We had 3 different recommendations about the drive along the Copper Coast so set off for the start at Tramore which is about 13km from where we are staying. Tramore is the town we can see over the water from us, and seems to be a seaside resort. It has an amusement park although it was all quiet when we were there. The lights from the town are pretty at night.

We saw the oldest hotel in Tramore as we drove up Gallwey's Hill on the way to do the short Doneraile walk . This was laid out by Lord Doneraile early in the 19th century for his friends and family to promenade. We had good views of the Bay although the promised lovely day never happened and there was a cool breeze and hazy sky.

At the top there was a cannon with no information about why it was there. Nearby was a memorial stone that had been moved from the sea shore. It was to the military victims of the 'Seahorse’ sinking. All we could find out was that the ship sunk with the loss of 363 lives. The stone was originally placed over the graves on the beach but was moved in 1912 when the sea was encroaching.

We then stopped at a bog!! Fenor Bog is a Regenerating Valley Fen on a 32 acre site that was declared a National Nature Reserve in 2004. A 1999 survey found 118 plant & 110 animal species on the bog. It's the only fen of it's kind in the South East of Ireland and it is internationally important. It was on a guide to the Copper Coast but a cache there was also a significant attraction . There was a large carpark but we were the only people there!!

A 500m boardwalk (made from 100% recycled plastic material) covers part of the site and the cache was at the end. On the way we looked for the birds we had been told were there but only saw some butterflies. We did hear frogs and birds though.

We then drove to Annestown beach, where we stopped and walked along the beach to find a cache. It was mainly rocky but did have a big area of sand and would be nice on a hot day. It was warmer by now but I was still not hot in trousers. We were told that Annestown is notable because it is one of the few villages in Ireland that does not have a pub.

Our next stop was at the old copper works. The cliffs west of Bunmahon were mined for lead, silver and copper in the 18th century. The main phase of activity took place in the mid 19th century when the mines east of Bunmahon were worked by the Mining Company of Ireland . The mines were worked with steam and water powered equipment.

The site had the ruins of the shaft (with lots of danger signs around it as it is 256m deep), the old pump house and the winding engine room (which brought the ore to the surface).
There was a small wagon outside and the site notes said that the ore would either be dragged to the shaft in bags or trammed there in carts.

It was pointed out that copper was first mined in Mesopotamia 8500 years ago and in this area at the start of the Bronze Age, 4500 years ago. As well as the obvious uses it was also used as a fungicide to prevent potato blight. The copper ore is here in veins that would have formed 350 million years ago.

Probably the nicest views were on the next part of the drive. There were a number of picnic places on the side of the road so it was easy to pull over to look at the sights.

Our final stop on the Copper Coast geopark was at the discovery trail that was set up in 1999. It had plaques on the ground tracing life on Earth with significant parts showing the various mass extinctions due to Ice age glaciations, meteor strikes etc. They also had large rocks of various types found in the area, including copper bearing rocks.

The Celts who lived in Ireland had a type of writing called ‘ogham’. The writing was done on stones and read from the ground up. Many stones were erected in memory of an important person or event. In the middle of this park were 2 ogham stones that were aligned to the summer solstice sunset.

At this stage we were more interested in food than scenery although there was one village we had not yet visited. However, we could not find a pub open on the coast in the next few km so we drove directly to Dungarvan, a larger fishing town at the end of the trail. We then returned on the main road to Waterford with one detour for a cache in the ‘mountains’. We had to get back by 4.20pm for my hair appointment. John watched some soccer back at our house and then collected me at about 5.45pm. We bought a bit for tea from the supermarket and we had an evening in.