Go Walk: Mal Rogerscan't keep the smile off his face as he strolls around Castlewellan Forest Park
TREE GROUPIES. You don’t get many of them to the square kilometre. Indeed, at Castlewellan Forest Park, you don’t get many punters at all, full stop.
Go of a midweek morning to this Co Down retreat and you’ll likely have the entire Victorian demesne to yourself. The stands of western hemlock will be yours alone to frolic in; the rhododendron wood entirely for you to saunter through, all the while admiring the outrageous conflagration of colour.
You might even star in your own make-believe film as you stroll aristocratically – with Mendelssohn on your iPod – through the dwarf-conifer garden and down to the ornamental lake. The cameras will catch your profile as you slowly and mysteriously turn to watch the sun rise over Dundrum Bay.
Unless, of course, you come across a party of Japanese “Castlewellan Gold” fanciers in the arboretum. And there they were, a whole troop of them, admiring the two parents of all Castlewellan Gold leylandii specimens in the world.
These two cypress parents may have botanical history on their side, but they’re far from being the most spectacular trees in Castlewellan Arboretum – part of a five-kilometre hike that will take us from the faux baronial Castlewellan Castle past spectacular views of the Mountains of Mourne and along the shores of a deep trout lough.
These riches were once in the hands of the old Anglo-Irish ascendancy in Co Down – the “Raj in the Rain”. During their sojourn here the Annesleys helped build up a garden full of horticultural A-listers.
As you head towards the arboretum check out Slievenaslat straight ahead – you’ll be climbing it later on – and cast your eyes leftwards to take in the shimmering waters of Castlewellan Lake. No, you won’t be swimming in it, but it’s a lovely view all the same.
On entering the arboretum you'll see two redwoods, Sequoiadendron giganteum. You can't miss them. They're like cathedrals – more than 40m tall and nine metres in girth.
What you might miss, however, are the two unassuming cypress trees just in their lee. These are the parents of all X Cupressocyparis leylandiiworldwide, better known as Castlewellan Gold, and a place of pilgrimage for fans of the species.
This ubiquitous cypress owes its existence to the head gardener John Keown, way back in 1962. It might have been the Swinging Sixties, but Keown had grafting on his mind. (And, anyway, the 1960s pretty much passed Castlewellan by.)
One day Keown picked up a branch of Cupressus macrocarpathat had been broken off by snow. Extracting the seeds – it was a slow day – he sowed the mutant. The rest, as they say, is horticulture. Today millions of Castlewellan Gold offspring grace the gardens of the world.
Time to drag ourselves away from these seminal arboreal moments and past the Peace Maze – made up of 6,000 yews, and officially the largest in the world – taking the path along the north shore of the lake.
Just past the Autumn Wood the route branches and we’re on our way through fir, spruce and pine, on an uphill walk that could best be described as bracing.
After some 20 minutes’ climb the Mountain Lake near the summit of Slievenaslat heaves into view.
From here we head generally west. At the road junction turn left, and take the second path on the left, about 400m from the junction. Then it’s downhill towards Cypress Pond. The path winds around the north shore into a mixed plantation of old conifers and hardwoods. A magnificent silver fir, 30m high, presides over the entire area.
Castlewellan has some of the tallest trees in Ireland, but why are trees so tall anyway? As Richard Dawkins reminds us, the sensible thing would be if they were all short – exactly the same amount of sunshine, minimum expenditure on trunk.
But it’s the cocktail-party effect: if only the guests would whisper, they’d hear one another just as well with no shouting. But there’s always one, somebody who’ll selfishly talk a bit louder than the others, so the hubbub increases.
In the arboreal world of Castlewellan this cocktail effect has led to specimens such as the California Nutmeg, more than 25m tall and still going strong.
It’s now clockwise around the lake and back down towards Castlewellan Castle and the car park.
As the philosopher AC Grayling put it: “If you want a mind-altering substance, look at a tree.” It’s true. The main challenge for you in Castlewellan, surrounded by majestic woodland, intriguing shrubs and magnificent trees, will be to keep the smile off your face.
Castlewellan Forest, Co Down
Start and finishCastlewellan Forest car park.
How to get thereFrom the A1 take the A25 to Castlewellan. The park starts to the left of the main square.
MapOrdnance Survey of Northern Ireland, Castlewellan Forest Park, scale 1:10,000.
SuitabilityA fairly easy walk along forest roads.
Food and accommodationA cafe in Castlewellan Park opens in spring and summer. The village has several pubs and cafes, and accomodation is available