The Comber Greenway
The Comber Greenway is a 7 mile traffic free section of the National Cycle Network (Route 99) developed by Sustrans along the old Belfast to Comber railway line. The path was completed in November 2008 and provides a tranquil green corridor all the way from the heart of East Belfast to Comber with views along the route of Stormont and Scrabo Tower. The walking and cycling route provides local people with a traffic free environment for leisure walking and cycling and offers commuting cyclists a direct and traffic-free route from Comber to Belfast city centre.
88,000 people live within a mile of the Comber Greenway.
Route Overview
The traffic free route begins at Dee Street in East Belfast and passes by the CS Lewis statue at the Holywood Arches, along the Bloomfield Walkway to Sandown Road where it continues past the PSNI headquarters to a newly installed toucan crossing at the Knock Road.
From here it travels up to the Kings Road and onwards to Abbey Road, through Tullycarnet and Ardcarn to East Link Road in Dundonald. The greenway continues through a wetland area emerging at the Comber Road, Dundonald where a toucan crossing has been installed.
The route continues from Comber Road, Dundonald past the Billy Neill Centre for Soccer Excellence where the former railway line runs near to the Enler River. Walkers and cyclists can cross the River Enler and farm lanes using a series of reinstated bridges before reaching the final destination at the Belfast Road, Comber.
Where can I walk and cycle on the Comber Greenway?
The full seven miles of the Greenway are now open to the public.
The MournesRambler I Series
There are 17 caches in the MournesRambler I series which is designed to lure you away from the bright city lights along the Comber Greenway:
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.
Dundonald Cemetery
Dundonald Cemetery opened as a municipal cemetery in 1905. In 1897, Belfast Corporation, now the Belfast City Council, acquired 45 acres of land at Ballymiscaw in Dundonald to serve as a burial ground. At that time, this land, known as Donall’s Fortress because of a nearby fort, cost £5,600. The Corporation was granted a £20,000 loan to cover the cost of the purchase and to help with the cost of laying out the cemetery grounds. The first burial on the site took place on 19 September 1905.
The cemetery contains war graves of both world wars. The 1914-1918 War burials are scattered throughout the cemetery. After the war a Cross of Sacrifice was erected on the crest of the hill facing the entrance, in honour of the men buried there. The 1939-1945 War graves are also in various parts of the cemetery. Some are marked by permanent private memorials but most of them have headstones of the traditional Commission design. There are 76 Commonwealth burials of the 1914-1918 war and 88 of the 1939-1945 war here.
Donall’s Fortress
The cache is at the back of the Dundonald Cemetery, but it should be accessed from the Comber Greenway.
The cache itself is a small tab-lock container containing a log book, pencil, pencil sharpener and a few small swaps.
It is hidden at the edge of the Comber Greenway not far from where it the crosses the East Link Road. The Greenway is used a lot by muggles so please be surreptitious and don't give away the location of the cache.