Not on the Tyne, but at the foot of the Mourne Mountains,
Newcastle is the first place which can be described as a resort when heading
north from the border with the Republic.
We once stayed the night in a pub in Newcastle while exploring the coast
of Northern Ireland. It was quiz night,
and we were persuaded to join in what turned out to be a very entertaining
evening. We shared a table with an
elderly gent who sounded a bit like Ian Paisley, and who had a crush on the
female quizmaster and was trying to get us to play matchmaker. Looking at Google Streetview I can’t see the
pub, so I’m not sure if it’s there any more – pity.
Newcastle’s backdrop is spectacular, dominated by the
aforementioned mountains and with a 3-mile crescent of golden sand arranged
around Dundrum Bay. When we were there,
there were signs of impending regeneration of the seafront, and now, £14m and
several years later, the revamp is complete.
It has styled itself as an activity resort, with mountaineering and
canoeing among the activities on offer.
For more relaxing pursuits, the resort boasts the UK’s only seaweed bathhouse for those in pursuit of the physical and mental benefits of soaking in
seaweed. There are two outdoor
alternatives for bathers, at the Tropicana which has heated water and slides
for the kids, and at the 1930s era Rock Pool for hardier souls, being
unheated. Fans of Game of Thrones should
head out to Tollymore Forest Park, the Haunted Forest of the series.
Newcastle gets a mention in the medieval chronicles known as
The Annals of the Four Masters, where it is referred to as New Castle. The castle in question, this being 1433, was
presumably a forerunner of the later castle which was built by the Magennis
clan in 1588 at the mouth of the Shimna River, and which was demolished in 1830,
having changed hands several times following the 1641 Rebellion. One of
the most tragic events in the town’s history occurred during a storm in
January 1843. 14 fishing boats from Newcastle
and Annalong were caught up in the storm, resulting in 76 deaths, 46 of them
men from Newcastle. There is a row of cottages in the town called Widows' Row, built to house the widows and orphans of the dead fishermen.
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| Newcastle and the Mournes - geograph.org.uk - 562181. Photo by Albert Bridge, via Wikimedia Commons. |
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