PERIODIC PHOTOGRAPH  
I will display different photographs of places near Bunclody,
County Wexford here at fairly regular intervals.

The Slate Quarry

This photograph is taken from near the top of The Rime. This is a hill about of 300 or 400 feet high. It is mostly made of slate. I do not know where the name came from. That it is an old English word meaning frost throws no light on why this place was so named. It may have been an English phonetic spelling of a Gaelic word. Locals refer to this place as if it were all a single word; "Drime"

The photograph is taken into the setting sun, looking towards Mt. Leinster. Mount Leinster is almost hidden by the tree. The more visible mountain is The Black Rock Mountain. On the left of the photo smoke rises from burning heather. This is a deliberate fire started by the hill sheep farmers to encourage new succulent growth for their sheep to feed on.

This slate quarry hasn't been in commercial production for over a century. Because of this there is an abundance of wildlife there. Some of the holes left from the excavations could be looked on by some as ugly, but I have always viewed it as a place of wonder and danger. When there, it is hard not to think of the people who worked there and wonder what life must have been like for them.

Live and Dead

There are lots of places where both flora and fauna have tried to establish themselves with varying amounts of success. Here are two trees, one of which successfully established itself on the heather-covered slate rubble and another that wasn't so successful. My dog takes the opportunity to have a good pant while I take the picture. He has been scurrying around after rabbits and probably some squirrels.

Colours

Here are some nicely coloured heathers and a gorse bush well established on the scree and preparing the ground for other plants in the future. As I have mentioned before, images reduced to a size suitable for webpages lose the subtleties of colour that the eye picks up. Therefore a little imagination is needed to appreciate the beautiful colours of these heathers.

On the way home

Here can be seen the luscious growth that has taken over what must have been very barren ground at the time the quarry closed. My dog keeps far enough ahead of me so that the sound of my footsteps doesn't interfere with his listening for the rustle of rabbets in the undergrowth.

Thistledown

Here is a thistle about to make sure that its gene pool isn't lost to future generations. The first winds will ensure that these seeds are carried far and wide. This photograph is taken looking down into a valley and the the slate rubble can be see where the ground starts to rise on the other side of the valley.