Helen's Tower

Like my last post and during the European Heritage Open Day back in September, Matthew (he took the photo) Christopher, Dudley (our dog) and I spent a very enjoyable 2 hours at Helen's Tower. It is quite a walk through the woods at Clandeboye, but we had great fun along the way as we gathered & ate wild blackberries. We arrived at the Tower - which we have been up to before but never been inside, and I was very suprised how small it was compared to Scrabo Tower in Newtownards.

There were a few volunteers in the kitchen of the Tower where we were refreshed by a glass of cold orange juice and a few wipes which removed the purple mess from our mouths left by the blackberries!

The view from the top of the Tower was breathtaking - it was a beautiful warm, sunny and clear day, perfect for the visit, we had a panoramic view of North Down, Belfast and the Ards Peninsula.

It was a great day out we all really enjoyed ourselves - something unique and so very important to our local heritage - Oh Yes, a Cafollas Ice Cream on the Way home!

A wee snippet about the Tower - Helen's Tower lies in the woods of the Clandeboye Estate in Bangor, Northern Ireland. The tower was commissioned by Lord Dufferin of Clandeboye, designed by Scottish architect William Burn and completed in October 1861. The tower was named in honour of Dufferin's mother, Helen Selina Blackwood, the Lady Dufferin.

A close replica of Helen's Tower, the Ulster Tower, was built at Thiepval in 1921 to honour the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division who fell at the Battle of the Somme. Clandeboye Estate was used for army training by the 36th (Ulster) Division during the First World War.

HMA