Loads of Fun - No Furze

Tackled this as the last of the four Wexford North hills, all done on the day of the winter solstice and this was the one that I enjoyed most. Travelling in the footsteps of previous commentators I also started at Gib Hl W (S939 591) along the route that Wicklore had pioneered. I drove up to the the Coillte gate that was firmly closed. Being careful, my low slung old Volvo made it up without incident, although I wouldn't recommend it. With the dusk drawing in I half considered blocking the aforementioned gate, something I would never do. I could hear shouting in the distance and feared this maybe some farmer seeing me from a lower field and this banished any thoughts of dodgy parking. I later discovered that it was a sheep farmer and his dog rounding up their flock. I parked further down at the road as Geansai had done also.

Once through the Coillte gate/barrier you follow the track right, turning left at the first junction it is a simple case of following the track the whole way to the small gap identified by simon3 at A (S94784 59331) . This track is now pretty well worn and once you reach the end of it you are met with one of the turbines from the newly constructed wind farm. You can still follow the short track along the wall, it was well trodden and furze free on my visit. If you were bold you could cross the gate and follow the wind farm track up to the top field where the summit trig, mast and cross are now joined by another turbine!

By coincidence, on my way back down I also came across a hare, as well as two lonely looking hen pheasants (maybe having lost their partners since the shooting season opened). As I descended, the gloom lifted briefly and the last minutes of sunshine on the shortest day of the year lit up the Blackstairs in front of me. With the recent rain and the light the whole scene in front of me was a mix of vibrant colours and truly beautiful.

On completion of my walk I did some reconnaissance around the hill to find the access road to the wind farm. It is very easy to find at CulMela (S96072 60362) on the R746. There is ample parking here. A Coillte board carries a map of all the tracks on the hill and there are parallel tracks heading off up the hill; one Coillte and the other relating to the wind farm. Although slightly longer I would be pretty certain that the summit can be reached from here without ever having to leave a gravel track!

On a personal note, this brought me to 98 new summits for the year. On to Greenoge for 99, to leave just the Great Sugar Loaf to complete the tonne and my local 100 on New Year's Eve! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/938/comment/15287/

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simon3 on Gibbet Hill

One thing you may notice in a number of places on this hill is some fine stone walls made out of flattish pieces of rock. In the eighteenth century there was a slate quarry on the hill which is presumably the reason.

The least prickly way we found up is to start at the same entrance as mentioned by Wicklore and then go to A (S94784 59331) where there is an unpromising looking track leading SE. Take this and after about 90m of not-great-but-passable track beside an old wall you will emerge into open ground. Go around 230m SW along the fence and you will be at the top. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/938/comment/4423/

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Furze Free

I followed in Wicklore's footsteps but I didn't drive up as far as the coillte gate as the track was very bad. I just parked at the junction of the track and the road, where there's enough space to park well away from a farm gate opposite, so as not to block it while remaining well off the main road and not blocking the junction. The way is is signposted with arrows from the coillte gate. Give the beech tree corridor a miss ( There's furze at the end of it before you get back on the track ) and stay on the track uphill. You'll come to a crossroads of sorts- the track you're on veers sharply to the right with arrow signposts indicating thats the way you should go. Furthur uphill you'll come to a junction. Turn left and after several hundred yards, watch out for a small mucky track going to the right, and uphill through the vegatation. Horses have been up here and its nothing but muck which you can avoid by dancing round the grassy edges. At the end of it by a fence you can see the summit to your right and its an easy stroll over. The town of Carnew can be seen to the north. On the way down a horse and rider emerged downhill from the beech tree corridor and continued straight down after crossing the track. I was wondering how they could ride horses up the narrow mucky track but this guy made it look easy. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/938/comment/6623/

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wicklore on Gibbet Hill

Exploring the minor roads that circle Gibbet Hill I found a track that branches off in a southerly direction at Gib Hl W (S939 591). Just up this track there is a gate on the left. The gate seems to be a Coillte access point, and it was possible to park there. Through the gate I turned left on a track. The hill slopes up to the right and is covered in furze. After a few minutes on the track I came to a line of beech trees heading up the hill. Using the trees as a corridor I took a shortcut up the hill and followed them up until I rejoined the track above. Beneath the copse of beech trees was a delightful bed of bluebells that stretched up the hill. After reaching the upper track at B (S941 588) I left it to head directly uphill again. This time there were no trees to provide a protective corridor and some pain was experienced negotiating the furze. I soon reached another upper track, and continued directly uphill through more rough ground. I eventually reached a fence at C (S944 589) and turned left to follow it. If anyone is repeating this route I would suggest you cross the fence here and follow it to the summit keeping the fence on your left. This is because the ground on the side of the fence I was on became dense with thorny furze and I couldn’t find anywhere to cross the fence to the clearer ground on the other side. I had to endure another 15 minutes of painful walking as I followed the fence to the summit. The summit area (D (S946 591)) is a grassy field mixed with (surprise surprise!) more furze. There are two little masts at the summit, and one appears to be a weather station. There is a trig pillar, and finally there is a large white cross on a concrete base. Views are expansive to the east, south and west. The best views are of the Blackstairs Mountains. Their entire span is visible from north to south. Leaving the summit I headed back down to the track. On reaching it I turned right and followed it along until I found what appeared to be a quad bike track heading directly steeply downhill. I followed this all the way down to the track near the car, startling a hare (and myself) along the way. Gibbet Hill was a nice walk that took just over an hour. I would go back just to see the carpet of bluebells, thriving quietly away beneath the beech trees. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/938/comment/3765/

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Building site at the top.

Walked Gibbet Hill as part of completing the Nth Wexford area and found the top relatively easily by following the other commenters routes. What they didn't come across was the building site at the top for a new wind farm. A stones throw from the trig are the works offices, an access road and the foundations for a turbine. The trig and nearby cross look swamped and abandoned in a sea of earth works.This work is ongoing as of Feb 2013 and access will possibly be restricted during construction. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/938/comment/14936/

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