From the mountain to the sea, By Sophie Boswell
From The Mountain to the sea
Irish Landscapes
Nigel Borrington
Life is like a journey from the mountain to the sea
A struggle through many layers to finally feel free
Free to go out and see the wonders of the world
Where, in the process, one is often hurled
This way and that, through the good and the bad
Where emotions are flung lose to the point of driving you mad
Sometimes, when I’m down, and feel worn out
And everything around me seems to be in doubt
My vision is blurred; my judgment is haywire
And my demons rejoice in putting out my fire
I think about the journey from the mountain to the sea
By the light of the moon; a heavenly place to be
This place, in the mind, will always set me free
to be the happy wanderer I was meant to be
Gathering and searching in peaceful solitude
Where time and nature can alter my mood
And the Spirit of Life will breathe inside me
As I journey from the mountain to the sea.
2 hour painting, The town of Allihies west cork, Ireland
Allihies copper Mines and town
Irish landscape painting
Nigel Borrington
Allihies in west county cork is one of my favorite locations to visit in Ireland.
The town is located at the far end of the Béara Peninsula, west cork, the landscape scenery here is just stunning. The town itself is about as remote as it gets in this part of the world. There are many coastal walks along with paths that wind through the hills. The town is also well known for its copper mining history with many of the old mines still standing in the hills acting as a backdrop for the town.
There is a museum that you can visit details here : Allihies copper mine visitors center
My painting / sketch here was painted digitally using a combination of PC applications and taken from some sketches and photos I came home with on the return from my last visit.
Friday Poetry : The Road
The Road
West Cork, Ireland
Nigel Borrington
The Road
Rockie
Oct 19, 2014
If you were on the road to nowhere,
where would you go?
If you were on the road to somewhere,
would you stay where you are?
If there was no road,
what would you do?
If the road was there,
would you carry on walking?
If the road you walked upon,
was somebody else’s,
would you leave?
If the road you took,
leads to the end of yours,
would you bother turning back?
What would YOU do,
if the feet that led you,
took you onto a road,
that you didn’t know about?
The Mountain Road – Poem by Enid Derham
Irish Landscapes
West cork Mountains
Nigel Borrington
The Mountain Road
Poem by Enid Derham
Coming down the mountain road
Light of heart and all alone,
I caught from every rill that flowed
A rapture of its own.
Heart and mind sang on together,
Rhymes began to meet and run
In the windy mountain weather
And the winter sun.
Clad in freshest light and sweet
Far and far the city lay
With her suburbs at her feet
Round the laughing bay.
Like an eagle lifted high
Half the radiant world I scanned,
Till the deep unclouded sky
Circled sea and land.
No more was thought a weary load,
Older comforts stirred within,
Coming down the mountain road
The earth and I were kin.
The Haunted House, by : Dwayne Leon Rankin
Ghost house
Irish landscapes
Nigel Borirngton
This last few days here in Ireland have been very wet and winter feels like it has arrived a little early, most of the Autumn leaves have been blown away from the high overnight winds and the cold nights, We have been left with a very wintry landscape.
Walking around Ireland at this time of year brings many great views and for some reason during these months I always feel drawn towards the old houses that still fill our local landscape. These old places are so full of memories and the atmosphere of long passed people and their lives.
Of course this is the also the perfect time of year for some evening ghost story’s, told around a fire while the rain hits the windows and the wind echoes all around your house !!!!
The Haunted House
Dwayne Leon Rankin, USA
Upon the hill, the house there stood,
Dark and left forlorn.
With vines that covered there the walls,
All seen full of thorn.
Surrounded by a gated fence,
No other entrance shown.
Dead leaves covered all the ground,
With weeds there overgrown.
Paint all pealed and windows cracked,
With shutters cov’ring all,
No noise from it was ever heard,
Not even birds sweet call.
Three full stories ‘gainst the sky,
Cheerless there and cold.
No one lived there was the word,
In stories that were told.
Tall old trees kept all in shadows,
Tangled bushes bare.
All dead and ugly there to see,
They say it once was fair.
Once it was a wondrous place,
Full of love and light,
Until one ev’ning came that call,
To give those round a fright.
A family lived there many years,
A husband and his wife.
With two small children of their own,
Living there a happy life.
But then one dark and dreary eve,
A scream rang out from there.
Terrible was that hideous sound,
Full of deep despair.
No one knew from whence it came,
That frightful mad’ning sound.
When they checked up in that house,
Not a soul was found.
No sign of that family seen,
Who lived there in that house.
Not a living thing was found,
Not even there a mouse,
All quiet there the house now stands,
No lights nor sound there heard.
Only there the rustling winds,
Nothing there occurred.
But for once a year there brought,
The same self night each year.
A lone sad waling sound would ring,
Out there loud and clear.
They used to check it out each time,
But nothing there was found.
The doors still locked with windows shut,
With nothing there around.
That house remains there all alone,
Haunted there they say.
Just sitting in all disrepair,
Empty to this day.
Gort, Eyeries, Beara peninsula, west cork, Where the sky meets the sea
Where the sky meets the sea
I heard you contemplating so far beyond
Just thinking about it all
And it seems to scare you more than
I ever would before
And I’m a little anxious
But I don’t know why
Trying to find me an answer that
Fits inside my head
Trying to wish away the subtleties
Wishing you would stay in bed
And I’m a little cautious
But I don’t know why
Where the sky meets the sea
We’ll be different just you see
Broken lines can only breakthrough
Heaven and shades of blue
I stumble when you’re shaking I break when you’re
Breaking away from it all
I hide when you’re hiding, and I can’t
Spend all my time holding on
And I’m a little nervous
But I don’t know why
Where the sky meets the sea
We’ll be different just you see
Broken lines can only breakthrough
Heaven and shades of blue
Sunrise on the Beara peninsula, west Cork, Ireland
Sunrise at Cahirkeen Cross
Beara peninsula
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
I have returned to Kilkenny last Saturday, following a perfect week spent on the Beara Peninsula , West Cork.
These two photos are the first I took at 6:30am during a great sunrise over the sea looking towards the Slieve Miskish mountains.
The Beara peninsula is one of my most loved locations in Ireland and it was so good to spend sometime visiting for another great peaceful week.
Allihies copper mines, Copper Mine a Poem By : Madhu Kailas
Allihies copper mines
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Copper mines located at the small town of Allihies , west cork Ireland are amongst some of the most worked and preserved in this part of Europe , their history is as follows :
Copper mining started in Allihies in 1812 when John Puxley, a local landlord, identified the large quartz promontory at Dooneen as copper bearing from its bright Malachite staining.
The Allihies Mines
Initial mining began with a tunnel or adit driven into the quartz lode from the pebble beach below. In 1821 two shafts were sunk . Flooding was a continuous problem and in 1823 the engine house was erected to house a steam engine brought over from Cornwall to pump water from the depths. The remains of this building with the base of the chimney can be seen across the road. There is also evidence of a steam powered stamp engine to the left of the chimney and dressing floors in front of the engine house. The high dam further inland is the remaining evidence of a water reservoir which stored the water that was pumped out from the bottom of the mine. It was used for the steam engines and needed to separate the copper from rock. All the rubble on the cliff at the sea side of the road is the crushed useless quartz rock left over after the copper ore was extracted.
This is one of six productive mines in the Allihies area and its operation continued until 1838 when it closed due to failing ore.
John Puxley died in 1860 and in 1868 his son Henry Puxley sold the mines to the new Berehaven Mining Company who reopened the mine and installed a new 22 inch steam engine in 1872. Little ore was produced though in this period and the mine was finally abandoned in 1878.
Copper Mine
By : Madhu Kailas
Hollowed earth,
a large reservoir of emptiness.
Deep down where only
the moon can touch
dregs of an empty cup,
static turquoise fluid
of residual copper blood.
Cyclopean machines
crawl like dwarf ants.
Along grooves etched by mortal hands.
Gnaw at rocks,
startled out of deep sleep
to be stripped.
An ancient cave painting
tumbles out of extinction
delineated by squished insect blood
on ochre flats.
Dead insects scrabble out of rocks
on the landscape of our civilisation.
Black and white challenge, Allihies copper mines
Allihies copper mines
Irish Landscapes : Nigel Borrington
I have been Tagged by Sharon Walters Knight in , Macomb, Illinois on Facebook to take part in a Black and White photo challenge.
I took a good look at some some black and white Landscapes and wanted to post these two images of the Allihies copper mines on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork, Ireland.
Allihies is just about as remote a place as they come in Ireland !!
These two black and white images show just one of the pump houses, I think there are about 6 of them still standing around the small village. It was In 1812 when life in Allihies changed utterly as a rich copper deposit was discovered in the area and the biggest copper mining enterprise in Ireland was established by the Puxley family .
The steam engine and pump house took water out from the mine shafts and both lowered the miners into and out of the mines some 250 feet below the hill sides. Its hard to imagine now the life these miners had , many did not live that long doing this work.
The Landscape around the mines is just wonderful with mountains facing the coastline of west cork, again its hard to image how the noise and smell of these pump houses change this location and the site of hundreds of miners returning home after a days work must have been something to see, they shared small homes and mostly 20 of them shared the same small house.
Allihies copper mines in black and white .
The Standing Stones, Poem by : John Bliven Morin
Standing stone at Glengarriff Nature Reserve.
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Standing Stones
By : John Bliven Morin
Who will go where the standing stones stand,
when the fog rolls in and covers the land,
when the moon is hidden in a cloudy sky,
and the night is as dark as a raven’s eye,
and the wind is as cold as a winter’s chill,
What’s that? You say you’ll dare, you will?
We’re here. If you’ve courage in your mortal bones,
then go and walk through the standing stones;
yes, that way, go, though it’s hard to see
the ancient path in this obscurity;
your torch is useless for a light,
with the fog and the darkness of the night;
you go alone, for you claim the nerve;
I’ll stay right here, for I only serve.
Follow this footpath through the mist,
and keep to the path I must insist.
You step down the path and I’m lost to view,
as the fog and the mist are surrounding you;
several sounds – grinding – from all about,
startle you so that you almost shout,
but all that comes out is a muted croak,
as you wrap yourself in your winter cloak.
You feel things moving through the very ground,
huge things, horrid things sliding around,
which make your skin crawl with growing fear,
and you sense that something is drawing near;
something immense, for the earth so shakes
that a chill runs up your spine and makes
the hair on your head stand up in fright,
as the fog rolls past and hides from sight
that which you fear but cannot see;
perhaps in your nightmares previously.
Wasn’t that standing stone over there?
But now it’s so close, and that other pair
are much nearer too than they were before!
You remember tales of ancient lore,
as you fall back on some lower stones,
and the Old Ones come to crush your bones;
you scream in fear, you scream in pain,
but all your screaming is quite in vain,
for no one can hear you or see the blood
flow down the altar-stone in a flood;
Then all is quiet; you’ve paid the price,
for you were the Druid’s sacrifice.
and I, their servant. go from here
homeward, until another year.
Glengarriff, west Cork, Ireland : Gallery
Glengarriff, Beara Peninsula of County Cork, Ireland.
Irish landscapes : Nigel Borrington
Glengarriff, Beara Peninsula of County Cork, Ireland.
These images where taken on a visit to the west Cork town of Glengarriff during September 2014.
To me the town is at the top of my personal list of best visits in Ireland, for its size it has plenty of places to eat and drink and some great little shops. The surrounding area is full of great places to visit with a wonderful coast line , Mountain walks and Historic parks and nature reserves.
The Town has an official web site here : Glengarriff
Glengarriff the town
Glengarriff (Irish: Gleann Garbh, meaning “Rough glen”) is a village of approximately 800 people on the N71 national secondary road in the Beara Peninsula of County Cork, Ireland. Known internationally as a tourism venue, it boasts many natural attractions. It sits at the northern head of Glengarriff Bay, a smaller enclave of Bantry Bay.
Located 20 km (~12 miles) west of Bantry, and 30 km (~18 miles) east of Castletownbere, it is a popular stop along the routes around the area. In recent years, its importance as a waypoint along the Castletownbere to Cork fish-delivery route has declined as local infrastructure improves.
Glengarriff : Gallery
Landscape Photography of Ireland
Caha Mountains, Healy Pass, Ring of Beara, West Cork
Irish Landscapes : Nigel Borrington[/caption]
A view of the Caha Mountains, Healy Pass, Ring of Beara, West Cork
This image was taken on one evening in early September 2014.
I was on a walk through the Healy pass on the Breara , west cork. On getting to the top of the pass I looked back towards Lauragh and the view was just amazing with the ice-age lake at Lauragh upper below. The image is made up of five frames taken using a nikon 18-200 zoom lens at 35mm.
This old house at Glengarriff, count Cork (Image and Poem By : Sherri Ramirez )
Old house at Glengarriff, count Cork
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
This house is very old
By: by Sherri Ramirez
This house is very old.
Yet, it stands so gracefully.
If the walls could only talk.
I bet they’d have a lot to say.
It holds a lot of memories,
buried deep inside.
It seems to stand with attitude,
as if it carries pride.
It stands upon the foundation,
seeming to claim the land.
Refusing to wither from age
with a little help from my man.
Not one room, is a favorite,
each displays a special touch.
It might be old but, we don’t mind.
We love it very much.
Caha Mountains, Healy Pass, Ring of Beara, West Cork and a Poem By : Edwin Curran
A view of the Caha Mountains
Healy Pass, Ring of Beara, West Cork
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Caha Mountains on the ring of Beara, West cork, are some of the most beautiful mountains in Ireland, while being no means the highest they offer some of the most scenic views you can find. They sit in the middle of the Beara Peninsula and consist of many walking routes and mountain peaks.
Below the peaks sit many ancient lakes that have only a short distance to flow into the sea.
The Old Mountains
by Edwin Curran
The old mountains are tall, silent men
Standing with folded arms, looking over the world,
Lonesome and lofty in their manner.
They have seen empires come and go,
Civilizations rise and fall,
Stars break on their breasts.
They are full of history like great books,
And are merely the stone monuments that the kindly Gods
Built for the human race, to mark its passing tomorrow.
Mount Gabriel, County Cork
Mount Gabrial, county Cork
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Mount Gabriel, (Cnoc Osta in Irish) is a mountain on the Mizen Peninsula to the north of the town of Schull, in West Cork, Ireland.
The Mountain is some 407m high and is the highest in the region of west cork, you can use a roadway that services a air traffic control radar to walk or drive to the top.
From the peak of Mt. Gabriel, there are spectacular views South over Schull Harbour and Long Island Bay. To the east and southeast, the views take in Roaring Water Bay and its many islands, popularly known as Carbery’s Hundred Isles. North and West is a panoramic view of the mountains of the Beara Peninsula and South Kerry.
The day we visited it weather was warm and very clear and we got some great views, this is a wonderful walk to do if you are in West cork and one that you will not forget, on a clear day you can see the entire county and all the Peninsulas of west Cork and Kerry to the north.
Mount Gabriel, County Cork, A Gallery
Allihies Copper Mines
Allihies copper mines
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Copper mining at Allihies
Mining at Allihies started here in 1812 by John Puxley, a local landlord, after the large quartz promontory to the left here was identified as copper bearing as can be seen by its bright Malachite staining. Dooneen
Initial mining began with a tunnel or adit driven into this quartz lode from the pebble beach below. In 1821 two shafts were sunk as can be seen either side of the road here. Flooding was a continuous problem and in 1823 the engine house was erected to house a steam engine brought over from Cornwall to pump water from the depths. The remains of this building with the base of the chimney can be seen across the road. There is also evidence of a steam powered stamp engine to the left of the chimney and dressing floors in front of the engine house. The high dam further inland is the remaining evidence of a water reservoir which stored the water that was pumped out from the bottom of the mine. It was used for the steam engines and needed to separate the copper from rock. All the rubble on the cliff at the sea side of the road is the crushed useless quartz rock left over after the copper ore was extracted.
This is one of six productive mines in the Allihies area and continued its operation until 1838 when it closed due to failing ore.
John Puxley died in 1860 and in 1868 his son Henry Puxley sold the mines to the new Berehaven Mining Company who reopened the mine and installed a new 22 inch steam engine in 1872. Little ore was produced though in this period and the mine was finally abandoned in 1878.
.
Coom Mine Mianach Chúim
Coom Mine was the last mine to be opened in the Allihies area having been opened in 1870 by the new Berehaven Mining Company who had recently bought the mines from Henry Puxley in 1868.
Two shafts were sunk and the engine house erected to house a 28 inch cylinder steam engine. The site was known as Bewley’s after the Dublin family who were board members of the Berehaven Mining Company.
The working in the mines was dangerous. A Mine Captain reports:
“On the 13 inst. we had a man killed by falling out of the whim bucket in the whim shaft (winding shaft), he fell 72 feet and was killed immediately. … The whim bucket was coming up and he was rather late to get into it, when he laid hold of the edge of it with his fingers and was drawn up nearly to the top in that manner but was obliged to let go at last and fell to the bottom of the shaft. … He was a very able young man – this day we intended to carry him across the mountain to Castletown a distance of 7 miles to have him interred but the weather is so bad with a fall of sleet and snow that it was not possible. … We hope to do the last for him tomorrow.”
In 1917 a further attempt to extract ore was made by Allihies Copper Mines Ltd. which proved fruitless.
Coom Mine proved not to be a very productive mine. It had only produced 70 or 80 tons of ore when it closed in 1882.
Images from the road , A west cork Sunrise
Nikon D7000, 35mm, f2.8 Nikon lens
The Sunrises over Reentrusk bay and the Atlantic ocean , West Cork, Ireland
Irish Landscape Photography
Nigel Borrington
One very early Morning on the first of November, I was out walking our dog Molly along the coast road that links Reentrusk and Allihies, west cork. The Sun was just starting to rise in the distance so I took this images along the Atlantic coastline looking to the North.
These early morning coastline walks in the Autumn are wonderful after a cold a fresh night.
An afternoon at Rosskerrig, Ahakista
All images using a nikon D300
Rosskerrig, Ahakista, West cork, Ireland
Irish landscape Photography
Rosskerrig, Ahakista is on the Sheepshead peninsular in county West Cork.
Its a wonderful location for an Irish holiday and perfect for landscape images of the coast line alone both sides of the Atlantic bay. It was a very warm but hazy afternoon around Easter time, the light from the sun was oddly very low even though it was still only around 3pm.
For these images I had the camera on a tripod and used a polarising filter.
Rosskerrig, Ahakista, West cork, Gallery
Fishing boats at Castletownbere
Nikon D700, 18-200mm vr 2 lens, iso 100
Fishing boats at Castletownbere, west cork
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Fishing boats at Castletownbere and a cool Sea Breeze
Another very warm morning here in Ireland it’s already 24’oc and it was warm over night, sleeping with all the bedroom windows open.
I thought I would find an image to post that at least created a cooler feeling, so here we are, these two fishing boats at the harbour of Castletownbere, West cork. I took this image a little time back while I sat on the wall of the quays in the town and watched the boats coming and going for the afternoon. From what I can remember the temperature was about the same as today.
Images from the road : Garinish, ring of Beara, west Cork
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm lens, iso 100
Garinish, ring of Beara, west Cork
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Images from the Road, west Cork
If you visit west cork the drive or walk around the ring of Beara, offers one of Ireland’s most Scenic views, these images are looking along the coast towards Allihies, west cork.
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm lens, iso 100
Garinish, ring of Beara, west Cork
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
The ferry to Bere island
All images using a Nikon D7000, 18-200mm lens
The Castletownbere to Bere Island ferry, west Cork
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
One summers afternoon on a visit to Castletownbere, I sat down on a bench at the quay’s and took some images of the ferry arriving from Bere island. West Cork has many small Islands but not all are serviced so well by ferries like this one.
I have lived in different locations during my life and lived with different methods of transport (Cars, A Bus, trains, motorcycles, cycles) but never a ferry, it must be an amazing things to live your life using one each and everyday to get home. The passengers on the ferry during the day were people getting to work, shopping, school kids and holiday makers.
Both locations well work a visit.
The Castletownbere ferry web pages
A Gallery of a ferry
Its the weekend So…
Why not find a remote place to visit…..
.
Watch the sun set…..
.
Stay and go for a walk in the moon light…
.
All images using a Fujifilm X100
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Allihies (/ælˈæhiz/; Irish: Na hAilichí, meaning “the cliff fields”)[1] is a coastal parish (and townland) in the west of County Cork, Ireland.
Allihies, West Cork.
I would like to introduce you to Allihies.
Allihies, West cork
Located at the end of the Beara peninsula, west cork.
I have visited this small village many times so it will feature a lot in my Landscape work. It’s a beautiful location for Landscape Art and photography. The above image was taken in October 2010 on a very wet Irish day, a perfect day for the camera then the pub.
If you’re interested in a visit the following details my help you.
Ref: http://www.bearainfo.com/areainfo/allihies.htm
“situated 12 miles west of Castletownbere, on the Ring of Beara Route, is a region of unspoiled natural beauty. Glacial and volcanic movement of yore played their part in the formation of this most rugged, most unusual and yet most beautiful landscape. Such activity, the geologists tell us, left in its wake the large store of mineral deposits so successfully mined throughout the 19th century and much more of which is still here with us – if deeper down. Plans are advanced regarding the siting of a Mining Museum in Allihies. “
Nigel Borrington 
Kilcatherine Point Eyeries, Co. Cork
Kilcatherine Point
Eyeries, Co. Cork
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Kilcatherine Point, Eyeries, Co. Cork
Kilcatherine point is on the north side of the Beara Peninsula, west cork.
This is simply a beautiful place, the Irish Landscape at its very best, I was lucky enough to get some time here at the start of September. These images are taken at the top of a hillside overlooking the Atlantic ocean.
I often feel that there is no place on earth as perfect as Ireland when the weather is good and no place as dramatic as when the winter months move across.
The Beara Peninsula, west cork.
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September 15, 2015 | Categories: Comment, Landscape, Travel Locations | Tags: atlantic ocean, Beara Peninsula, Cork, Eyeries, irish landscape, Kilcatherine Point, landscape images, Landscape Photography, Nigel Borrington, west cork | 6 Comments