The Big Walks began as an idea discussed by the community directors of the Belfast Hills Partnership about two years ago. We wanted to encourage the public to see the Belfast hills as a whole and to realise that there was a great deal in common across the whole range, from Carnmoney to Divis and beyond. We also wanted people to be familiar with all the hills so that they would feel confident in visiting various parts themselves.

 

At present, there is no official route across the whole range though that will soon change. In the meantime, we thought that we could organise four walks per year, each walk consisting of three subsidiary walks, one from Cave Hill to Ligoniel, one around the hills at Ligoniel, one on Divis and all meeting up for lunch at Ligoniel. That gathering would give a chance for participants to mingle and a chance to talk about what’s happening in the hills.

We also had the idea that four annual walks would fit very well around the four ancient Celtic festivals of Imbolc (1 February), Bealtaine (1 May), Lúnasa (1 August) and Samhain  (1 November). Each walk would have three leaders/guides who could talk about the particular festival, how it was celebrated in the past, how the modern hills landscape has changed since Celtic times and how our forefathers’ experience of nature would have been very much richer and more intimate than ours. We want to promote respect for the environment and the urgent need to conserve what we have left. Conversations could focus on how these issues could be addressed and what remedial action could be taken. Participants could be encouraged to ponder something people in the past knew by instinct: that walking in the outdoors is good for our physical and mental strength.

I will be leading the walk from Cave Hill to Ligoniel and I look forward to meeting you on it sometime.

Cormac Hamill

Director