The dog and the teenager came with us on this ramble. We parked up in the handy car park beside Laytown United Football field. Laytown Pitch and Putt Club lay on the other side of the hedge. 50m away was the wide-open expanse of Gormanstown beach. An old couple sat on deckchairs beside their car. They seemed content enough to be getting the sea air without bothering with the sand.
We were heading inland first on a loop so the beach would be our final destination. Going round in circles is how we like travelling.
The road brought us towards the River Nanny which separates Laytown from Gormanstown. A modern pedestrian bridge connects the two coastal townlands but we walked under the bulky cast-iron rail bridge. It was built in 1896 and was painted a green as deep as the winter sea.
We walked along the narrow road, keeping Pixel on the lead. This section was very busy with cars heading to the beach. We passed a well-kept but empty looking church-like building in the townland of Corballis.
To the right, over a field of high and packed bullrushes, lay the mudflats created by the river and the incoming tide. To our left was agricultural land – a mix of potatoes drills and grassland.
The road veered left and the estuary area disappeared as we walked up a small hill. We passed the junction that brought most of the traffic to the beach from the busy Dublin road. The road instantly became quieter and we let Pixel off the lead.
We could see signs all along this road stating that it was part of a school cycle route. This road ran parallel to the busy Dublin – Drogheda road and this was a much safer route for kids. The tarmac was well maintained, the road was straight and the house-owners kept the roadside grass verges well cut for visibility.
The road brought us through a small wooded area opposite a load of empty glasshouses. Inside were long rows of tables, but there did not appear to be anything happening with them.
Around the corner was Mosney. This was once a 70s Butlins style holiday camp. I had never been there myself. I never heard anything good about the place apart from Navan people who went on day trips there. It is now a Direct Provision centre – where Ireland keeps its refugees. I have still not heard anything good about the place.
We carried on straight by here, instead of following the road around as most people do. Our road became smaller and quieter. We peeked around an open gate into a field and saw rabbits scampering away. Above the road hedges were the towers and old walls of Gormanstown Army Camp. The fields flattened out as they usually do when you get near the East coast. We could see the army signal towers behind their large gates.
We passed the military signs warning us to watch out for the firing range ahead.
Once we crossed the railway bridge, we could see the flat line of the Irish Sea horizon. Flocks of seagulls and crows were practising their own military formations in the newly ploughed fields that led down to the beach.
Even Pixel could smell the sea by now and he was eager to go for a swim. The road from the railway bridge fizzled out until it turned into a sandy trail.
This was my first time on this beach. It was long and wide in both directions. Up north, I could make out the Cooley Mountains rising from the sea-haze at the entrance to Northern Ireland. Down south was sand as far as probably Balbriggan. Benhead jutted out in front of us. The military signs warned us to look out for a red flag here but the army is elsewhere today.
When we round Benhead we could see the army firing range up in the dune scrubland.
We stick to the beach area, which is sandy and clean. A paddle with the dog first. The sun comes out and myself and the teen go in for a swim to wash off the walking dust. The CEO soaks up the sun and keeps an eye on the world while we bodysurf on the small waves.
There is plenty of jellyfish along the beach to keep the teen alert and I discover a barrell jellyfish that looks like a disappointed cartoon alien.
After drying, the teen walks along the edge of the sea, throwing a stick into the waves for Pixel while myself and the CEO follow the parallel trail through the dunes.
The trail through the dunes is a pleasant walk in places and is criss-crossed by rabbit-paths. In other places, us humans have left our mark. There is evidence of fires, with empty burnt lager cans and the smell of wee. We find an old motorcycle engine and a grandmother from Tipperary who is lost. I am not sure if she is lost in Meath or lost in the dunes but she does not seem too bothered about it either way and we point her in the direction of the water. To our left are the buildings of the Direct Provision centre, cut off from the beach by the railway line.
After walking through a dark wooded area and then a flat field of grass we find ourselves walking alongside Laytown Pitch and Putt Club and then out into Laytown United carpark again.
Google Maps: 53.674288, – 6.236676
Type of walk: 60% small road, 20% sandy beach, 20% dune trail
Distance: 8.5km
Time: 2pm – 5pm
Views: Green agricultural land, beach seascapes.
Underfoot: Tarmac and sand.
Traffic: A lot at the start, then about four cars to the beach.
Plant of the Day: Scarlet Pimpernel
Animals: Horses, cows, rabbits, jellyfish, sea-birds, butterflies
Humans: One family on bicycles, three teenagers with music on bicycles, two dog-walkers and two fellow rovers on the road. The beach was so long and wide that people were just dots. Five people on the dune trail.
Negatives: The traffic at the start of the route.
Memorable: Once we hit the quiet cycle route, the teen fell into our ongoing judgement of the different house styles that we passed. The swim was excellent.
Score: 8/10