A walk in Carrickfergus

This is the first of my Chronicles walks (3.6 miles). You can start this walk at Helen's Bay Station or the beach car park, but I will describe the route from the Coastguard Avenue Car park. From the car park follow the main route, through the gates, down to the shore. Turn right and follow the coastal path all the way around Grey Point until you join Fort Road. Turn left and walk due South, cross the road into the beach car park and walk straight on, along the Columban Way to the station. There is an entrance into the station underpass to the right after the second bridge. Go through the underpass and exit the station. Go right on Bridge Road and then cross over and go up Golf Road. At the entrance to the Golf Course take the footpath on your right and follow this through the woods and down to the shore. Turn left and follow the beack back to Fort Road. Then retrace your steps along the beautiful coastal path. Note that there is a cut through at the end, if you can spot it. Soundtrack: Orchestral Scherzo by Daniel Williams

This is the second walk of the Chronicles of Clandeboye (2.6 miles). A good starting point is on the A2 dual carriageway, and then walk the route in either direction. I suggest anticlockwise, taking you a short distance along the dual carriageway before turning left along the track to Meadow Way in Crawfordsburn. Then turn right and descend to the village. Cross the road and look out for the path leading into the Crawfordsburn Counrty Park, between the hotel and the Spar shop. Skirt the woodland until you come to the viaduct, then make your way left and join the main entrance road to the park. Follow this to the entrance at Bridge Road and cross over into the Towns' Womens' Guild wood. Follow the path over the hill and join the Clandeboye Avenue at Sunnybrook farm, Then turn left and follow the avenue all the way back to your start point on the A2. An alternative route couldbe to start at Helen's Bay station and walk up the avenue to the dual carriageway and then back through Crawfordsburn, or start at Crawfordsburn. Soundtrack: Orchestral Scherzo by Daniel Williams

A talking guide to Townlands along the A2 and the railway from Belfast to Bangor. For the definitive mapping of the townlands consult https://www.logainm.ie/ For more about a particular townland look up Karolyn Cooper's https://townlandsofulster.com/

This walk follows the Columban Way for about 1.6 miles along the wooded Clandeboye avenue and a country lane, linking the A3 Bangor to Belfast Dual Carriageway with the Ballysallagh Road. There is no parking on the Ballsallgh Road so I suggest parking on the A3 where the avenue crosses it. Be very careful when crossing the road on foot. Soundtrack: Orchestral Scherzo by Daniel Williams

This section links the Clandeboye Avenue (Walk 3) with the Crawfordsburn Road, where there is a place to park on the side of the road. The route is 1.3 miles, mainly throgh woodland along the periphery of the Blackwood Golf Course. There is also a short link up to the Ballybarnes Road. Soundtrack: Orchestral Scherzo by Daniel Williams

The Glas-na-Bradan Wood Soundwalk: Listening for the Future by Robert Coleman and featuring a live performance by HIVE Choir In 2021 planting began at the Glas-na-Bradan Wood in the Belfast Hills. Since then composer and sound artist Robert Coleman has been following and documenting the growth of this new native forest. Through his research, field-recordings and interviews with the tree-planters, this soundwalk explores the site in its present day, its history and its potential in the future. Participants in the soundwalk will be guided along a route through the Glas-na-Bradan Wood. They will be introduced to the biodiversity there through listening to field-recordings which Robert recorded on-site over the last year through a variety of methods. This collected data and knowledge of the habitat allows for participants to also listen to the projected future soundscapes of the forest in years to come. This will facilitate a new mode of understanding the scale of changes taking place in our local environment and habitats, and in doing so provide an insight into the biodiversity on the island of Ireland. HIVE Choir will further explore these themes with a live on-site performance intertwined into the narrative of the walk. All this will be brought into the context of the local community at Glas-na-Bradan through recorded interviews with the tree-planters. Over the past two planting seasons they have shared their stories, connections to Glas-na-Bradan and hopes for the future of the site, while contributing to the future of this forest.

This walk could take you from the Crawfordsburn Road, following the Columban Way, to Helen's Tower and then cutting down through the woods and on towards the Whitespots Leadmines, past the last narrative about Lod Dufferin's exploits with mining. The estate boundary is where the woods meets the more open scrublands of the lead mines. It is then an easy walk down to the Somme Heritage Centre on the Bangor to Newtownards dual carriageway. This route is about 2.3 miles. On the other hand, to go as far as the last narrative is about 1.6 miles. Alternatively, park at the Somme Heritage Centre and walk back to the Crawfordsburn Road.

This locative audio walk by Kate Jackson traces the footsteps of the Yardmen who designed, built, and launched ships when Belfast was an industrial powerhouse. Listeners will visit the streets where these men lived, the places they went in their downtime, as well as points that reflect the community’s deep sense of pride for its industrial heritage. Start exploring now!

​​Ella is searching for clues and patiently waiting for Noah's Ark to dock at Belfast harbour. Follow her voice on this audio walk and discover the people, buildings, and animals (real and imagined) of Belfast's Sailortown. Find the traces of Ella's story at the blue shapes on the map: Rectangular shapes are the main story points (Durations ~2:00-3:30); and Circles are short fragments echoing along the way (Durations ~ 0:10-0:30). If you want to follow Ella's path more closely, follow the rectangular main story points in number order 1 to 5. Your starting point will be Yorkgate Station Car Park (top left), moving to Benny's cafe, the Rotterdam Bar, the American Bar, the Skate Park on Little Patrick St (bottom left), then the deep dock (top right). Tap on the blue rectangles to check their numbers. But remember that Ella's story has got a bit jumbled up, so its ok to wander and find your own path through the locations on the map. Eventually you'll piece together some of the fragments of Ella's story, just as she is trying to piece together her plan. You can get a hint of the content for a location point by tapping on its marker on the map. Please listen through headphones and turn on your phone's WiFi to help improve your location accuracy. Please take care whilst navigating the streets - be mindful of traffic and be careful when crossing roads. Download the walk-in advance to prevent issues with mobile data streaming. If you have any questions or feedback about this Echoes audio walk experience please contact John D'Arcy - j.darcy@qub.ac.uk 'Two by Two: A Sailortown Fable' is based on 'TWO BY TWO' by Emily DeDakis. Read the full story and find out more about Emily’s artist residency with Household in Sailortown: https://householdbelfast.co.uk/project/two-by-two/ TEAM: Emily DeDakis- Writer & Producer Marty Byrne - Sound Designer & Composer John D’Arcy - Digital Producer & Audio Engineer Maeve Smyth - Voice Nongraphic (Sean Greer) - Graphic Designer Jane Butler & Household - Executive Producers For more information contact John D'Arcy j.darcy@qub.ac.uk / @_johndarcy