16 October 2011

Historical tour of the Lead Mines


Sunday 20th October sees another of Ards Council's guided walks around the mines. These tours explore the biodiversity, geology and industrial heritage of the area which some years ago was declared an area of special scientific interest. Leadmines MCC members Ricky Moore and Ricky Griffiths were in attendance at the last tour which took place a few weeks ago. Also joining the walk was Ards MCC's Philip McClurg. The 3 riders agreed the tour was very informative and brought up many interesting facts.

As we often view the mines through motorcycling eyes its easy to miss some of the other unique features of the landscape. The tour includes facts about the various mining companies that worked the area, rare plant and animal species, the geology of the mines and how many of our well known sections were formed!

One thing we did pick up on the tour was of course a rather negative view towards motorcycling in the area. Indeed the last tour was accompanied by an anti-social behavior officer complete with landrover to ward off any evil bikers which may intimidate the tour! It is however a good chance for trials riders to show that not all riders are 'scramblers' and indeed there is such thing as a responsible motorcyclist. The tour guide does encourage those in attendance to put their views forward so its a good opportunity to make your voice heard and build bridges with other users of the mines. Perhaps by learning from each other and gaining an appreciation of how others view and use the area, we could all peacefully co-exist and enjoy and preserve the mines for years to come.

If you plan to take a tour there is two available on the day. They leave the Somme Centre car park at 1.30pm and 3.30pm. Admission is free and pre booking is advised. To reserve a spot you can contact the council on 02891826846 or email tourism@ards-council.gov.uk