The Lock Keeper’s Cottage
At this point on the Laganside path there is a disused lock (No. 3) and a reasonably well preserved lock keeper's cottage.
The Lagan Navigation was built in the mid-to-late 18th century for the transport of goods to and from the mills and industries along the Lagan Corridor. In areas such as Newforge, where the River has a bend or was too shallow, a section of canal had to be dug to facilitate the lighters. In most cases, this also required a lock so that the lighters were able to pass.
The lock keepers had to look after the locks, the canal banks and sometimes a weir to ensure that the water levels were adequate for the lighters to pass through. The weir for Lock No. 3 was upstream towards Shaw's Bridge.
The two families most associated with Lock No. 3 were the McCleaves and the Kilpatricks. George Kilpatrick, who came from a long line of canal folk, became the lock keeper in 1922 and shortly afterwards married Sarah. They had ten children, all born and raised in the cottage. George Kilpatrick was also well-known for keeping goats at Lock No. 3. He also built a lean-to on the gable end of the cottage near the towpath where he sold refreshments.
It is fitting then, that visitors to the area today can still do the same thing at the Lock Keeper's Inn (which is highly recommended).
The MournesRambler II Series
There are currently 24 caches in the MournesRambler II series which is designed to lure you away from the bright city lights along the Lagan Towpath:
The recommended mode of transport for this series is a bicycle, but it should also be quite feasible to complete it on foot. Have you found them all? If you have done them all one after the other please let us know (in your log entry) how long it took you so that others will know roughly how long it might take them.
The New Forge cache
The cache itself is a small tab-lock container containing a log book, pencil, pencil sharpener and a few small swaps.
It is hidden close to the Lagan Towpath not far from where it crosses New Forge Lane. The path is used a lot by muggles so please be discreet and don't give away the location of the cache.