This is a hill I'd been wanting to climb for a while, for despite its relatively low height, it and the wind farm on its lower slopes are very prominent from nearby summits owing to its relatively detached position at the western end of the Sperrins. The Ulster Way conveniently passes over the summit (not sure it always did though - the route was altered and relaunched about a year ago).

I climbed Bessy earlier this week when driving between Omagh and Strabane. About 5 miles past Omagh I took the turn-off for Mountjoy on the left, just after a garage. A couple of miles past the village you'll see an Ulster Way sign, joining from a minor road on the right. The UW then takes the next left turn at 411821 D and I followed this uphill. This is a very steep, narrow road and luckily I didn't meet anyone else on the way up or down. The road soon levels out with an abandoned, two storey farmhouse on the left. I parked next to this and made the rest of the journey on foot. While OSNI map 12 suggests the road continues on from here it really becomes a grassy, hedged-in track.

I followed the UW uphill and in a zigzag, over several stiles (some weren't necessary as the gates were open - one I was able to lift off the ground!), passing close to another seemingly abandoned farmhouse to the right. At times you'd be on a track and others passing through fields with grazing sheep and cows, with the turbines close by overhead. Sometimes the signage wasn't obvious which caused a bit of head scratching and a couple of wrong turns. Eventually a sign points off the track onto the open hillside and I began my ascent. Frustratingly I didn't see another sign on the ascent but luckily ended up right at a stile crossing a fence near the summit. The terrain was typical Sperrins: grassy, heathery, reedy in parts and luckily not too wet at the time. The trig is just a short distance from the fence with some masts beyond. I could see the wind farm access track that mcna and pquinn572 must've taken coming up the other side of the hill.

The view of the rolling Tyrone countryside N and E was impressive. I could see Mullaghcarn, the higher Sperrins beyond and Owenreagh E of Strabane with its own wind farm. I could also make out Omagh and Strabane. The Bluestacks were visible but NW was hazy so I couldn't make out Muckish, Errigal etc. Return was by the same way, though this time I noticed an UW sign pointing downhill along the fence and I followed this until a sign pointed right again.

Ascent took about an hour (including head scratching and wrong turns) and descent a lot less. When I rejoined the road coming from Mountjoy, this time I took left and after a couple of miles came into Newtownstewart, with easy access back onto the A5 to Strabane. From N'stewart I took a brief detour to see the ruins of Harry Avery O'Neill's Castle (signposted) - definitely worth a look if you're in the area. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/738/comment/6120/