Description of the mile
The start of the Mile is in Lower Aughrim in the town and it continues up the road towards Upper Aughrim.
The Mile passes by a viewing point at the gate to a local pottery. At this new viewing point a plaque notes that Aughrim was the Tidy Towns National Award winner in 2007. Mounted ceramic tiles depict the mountains and localities to be seen from the viewing point. The ones mentioned are Moneyteige North, Middle and South, Ballycoog, Coolahullin, Tomanierin, Croghan Mountain and Coolbawn. This was created by a local potter Chriatian Van Bussel.
The Mile continues to a viewing point and rest area for the passer by. Local endeavour has created a granite walled and seating area. The granite rock bears the inscription ‘Stay, bold adventurer, rest awhile thy limbs on this commodious seat’ a quotation from the famous poet William Wordsworth.
The Mile progresses in a loop back to the starting point in Aughrim passing Nursery Way, Riverfield, the Renagh Road and skirting the Ow river.
Along the mile there is a variety of trees such as the Ash, Alder and Sycamore. Wildlife in this area includes otters, ducks and badgers.
The many improvements undertaken have ensured that the Mile views to the river and the countryside have been revealed showcasing views of the village and the surrounding countryside.
Comments about this page
As a child and teenager I walked, played, adventured along this old laneway from the 1960s. It was wild, often muddy underfoot and THERE WERE NO CARS and virtually no people. I miss the old natural overgrown bushes and serenity of wilderness, now replaced by tarmac, signage and wisdoms by British poets. I think of poems by Co. Wicklow born poets like J. Millington Synge, who knew the lanes and byways of Co. Wicklow very well;
Prelude
by John Millington Synge
Still south I went and west and south again,
Through Wicklow from the morning till the night,
And far from cities, and the sights of men,
Lived with the sunshine, and the moon’s delight.
I knew the stars, the flowers, and the birds,
The grey and wintry sides of many glens,
And did but half remember human words,
In converse with the mountains, moors, and fens.
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