Winter Wonderland - from the air
A few sets of photos, including some spectacular views of north-west Ireland's snow-covered mountains.
The frosty weather has continued here in Ireland, after a slight thaw. On a clear day - or Irish clear anyway - David and I went on a short but beautiful hill-walk on Inishowen, at Moldy hill. There was still plenty of snow on the hills, and the small lake at the top (as they tend to be in Ireland, oddly) was frozen and picturesque.
The following day was a family outing to Downhill, on the Northern Ireland coast. This was the bishop's residence, back in the day when the bishop was really someone - as you can see from the remains of the house. Impressive location and gardens - but rather bleak on a cold grey day in winter. It was however clear enough to see Scotland across the sea - or at least Islay and the Paps (mountains) of Jura.
On a rather sunnier day came one of the highlights of my holiday, in photographic terms at least. Alistair, my eldest brother, booked a plane at the local flying club; a Piper Warroir with a top speed of 125 knots. After a careful start at the icy airfield, we flew south-west to Donegal town, Killibegs and the 1500-foot cliffs at Slieve League. Thenn up the north-west coast, with a great view of the Derryveagh mountains, and especially Errigal (the largest mountain in north-west Ireland) and Muckish mountain. The snow on them made them look impressively alpine - not much like how they were when we used to climb them during our summer holidays! Then back over Glenveagh lake, and over Derry itself, dozing in the sunset on the banks of the Foyle river.
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