Waterford retirement group enjoys picturesque walk
Monica Gough, Agnes Thomas and Tom Hickey, of Tay and Mahon Valley ARA, taking a rest after their walk at 'Anne's Walk Dunhill'.
Members of one Active Retirement Group in County Waterford took part in a very enjoyable walk recently to one of the most picturesque locations in the county.
The Tay and Mahon Valley ARA visited the 'Anne's Walk' in Dunhill, amenity on a day that had mixed weather.
However, initial heavy rain was followed by the sun appearing. One of those in attendance commented: "It was a fantastic walk, so much to see, plants, insects, birds and some fish jumping in the water."
"We are so fortunate to have so many beautiful walks in the Deise," he said.
The group also acknowledged those behind the walk's development, commenting: "Great credit to the people who built and now maintain this resource, and of course we went for a cuppa and chat, an important part of the walk."
Such events also invoke memories of times gone by and in this case it was a time in the 1950s, and of cutting corn.
"We first cut the headlands with a scythe, five feet wide, corners and gateway, the cut was twice the width," said one of the members.
"It was a horse-drawn binder, which after a year or two we converted to a tractor-drawn binder," he added.
He went on to describe how the shaft was shortened for the tractor, a clevis was made in a local forge and fitted onto the shortened timber shaft for connection to the tractor.
"A man still sat on the binder whose duty was to raise and lower the finger bar; the same person also raised and lowered the reel to bring the corn onto the canvass table," he said.
"The operator of the binder kept an eye on progress made on turning the corn into sheaves and watching out for any breakages, especially chains, which were a regular occurrence," he added.
"To repair a broken chain you just put on a single new link and away you go."
He said an older woman would then come along with a shawl and make bundles from the straw cut with a scythe in headlands and bind it with a few straws taken from a bundle.
"An art in itself," he said.
"The thistles were numerous and the enemy of the people handling the sheaves," he added.
For more information about the group and their outings contact Eileen on 087 9365035 or Tom on 087 9386209.
