Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Flee to the country




Helping with the sheep dipping at Ballard Farm

We are incredibly lucky to be living and working in 'the Garden County of Ireland'. On one side we have the sea, on the another side we have the Wicklow hills and within an hours drive north we're in the metropolitan buzz of Dublin city centre - It really is an incredibly beautiful county. Anyone thinking of holidaying here with or without children will not be disappointed.
Last Sunday we spent the afternoon at Glendalough; we wanted to show our Italian student some sites that the tourist guide books would recommend. Glendalough is a peaceful and beautiful valley that houses an early Christian Monastic site; a million visitors per year visit the great round tower along with enjoying the walks around it's two famous lakes. I have visited Glendalough countless times as a child and adult, and with each visit I learn something more about our Irish heritage. Nestled in the valley stands the ruin of St Kevin's chapel, named after St Kevin who was reported to have sailed into Brittas Bay and walked the route to Glendalough past our house. We assume he was well looked after by the clans of Dunganstown nearly one thousand years ago, as we now have a St Kevin's lane leading down to St Kevin's church (was attached to our Old Rectory during it's former ecclesiastical days). Strategically situated at the edge of the Old Rectory land and looking down over the valley towards St Kevin's church lies a very large granite rock, stories retold over the years have said that this is St Kevin's rock, maybe a place where he sat and contemplated the peaceful countryside of Dunganstown and took a breather before continuing his long walk towards Glendalough.

Stable management class at Pony Camp

10 Things to do in the country with your children

1 - If you are thinking of holidaying in the country-side and you'd like a more hands-on experience with rural life, try and book a stay on a working farm where children can be included in daily farm activities. - collecting eggs, picking vegetables or fruit, feeding pet lambs, horse-riding and generally mucking in with the husbandry of the land. Children learn so much about the natural sciences and love the practical side of doing jobs in the outdoors.
2 - Pony-camps and pony treks . Many of the stable yards now offer summer camps. Growing up in Wicklow our local pony camp was THE highlight of my year. Lots of fun, very social and gives children confidence around a large animal but do be sure that your child is equipped for the level of the ride that they are put into - nothing worse than loosing confidence instead of gaining. Pony trekking can be geared towards real beginners and is a wonderful way to view the countryside.
3  - Beach combing. We have just embellished a mirror and a couple of IKEA photo frames with drift wood,  shells and other interesting finds. Need to allow a bit of mayhem on the kitchen table but worth the customized mirror or photo-frame in the end. Without the crafts-side it's just fun collection stones and storing them for a rainy day.
4 -Unplug the television - we try and do this for a month every year. Just have to make sure Wimbledon is over and a few other essential viewings. The children know it's not a punishment as we replace arguments over watching the television with time spent planning a camping night, whittling with wood, completing an outdoor pet project, playing tennis- things that they really enjoy but that we don't seem to have time to do during the rest of the year.
5 - Paddling in streams. Gather up a simple picnic and seek out a shallow stream. If the sun is shining spread out a rug under the natural awning of a tree and enjoy the simple fun your children will get from stone hopping, racing sticks and looking for stream insects.

Old Rectory boys playing at the stream

6 - Visit an agricultural show - every county generally has one over the summer. They are great fun. Good old fashioned competitions to watch or get involved in! Our children have been designing their prints for the 'printed tshirt' competition at the Tinahely Agricultural show.
7 -Picnicking - on a beach, in a field, by a forest (beware of the midges) so many choices.
8 - Biking - This does depend on where you are but if you're near any forestry trails and have older children, this is just the ticket to wear out energetic legs.
9 - Learn how to start a camp fire and build a shelter. Goes without saying that adult supervision is essential on this one but children will love the preparation involved of finding kindling and wood; organizing what to cook with and what to eat. If you don't fancy the palava and damage limitation of this one, I have just heard about camps that are run by EcoadventureIreland, www.ecoadventureireland.ie, involving camping and survival skills for 9 - 14 year olds.
10 - Book your children into a screen printing workshop, grab a good book and go and lie in a hammock under a tree for a whole three hours - Ah bliss!

Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside.

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