wicklore on Crenville

csd and three5four0 are both on the nail when they say Crenville ‘requires much lifting of one’s legs’ and ‘an unusual amount of bog holes’. This is an unusual summit as it has all of the described bog holes, trenches, tussocks, deep grass and short heather. One footstep could place you onto firm turf and the next could be a 4 foot hole. The grass ranges from short and wiry to wide and long. The only explanation I can think of is that this was once fully forested and that after partial felling the scarred ground was conquered by an assortment of growth that hides the troubled ground below. On the plus side, I did find an intact and pristine dogs harness!

I headed to Crenville from Slievemartin which is just over 1 kilometre to the south. Slievemartin is very easily reached from the car park at A (J196 174) following the signposted ‘black arrow’ route. From Slievemartin I crossed pleasant grassy slopes to reach a fence at B (J204 182). After crossing the fence I entered the twilight zone of Crenville’s curious underfoot conditions. Although the summit is only a few hundred metres from the fence, it took a long time to cover the distance as I tested the ground before each footstep. Hidden holes and streams beneath the grass are the problem, as well as the effort of forging a path at times. I enjoyed the walk though and even found a small dog’s harness on the slope. I can’t imagine a small dog finding it too easy to run about here so I have no idea how it got there.

There is nothing to mark the summit and there is a feeling that Crenville is little visited. It has an isolated feel that will probably continue until the rest of the forestry is cleared. After Crenville I took a direct bearing to Slievemeel which involved more crazy underfoot challenges on the north slope of Crenville before navigating through some very interesting forestry further north. My photo shows a ‘T’ shaped growth of forestry on Crenville as seen from Slievemartin. Perhaps ‘T’ stands for tussocky, tricky, tiring and testing! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/582/comment/4123/

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three5four0 on Crenville

After the traverse of all the rough & boggy ground from Shanlieve to Slievemeel, the forestry track up to the Fallow came as light relief. The ground after the track was something else, csd has been to kind in his description. There appears to be some sort of drainage channels, perhaps for the trees, long gone peat cuttings or just an unusual amount of bog holes, which are now covered by various types of vegetation & lots of tussocks. These range from some knee deep to thigh deep. The summit itself appears to be on a slight spur of the summit ring contour. The Descent, unlike the film, did not have nocturnal flesh eating trolls running about the place, but there was plenty of bog holes for them to hide out in, in fact it was worse than the summit area. it was with relief i reached the firmer slopes of Slievemartin (after another fence). All in all, this summit is only suitable for the hard pressed DoE leader who has some disrespectful charges with him, where the smallest and rudest of them may disappear for ever here. So one for the fell runners as well then. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/582/comment/3240/

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Maybe Nicer on a Dry Day.

I thought of adding this peak to my list of ones completed while I was in the area. The weather on the day was horrific. Down to about 20m visibility with driving rain. I just completed Slievemeen and wandered up to the right of Slieve Martin. The plan was to cut through the gap in the forest just south of Crenville. After hitting the gap and crossing over the fence I should have turned around. Initially sinking up to my thigh just beyond the fence, I plodded on. The ground very hummocky, but hidden with the long grass. Really really slow going. Checking my position I felt it may be better to head SE back toward the forest and walk NE till I got in line with the peak. It was pretty dark and there was little room for moving in it - walking through you were snapping off rotten branches all over the place. It was pretty marshy too. At this stage I was well wet, I had my SealSkinz on with trail shoes - I'd never have made it with normal boots - I really needed the grip with the shoes. Eventually got to the south and started wading through the long grass to get to the top. Really tough going, especially with the driving rail. Eventually got to the unassuming summit and after getting my strength back wandered north to try and cut through the forest to gain access to one of the tracks that run through the forest.

Wandering up through the forest I got disorientated with the direction, following what I thought was a small strip of land that led north, which it did for a while, but turned South West. Only after checking my compass after 10mins did I realise That I'd emerged south back out of the smaller forest. At this stage I really could not be bothered to head back north. I decided to cut my losses and headed South back to the forest, and with a lot of barging through forest and sinking in streams, eventually managed to break out of to the moorland. I then followed the fence back SW, but that's another story.

I can't imagine I'll be back to this area again - may be easier in the winter months when the grass dies back a bit. If I did do it, I'd probably come from the North most forest area , seems like there are a few trails up there. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/582/comment/19630/

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Welcome to Cruelville

Some people might say that there's no such thing as a bad mountain or hill, but on a wet and gloomy November day it was hard not to think that Crenville is the exception to the rule.
Despite the weather, everything was grand from Slievemeen to Slievemartin, but once over the fence and into the 'Crenville Cul De Sac' the terrain deteriorated into high tussocky grass that sapped the energy and caused more than a few tumbles. The layout of the forestry didn't help, a labyrinth that isn't accurately reflected on maps or satellite imagery.
Our attempt to find a way through the trees to access a track to the west required some awkward tree bashing, and with the light fading it was a relief to finally hit the trail.
This is an area quite unlike the better known Mournes summits to the east and It goes without saying, for baggers (or the lost) only. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/582/comment/20677/

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csd on Crenville

I approached Crenville from the north, via the forest track that starts at the col between Crenville and Slievemeel, through the area shown as The Fallow on the Mournes map. This track doesn't venture as far south as shown on the map, but peters out into bogginess shortly after the two tracks reconverge. The forest planting is as random as shown on the map, so careful navigation is required. I cheated and used a GPS :) The views from the summit are very similar to those visible form Slievemeel, but pleasant nonetheless. The summit area itself is tough going, very tussocky underfoot, requiring much lifting of one's legs. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/582/comment/2962/

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