The publication points the way to all routesdesigned for public use, while showingwhere private land, not suitable forrecreation, is located. Costing £14,000 toproduce, the map has combined OrdnanceSurvey (OS) with local knowledge. It detailsnewly-built paths through the hills, andmany recently discovered or previouslyunmapped sites of heritage andarchaeological interest.The user-friendly guide outlines the wholeof the Belfast Hills area on one side, whileon the reverse it shows the individual sitesof Cave Hill, Slievenacloy and CarnmoneyHill in fine detail.It is the only single map charting the entireBelfast Hills area in publication - with1:25000 scale on the main map and thethree key sites scaled at 1:8000.The map offers clear, detailed mappingundertaken by Ordinance Survey NorthernIreland with cartographers using aerialphotography, land archives and on-the-ground field-testing. It has been produced under a LandscapePartnership scheme and will be self-supporting, allowing for updates andreprints in the future.Backing from the Heritage Lottery Fund,the Rural Development Programmeadministered by the Lagan RuralPartnership, the Northern IrelandEnvironment Agency and Ulster GardenVillages, made the project possible.The funding means the map can be sold atcost price of £4 to the public.David Scott, project officer with the BelfastHills landscape partnership scheme saidthe new guide was essential kit forenjoying the hills.“We are delighted to have produced this

most detailed OS map in a generation. Itmeans visitors to the Belfast Hills can nowstep out with confidence to discover areasthey never knew existed or how tonavigate.”

Stockists include Visit Belfast WelcomeCentre, Castle Shop at Belfast Castle andDivis Coffee Barn on Divis Mountain. The map can also be ordered online atwww.belfasthills.org.

The most detailed mapping of the Belfast Hills in a generation has been produced by the Partnership.

Putting Belfast Hills on the map

The most comprehensivewalking map of the BelfastHills has been produced by

the Partnership

Local governmentmanagement of the BelfastHills is changing with newboundaries coming into forcein spring.The reduction in councils from 26 to11 means people should have agreater role to play in issues ofplanning and regeneration, saysBelfast Hills Partnership managerJim Bradley.Planning procedures will change, heexplains, with transfer of planningdecisions from the Department of theEnvironment (DOE) to local councils.“One of these changes is howcouncils are supposed to involve localcommunities in not just planningproposals, but also a range ofcommunity development andregeneration,” he said.Meanwhile, additional changes areafoot with the recent green light givenby DOE Minister Mark H Durkan to

the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan(BMAP) 2015. The document sets outhow we should develop our cities,towns and countryside.Implementation of the planningpolicy that has been 14 years in themaking, has been threatened with

judicial review after claims thatproper procedures were not followedby the minister.“When you combine the changes inplanning powers with the confusionaround BMAP potentially beingchallenged in court or even replacedin the not-too-distant future by freshplans from new councils, there’spreparation to be done for the raft ofchanges ahead,” said Jim.For further advice and informationcheck out the following websites:www.planningni.gov.ukwww.communityplaces.info

Council shake-up heraldschanges for Belfast Hills

Fringe sites in the Belfast Hills are"hidden gems" for wildlife thatneed to be protected, surveyscarried out by the Partnershiphave shown.Some nine sites were examined fortheir flora and fauna, as well asthreats to wildlife such as illegaldumping, anti-social use andpresence of invasive alien species.Habitat surveys showed many hadhuge potential to be retained for theirbiodiversity and recreational value.The sites varied from establishedwoodland, river corridors andspecies-rich grassland, to brownfieldsites that had been used for industryin the past. Others included parkland

and farmland. Ligoniel and GlencairnParks were among the areas studiedas well as Forth River Glen andBogstown Glen.Judy Meharg, our project officer said:"These are hidden gems and vitalwildlife corridors linking the hills tothe city. They are fragile and underpressure due to their urban locationand the threat of future development."However, because these sites arelocated near areas where people live,great opportunities exist for nearbycommunities to become involved intheir conservation, with many localshaving become involved already."The next stage is to identify feasiblecommunity wildlife projects, which will

involve protecting, enhancing andpromoting biodiversity at fringe sites,"she said.

For the hills, the main impacts are theboundary changes with parts of the hillsmoving from Lisburn to Belfast, plus theamalgamation of Newtownabbey andAntrim into one council.

“”Urban fringe sites in need of protection

Belfast Hillsheritage huntersA new group of heritage hunters is pioneering thecause of maintaining the historic features of theBelfast Hills.The newly-formed Belfast Hills Heritage Group is made up of anumber of enthusiastic volunteers who have been instrumentalwith Partnership staff, in investigating and recording the richheritage of the hills.

Their work has so far included surveying limekiln andfarmhouse remains on Carnmoney Hill.

The group discovered that the buildings visible today, arerecorded on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833.

The Griffith Valuation of 1862 lists John Thompson as the occupier of the farmhouse. It was also found that theThompson Family continued to live in the house up until the 1960s with the late Aggie Thompson being the lastoccupier of the house before it was destroyed in a fire.

This research has contributed to the desire locally to conserve both structures, maintaining them as features on thesite. The limekiln and farmhouse were largely hidden in undergrowth until surveyed and excavated by a team led bythe Belfast Hills Partnership.

The conservation works, which have already started, are due to be finished early next year.

The Belfast Hills Heritage Group is planning a variety of talks, site visits and surveys for 2015. Contact Lizzy Pinkertonat our offices for further information on how to get involved.

Lizzy Pinkerton landscape partnership scheme

manager and Belfast Hills Heritage Group

member Geoff Wright unearthing heritagestructures on Carnmoney Hill

Preserving our most cherished trees in an officialregister is the aim of a new initiative.The Woodland Trust, which manages Carnmoney Hill isasking for the public’s help to record notable trees into anational database.The Very Important Trees (VIT) campaign is to identify,celebrate and safeguard these natural living monuments. People out and about in the Belfast Hills are being urgedto record trees they love. Some 40 trees have already been listed in NorthernIreland – handpicked because of their age, landscapevalue or historical association. Unlike historic buildings, trees – many of them hundredsof years old - have little recognition or protection and riskbeing lost without a trace, says Jill Butler, ancient treespecialist for the Woodland Trust.“Our oldest trees have seen centuries come and go,witnessed historic events and are home to many speciesof wildlife, some rare and vulnerable. These natural livingmonuments are the equivalent of listed buildings, yet haveno automatic form of protection,” she said.Find out more about the V.I. Trees campaign and askEnvironment Minister Mark H Durkan to support aregister of Northern Ireland’s remarkable trees atwww.woodlandtrust.org.uk/vitrees.

Public asked to help secure thefuture of our Very Important Trees

This sycamore tree behind Belfast Castle on Cave Hill could be an exampleof a landmark tree

Rushes trial in Belfast HillsA Belfast Hills farmer is taking part in a rush control initiative to improve agricultural grazing inthe hills.

A plot near Black Mountain has beenselected, marked into strips, andover the next two years a series oftreatments will be tested and theresults monitored.This is one of a number of sites in aproject devised by the Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development(DARD), with a government advisorassisting those taking part in thescheme.Rush poses one of many difficultiesthat farmers face in the Belfast Hillsas the plant thrives on the wet, poorsoil and can considerably reduce thegrazing value of fields.Staff from the Partnership joined adelegation of farmers at the Collegeof Agriculture Food and RuralEnterprises's Glenwherry Hill farmnear Ballyclare recently to learnmore about the rush trials and otherfarming matters.The aim of the visit, said JudyMeharg, project officer with thePartnership, was to look at hill

farming techniques and uplandmanagement issues."The group was shown rush controltests at the site that included cuttingonly, cutting and spraying andspraying only. They had a talk on redgrouse from the local gamekeeper

and took a tour of the hill farm'sbreeding programme for rearingcattle and sheep."We hope it helps Belfast Hills'farmers get the best out of their landand increase conservationmanagement success," Judy said.

The Belfast Hills Partnership’s new website now has all you need to know aboutour major landscape partnership scheme as well as being a great one-stop-shop for venturing to the hills.The sleek new design, multimedia tools, nifty navigation and robust content isaimed at making the Belfast Hills accessible to physical users, people interestedin supporting conservation in their community and academic researchers.People can register for our events, see our volunteer calendar or just keep up-to-date on what’s happening around the environmental sector across the hills.There is a new biodiversity section that shows the animals, plants, habitats andsites of wildlife interest in the Belfast Hills.

Wonderful new website

Judy Meharg from the Belfast Hills Partnership (right)

with farmers from the Belfast Hills controlling rush

Events for 2015 gathering pace

We are busy gathering exciting events to tempt you out onto the Belfa

st Hills and explore

a wealth of things to see. This year’s calendar is

out in January.

The programme will include walks and talks on

features such as the recently excavated farmhou

se and

limekiln at Carnmoney Hill as well as activity days

, walks, talks, orienteering and fun for all the fam

ily at

our annual heritage festival in the summer.

The ‘jawbox’ and the‘housewife shift’Poverty, hardship, poor wages and cramped, coldliving conditions were all a part of life for peopleliving in the Belfast Hills, our new oral history studyhas revealed.

The “drudgery” of farming in the hillsis described, as well as the strugglesof parents to keep their children fromthe winter chill by transportingburning embers from downstairs tobedroom fireplaces.

However it was not all gloom as fondmemories of playing games, courtingand close family bonds areuppermost in the accounts from localpeople that are now online.

A treat manifested in the form of abox of broken biscuits from the localbiscuit factory is fondly remembered.

The contributors recall the ‘jawbox’known as the kitchen sink, posteriorssticking to icy outside toilets, thearrival of electric cookers, and gasstreet lighting.

Workmen donning clean collarswashed with Sunlight soap, quarryblasting that shook houses and theterror of explosions from Germanbombs that fell during the BelfastBlitz, are told of.

Also described are the women who“worked out” at the mill on thehousewife’s shift in the eveningsfrom six to 10pm after a day hand-washing and cooking in two-up, twodown houses.

The installation of the BBC and ITVmasts around Black Mountain that

heralded the arrivalof television are alsorecalled, as are thedeliverymen whocarted bread, milkand coal to the folk inthe hills.

The social historycan now be heard ina unique oralcollection of voices onour new website.

The spoken word history project hascollected over 20 accounts ofexperiences that have givenexpression to the social heritage ofthe Belfast Hills.

The project is part of a landscapepartnership scheme funded by anumber of organisationsincluding the Heritage LotteryFund and the Northern IrelandEnvironment Agency.

The group made up mostly ofpensioners, recalls a bygone era ofhills above the areas of Belfast,Lisburn and Newtownabbey.

Landscape partnership schememanager Lizzy Pinkerton thanked themembers of local communities whotook part.

“Over the years Belfast HillsPartnership staff have had the

privilege of talking to a wide varietyof people who have fond memories ofthe Belfast Hills,” she said.

“Assistance from the Heritage LotteryFund enabled us to employ a smallteam of oral history consultants to goout and record some of thesewonderful stories from people in thelatter years of their lives.

“What’s good about this project isthe people involved are recorded,so we get to listen to the richnessof the language - its accents,intonations and old names andsayings,” she said.

To listen to the oral histories go to:

http://belfasthills.org/history-

culture/oral-histories/

They typical scullery complete with its‘jawbox’ Belfast sink is recalled in a seriesof oral histories from the hills that can belistened to on our website

By kind permission of David Foster

It’s your Belfast Hills: The Partnership brings together statutory bodies with a role to play in the Belfast Hills,including Belfast, Lisburn, Newtownabbey and Antrim councils. These representatives are joined by people from thefarming, community, commercial, recreation and environmental sectors. All have pledged to work together tobenefit the Belfast Hills. Charity No: XR70288 Company No: NI053189

Address: 9 Social Economy Village, Hannahstown Hill, Belfast, BT17 OXST: 028 9060 3466 • F: 028 9030 9867 • E: info@belfasthills.org • www.belfasthills.org

Funders of the BelfastHills Partnership

New Creation, Lurgan Tel: 028 38 321 255

Big Saturday TaskSlievenacloy strim and trimOur team of helpers rolledup their sleeves to helpUlster Wildlife tidy up a longhedgerow on the local naturereserve in west Belfast. Thehard work was rewardedwith a clear improvement inappearance. It will also extend the life of the hedgerow,enhancing its potential for attracting wildlife.(L-R) Volunteer officer Freddie Harris with volunteers JamesPerkins, Stephen Craig, Kevin O’Shaughnessy and RobertMcKee at the Slievenacloy Strim and Trim

Carnmoney pond mendThe Woodland Trust requested the assistance of our helpfulBig Saturday Task-force to help revive one of their ponds onCarnmoney Hill and breathe life back into the dying waters. We delved deep and removed a layer of spreading vegetation.Then we dug out some of the accumulated silt from the bottomwhich should make wildlife fond of this pond again.

Interactive calendarHave a look around our new website with its dedicatedvolunteer section to see what our team is getting up to.Our special interactive volunteer calendar will ensure younever miss an opportunity to get involved in the greatconservation work we do. There’s a lot to keep up-to-date with,including training opportunities and volunteer tasks. Just clickon the purple dot to find out more or book your place.

If you would like to

become a Belfast Hills

Partnership volunteer, email

freddie.harris@belfasthills.org

or call 028 9060 3466

Well done to all our volunteerswhose sterling work is paying greatdividends for the Belfast Hills!

Fungi courseWe were finding lots of fungi at ourautumn Fungi ID course hosted by Karl

Hamilton from Mantella Environmental

Education. Karl was showing ourvolunteers his expertise and teachingall about the wonderful world of fungi,

including how to identify certainspecies in the Belfast Hills.

Foraging andfolklore at Cave HillBushcraft king Phil Simpson led awalk around the woodlands of CaveHill Country Park to uncover theedible delights on offer at the site. Healso talked about the spiritualconnection of early man to certainplants and how that has affected ourmodern lives.