to desist until they had freed Ireland from English tyranny'. Now Ferguson's resurrected letter of 1833 added an extra dimension - perhaps the oath of 1795 had been deliberately sworn by the throning seat of the old chieftains? This proposition was made in the 4th December 1896 issue of The Shan Van Vocht and by August 1897, in planning the 1898 commemoration they were contemplating a banner showing 'MacArts Fort … and a reminder of the vow of Tone'. On New Year's Eve, as 1898 dawned, the '98 Ulster Provincial Executive met at MacArts Fort and amongst other resolutions predictably repeated verbatim the oath of 1795.

As I Roved Out
And yet if we are to believe Cathal O'Byrne in his well known collection of Belfast tales, As I roved out, they were no longer able to make their pledge alongside a presumed throne. As he describes it, opponents of any commemoration had picked up on that first reference in the December 1896 edition of The Shan Van Vocht:

"A number of workmen were engaged in placing iron rail-posts on either side of the pathway leading up to the hill. One of these rail-posts was used as a lever by the vandals of that day, and the stone of the Coronation Chair containing the imprint of the hand was sent hurtling down over the precipice into the green coomb, hundreds of feet below. "

There is as yet no other direct confirmation of this incident, though there is the circumstantial evidence of a contemporary sketch by J.W Carey of workmen engaged in erecting a fence close to McArts Fort. There is definitely no sign there today of any stone of a kind that even the most fevered imagination could convert into a throne! For O'Byrne it was a case of gone but not forgotten. A determined Nationalist, and admirer of Alice Milligan, he concluded his tale of the 'throne' with a determined re-affirmation of its authenticity: "Who can doubt but that Sir Samuel Ferguson's suggestion was the correct one - that the Stone chair on the top of Cave Hill was the original inaugural Throne used at the installation of the great O'Neills."

O'Byrne's account was first published as an article in the Irish News, and then included in the first edition of As I roved out in 1946. The enduring popularity of this collection, with new editions in 1957 and 1982, means that in popular understanding the notion of a throne on the Cave Hill lives on. The tale of the 'throne' is in fact no more than a good example of the victory of romantic imagination over facts.

My thanks for assistance to Liz Curtis, whose pamphlet, The Throne Hospital and its Surroundings: Fact, Fable and Conjecture, is due for publication later this year by North Belfast Tourism.

John Gray

Book review: Wild Belfast - by Robert Scott (Blackstaff Press £12.99)

This is a sumptuous book. It is profusely illustrated with photographs and high-quality drawings, something on every page and everything is in colour. Of course, these high production values are needed to do justice to the theme: a survey of all the wildlife to be found in Greater Belfast, from Holywood round to Carrickfergus and down the Lagan valley towards Lisburn. The book has been subsidised by the Environment and Heritage service of the Department of the Environment and supported by Belfast City Council and this is reflected in the price. This book looks and feels as if it were much dearer.

It is by no means comprehensive, but nor does it purport to be. A full survey would require a book many times thicker than this and would be beyond the capabilities of any one person. But it does give representative illustrations and descriptions of much that we could observe. It is not a reference book. It cannot be used for systematic identification and it is too large to be carried on any outing. Such books tend to be dry. This book is much more; it is an invitation to get out and look, to walk and fossick and find and observe something of the wonderful range of animal and plant life, all within easy reach of our homes.

Robert Scott's tone is idiosyncratic and discursive. His personality shows through as he takes the reader on strolls in various locations in Belfast. He wears his learning lightly; he has a PhD in Botany and is Conservation and Education Officer with Belfast City Council. The text not only describes plants and animals but also gives peripheral but useful information. He says, for example that the emphasis in park management in Belfast has changed in recent years from manicure and neatness to providing wildlife refuges. And he also sketches in the background to the preservation of part of the Bog Meadows. Reading his prose is very like listening to a good teacher. He addresses the task in hand, uses illustrations superbly and yet is prepared to go off at a slight tangent as the opportunity presents. For example, pignuts were referred to as poor man's truffle and eating the roots of yarrow can induce prophetic dreams!

What about our own Cave Hill area? He has a section at the back where he selects twenty wildlife areas and gives details about access and location and some species information. We are close to four of these areas - Hazelwood, Cave Hill Country Park, Belfast Castle Estate and the Waterworks. But the species information in these sections is very sparse -much more is embedded in the main text in the book where he takes a habitat approach and deals with the inner city, gardens, parks and open spaces, meadows, wetlands, ponds and lakes, waterways, coastal areas, hills and mountains and finally woodlands. References to Cave Hill and the Castle estate abound. They can all be found through the very comprehensive index but it is much more rewarding to sit down and read the text through; there is so much to learn and savour.

Two small quibbles - on page 28 he mentions people leaving out a welcome saucer of milk for hedgehogs. I think that this practice is not encouraged by those who are involved with hedgehogs - pet food is recommended instead. And on page 27 he credits slugs and snails with possessing an efficient set of teeth. In fact these gastropods don't chomp - they feed by rasping with a serrated tongue.

This is a book to be treasured. I found time and again that I was making mental notes to look for this or that on Cave Hill; the butterfly orchid that grows on the top of Cave Hill; the red broomrape that grows close to the caves and the moschatel, Belfast's rarest plant which Robert Foster tells us is growing in a small colony somewhere in the Castle estate.

Buy this book, read it and as I have, make your own list of things to find on the wonderful wildlife resource on our very doorsteps.

Cormac E Hamill

Editorial
Waterworks down the Drain?
Resurrection of the Chapel?
The caves - a Physical Description

The Great Cave Hill Rights of Way Case
Big Houses of the Antrim Road
Making a Difference in the Belfast Hills
Grey Squirrels are Here to Stay

A VIEW FROM MACART'S FORT
There is that delicious moment every year when one hears the first skylark. This year it was extraordinarily early and wafted our way by southerly winds on 8th March. Lying on the top of Cave Hill at MacArt's Fort, one can easily ask what is the environmental problem if these travellers from afar still come? Looking about and reflecting on the changes of thirty years they are small enough. The new roadway to the summit from the Hightown Road which was supposed to green over but hasn't, the barbed wire fences that went up at the same time for no useful purpose, the continued proliferation of electronic masts of one kind or another on the surrounding hill tops, but none of it enough yet to put off the skylarks.

What then is there to worry about if we, and the skylarks, can still enjoy this unique resource on the very edge of a city? Reflect a moment: it is only as a result of constant vigilance and action that we can preserve resources such as this. A combination of greed, the knee-jerk support of politicians for commercial development, short term thinking, indifference to the great outdoors and the environment, the pressures of housing demand - all of these have done and still can do untold damage. As we remember elsewhere in this issue, we owe present-day public access to the Cave Hill to the pioneer campaign of the Rights of Way Association, which defeated the speculative developers of the 1850's. Grandiose and inappropriate plans for the Cave Hill have followed over the years, ranging from the pre-First World War scheme for a tramway to the summit, to the proposal for a cableway of only a couple of years ago. Some of these schemes have fallen by the wayside because the economics didn't add up. Others, such as the mining proposal which gave birth to this organisation, have only been stopped by vigorous public opposition. We can guarantee that yet more such notions will surface in the future. The Cave Hill Conservation Campaign will defend the hill as before.

Prospective threats to the Cave Hill are only a microcosm of those that endanger the Belfast Hills generally, all the way from the Black Mountain via the Cave Hill to Carnmoney Hill. The Cave Hill Conservation Campaign, along with others from the foot of the Black Mountain, first urged a collective approach to these problems in the early 1990's. It is hugely encouraging that years of co-operative work have now borne fruit in the formation of a powerful Belfast Hills Partnership supported by government and the five district councils which have parts of the hills in their areas. The Partnership, which is currently recruiting staff and will be initially based in the offices of the Collin Glen Trust, has an impressive programme to improve conditions in the hills, and including for those who live there. Perhaps above all its work will encourage a greater public commitment to the protection of what remains a uniquely valuable if fragile resource for us all. Its work should make it more difficult for those whose only motivation is financial gain; it should make it easier for those who are merely unthinking to think again.

JOHN GRAY

WATERWORKS DOWN THE DRAIN?
Fill in the lower pond at the Waterworks and build a leisure centre there. Writing this on 1st April it reads like a classic April Fools Day joke. If only it was. Instead, it is an immediate threat, and a classic example of how little our politicians actually care about the environment, or, at least, of how easily they will sacrifice it when it seems politically expedient.

The Water Works is an historic feature built in the 1840's to provide Belfast's water supply. Right up until the late 1960's it was actively used for a whole range of outdoor activities organised by the Council including boating, fishing and swimming. Council promotional literature described it as 'Belfast's inland seaside resort'. Thirty years of gross neglect have not destroyed its inherent and unique attractiveness. It remains important as an inner city nature reserve, and as part of a green wedge running into the City. It is heavily used by walkers of all ages. The children's playgrounds are popular, as is the new multi-sports facility. All these uses, with the exception of the multi-sports facility, are on a free access basis, unlike the pay-in environment of a leisure centre. How could such a proposal emerge? What is not in question is that mainly Nationalist areas in North Belfast have long felt deprived of proper leisure facilities, and with considerable justice. Travel to other centres in mainly loyalist areas is a problem for young people in particular. The new balance on the City Council has enhanced Nationalist bargaining power. Trade-offs with Unionists are now possible - one leisure centre for you, one for us. East Belfast gets one, North Belfast gets one.

Now the race is on between the SDLP and Sinn Fein to prove that they were instrumental in getting North Belfast's entitlement, and to get it built as fast as possible before the window of opportunity closes. In this political steeplechase, no one questions the logic of separate leisure centres for separate communities. The pattern, by which Belfast has 17 leisure centres while a similar sized city like Sheffield has 3 really good ones, will continue. As for the new North Belfast leisure centre, no one stops to think too hard about siting it. Simply getting it is the be all and end all of it. Then, take a brief look, and isn't the Waterworks the largest vacant plot in an otherwise densely packed area? Certainly over the years the City Council have done their best through wilful neglect to ensure that the Waterworks can be perceived as a vacant plot. Look at the mud bank at the top of the lower pond. After prolonged wrangling over cost and procedures, it appears that the Council has now decided to dredge the lower pond, but only because of the immediate health and safety risk, not because of any amenity considerations. See how they have removed all the flowering shrubs in the lower part of the park ostensibly to remove cover for drinkers, drug-dealers, and glue sniffers. So the ground seemed well prepared for a consultation exercise with a pre-ordained outcome. A Council questionnaire was hardly distributed at all, and in any case asked general questions about leisure centre provision in Belfast, rather than adequately exploring the Waterworks issue, let alone enabling informed responses to it. The Council's website actually shows three possible locations in the Waterworks (see link at the end of this article) and gives no information about the size of the proposed facility or about what it will contain. We may presume that the favoured option does embrace the lower pond, because Sinn Fein have consulted 'environmentalists' about the effect on bird life there. Apparently the birds don't mind being moved. One would have loved to be in on this consultation exercise with the large population of mute swans: perhaps the geese, pochard, and tufted ducks were more talkative!

If they were hoping for an easy ride on all this, they were in for a rude shock. Consultation meetings held in Manor Street and Newington were well attended and the majority expressed resolute opposition to any proposal to damage the Waterworks. Here were those living in the area apparently looking a gift horse in the mouth. What they were saying is that they do not want a leisure centre at any price, and especially if that price is to be the partial destruction of the unique community asset of the Waterworks. Perhaps the immediate hostile reaction to the proposal will lead to second thoughts. We hope so. Already we hear one response along the lines that it is up to opponents of the scheme to come up with an alternative location for the proposed leisure centre. No! The Waterworks should never have been proposed as a leisure centre site, and it is the task of political leaders to come up a solution other than one suitable only for April Fools Day. You can see the map showing the proposed locations for the new leisure centre at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/leisurereview/Proposed_LC_Sites.asp

JOHN GRAY

RESURRECTION OF THE CHAPEL?
In a recent exchange of letters on the subject of listed buildings in The Times a correspondent argued convincingly that the protection of such buildings is a recognized public good, and that is why ownership rights are circumscribed in the interests of the community. To that extent, listed buildings are protected in much the same way as archaeological sites and wildlife habitats. That is, of course, the theory; in practice, public bodies in Northern Ireland have often failed to take action to prevent the unauthorised demolition of many listed buildings, and in other cases, the destruction of many fine buildings has been facilitated by de-listing them. A building of historical importance and - now, much diminished architectural distinction - which is threatened with oblivion is the Chapel of the Resurrection just below Belfast Castle.

Originally Belfast Castle Chapel it was designed by Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon, in what Paul Larmour describes as the Decorated Gothic style, and completed in 1869 as a mortuary chapel for the Earl of Belfast who had died in 1853. The mortal remains of the Earl and those of four of his immediate relatives, including his mother who died in Paris in 1860, were transferred to the Chapel from the Chichester family vaults in Carrickfergus and re-interred in a crypt cut into the rock under the chapel. In 1934 the Earl of Shaftesbury presented his estate on the slopes of Cavehill, and the Castle to the City. Four years later the Chapel of the Resurrection was transferred without endowment to the Church of Ireland and, in conjunction with St Peter's Church on the Antrim Road, services continued to be held in the Chapel throughout the Second World War. Thereafter it was used rarely and in 1972 it was deconsecrated and closed. Furnishings were distributed to other churches, most notably St Peter's, and a white marble monument of the young Earl being mourned by his mother is now to be found in the City Hall. The Chapel was listed in 1974 and sold by the Church of Ireland in 1988. As with so many vacant buildings, it was repeatedly vandalised and is now in a sorry state of disrepair. Its present owner is P J Conway (Contractors) Ltd and the land on which it is situated is being developed for private residences. Recently however the BBC has shown some interest in including the Chapel of the Resurrection in a new series of television programmes on the restoration of listed buildings under threat.

"Once lost, listed buildings cannot be replaced…They represent a finite resource and irreplaceable asset and contribute to the quality of the built environment". Who could argue with such sentiments? One is heartened even more by the fact that it appears in the preamble to Planning Policy Statement 6, published by the Planning Service. This document goes on to point out that the destruction of a historic building is very seldom necessary, and pleads for such buildings to be incorporated into new developments or for new uses to be found for them (Policy BH 10). Consent to demolish a listed building, it avers, will not be given simply because redevelopment is economically more attractive to the developer than repair; and demolition of a Grade A or Grade B+ building (the Chapel of the Resurrection is in the latter category) should be wholly exceptional and undertaken only after permission has been granted and the building appropriately recorded.

It is not unfair to say that in Northern Ireland neither private owners nor public bodies have a reputation for seeing themselves as zealous custodians of the country's architectural heritage. All too often demolition or calculated decay are regarded as the easy options. In the recent elections, Planning issues and environmental considerations did not feature prominently in the manifestoes of the main political parties. Concerted and sustained pressure by organizations such as the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society and the Environment and Heritage Service, supported by residents' associations, can however make a difference. The Planning Service has provision for compulsory acquisition as a last resort. If an owner cannot maintain or restore an important building such, as the Chapel of the Resurrection, or if he is not interested in doing so, sale or leasing to a restoring purchaser may be a possibility, and one that is allowed for in the rubric of the Planning Service. Those who see the Chapel of the Resurrection as an important building in its own right, as well as an architecturally significant part of an ensemble of buildings comprising Belfast Castle itself, and the former Castle Gate Lodge at Strathmore Park, like to think that it may yet be saved.

[ Belfast's Original Black Man: The Young Earl 1827-1853 by Brendan Colgan was an important source in the preparation of this article.]

EDWARD McCAMLEY

THE CAVES - A PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
There are five caves in total in a nearly sheer basalt face about 93 metres high. Only one is reasonably accessible and another one can be reached with care. The other three cannot nowadays be safely reached without climbing skills and the appropriate equipment. Basalt, it should be noted is a notoriously bad rock for climbing; it is greasy, crumbly and with rounded holds and the climb should not be attempted. The first cave is situated is just above the main path to the top of Cave Hill. It is nowadays about four metres above the path and can be climbed into with a modicum of care. The soil below it has eroded away badly in the last hundred years; there is a line on the rock just below the lip of the cave which seems to show where rock has recently been exposed. This is borne out by a photo in the Welch collection which shows a lady with crinolines and parasol perched in the entrance. There is also a sketch (undated but nineteenth or possibly eighteenth century) in the F J Bigger collection in the City Library which also shows the soil level up to the mouth of the cave. It is the second-largest cave, measuring about six metres from entrance to rear, six and a half metres across and two metres or so in height. This second cave cannot be seen from below.

The best physical description occurs in a detailed survey published by Philip Reynolds and Samuel Turner in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology vol 8 no 2 (1902) and I have taken the liberty of reproducing a drawing by Joseph Carey, which the authors of the article used.

The second cave can be reached by scrambling up the soil to the left of the first cave and then climbing up a five metre sheer cliff. This leads to a secure ledge system and this in turn leads to both the second cave and a shallow hollow in the face called 2A in Carey's diagram. This second hollow was known as the lion's den according to the old sketch map. They are about twenty three metres above cave 1. This second cave is the smallest of the five being about three metres deep, nearly three metres wide and less than two metres high. The other three caves form a connected system. Folk memory indicates access to them via a dangerous horizontal path across the cliff to cave 3 and the UJA article also refers to access this way. That path is now eroded away and such access is now impossible. The sketch in the Bigger collection shows a winding path from ledge to ledge going up from slightly to the right of cave 2. That access is also now not possible. It is possible to reach the fourth cave by climbing vertically up from the ledges above and to the left of cave 2 but it is a serious rock-climbing exercise; six metres of treacherous basalt. Although its entrance is small, cave 4 is the largest cave, being about nine metres deep, five metres wide and over two metres high at its highest. Near the back, on the right is an earth ramp leading to a hole in the ceiling and through which you emerge onto the floor of cave 3. This cave is about six metres deep, three and a half metres wide and less than two metres high. The mouth of the fifth cave is on the top right corner of cave 3 as viewed from below the caves. Access involves a slight exposed scramble at the mouth of cave 3 and this opens into a cave four and a half metres deep, five metres wide and two and a half metres high.

On my last visit, a number of years ago, there was little evidence of human visitation other than two religious inscriptions. The difficulty of access ensures their preservation. Little is known for definite about them and their history and what has been written is largely speculation. In a future article, I intend to bring together what is known and gather together any references to them.

CORMAC HAMILL

THE GREAT CAVE HILL RIGHT OF WAY CASE
Those of us who today encourage access to the Cave Hill and more generally the Belfast Hills follow in a distinguished tradition. The Association for the Protection of Public Rights of Way in and around Belfast, a pioneer in the field, was formed in 1856 specifically to defend the public right of access to the Cave Hill. It went on to win a famous court case in 1859, which secured the historic right of way up the hill above Gray's Lane and via the Volunteer Well. In 1855 one Joseph Magill blocked off the route and began construction of his imposing villa, Martlett Towers close to the old path. To add insult to injury the historic Volunteer Well was to be enclosed within the outbuildings of the new edifice.

Magill had obtained the land by inheritance from his father-in-law, Andrew Nash. Nash was a colourful character, a navy lieutenant from Cork who fell in love with and married Sarah Orr 'The Flower of Cave Hill', and owner of the lands later at issue. Nash was a bon-viveur who lived beyond his means until, as Francis Joseph Biggar tells us, his creditors were in such hot pursuit that there was 'often only one safe day in the week (Sunday) for him to walk abroad'. Joseph Magill was a would-be businessman and speculative developer and must have seemed a godsend to Nash in his straitened financial position. When Martlett Towers was completed and the path closed off there was little sign of the storm to come. The customary Easter Monday Fair below the caves could not take place, but there was no immediate protest and Magill could in any case pose on the side of morality because by 1856 the fair was in decline and disapproved of by the clergy of all denominations as an occasion of drunken debauchery. What Magill and his father-in-law failed to anticipate were the strong feelings of the most respectable citizens in the area, including their own neighbours. The Rights of Way Association rapidly recruited 68 members including both of Belfast's MPs.

Magill refused to negotiate on the matter and eventually, in 1858, the Rights of Way Association took him to court and successfully prosecuted him for obstructing a public highway. Magill appealed the verdict in August 1859. The appeal case ran for five days and was a public sensation. Not only were the proceedings fully covered in the local papers, but at the conclusion the Northern Whig also rushed out a full 88-page transcript. This remains an invaluable source not only for the affair itself, but also for the whole social history of the Cave Hill from the late18th century onwards. The oldest prosecution witness was 89-year-old James Grimshaw, Vice-President of the Rights of Way Association, and senior member of the Grimshaw dynasty of cotton manufacturers from Greencastle. He could remember the Volunteers enjoying free access to the Volunteer Well in the previous century. [The Volunteers were a Protestant militia formed in 1778 to counter the threat of a French invasion of Ireland during the American War of Independence. They quickly espoused radical politics and helped to obtain greater independence for the Irish Parliament and further relaxation of the Penal Laws against Catholics.] Other evidence was given about use of the path as a traditional route from Geeencastle over the Cave Hill to Glenavy, and as a route of access to numerous small limestone quarry workings on the face of the hill.

Most telling of all was evidence about the Easter Monday Fair. Andrew Nash claimed that he constantly warned people off the hill, but admitted that he had encouraged "more respectable" visitors. But his own tenant, Patrick McHale, who had lived in a small cottage immediately behind the Volunteer Well described far more general access. He and his wife Biddy had sold food and poteen to passers by, and on Easter Monday itself Biddy had done a roaring poteen trade with the revellers at the bottom cave. Nash's attempt to describe limited access by landlord invitation for the select few was discredited. Worse still, his own architect, Robert Young, also gave evidence against him. He stated that he had understood that there would be 'a path left along the wall at Mr Nash's mearing for the public'. Since childhood Young, who was a keen amateur geologist, had rambled the Cave Hill and he was doubly offended by Magill's bad faith. Magill lost the case, and was effectively ruined by it. In the 1880s, when the much richer and more powerful Donegalls wished to alter the route of the traditional path, they had to proceed with great care, and by act of parliament. Nothing remains of Martlett Towers except for the gate lodge facing the top of Gray's Lane - a cautionary tale for speculative developers!

JOHN GRAY

BIG HOUSES OF THE ANTRIM ROAD
If you walk along the Antrim Road, Somerton Road or Fortwilliam Park you will still see many examples of grand old residences dating back to the late 1800's. Although much has been lost to the developers, enough survives to remind you of former glories. This area of North Belfast was a desirable place to live, with its views of Belfast Lough competing with the majestic backdrop of the Cave Hill. No wonder many wealthy bankers, merchants and shipping magnates set up home in the area. One of the most exclusive addresses was Fortwilliam Park which runs from the Antrim Road down to the Shore Road. Majestic pillars and gates designed by William Barre and constructed by William Valentine stood either end of the park. The Antrim Road gates were Gothic in style while the Shore Road ones were more classical. In the street directory of 1877, Fortwilliam Park had the following entries:

Ardsallagh: John Rogers (wire manufacturer)
Rosaville: Hugh White (wine merchant)
St.Orans: Major-General MacPherson
Walton: Robert Thompson (linen merchant)
Kileen: Robert Porter (Director of York St flax mill)
Somerset: Doctor William McKeown
Lisbreen House: Major-General Bell
Firmount: Richard Pring (Grattan Chemists)
Barnageeha: John McFerran (merchant)
Dunlambert: Henry Matier (linen manufacturer)
Fortwilliam House: Miss Murray (tobacco manufacturer).
Also listed was George Langtry (merchant &ship owner) whose grandson married the famous Jersey Lily, later mistress of King Edward VII.

Many place names in the vicinity now carry the names of the old houses there previously:
Jennymount, a battle-mounted house surrounded by many acres of parkland, built in 1785 by Robert Thompson later renamed Castleton.
Mount Collyer, residence of Dr. James Drummond (Unitarian minister) also used as a boys boarding school in the early1830's.
The Grove, originally inhabited by James Carson in 1807, finally used as the District HQ of the Ulster Special Constabulary before demolition in 1926.
Somerton House, the present day Northern Hospice, previously the preparatory Dept. of Belfast High School.
The Throne, once the residence of Sir Samuel Ferguson (famous Irish poet) was named by him because it lies close to the MacArt's Fort (Cave Hill). In the fort was reputed to be a coronation throne used by the O'Neill clan.
Ard Righ (situated opposite Park Lodge School and demolished in 1986), was the home of Francis Joseph Biggar (1863-1926), author, lawyer and Gaelic scholar.

Footnote…Many homes in this area had turret towers so that the residents (many of whom were ship-owners) could watch the arrival and departure of their vessels and possibly spy on their workers at the docks!

GERALDINE BIRCH

MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE BELFAST HILLS
For the last few years Katherine Hall (a fellow committee member of the Cave Hill Conservation Campaign) and I have been working to improve the environment of a 50 acre site in the Belfast Hills. So far, we have planted over 13,000 native Irish trees such as blackthorn, hawthorn and willow - species which are particularly suited to the climate, insects and wildlife of this area. Whilst there have been many delights and disappointments along the way, we both feel that we have made real progress in improving the environmental value of the site and are looking forward to seeing it come to life over the coming weeks. We are currently at the planning stage of the next phase in our habitat improvement plans. Within the next year we hope to add a number of ponds in order to provide a source of water for birds and mammals and to a spawning ground for frogs, toads and perhaps newts.

Our plans also include retaining an area of upper grassland for the endangered skylark population. Due to overgrazing in previous years the site was not meeting the needs of the skylarks, but a small number had clung on. We are now lucky enough to have six breeding pairs and hope that this year will add a few more to the growing population. We also intend to create a habitat for a local sand-martin population that have been displaced from their home by human encroachment. This is the most risky of our projects as it may be hard to relocate a floundering population, but if we don't try we'll never know if it is possible! A wild flower meadow is another improvement which we hope to make over the coming months and we hope that this will attract all different types of butterfly. By adding a number of native wild flower species we intend to complement the surrounding woodland, wetland and heathland to create a mini eco-system that will enable a number of species to co-exist thereby further improving the conservation value of the site for all forms of local wildlife. If anyone is interested in participating in our efforts over the summer period and is prepared to help us to achieve some of the above, your help would be much appreciated! I can be contacted on 90848551.

MARTIN McDOWELL

GREY SQUIRRELS ARE HERE TO STAY
Grey squirrels have been present on the Cave Hill for several years while reds have been absent for at least twenty years. So the reds had gone from the area long before the greys appeared. Love them or hate them - the grey of the species seems to be here to stay. The grey squirrel is a native of the forests of the eastern United States and was introduced to Ireland in 1911 when a wedding gift consisting of three pairs were released in Castle Forbes estate in Co Longford. Their descendants have now spread throughout much of the country and have been highly successful in establishing themselves.

Grey squirrels are primarily seed eaters but they will eat a wide range of foodstuffs, including shoots, buds, flowers, bark, lichens, mosses, adult insects and larvae, and even birds eggs and nestlings. In some places, they cause considerable damage to trees through bark-stripping. Beech, sycamore and oak are the most frequently attacked species but other favourites include birch ash, hornbeam, maple and sweet chestnut. A further problem with greys is the serious threat they pose to the important hazel wood habitat area above the zoo. The problem with grey squirrels is that they strip the hazel nuts in September, before they are ripe enough to germinate. As a result, the hazel woods fail to regenerate naturally. This has become a serious problem in England, in areas where no attempt is made to control the number of greys. Grey squirrels live for eight to nine years, which is roughly double the lifespan of the red, and are also adept at scavenging for food in urban areas. Many of us can already confirm that they are good at raiding bird tables and trashing nut feeders (you can get squirrel- proof feeders but they cost more). Depending on food supply, they can breed twice a year and usually produce three young per litter.

The red squirrel is one our oldest animals, having arrived in Ireland at the end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago. But it was in fact driven to extinction during the 18th century, as a result of deforestation and over-hunting for pelts. The red was then re-introduced from England during the 19th century and our current population of reds is derived from these re-introductions. Studies have shown that as soon as the grey colonises an area, the red disappears. It has been suggested that the greys carry a disease (parapoxvirus) to which they are immune but when they pass this on to the resident reds it proves fatal. Red squirrels favour large areas of mature, coniferous woodland and some of our large conifer plantations are providing a haven for them. The reds require the presence of species such as Norway spruce and Scots pine but the greys also avoid areas dominated by Sitka spruce. It could be that the much-maligned conifer plantations will help the reds to survive in Ireland.

EDITOR

Editorial Comment
Cableway Still a Threat
Native Birdlife in Belfast Zoo
The Caves

Wildlife on Cave Hill
Cave Hill Quiz
Millennium Projects Update
The Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan

Editorial Comment
NEW STRATEGY NEEDED FOR THE CAVE HILL
An unprecedentedly dry and sunny early spring. It is the season when the Cave Hill burns. This year we could already have faced disastrous damage if it were not for the prompt response of the Fire Brigade, who have already on a number of occasions limited the damage done by mindless vandals. Our thanks to the fire-fighters. Truth to tell there are worse threats to the Cave Hill, which go on all year whether rain or shine. As we report elsewhere, we have at least temporarily stalled potentially devastating plans for a cableway to the very summit of Cave Hill. The notion of instant travel to the summit of the Cave Hill, and regardless of environmental cost, is what could be described as a hardy perennial, which is not easily burnt off. There was the pre First World War plan for a railway to the summit, a plan for a ski slope in the late 1970's, and consultants' proposals for a cableway in the early 1990's. Meanwhile the world has moved on and generally, if painfully slowly, we are more appreciative of unique environmental assets. Yet here we were in late 2002 with the Parks and Amenities Committee of Belfast City Council seriously discussing yet another Neanderthal cableway proposal! Part of the Council's problem is that it has no firm policy for the Cave Hill. If it had clearly committed itself to the overriding importance of preserving the hill as a natural amenity, and as such a huge asset to the city, then the temptation to consider any would-be developer's notions would not arise. Since the Cave Hill Conservation Campaign was formed we have had to resist a succession of such proposals, and not just relating to cableways. While some councillors have opposed plans of this kind on environmental grounds, it has to be said that for the majority the environment is not an issue. Plans have most often fallen because of the failure of the would-be developers to bring sufficient ready cash to the table. Such indeed was the case with the new proposal by the Bellevue Cableway Group. Meanwhile, while council officers do their best with very limited resources, there is little sign of an on-going and coherent management strategy for the Cave Hill. This may be part of a wider malaise with regard to the council's management of its parks: one thinks of a heavily used inner city park like the Waterworks, which is broadly a scene of dereliction and which also provides an alfresco venue for drinkers, drug takers, and glue sniffers, who entertain themselves in full view of North Belfast's largest police station. If they cannot begin to manage the problem there, the Cave Hill drinkers, who menacingly frequent the path above the Old Cave Hill Road, can rely on a free reign.

There is a particular problem in respect of the Cave Hill. As the one truly wild space (different forms of wildness inhabit the others parks!), the Cave Hill requires tailor- made and different strategies to the other parks. The question has to arise, after many years of disappointing experience, as to whether the council can provide a special focus on the needs of the Cave Hill. However, there is another option for the council. A new and powerful Belfast Hills Partnership is finally due to come into existence this summer, and with powers to manage land. If, as is hoped, the National Trust acquires Divis later this year, it will work with the new Belfast Hills Partnership in managing the area. Meanwhile the City Council, and commendably, is supporting the creation of the Belfast Hills Partnership, as are almost all other interests in the area, including the Cave Hill Conservation Campaign. Perhaps the City Council should consider entering into an arrangement with the Belfast Hills Partnership to manage at least the upper areas of the Cave Hill. This would a major step forward.

JOHN GRAY

CABLEWAY PLAN STILL A THREAT
In the 2002 Cave Hill Campaigner we were guilty of complacency. We suggested that the era of grandiose and environmentally damaging schemes for the Cave Hill was over, and that the Council seemed to be more committed than ever before to the proper environmental management of the upper areas of the hill. Even as we wrote, the previously unknown Bellevue Cableway Group was lobbying individual councillors with regard to their plans for a cableway to the actual summit of Cave Hill and for a major building as a summit visitor centre. Within days they had announced their plans to the press, and to add insult to injury, had claimed that they had consulted with environmental groups. On 13th August they presented their plans to the Parks and Amenities Sub-Committee of the Council. Immediately following that meeting, at least one Councillor, Jim Rogers, publicly announced his support for the scheme. It was all a very good example of how the would-be developers get a running start over environmental groups, and also in terms of Council procedures. The Bellevue Group claimed that they could not actually consult environmental groups until they had presented their case to the Council. Council officers claimed that they could not inform their supposed close partners on the hill of the cableway plan because of confidentiality. In any case the Cableway Group got the first chance to present their case and win over councillors. Our turn did not come until October. By then, the Cableway Group had been more forthcoming with their plans. The proposed Cableway would run from the main entrance to the zoo, via an intermediary station just above the top perimeter of the zoo, and then to the summit of Cave Hill. The proposed visitor centre would have risen 5 metres above the summit and would have had a substantial 82.6 square metre/ 888 square feet 'footprint'.

The promoters estimated the capital cost at £5million to £6 million and suggested that 50 jobs would be created. In the absence of any detailed calculations from the promoters, we prepared estimated costings ourselves. These indicated that the project would run at a significant financial loss even if it managed to attract an average of 384 customers per day throughout the year. This would imply almost 1,200 customers per day in July. The cableway could carry up to 480 people to the summit in an hour which equates to over 4,000 visitors per day. This compares with the 200 walkers who reached the summit as counted by a Cave Hill Conservation Campaign survey on a fine summer's day in June 2002. It takes little imagination to perceive the devastating impact such an influx would have had on the fragile high hill environment of the Cave Hill. In responding to the proposal, we highlighted the threat to bird life, flora and fauna. We emphasised the threat to archaeological sites, not least because it was proposed to locate the visitor centre on top of one! Path erosion and safety were also significant issues. Bizarrely, the promoters suggested that their proposals would improve the environment. There would be less wear and tear on paths up and down the hill (everyone would go by cableway). If visitors left the summit visitor centre, wear on summit paths would be reduced by the installation of boardwalks. The summit visitor centre would be made of environmentally friendly material. Summit rangers would police the whole area. It is quite possible that some Councillors would have rested quite content with these fig leaves of assurance. There were, however, inescapable facts, or lack of them, that they could not evade. The Bellevue Cableway Group was not even constituted as a company, it had no business or marketing plan, and could provide no evidence of having any financial backing. Unpleasant visions of a need for Council financial backing began to surface.

The Committee decided to take 'no further action in the matter'. Note well that they did not decide that the construction of a cableway to the summit was against Council policy. If that was the position they would not have entertained the Bellevue Cableway Group in the first place. Nor did they decide to reject the proposal. They merely decided that the matter 'should not be considered further until an official and detailed proposal has been submitted … by the Bellevue Cableway Group'. This is a deplorable stance, and one which can only offer encouragement to any group which has a money-making scheme for the Cave Hill. Say, for example, that you and a group of friends, in the pub of a night, and over a pint or few, come up with a scheme to mine for the Cave Hill Diamond, then the City Hall awaits you with open arms!

JOHN GRAY

NATIVE BIRDLIFE IN BELFAST ZOO
Visitors to Belfast Zoo will be familiar with the zoo's extensive collection of rare and beautiful birds - including cockatoos, pheasants and waterfowl. However, they are probably less aware that the zoo plays host to many species of native wild birds. With the help of fellow keepers, I have recorded a total of 57 native species, of which 23 actually breed in the zoo grounds. These are impressive numbers by any standard, but the main reason is not hard to guess - namely an abundance of food! Natural food includes the shrub cotoneaster (for thrushes and warblers), beechmast and seedling weeds (finches), and small invertebrates such as spiders and flies (wrens, wagtails and swallows). Of course, many birds take full advantage of the free meals available from the animal enclosures. For example, greenfinches, blue tits and house sparrows will often fly into the parrot enclosure to help themselves to sunflower seeds and other grain. Robins - always remarkable for their boldness - will often hang about when animals are being fed, hoping for a morsel of cheese or even a piece of fat from the tiger's lunch! Another attraction for the birds is the security provided by the extensive plantings within the zoo perimeter. This gives cover for small birds which need to escape the attentions of predators such as sparrowhawks, as well as offering nesting opportunities.

Some of the species - such as swifts, song thrushes and even house sparrows - are in serious decline in both Ireland and Britain from a combination of loss of habitat (from tree-felling and building in the greenbelt) and changes in farming, especially the use of herbicides and pesticides which combine to reduce the food from weeds and invertebrates. Ploughing-in of cereal stubble in autumn may enable the farmer to plant a winter crop, but deprives many birds of winter food. The range of species (see the lists below) includes both our tallest and smallest birds, namely the grey heron - 39 inches long and more common in wetlands than the Cave Hill - and the goldcrest - at 3.5 inches it is slightly smaller than the wren. Five species of birds of prey have been seen - sparrowhawk (currently enjoying a big revival), kestrel, peregrine and long eared owl. All of these breed within the vicinity of the zoo and at least one pair of sparrowhawks breeds in the zoo grounds.

The following five lists group the birds into appropriate categories. Of course, some appear in more than one.

Birds which are resident all year: Grey heron, grey lag goose, mallard, sparrowhawk, mallard, kestrel, peregrine, pheasant, moorhen, black-headed gull, herring gull, lesser black-backed gull, wood pigeon, collared dove, long-eared owl, grey wagtail, pied wagtail, wren, dunnock, robin, blackbird, song thrush, mistle thrush, goldcrest, long-tailed tit, coal tit, blue tit, great tit, treecreeper, magpie, jackdaw, rook, hooded crow, raven, starling, chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, bullfinch, linnet, water-rail, coot, little grebe.

Summer visitors: Swallow, swift, house martin, chiffchaff, willow warbler, spotted flycatcher.

Winter visitors: Fieldfare, red poll, redwing, black cap, siskin, woodcock, merlin.

Birds which breed in the zoo grounds: Mallard, sparrowhawk, moorhen, wood pigeon, collared dove, swallow, grey wagtail, pied wagtail, wren, dunnock, robin, blackbird. song thrush, mistle thrush, chiffchaff, goldcrest, coal tit, blue tit, great tit, tree creeper, house sparrow, chaffinch, greenfinch.

Birds in decline: Swift, house martin, house sparrow, song thrush, willow warbler, spotted flycatcher, bullfinch.

RAYMOND ROBINSON, Zookeeper
This is an edited version of an article which appeared in the Belfast Zoo magazine in 2001. We are grateful to Raymond for his permission to reproduce it here. If you want to see more birdlife in your garden, think about putting out food, such as peanuts and seeds. You should remember the danger from cats and you may need to get squirrel-proof feeders, but it won't be long before you see some birds!

THE CAVES
The caves, which may have given the hill its name inspired the Irish poet Sir Samuel Ferguson to write stories of Corby McGilmore, a rogue and villain who would use the caves as hideouts for his prisoners. It is from these caves, so the story goes, that McGilmore would invite his prisoners to escape, if they dared. There are five caves in all but little is known of their history. Man made, they are cut from the rock like others around Belfast at Ballymartin and Donegore. According to the Ulster Journal of Archaeology "No distinct age can be credited with their formation, as no direct evidence of the occupation has been discovered. The floors of each are cut in the solid rock and there is no accumulation of ages to contain any implements or other articles". The first cave is at ground level and can be easily entered. About seventy-five feet higher up, on a ledge, is the second cave; on another ledge about one hundred and thirty feet above the entrance to the first are the third, fourth and fifth caves. The entrance to the first cave was originally in the shape of a door and measured just three feet six inches across. Its inner walls still show that it was fashioned with some regard to regularity of form. The entrance to the second cave is made by climbing the ledge that runs up and across the face of the cliff- a difficult and dangerous climb. It is the smallest cave of the five, but is the best formed, its roof being dome shaped. The ledge by which the third, fourth and fifth caves are reached has its beginning to the west of the entrance cave, but the climb is even more dangerous than that leading to the second, and many lives have been lost attempting it. The fourth and fifth caves are entered through the third, a tunnel connects them. The fourth is the largest of the caves and has a window or opening situated near its entrance. At the bottom of this window, which is well formed and has a rounded top, a channel has been cut in the rock, six inches deep, for the purpose of draining off the rain water that would otherwise flood the interior. The fifth cave is situated above the third and is reached from the latter by steps cut in the cliff. Although no evidence of the caves' occupation has been discovered, stories are told of the famous Ness O'Haughan, the highwayman from the Braid valley, having used them as a hideout for himself and his band.

CATHERINE McWILLIAMS

CAVE HILL QUIZ 2003

Solve the riddles to reveal the hidden word:
1. To maintain and improve, that's our game, Ben Madigan by another name.
2. A treasure hunt if you please, this family will bring you to your knees.
3. Climb my face? Yes you may, revolution - s'il vous plait!
4. Look out MacGilmores, here they come, wild and untamed from father to son.
5. Roll up, roll down, it's time for the fair, music and poteen filled the air.
6. Kneel down a minute and say a prayer that this old building might repair.
7. Put your name forward, come here, sign up, want a drink, well where's your cup?
8. A royal edifice, known to inspire, replaced by flats, bigger or higher.
9. A chair made of stone, tumbled down, filled by a man sporting a crown.
10. From the top of the hill, a pledge so true, a united approach for Roisin Dubh.
11. Naoise will send your back a shiver, this 'Tory in Arms' shouts 'Stand and Deliver'
12. Lend a hand there's work to be done, to protect and save this worldly mum.

As usual, our thanks go to Ruairi McClenaghan for compiling the quiz.

For the answers, click here

PROJECTS UPDATE
The Cave Hill Millennium Maze
The maze was officially opened by Margaret Crooks of Belfast City Council Parks and Amenities Section on Thursday 7th November 2002. It was also the opening of the revamped Cave Hill Visitors Centre in Belfast Castle and the Millennium Herb Garden. The beech trees in the maze are growing well, although unfortunately, due to vandalism, a few have been pulled out and destroyed. I am very proud of the cat mosaic which looks really well although a few finishing touches still have to be put to it. When I decided to incorporate a cat themed mosaic as the centrepiece of the maze I asked the P6 pupils of the three primary schools involved (Cavehill Primary, Ben Madigan Preparatory, and Park Lodge) to draw pictures of cats and these were given to the artist Angela George to pick the most suitable. It was a very difficult task as all the pictures were very good. However, after a lot of deliberation Angela decided that the picture drawn by Anne Crummey age 9 years of Park Lodge fitted the bill, and I think you will agree if you visit the Maze that a first class choice was made. The Maze can be clearly seen from McArt's Fort and is already drawing quite a lot of interest and visitors to the Castle grounds. It is an ongoing project and I hope to have gravel paths laid and work carried out to the steps leading into it. A plinth will be erected at the entrance providing information for visitors of the history of its creation. I think it's well worth a visit, so please the next time your are in the area please do walk round to the site of the old rose garden and decide for yourselves!
LOUISE WILSON

The Truth About Trees
FACT: Trees are important. Why should they matter to you? They produce the air you breathe and can help to offset the catastrophic effects of global climate change that has been wreaking havoc on the world's weather in recent years. FACT: The government is running a campaign to encourage people to recycle, reuse and but not enough people realise they need to do anything. What can you do? " If you work in an office or have a home printer, use recycled paper. " Recycle your newspapers and bottles - it's as easy to collect them as it is to throw them in the bin! " Think before you buy hardwood products such as mahogany - could they have originated from the rainforests that (most of) the world's governments are trying to protect? " Plant an extra tree in your garden or plant a hedge instead of buying a new wooden fence. " Educate and encourage your children and family to respect the environment around them. " If you are a student, write on both sides of the page! The project which I have been involved in has succeeded in planting over 11,000 trees in the Belfast Hills over the last three years. The City Council is to be congratulated for continually to plant trees alongside some of our major roads whilst groups including the Cave Hill Conservation Campaign and even volunteers from the Social Security Agency have been actively involved in planting a significant number of trees in the Belfast Castle Estate. This is all good work and very important but of course trees don't grow overnight. FACT: It takes longer to fix the problems of our society than it does to cause them. The overall effect of tree planting on the environment is reduced by every person in Belfast who continues to throw away their rubbish and contributes to making Belfast a poorer place to live in. Please recycle and help to put something back. Everyone has a part to play. Governments, councils and voluntary bodies can't fix things on their own. What is needed is the collective support and co-operation of everyone who is reading this now. For every magazine or newspaper you throw away, it is taking others longer to grow that amount of wood to replace that magazine. What are you going to do when you finish reading this magazine?
MARTIN McDOWELL

The Millennium Herb Garden
The millennium herb garden at Belfast Castle is now well established, despite attacks from winter weather. When the annuals are replaced after Easter, we can look forward to a colourful and fragrant display. Hopefully, this will coincide with the visit to the castle on Thursday 19 June of Barbara Pilchar, the well-known herbalist who can be heard on Radio Ulster's gardening programme. She will give a talk called "Salad days" as part of an evening of looking and learning about herbs. The talk will start at 7.30pm and admission will be £2.50 at the door - proceeds go to our Cave Hill Conservation Campaign. Everyone is welcome!
GERALDINE BIRCH

BELFAST METROPOLITAN URBAN PLAN (BMAP)
One of the more obvious features of the growth of Belfast in recent times - and a process whose lineaments are very clear from the summit of Cavehill - has been the sprawl of the city into the surrounding farmlands and communities. In this respect at least Belfast has tended to follow an American rather than a European model of urban growth. Many of the developments are driven by commercial calculation rather than any discernible civic interest. Around the base of Cave Hill the Antrim Road area has increasingly seen the demolition of family homes - many of which were of architectural merit and historical significance - and their replacement by high density apartment complexes. Apart from the changing demographic profile, characteristically from family units to single occupancy, the scale of apartment development will place an increasing strain on the local infrastructure. The number of private cars launched onto the Antrim Road area will hugely increase the flow of traffic into and out of Belfast from the rapidly expanding communities based on Glengormley and Carmoney. The irony of this, as Alan Jones points out in the January edition of Fortnight magazine, is that Northern Ireland is supposed to have a brown-field led housing regime. That means that new houses should mainly be built on land which has previously been developed, and not in green-field areas. But Jones insists that Northern Ireland has no senior planners who know how to make this policy work. The result is the kind of sprawl that is now so familiar, with increasing pressure of traffic on the main arterial routes. Ultimately, as Jones points out, this is socially and environmentally unsustainable.

Just last year the Planning Service produced a glossy catalogue of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP). Complete with an agreeable photograph of the Cave Hill, this publication reflects on the importance of the physical and cultural heritage of the city and proclaims the need to balance economic development with effective protection of the environment. Some of the features which apparently are to be taken into account are sites of local nature conservation, areas of high scenic value, and landscape wedges separating urban communities. But it was the Cave Hill Conservation Campaign that first drew the attention of the public to a likely application for outline planning permission to build 160 houses on a 120 acre site occupied by a farm above Upper Cave Hill Road. This would be a major incursion into green-belt land and hugely destructive of the character of the area. The BMAP plan document was followed in February 2003 by publication of The Implementation Plan for Modernising the Planning Processes. It contains a pledge to engage with environmental groups as well as the public and community sector in the evolution of planning policies and proposals. This is to be welcomed. However, if residents are concerned about threats to the community that has grown up around the Cave Hill, the message that emerges from policy declarations of the Department of the Environment is that continuous pressure on the planning authorities can be effectively focused through community based organisations. To the older established Cave Hill organisation may now be added the Fortwilliam Action Committee (FAC) and the Cavehill Residents Action Group (CRAG.) If loosely regulated urban sprawl is to be avoided, and the fine sentiments expressed in the metropolitan plan are to become policy rather than public relations exercises, continuous scrutiny of - and sustained opposition to - unsympathetic development is absolutely essential.

EDWARD McCAMLEY

WILDLIFE ON CAVE HILL

For an area on the edge of a city, the Cave Hill has an abundance of wildlife. This is about some of the animals which live there, their history in Ireland and the threats they face.

Rabbits: Rabbits are not native to Ireland and were introduced by the Normans as an important source of meat and fur. They probably became established in the wild soon after this period and became numerous over the following two hundred years. Domestic and wild rabbits formed the basis of an important skin-export industry in the 17th and 18th centuries. The rabbit is generally regarded as a pest as it can cause major damage to crops and newly planted forests. The laboratory-developed disease Myxomatosis was released to control rabbits in the 1950s and was extremely successful. However, in recent times, rabbits have begun to develop resistance to this disease.

Hedgehogs: It is not clear when and how the hedgehog reached Ireland. It was certainly present in England from about 10,000 years ago, after the last ice age, and may have been introduced to Ireland by man sometime in the 13th century as a food source. Hedgehogs have been persecuted for their predation on eggs of game birds and waders (see the current attempt to remove them from Uist in the Hebridies, where they were introduced in 1974) although, in actual fact, damage was small. One of the most common road kill animals is the hedgehog with large numbers of deaths occurring during periods of peak abundance and at certain 'hotspots'. Hedgehogs are particularly vulnerable to garden pesticides and many are poisoned by eating slugs which have fed on the poisonous slug bait put out by gardeners. They are often caught and trapped in man-made objects with steep sides such as garden ponds and cattle grids. A wide publicity campaign a few years ago raised public awareness of the situation and suggested the solution of placing a plank within these structures so that the animals can escape. Hibernating hedgehogs reside within self-built nests with one of the most appealing spots being inside piles of garden bonfire material. Many hedgehogs are killed in this way - so check before lighting or, better still, move the pile to a 'burning site'. The hedgehog's main natural enemies are foxes and badgers.

Stoats: It is not known exactly when the stoat arrived in Ireland although it was probably present as long as 35,000 years ago. Confusingly, stoats in Ireland are often called weasels, although the weasel is in fact a smaller animal which has never been native here. Stoat numbers declined with the fall in the rabbit population due to myxomatosis, but now that the rabbit has become resistant to the virus, this prey item is once again available in large numbers. Stoats can be found in many locations, including woodland, farmland, mountain and hedgerows. The stoat is quite a ferocious animal and can kill prey more than five times its own body weight. However, small mammals such as mice and rats make up the majority of its diet.

Badgers: Badgers have been present in Ireland for about 10,000 years. They make their setts in a wide variety of places in woodland, scrub, hedgerows, moorland, open fields, embankments and occasionally under buildings. In Ireland, which has the smallest percentage of tree coverage in Western Europe, badgers are normally found in hedgerows and scrubland. Badgers are truly omnivorous, their diet depending upon availability. Small mammals such as rabbits, rats, mice and hedgehogs are taken as well as slugs, snails, large quantities of earthworms and large insects. They also eat vegetation, plant roots and an assortment of fruit. The badger does not appear to be under any major threat in Northern Ireland. However, bovine tuberculosis is present in about 8% of badgers. As a result, many cattle farmers view all badgers as a potential source of disease and there is now a threat of a more general cull as part of a government experiment. Current threats to badgers include the occasional exclusion due to property development and the cruel practice of badger baiting. The latter threat, although illegal, can be quite significant on a local scale.

Foxes: Fox bones have been found in archaeological sites dating from about 5,000 years ago, although it may have been present before this time. Foxes are becoming increasingly urbanised due to their ability to scavenge on discarded food. They are frequently seen at night in gardens and roads in the vicinity of the Cave Hill. Foxes have been generally considered vermin and every possible means has been used to kill them in Northern Ireland. From the early 1940's to the late 1970's, a bounty was paid for each fox killed, and during this time about 200,000 dead animals were submitted for the bounty. Today, foxes may be affecting the numbers of breeding waders in some parts of the country and may also be having an impact on Irish Hare populations. However, the evidence is scant. The few organised fox hunts on horseback in Northern Ireland probably have little impact on fox populations, apart from the terror they cause to the individual foxes hunted.

Source:
www.habitas.org.uk/nimars/

EDITOR

Quiz Answers:
1. C A V E H I L L
2. O N E I L L
3. N A P O L E O N
4. S A V A G E S
5. E A S T E R
6. R E S U R R E C T I O N
7. V O L U N T E E R S
8. A R D R I G H
9. T H R O N E
10. I R I S H M E N
11. O U T L A W
12. N A T U R E

Editorial Comment
Raising the Residents
The Cave Hill Country Park
The Chichester family in Belfast
The Sleeper above Belfast

Editorial Comment
WHERE IS THE BELFAST HILLS TRUST?
Painfully slow progress!

Achieving progress with regard to the conservation of the Belfast Hills would try the patience of a saint. Indeed, even the most miraculous of saints have rarely lived long enough to mount the kind of protracted campaigns needed to stop the damage in our Hills, let alone secure their future. Last year, we wrote in this magazine with relative optimism on the steady steps towards the creation of a powerful Belfast Hills Trust, which was due to come into operation in late 2000. Meanwhile, in an indication of a new outlook by the City Council, we had been consulted on the drafting of a Management Plan for the Cave Hill. A year on, nothing has happened on either front.

Most worrying is the failure to advance the Belfast Hills Trust. Remember that the very notion of a Belfast Hills Trust only arose when the Labour Direct Rule minister got cold feet over earlier promises of a Belfast Hills Regional Park. It was with some misgivings that environmental groups such as our own entered the process to define the objectives and powers of a Belfast Hills Trust - we were determined not to be associated with a fig leaf disguise for the abandonment by government of its responsibilities towards the Belfast Hills. In the event, we judged that the model for the Belfast Hills Trust agreed in early 2000 was a powerful one, capable of making a major beneficial impact in the Hills.

Unfortunately, it was a model opposed by the hill farmers (represented by the Ulster Farmers Union), who walked out of the working party, and who have done their best to undermine the proposition with senior civil servants and politicians ever since. At the recent Belfast Urban Area Plan consultation meeting in respect of the Belfast Hills, it was clear that there is actually a lot of common ground between farmers and environmentalists in respect of what is going wrong in the hills. It simply is that farmers appear to oppose either a planning or a management framework for the hills.

Can it be that government, in the face of behind the scenes lobbying, have once again got cold feet? Since the Belfast Hills Working Party agreed its proposals in March 2000 we have heard nothing further. There has been some discussion of the body's constitution, and a warning here - one way to ensure its still-birth would be to pack it with the same government and public bodies which have failed the hills thus far and to exclude environmental and community interests. There is talk of setting up a shadow trust, but we have not been consulted about this. Who is to be represented on the shadow trust? Why is a shadow trust needed rather than the real thing? Will a shadow trust not be in a powerful position to determine the nature of the final body, perhaps as a perpetual shadow of what was originally intended. Of course, all this may be the wildest paranoia. If so, let the Department of the Environment set all our minds at rest and declare its intentions, with an acceptable timescale.

Divis to be acquired by National Trust
Meanwhile, it is good to report that significant progress is being made in other ways. The National Trust, with Heritage Lottery Fund support, appears to be on the verge of acquiring Divis. This follows on the acquisition of Slievenacloy by the Ulster Wildlife Trust two years ago. Of course, one way to protect the hills is simply to encourage bodies such as the National Trust and the Ulster Wildlife Trust to acquire as much of the land as possible. The National Trust has been at pains to work with as wide a range of hills interests as possible. In this respect it is anxious that a widely representative Belfast Hills Trust should come into being. It would be a tragedy if its plans were undermined by the failures of those who should be driving the Hills Trust project forward. Cave Hill - no progress to report Back then to the Cave Hill. The proposed management plan (see article), is now a year old and has yet to reach a Council committee! We don't think it is malice or aforethought. We have good relations with Council officers these days. The era of grandiose and destructive plans about which we were not consulted is now thankfully over. Perhaps the Cave Hill has merely slipped to a low level in Council priorities, and an under-resourced one at that.

If that is the case, it is a major failure by the Council, and in particular our North Belfast councillors, to make the most of a unique environmental asset which any other city would give its eye teeth for. Belfast claims to be anxious to encourage tourists and yet it remains a perilous challenge for any tourist, and many locals, to find safe ways up the Cave Hill. We have van-bound park rangers who can hardly reach first base in pursuit of bye-law breakers, such as the quad drivers who churn the paths and intimidate the walkers. In short, most of the old difficulties remain.

As for the Campaign itself, we are increasingly engaged in tree-planting and clearance of invasive species, as well as our annual clean up day. We are anxious to do far more, but to do so we need a positive Council management strategy to which we can contribute. We are meeting Council officers before our May AGM to see how far we can progress matters in the near future.
JOHN GRAY

RAISING THE RESIDENTS

A growing number of people in areas adjacent to the Antrim Road have been coming together in residents' associations. They are alarmed by rapid and often thoughtless development and its undermining of a sense of area identity. They are dismayed at the apparent indifference of the planning authorities, who succumb too readily to the demands of property developers and other commercial interests. Residents are increasingly showing that they are prepared to resist inappropriate development by direct campaigning.

The Cave Hill Conservation Campaign was founded in 1989 to counter threats to Belfast's most easily recognised landmark. The Campaign has subsequently extended its remit to participate in the more general strategy of protecting the hills that surround the landward reaches of the city.

Quick Profits
More recently, threats to the integrity of Cave Hill itself have been augmented by speculative and corporate targeting of residential areas surrounding the hill. In pursuit of quick profits, many of the larger houses in the area have been demolished in order to replace them with incongruous high-density housing developments. Allied to this is the iniquitous practice of some 'developers' who purchase older buildings and cynically either leave them to decay or demolish them. The sites are then abandoned and apart from the detrimental effect they have on the physical appearance of an area, they soon become locations for various forms of anti-social behaviour.

Another perceived threat to the area lies in the disturbing number of planning applications by telecommunications companies for the erection of transmitting masts with their attendant equipment along the line of the Antrim Road. The roof of the Lansdowne Hotel, the grounds of the Cavehill Tennis and Bowling Club, the area immediately adjacent to the former gatelodge of Belfast Castle at Strathmore Park ( a listed building as well as a dental surgery), and the telephone exchange at Somerton Road are all sites where planning permission for such masts has been considered or conceded.

Residents' Associations
These and similar issues have prompted the formation of residents' associations in the Antrim Road, Fortwilliam, Cavehill, and Shore Road areas. The over-riding concern common to them all is to protect and where possible enhance the established residential character of their areas which they see as threatened by the seeming indifference of the planning service or civic officials to wholesale and unsympathetic transformation of the respective neighbourhoods.

Planning Submission
In April 2001 the Fortwilliam Action Committee made a submission to the preparation of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan. This reiterated the first guiding principle of the Regional Strategic Framework document in respect of a "people and community focused approach" to development. It argued what it and other residents' associations believed to be the case: that identity and a sense of place are qualities valued by urban communities, and that planning officials and private developers should be obliged to respect the desire to protect positive features of the local environment. It remains to be seen whether these commendable objectives will be acknowledged in respect of future development.

It has to be said that the prospects are not especially favourable. The recent and largely farcical review of the planning procedures refused to even consider the right of third party appeal - an essential element in planning decisions. As the editorial in a recent issue of Heritage Review put it:
"Developers can appeal when refused permission, but 'third parties', that is neighbours and other people who may be directly affected by the development, have no redress. In the south of Ireland and many [EU] countries, there exists 'third party right of appeal', under which neighbours can object to a successful application and have a case looked at afresh."

Local Empowerment
To a large degree, the success of residents' associations requires the continuing personal commitment of the residents themselves. Involvement in such voluntary associations is an important way in which corporate greed and bureaucratic inertia can sometimes be successfully contested. The less people feel cocooned in their homes separated from their neighbours, and the more they become part of what has been described as patterns of purposeful social connectedness, the better they will be in shaping the circumstances in which they live. It is in the accumulation of many ostensibly small matters that the quality of life in neighbourhoods is profoundly affected and those best equipped to enlarge the sense of public space at this level are those who live there. The rise of the residents is one development that should be welcomed.
The Cavehill Residents Action Group has a website at: http://crag-online.tripod.com/
EDWARD McCAMLEY

THE CAVE HILL COUNTRY PARK

The Cave Hill Country Park is the largest area of publicly owned open space in the Belfast area. It has come into public ownership in a series of purchases by what is now Belfast City Council, between 1911 and 1988.

The first acquisition was Bellevue, which was the main depot of the Cavehill and Whitewell Tramway Company from 1882. The tramline and the 32 acre site of Bellevue were acquired by Belfast Corporation in 1911 for the sum of £64,500. The Bellevue pleasure gardens were opened in 1920 and soon became a popular destination for day trippers on the tram.

In 1922, the adjoining 46 acre site of Hazlewood was acquired for £7,000. It was decided to reinstate the lake which had once surrounded the ancient crannog, and this was completed by June 1924. However, the most significant development of the site was the building of a zoo, which was opened in March 1934 and attracted over 285,000 paying visitors that year. In May 1936, the art-deco Floral Hall was opened. It soon became popular as a ballroom and entertainment centre, and had 130,000 visitors in 1947.

Belfast Castle was built by the third Marquis of Donegall and occupied in 1870. The estate was enclosed with stone boundary walls and an extensive tree-planting programme began in the 1880's, which eventually transformed most of the estate from open farmland into woodland. In 1934 the Shaftesbury family sold the entire 200 acre estate to Belfast Corporation for £10,750 and the site was officially opened in July 1937. In 1951, the small area of land between Belfast Castle estate and Hazlewood was acquired, enabling visitors to walk from the Castle gates at Downview Park West to the area of Belfast Zoo.

The next purchase was in 1978, when Carr's Glen was acquired. This area had become an unofficial dump and had to be cleared of rubbish. However, the glen, with the stream running through it, is a natural woodland habitat with high conservation value. The final acquisition (to date) was in 1988, when the 350 acre area known as Ballyaghagan was acquired from the Wallace Estate for £125,000. This area stretches along the top of the Cave Hill, from Hazlewood to the Hightown Road.

The Cave Hill Country Park was formally established in 1992, when a grant from the European Regional Development Fund enabled the establishment of a heritage centre on the second floor of Belfast Castle and way-marked trails throughout the area. The total cost of acquiring all of the land was approximately £200,000 which works out at less than £300 per acre. Most people in Belfast would probably agree that it was public money well spent.

The total area now consists of 750 acres of moorland, heath, grass meadows, rock face and woodland. It contains a variety of important wildlife habitats and a large number of species of plants, animals and birds. Since the late 1980's the woodland areas have been actively managed with a view to conservation. This ongoing programme has included the removal of rhododendron and sycamore, which are invasive alien species, and their replacement by planting large numbers of native species such as birch, oak and scots pine. (See the article on woodland management for more details.)

The "right to roam" has been recognised in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act in Great Britain, which will come into force in 2003-4. Unfortunately, due to a combination of political inertia and vested interests, it is unlikely that similar legislation will be enacted in Northern Ireland in the foreseeable future. This means that areas of publicly owned land, such as the Cave Hill Country Park, will remain the most important points of public access to the countryside. As such, the park should be cherished and appreciated by the people of Belfast.
EDITOR

THE CHICHESTER FAMILY IN BELFAST

Early Days
The Chichester family, Earls and Marquesses of Donegall and for four hundred years connected intimately with the growth and development of Belfast have gone. They have left us two parks, Ormeau and Cave Hill and a raft of street names. The present holder of the title, the seventh Marquess lives in Waterford and takes no great interest in Belfast.

The local connection began over four hundred years ago with the appointment of Sir John Chichester of Raleigh in Devon as Elizabethan governor of Carrickfergus, at a time when the English were seeking to extend their influence in Ulster from sea-supported colonies such as Carrickfergus and Newry. This had provoked a general uprising by the native Irish under Hugh O'Neill in the period 1593 to 1603. Sir John Chichester was captured in a battle with Randall MacSorley MacDonnell in 1597 and beheaded.

His brother Arthur came to Ireland shortly after, perhaps to avenge his brother. He had served against the Armada in 1587-88 and was a captain under Sir Francis Drake. In November 1600 he laid waste to the countryside for twenty miles around Carrickfergus. Chichester's scorched-earth policy was consistent with the strategy adopted by Lord Mountjoy, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, against O'Neill.

After the collapse of the Ulster rebellion in 1603, Arthur Chichester was appointed Governor of Carrickfergus and shortly after, he became Lord Deputy. He was rewarded for his part in the suppression of the Ulster rebellion by being made Baron Chichester of Belfast in 1612. He was granted great swathes of land in Ulster, including much of the land around Belfast, previously held by the O'Neills of Clandeboye. Despite his title, he preferred Carrickfergus to Belfast, built a large house there, called Joy Mount and was buried in St. Nicholas' Church in 1624.

Arthur Chichester left no male heirs and the title passed to his brother Edward. His son in turn, Arthur, became the first Earl of Donegall in 1646. This Arthur had six sons and at least six daughters through three marriages. It is a telling comment on the life expectancy of the time that all six sons and at least four daughters died young. So the title of second Earl passed to his nephew Arthur. He fell foul of King James II and was attainted in 1689, but the Williamite conquest led to his lands and title being restored.

Arthur's son, another Arthur was third Earl and was killed fighting in Spain in 1706. His son, Arthur again, was born in 1695 and succeeded as fourth Earl. It was three of his sisters who were killed in the fire in the first Belfast Castle (in the centre of Belfast) in 1708. His mother, left homeless, returned to Fisherwick in England with the fourth Earl and his surviving siblings. This Arthur died childless in 1757 and the title of fifth Earl passed to his nephew Arthur (again!). The fifth Earl was created a peer as Baron Fisherwick in 1790 and was also granted the additional title of Marquess of Donegall in 1791. He died in 1799. His influence over Belfast seems to have been positive. Belfast was carefully controlled by him and leases were granted which obliged tenants to build houses of particular quality and style. He paid for fine public buildings such as St Anne's cathedral and the Assembly rooms. He gave land for the Poor House and for the White Linen Hall, and helped to fund the Lagan Canal.

The Shaftesbury Connection
George Augustus, his son, the second Marquess was born in London in 1769 and died in 1844. He was constantly in financial difficulties despite an annual income of £30,000 (about two to three million pounds today). In 1795 he married Anna, daughter of Sir Edward May, a moneylender who also ran a gaming house. He got George Augustus released from debtors' prison in 1795 and offered his daughter Anna in marriage, an offer which George Augustus could hardly refuse. The couple came to Belfast in 1802 to escape his debtors and brought the May family with them. They lived in a large house in Donegall Place opposite the Robinson & Cleaver building.

In 1807 the family moved to the second Belfast Castle at Ormeau. Donegall's debts were now enormous- £250,000- (about £20 million now). However, he continued his father's policy of public benevolence, providing land for, among others, the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and the Gasworks. In 1818, he arranged for his eldest son, George Hamilton, to marry a daughter of the Earl of Shaftesbury, one of the richest men in England. A week before the ceremony, Shaftesbury learned that Donegall had never been properly married and that George Hamilton was therefore illegitimate. (Anna May had been underage at the time of her marriage should have had the permission of the courts in 1795 but this had not been sought.) The marriage to Shaftesbury's daughter was abandoned. Three years later, a parliamentary change to the marriage law legitimised George Hamilton, who married Harriet, daughter of the Earl of Glengall in 1822 and succeeded to the title as third Marquess of Donegall in 1844. The burden of inherited debt plagued the third Marquess. Practically the whole of the town of Belfast was gradually sold off and the only lands left to Donegall were Ormeau and the deer park on the slopes of the Cave Hill.

Belfast Castle
The third Marquess decided to build a new home. In the newly-fashionable Scottish Baronial style, W.H. Lynn of the firm Lanyon & Lynn was commissioned to design the building in the newly-fashionable Scottish Baronial style, and Belfast Castle was completed in 1870. The third Marquess also succeeded where his father had failed in allying the Donegall family to the Shaftesburys. His daughter Harriet married Lord Ashley, eldest son of the seventh Earl of Shaftesbury in 1862 and restored the family fortunes. Harriet inherited the estate (but not the title) and Belfast Castle became part of the Shaftesbury estates when the third Marquess died in 1883.

As the third Marquess had no sons, the title passed to his brother Edward, dean of Raphoe who became fourth Marquess. Dermot Richard Claud Chichester, seventh Marquess, born 1916, is his direct descendant and still lives in Waterford. And yes, he has a son called Arthur! The family gradually lost interest in Belfast and after the death of Harriet, the contact declined. The Shaftesburys lived on their substantial estates in England. The troubles in 1922 led them to break contact entirely. In 1934, the Chapel of the Resurrection, designed as a family mausoleum, was presented to the Church of Ireland, part of the Castle grounds were sold for housing and the Castle and the rest of the grounds were presented to the city.
CORMAC HAMILL

Sources: "The family of Chichester and Carrickfergus" by Charles McConnell pub: Carrickfergus Borough Council 1999 "Lords and Landlords" by W.A.Maguire in "Belfast - the making of a city" ed: J C Beckett et al. pub: Appletree 1988

THE SLEEPER ABOVE BELFAST

Napoleon's Nose is a prominent feature of the Cave Hill. However, contrary to what is popularly believed, it is not the most prominent feature; it is not what is otherwise referred to as McArt's Fort. It is the hump which lies above the caves. You can check this for yourself. The best place to view the hill profile is from the Antrim Road, above the junction with Fortwilliam Park. Seen from there, the profile of the hill is strongly reminiscent of a giant face on its back. If the sun is shining in the mid-afternoon, it throws a shadow into a gully beside McArt's Fort which then appears very like an eye; it takes little imagination to see the face in great detail. Try it! The nose is then seen to be above the caves.

This profile has been well known for many years. It has been suggested that it might have lodged in Swift's imagination when he was a clergyman in Kilroot outside Carrickfergus in 1694. He must have been familiar with it and it just might have contributed to his creation of Gulliver. I think that this is highly fanciful but it is a nice idea. The giant profile did inspire others however. Alice Milligan (1866 - 1953), a largely forgotten figure nowadays but well-thought-of in her day, wrote a poem extolling the mountains of Ireland and finished with a description of Cave Hill. Here is the last verse:

Look up from the streets of the city,
Look high beyond tower and mast,
What hand of what Titan sculptor Smote the crags on the mountain vast?
Made when the world was fashioned, Meant with the world to last,
The glorious face of the sleeper
That slumbers above Belfast.

CORMAC HAMILL

THE BUILDINGS OF BELFAST CASTLE ESTATE

Belfast Castle
In 1862 The third Marquis of Donegall decided to build a new house in what was then known as the deer-park on the lower slopes of the Cave Hill. The Donegall fortune had dwindled to such an extent that his wealthy son in law, Lord Ashley, son of the famous Earl of Shaftesbury, had to underwrite the building costs. The building is in the then popular Scottish Baronial style, and passed to the Shaftesbury family after the death of the third Marquis. In 1934 the castle and estate was presented to Belfast Corporation. During the Second World War, it was used as a naval command centre. An extensive refurbishment programme was carried out in the 1980's and the building was re-opened to the public in 1988.

Chapel of the Resurrection
This was also built by the third Marquis in 1869, as a memorial to his son who had died in Naples. It was then in the castle grounds and is now in Innisfayle Park. Unfortunately, this building is now a virtual ruin.

Gate Lodges
The main approach to the castle was from its gate lodge at the junction of Strathmore Park and Antrim Road. This building is now a dental surgery and housing development occupies most of the land between it and the castle. The next gate lodge stands at the bottom of the lane below Park Lodge Primary School. It was a post office for many years, but is now a private residence. At the bottom of the lane above the school (opposite Guy's shop) is another gate lodge. This was the gate lodge to Martlet Tower, which stood a few hundred yards up the laneway known as the Sheeps' Path.

Martlet Towers
Martlet Towers, a green-roofed stone mansion, was built in the 1840's by Joseph Magill, a successful linen merchant. Magill had married into the Nash family, who had owned land between the Cave Hill and the Greencastle shore, including the present golf course, for many years. The old Sheep's Path ran along the present laneway towards the caves, and was a popular walk for the citizens of Belfast on their way to merry-making on Cave Hill, especially at Easter. Joseph Magill attempted to block this ancient right of way, and lost in the famous court case which followed. He later went bankrupt, and his land was absorbed into the castle estate. Martlet Tower became a tenement for estate workers and was eventually demolished in the 1950's. The terrace of six houses opposite the entrance to Gray's Lane was also occupied by estate workers.

Park Lodge
The site now occupied by the primary school was originally a substantial house built in 1860 by Captain William McAteer, and named Saint Helena, the island where Napoleon had died and which McAteer had visited. At one time, there was a wooden statue of Napoleon on the top of the central tower of the house, which was later bought by the Baird family, founders of the Belfast Telegraph, who renamed it Park Lodge. The house was used to demonstrate the use of gas masks during the Second World War, and in 1958 it became a primary school. It was demolished in the 1970's to make way for the present school building.

Ben Eden
Ben Eden was built in 1849 on the site now occupied by Saint Clement's Retreat House, which stands above Saint Gerard's Church. In the 1890's this house was owned by the Whitlas of Queens University Whitla Hall fame. The site was acquired by the church in 1951 from Major Adley. (The rest of his land was acquired that year by Belfast Corporation to complete the link between Belfast Castle and Hazlewood.) Parts of the original farmyard buildings still survive.
DIANE HUNTER

CAVE HILL QUIZ

Questions (answers are below)
1. Name the home of Sir Samuel Ferguson which was later to become a hospital.
2.How many caves are there on the Cave Hill?
3.What name is given to the deep hollow area below the caves?
4.Who led the United Irishmen at the Battle of Antrim and later sought shelter on the slopes of the Cavehill?
5.The poem 'Mountain Shapes' which ends with a description of the Cavehill was written by whom?
6. The carved wooden figure of which famous European was placed on the roof of Park Lodge?
7. During which years was the Belfast Castle built?
8. Where is the highest peak along the Belfast hills found?
9. Sir Samuel Ferguson's novel 'Corby MacGilmore' tells of a battle between the MacGilmores and which Norman family?
10. An early advertisement promoting the Bellevue Gardens compared them to which great wonder of the world?
11. Finn McCool is said to have lost what while walking over Cavehill one day?
12. Name the path which is the main access route to McArt's Fort from Belfast Castle (which today is in a dangerous condition)?
13. In which year was Naoise O'Haughan executed?
14. The Cavehill and Whitewell Tranway began running trams from Chichester Park to Glengormley in 1882. What type of power was used to run the trams between 1895 and 1906?
15.What is the website of the Cave Hill Conservation Campaign?

Answers
(1) The Throne
(2) Five
(3) The Giant's / Devil's Punchbowl.
(4) Henry Joy McCracken
(5) Alice Milligan
(6) Napolean
(7) 1867 - 1870
(8) Divis Mountain (1,574 feet, 478 m)
(9) The Savages
(10) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
(11) The diamond on his watchguard
(12) The Sheep's Path
(13) 1720
(14) Horse power
(15) http://www.cavehill.freeuk.com/

MILLENNIUM PROJECTS UPDATE

(1) MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Did you know that treecover in Northern Ireland is the lowest in Europe? Trees account for only 7% of land here and native trees make up a small portion of this. 'So what?' many people will ask.

As you will know trees are essential in the production of oxygen, to counteract global warming and to provide a habitat and food-source for local animal and bird-life. But while every tree helps, some do a far better job than others…. The so-called 'native' trees (such as alder, hazel, elm, oak and birch) are species that naturally found their way to Ireland many thousands of years ago and so are well adapted to our local climate and soil. As a result, these trees support a higher number of birds and insects than introduced species, such as sycamore, horse chestnut, and the sitka spruce so beloved of the Forest Service. An oak will support 284 different types of insect while a horse chestnut will only support 4 species. This why environmentalists campaign for to native trees to be planted as opposed to introduced species. After all if trees are going to be restricted to 7% of land we might as well get maximum environmental benefit from the ones we do plant.

In an effort to make a difference Cave Hill Conservation Campaign committee member Katherine Hall and myself have been working actively to increase the number of trees in the Belfast Hills. In conjunction with Bryson House, we are responsible for the planting of over 19,000 native Irish trees on a fifty acre site on the airport road. By creating and maintaining a new forest we are trying to do our bit towards improving the environment in which we all live.

The Cave Hill Conservation Campaign has recently become more actively involved in tree planting in the Country Park and on the Castle Estate. We are hoping to increase the percentage of native trees and decrease the number of non-natives to help make the Cave Hill that bit more special. If you would like to get involved in tree planting or would like further advice on trees please contact the Campaign.

Each one of us can help by planting one more tree in our garden. Maybe you could plant a birch instead of a Japanese cherry? It might not have blossom, but it will look just as well for the other 50 weeks of the year and it will contribute much more to the environment. What better gift could you leave to the next generation?
MARTIN McDOWELL

(2) THE CAVE HILL MAZE
It seems a long time since I first wrote about my proposed millennium project, which was to design and plant out a maze on the site of the old rose garden in the grounds of Belfast Castle. I am delighted to be able to let readers know that the Cave Hill maze has now been completed and hopefully will greatly enhance the castle grounds. For those not familiar with the area the maze is sited just to the north of the Adventurous Playground.

When I first embarked on my project I had little idea at all of the work and expense involved and am very much indebted to Agnes McNulty of Belfast City Council for her help in securing funding to enable the idea to become a reality. I looked at various maze designs and decided on a unicursal (closed-curve) labyrinth. This means that the labyrinth has no junctions and consists of a single path leading from the entrance to the goal. There are three main forms of unicursal labyrinth; classical, Roman and medieval Christian. These forms share a hidden characteristic: internal rotational symmetry. The design was drawn by Eamonn Twomey and also transferred to the ground by him, with the assistance of Brian, Graham, Andrew, William and Jonathan.

There are approximately 1,800 beech trees planted on the site, with some 350 bags of organic farmyard manure being dug into the ground (ask Eamonn and Billy about that!). Approximately 250 wooden posts and 400 metres of wire netting were used in the fencing which gives protection and support to the trees. The centrepiece of the maze is a cat mosaic, under which we have buried a time capsule. This was designed and created by Primary 7 pupils from Ben Madigan, Park Lodge and Cavehill primary schools in January 2001. Local artist Angela George was the brains behind the finished design and was also responsible for transferring the pupils work from the classroom to the actual site. I would like to convey my thanks to Angela for her help in the project. There were quite a number of people involved in the ground preparation for the tree planting and I would like to thank them all for their help. I feel that special mention has to be made of Eamonn and Billy who worked in all weathers and who gave me loads of moral support when I wondered if it would ever be finished. The day of the actual planting, Thursday 7 March 2002, dawned sunny and dry and was great fun with the Primary 7 pupils from Park Lodge and Ben Madigan Primary Schools (along with their teachers) very enthusiastically digging and planting the beech trees under the watchful eye of numerous helpers. Unfortunately the Primary 7 pupils from Cavehill Primary were not able to be with us due to other school commitments. I would like to thank the staff and pupils from the three schools for all their help and support throughout the project.

Finally I would just like to say a very big thank you to everyone involved in the creation of the Cave Hill Maze (that includes those involved in providing refreshments) and I hope it gives lots of pleasure to many people for years to come.
LOUISE WILSON

THE BELFAST METROPOLITAN AREA PLAN

The Cave Hill Conservation Campaign was represented at the BMAP Belfast Hills consultation meeting held in Belfast Castle, and has subsequently made a submission to BMAP. Following the failure of the planning service to proceed with a local area plan for the Belfast Hills, the Metropolitan Area Plan is likely to provide the framework for planning policy in the area for the next twenty years.

All those concerned with the hills were disappointed by the 'Issues' document which formed the basis of the consultation exercise. It referred to the hills as no more than a backdrop to the city in the language of the weak and failed reports of decades ago. Both at the meeting and in our submission, we have emphasised the importance of the Cave Hill and the Belfast Hills seen in their total context. In respect of the Belfast Hills generally, we were involved in the preparation of the detailed submission made by the Belfast Hills Committee. Broadly speaking, the emphasis in this is on the need for a planning designation, or designations, covering the entirety of the Belfast Hills, and capable of protecting the environment with statutory force. The preferred option would be to have the entire area designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its proximity to a city area strengthens the case for this. A fall back position, which is fully detailed, is to have the hills protected by a range of different designations, which though more complex, should have the same effect.

With regard to the Cave Hill we have argued as follows:
(1) Taken as a whole, the Cave Hill includes the most dramatic scenery within the Belfast Hills and has parkland, forest, cliff, moorland, and stream habitats, and archaeological sites and historical associations, all of great diversity and importance. It is also the most heavily used part of the Belfast Hills for recreational purposes, partly because most of it is in public ownership, but also because of its immediate proximity to the city and its intrinsic natural attractions.
(2) The importance of the Cave Hill as a natural asset demands that it should be statutorily protected as a whole from intrusive development. The case for such protection in the upper areas is obvious but is equally necessary in respect of the perimeter or surrounding apron, in so far as this remains intact, and which is an indispensable part of the setting of the hill.
(3) A starting requirement for planning policy in respect of the Cave Hill is maintenance of the existing Green Belt line and in particular on the city side of the hill. We would point to areas where encroachment has already gone too far, and must go no further namely; at the Horseshoe Bend, in Ballysillan, at the Upper Cave Hill Road, to the West of the Antrim Road, at Glengormley, and in particular on the hillside of the Upper Hightown Road. We would re-iterate that while some of terrain concerned may only be of limited environmental value in itself, the overall setting of the hill remains of paramount importance.
JOHN GRAY

WOODLAND HABITAT SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS

This report was drawn up for Belfast City Council by the Ulster Wildlife Trust. It was completed in 1987, but most of it is still relevant and its influence can be seen in the clearing and planting programmes which the Parks Department has followed in subsequent years. The report includes a detailed survey of the animal, bird, butterfly, plant and fungi species to be found in Belfast Castle Estate. (It notes that red squirrels have been absent since 1973, but the report predates the arrival of the grey squirrel in the late 1990's. However, this confirms that the reds were absent for at least 20 years before the greys appeared.) It also contains detailed information on the geology and drainage of the area.

Woodland management
The report contains detailed woodland management notes. It emphasises the conservation value of native tree and shrub species (such as oak, ash, birch, scots pine, hazel, blackthorn and holly) and the lack of such value from alien species (such as sycamore and rhododendron). The latter two are singled out as undesirable, due to their ability to spread rapidly and crowd out native species. Rhododendron's evergreen foliage also casts a dense shade which prevents any ground flora from establishing and renders its areas virtually sterile. Sycamore was introduced into England and Ireland about three hundred years ago and has spread rapidly, at the expense of less aggressive native species.

The ideal woodland from a conservation point of view is one that is diverse in native species with a variety of age structure. (The woodland area of the castle estate is mostly the same age, having been planted in the late 1800's. However, the major planting efforts of the past 15 years and future years will gradually change this.) The report identifies eight distinct types of habitat and recommends management priorities for each:

Habitat management proposals
Rhododendron and laurel fringes
The report notes the prevalence of these species behind the castle and in the area of the main driveway. It recommends complete eradication and replacement with native species.
Amenity grassland
It is suggested that much of the grassland in the lower castle estate could be converted into spring flower meadows with the help of a more sympathetic mowing programme.
Wet woodland
Sycamore is often the dominant species and should be removed and replaced with damp-favouring native species, such as birch and alder.
Large mixed woodland
The report notes that this type of habitat, which covers much of the area of the estate, has two problems - sycamore domination and Dutch elm disease spreading. It recommends clearance of both the sycamore and the diseased elms.
Scots pine areas
This is found on the upper slopes below the escarpment. Most of the trees are towards the end of their lives and there has been little natural regeneration. Managed replacement will be necessary.
Larch areas
The larch is the remnant of a plantation. Notes are as for scots pine areas.
Grassland and scrub
These areas include a range of wild flowers, grasses, elder and hawthorn. Sycamore is starting to colonise and should be removed. Spiny shrubs such as blackthorn and hawthorn should be planted in clumps to improve the habitat for birds. Grass cutting along the path edges may help more wild flower types to establish.
Bracken-dominated areas
The report notes that bracken has become established in some of the grassland areas, but doubts that its removal would significantly enhance the wildlife habitat.

The story since 1987
It is evident that the Parks Department of Belfast City Council has acted on many of the recommendations in this report. Much of the rhododendron in the vicinity of the castle has been cleared (most notably the area immediately behind the castle itself) and replaced with birch and other native species. Many of the large sycamore trees have also been felled. Unfortunately, Dutch Elm Disease killed all of the elms, which then had to be felled. Some of the stumps have started to grow new shoots. The ground flora, such as bluebells and wild garlic, have benefited from this programme. Also, many hundreds of native trees, principally oak and birch, have been planted. This will improve the wildlife habitat for decades, if not centuries, to come.

However, much remains to be done. There are still large areas of rhododendron. Sycamore remains a problem over much of the estate, colonising gaps left by the elms, and also re-growing from the stumps of felled trees. The best that can probably be said is that a start has been made in the right direction. Undoubtedly, resource limitations have prevented more rapid progress in the 15 years since the report was handed to the Parks Department.

The future
The Campaign plans to be actively involved in helping to improve the habitat in the years to come. In a small but (we hope) significant way we can help to make up for the inevitable limits on Council resources. We have been planting trees for several years and have recently become involved in clearing sycamore and laurel, under the direction of the Parks Department. The potential for planting and clearing remains enormous, but the prize will be a much better wildlife habitat in the years to come, and more interesting walks in the woods!
EDITOR