From Headless Cross to Black Hill

Liz Through the Looking Wall

Saturday was a Walking Day. Myself and Liz headed up to Headless Cross car park a.k.a. Linford carpark to begin the next stretch of the Ulster Way. The car park overlooks a broad plain and undoubtedly this is what drew a small crowd of model aircraft enthusiasts - men in early to late middle age controlling a variety of buzzing craft.
The weather was clear with a little cloud. We were blessed with fantastic views over the North Channel to Scotland.
We crossed Scawt Hill meeting a man who I strongly suspect was collecting 'magic mushrooms'. He said he was up there to walk and take photos. Why then the wicker basket. I have a very suspicious mind!
We passed a phallic-shaped standing stone which looked over the brow of the hill towards Ailsa Craig. Ailsa is also known as 'Paddy's Milestone' for the returning Irish traveller knew he was close to home when he spotted the island.
Mushrooms of all kinds and colurs littered the ground.
We walked as far as Black Hill before turning back. The days are getting shorter now and we really only had to around 7pm before dark.
We rounded off the day by visiting the Meeting House - a pub on the Brustin Brae (great name!) Road. We were a little reticent about entering the place as we don't know the village (Cairncastle) and sometimes these little pubs can be unwelcoming. Not so with the Meeting House! Inside there was a friendly singing session - traditional songs interspersed with modern rock ballads. There was good food available and nicest of all an old man came over to Liz and I to offer us a seat in the packed bar. It turned out he and his friend were ramblers themselves - the East Antrim Ramblers Club. He it was who told us that Linford was locally known as Headless Cross. He didn't know why it was called so. I can only imagine at one time there was a broken cross at the site. There is a mass rock not too far away. An internet search reveals a lot of references to Black Sabbath! Other places with the same name occur in Worcestershire, Dartmoor, Shotts (Scotland), Bolton and Derby.
My daily routine has changed with the opening of the Zen Centre. I used to wake at 8am, get breakfast, then go to work. Now there is a sitting between 7am and 8am so we try to get down there a few times a week. This means getting up at 6.15am. Oy vey!
Today I also spent two hours doing tai chi. If I don't watch out I'll get enlightened and no-one will hear from me again!
The campaign to stop the M3 ploughing through Tara was aided by a mini-festival there on Sunday. Stuart Townsend has added his support to the growing campaign to halt this madness.