On Saturday 14th September a small party of 8 ramblers assembled at Tannaghmore Gardens, Craigavon for a pleasant walk around the Craigavon Lakes. They were joined by 3 members from Armagh Ramblers with whom contact had first been made at the Ulster Federation Spring Conference at Oxford Island in April. The party followed a 4-mile figure of eight loop around the lakes, stopping for lunch on summer seats overlooking the North Lake. The weather through the day was dry, bright and breezy and the conversation lively because among the ramblers from Armagh the Omagh folk discovered a number of mutual acquaintances.
After lunch the party moved in their cars to Oxford Island to discover the place crowded with adults and children enjoying a day out at a charity event on the shore of Lough Neagh. Having resisted the temptation to join swimmers in the lake and go on the bouncy castle, the party set off on a dander through the woodland, stopping to sample ripening blackberries and ponder names for other plants and berries growing in profusion along the paths. A brief stop in the bird hide overlooking Kinnego bay afforded views of hundreds of ducks, coots, moorhens and other water fowl on the rippling waters of the lake. The afternoon ended with freshly baked scones, tea and coffee in the Discovery Centre café.
Photos taken my Mrs Carol Spratt from the Armagh Ramblers are displayed in the Gallery. Those taken by our own members are displayed below.
