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Great carrot cake!

Carrowdore Castle Gate is one of the original 19th-century entrance lodges to the Carrowdore Castle estate in County Down. Built in a Gothic style, it features a castellated parapet and turret-like details that echo the look of the main house. Today it stands as one of the most distinctive remnants of the castle complex, marking the historic gateway to the estate.

Simple sandwiches, paninies and drinks. outdoor seating or in a covered space.

Always worth the ascent. If only for the view towards Sliev Croob and the Mournes. Beautiful patch work of swollen hills, cut by colourful fields, that meander all the way to the shore of Strangford Lough below. There are several interesting woodland gravel trails in the woods, connecting to Scrabo, and Ards. Twilight is magic up here. Smooth tarmac Decent down to Ards via Scrabo Road is a joy, with the tower on your left, and the sprawling Lough, and Newtownards to your right.

The house was built in 1818, set in parkland with shelter from woodland trees. There are fine exotic trees and cultivated ornamental gardens sloping gently to a lake. The interior is still largely intact, though some rooms to the rear of the house have been altered in recent times The three-storey tower to the south has a Jacobean-Gothic feel and appears to be largely intact; whilst the similar (but much smaller) three-storey gazebo to the east of the house is now in a ruinous condition. About 1992 a new residence was built a short distance from the original castle. Carrowdore Castle estate is now in private residence.

Movilla was associated with Saint Finian in the 6th-century. As with many early monasteries, it was plundered by Vikings in the 9th century, but was refounded as an Augustinian abbey in the Norman 12th century and survived until the suppression of religious houses in the 1540s. It has the best collection of 13th Century coffin lids with foliate crosses in the Province. These are built into the inside north wall. Only one stone from the Pre-Norman period survives; it is marked with “Or do Dertrend”, “pray for Dertrend”. Later structures include the ruins of a 13th century church which was rebuilt in the 15th-century. A really fascinating stop.

Ballycopeland Windmill is the only remaining working windmill in East Down. It was built in the late 18th or early 19th century and was worked until the First World War when it fell into disrepair. It was gradually restored between 1950 and 1978 to full working order.

The grounds are huge and abound with history. You can only be struck by the character of the place. Especially considering the modern sprawl approaching the Abbeys walls.