Sunday was special like so many of the Sundays of my childhood. We used to go for walks on country roads, just like the road from Annestown to Dunhill Castle, here in Co. Waterford.
Childhood walks were always fun, but now that I look back on them, I can see that our parents, more subconsciously than anything else, brought us to places that would be educational in all sorts of ways.
Mother had a passion for nature, especially trees and wild wildflowers and Father was very keen on history as well as landscape photography.
I didn’t really mean to go for a walk on Sunday but found myself in the little village of Annestown with swimming on my mind. My eyes were drawn, as always to Dunhill Castle, which is about two miles up the Anne Valley from Annestown. The castle has a long, long history, which is well summarised here. In short, the site stretches back to pre-historic times but the first castle was built by the hugely influential la Poer (Power) family in the 1200s.
The ruin that stands guard over the Anne Valley today is very imposing and it is intriguing to think that the castle and the remains of an old church and graveyard were once centre pieces of a whole village. It is also quite amazing to think that the sea used to flow right up to the Castle whereas now there is but a narrow river.
My walk on Sunday had me thinking of the battles that raged between the Powers of Dunhill and the City of Waterford in the 14th century, but it also brought me back to Summer Sundays when Mother would delight in lifting us up to smell honeysuckle, pick juicy blackberries, play with buttercups and daisies, climb gates, run through bracken, listen to grasshoppers, watch fish jump in the river, blow dandelions, pick long grasses and gently press the seeds to sail in the breeze …..
That road from Annestown to Dunhill has hardly changed since I was a kid and here’s how it was as I walked from the beach at Annestown up to the Castle and the ruins of the old church and back again…..
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SOCIAL BRIDGE ~ Jean Tubridy connecting with you from Ireland 
Oh, that is so beautiful–slide show and music–that it almost brought me to tears. What is the music? It is astonishingly perfect for these photographs. I just can’t imagine what it would be like to live in such a beautiful place!
Hi Suz, so glad you enjoyed the slide show. The music is called ‘Warm Breeze’ and is one of the many pieces that comes when one subscribes to Smilebox. I can’t find the exact replica of it on YouTube but one of my main reasons for using Smilebox is to avoid copyright problems, music-wise.
It is absolutely wonderful to live in a place as beautiful as this!!
Beautiful place, beautiful post Jean. History and nature entwined – and perhaps a few ghostly shapes from the past when you look away. You were blessed that your parents showed you what is most simple and worthwhile in our world.
Like Suzassippi ^ I’d like to know about the music.
Thanks Roy!
(The music is a little bit of a mystery as I explained to Suzassippi.)
Must say, I can’t imagine being up around the castle (and the graveyard) in the dead of night! It’s definitely a place where you’d be hearing things.
Yes, I was definitely blessed with the parents I had ~ chalk and cheese ~ but with a shared love of nature and us kids!
A lovely few minutes of zen. I shared it on my facebook page.
Many thanks, Sandy.
This is beautiful, takes me back to my last trip to Waterford! 15yrs ago!
Aw Willow, I’m so glad that it transported you back. Hopefully you’ll get here again???
I do hope so!
Lovely post in all, Jean, and your Mother and Father remind me of mine regarding their passions and interests. My Mom loved her garden and my Dad loved history. My husband and father-in-law also love history and reading every plaque that we pass. 🙂 Hope you’re doing well!
Morning Lauren! Delighted this one resonates with you in so many ways.
I’ve a plaque-reading hubby as well!!!!!
What gorgeous landscape and what a sense of place! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Andelieya, thanks very much for writing. ‘Sense of place’ is something that matters hugely to me and obviously touches you too?
Marvelous video of a beautiful place, Jean. A wonderful, peaceful moment and I felt as though I was taking the walk with you!
Nancy, hopefully we’ll get to walk it side by side one of these days!
I am a Geographer and love Nature and history too. So, I was deeply touched by this piece and the pictures. I will explore your blog for other such superbly descriptive pieces! Thanks for sharing.
Many thanks for your kind words, Thomas. Very much appreciated.