Hi Desmond. Many thanks for your kind words of encouragement. You must be a fair age now! Do you still live locally or are you, like so many others, far away? Best wishes from the Belfast Castlereagh hills.
Thankyou so much for making this video. I was up there as a child but can barely remember it. 65 now, and I must visit it again before l go, maybe late spring 2021, and hopefully it will be open. Thanks again, great job.😊
Hey your welcome post has made my day Mya! I am so pleased my wee video brought back happy memories. This is one of the main reasons I started my channel. If you are going contact Tourism NI to make sure tat it will be open. I don't want you to have a wasted journey and disappointment. I have tried ro get in mant times but have found it shut.
@@TomMcClean Thanks for replying. Will do. Thought maybe that wee place beside the bus station in Ards could tell me when it'll be open. Roll on the spring! 😃
Thanks Tom,on my bucket list when over later this year from Sydney, From Maynooth origionally ben in Australia since 1967.Beautiful Tower what a place to sleep over..
I decided I wanted to learn a bit more about this tower and guess who's video I stumbled on? My favorite tour guide's! What an incredibly well built structure!!! Those walls are so thick. Incredible. And the the views from the lookout at the top. Amazing!!! You can see forever. That is a really incredible tower. Way better built than that one that is falling over in Italy. I can't believe I've never heard of it before! I'm going to do some more homework to see how they got all of those stones up there. Thanks again for sharing this, Tom. Really good stuff.
'Way better built than that one that is falling over in Italy.' This made me smile Greg! Thank you for that. The stones are from the local sandstone quarries down below the tower. These quarries are now given back to nature. ( Yes I have vidoes of them too. ) Scrabo sandstone was used to build many rf the churches and famous architectural buildings in Belfast and beyond. This much prized stone would have been cut out and hewn in the quarries and dragged by clydedale type horses on sledges up to the top. I suppose they used cranes and winches to get the stone upwards. ( I'm obvioulsy not too sure. ) This was indeed an amazing feat of engineering with no modern machinery available. I'm glad you liked that Greg. We have another very famous WW1 associated tower nearby over at the Clandeboye Estate Bangor. Yet another hidden treasure! Helen's Tower Clandeboye Estate Bangor ua-cam.com/video/I1LmzMm-d2g/v-deo.html
Tom McClean Positive Belfast Thanks for pointing me to Helen’s Tower at Candleboye Estate, Tom. Another cool tower! Sorry you had to work so hard at finding it when there was an easy way in. One thing I find really interesting about these fairly new towers, is that they are built the old way. Heavy stone and more stone. When I see these types of things, towers, castles, etc..I can’t help but immediately think of the work involved in creating them, something that would have been lost on a younger version of me. But go out and try budge, yet move, a few smallish 100- 150 pound stones around and one very quickly develops an appreciation for the labor put in here. Cutting, fitting, moving, lifting, placing heavy stone. Another impressive video, Tom. I’m really starting to get a feel for all of the work you have done in creating your collection of work over the last six years. Good work, it is and plenty of it! From the simple to the stunning, you’ve got it covered.
Yes Greg I also now appreciate the amazing craftsmanship, design and sheer physical hard work and toil that are behind these buildings. I enjoyed doing all these videos. I learned so much in their making/research. I'm just passing what is there on hoping that others might take an interest learn and enjoy. As usual you are very kind in your supportive words.
High Charles You are very welcome to come but you need to wait until this Covid virus thing has passed. Almost everything here is shut. Pubs restaurants and historical buildings. Very few places remain open. We are Northern Ireland and we are under the jurisdiction of mainland UK. Southern Ireland is complete shut down. Absolutely nothing is open there. I would suggest thinking of coming after 6 more months. Sorry! I have 3500+ videos mostly about Belfast and surroundings. These amateur videos take in parks, forests, high points, places of interest, historic site/buildings, street art, famous sculptures, graveyards, harbours etc etc etc Many of the places I film are off the beaten track. I film a lot of places touists would not know about. I hope you can come and see us when things have opened up again but for now I would not recommend it. Best wishes from Belfast
@@TomMcClean its all ok and thanks for the quick reply. Right now we are planning for June as long as, you said it... COIV goes away. There are many wonderful places you have and we hope to see many. Many thanks to you for posting some great videos. I plan to watch and learn from you as much as I can :)
Hi Charles again. I'm just an old ( I'm 67 ) amateur UA-camr Charles. Discover Northern Ireland is a great UA-cam Channel. It has the professional approach in presenting this wee place. It will show you all the top ranked tourist spots. Yes I would wait until June next year. Scrabo Tower should be open again by then. It is well worth seeing the views from the top. Could I also recommend Carrickfergus Castle and Dundrum Castle ( near Newcastle Co Down. ) Then there are the Botanic Gardens near the wonderful Ulster Museum. FREE! ( Well worth seeing. ) Stormont Estate is superb and they do a FREE! tour. The Belfast City Hall is brilliant and they have a walk round permanent exhibition area of something like 17 large rooms. They also do a FREE! tour. I enjoy exploring in round Titanic with the Titanic exhibition and WW1 HMS Caroline ship museum/exhibition. Don't forget about the fabulous Ulster Folk and Transport Musuem at Holywood. It has a real rebuilt outdoor village churches, Irish cottages with all theartifacts etc and a transport section and I reckon a more authentic Titanic Exhibition than at Titanic. ( I have made videos on all of these. ) If I can be of any further help please do not hesitate. ps If you are of Irish/Ulster/Northern Irish descent, the Public Records Office will try and help you trace your ancestry and the Ulster/Scots Centre in town might also be helpful. Best wishes Tom
Fab video! I was looking for info about Scrabo Tower and was so pleased you had made a video about it, as I am already subscribed to your channel and also I knew that you would do the subject justice. As soon as we can travel back to NI, my husband and I will be climbing the tower. Thanks again 👍💕
Hi Claire many many thanks for your very encouraging comments. Once all the restrictions are finally removed the tower should be open but it is always wise to ring beforehand and make sure. I believe the tower is managed by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. It sometimes uses National Trust volunteers to man it. It is only open in summer months. I can't seem to access a phone number!!!!! The Belfast Welcome Centre would be the place to ask. 028 9024 6609 Dundrum Castle is another fantastic 'tower'/castle viewpoint that is open all year round. I have made 3 short videos about the castle Dundrum Castle part 3 Views from the top of the Keep ua-cam.com/video/43rKn2cXB8s/v-deo.html Scrabo Tower Sunrise Ramble Rant -Long Video ua-cam.com/video/dfQe1mwYbls/v-deo.html Best wishes from Belfast Northern Ireland
Yes you are well up Joan. this must be one of the highest buildings/viewpoints in Ireland. The walk up and the 122 steps are quite challenging. I was a bit breathless! lol
We need a bus service going up that hill. There is a bench on the hill, it’s quite hidden with a nice view over the lough but once you sit down you can’t be bothered to walk up the rest of the hill
Hey thanks for calling in Rodpiker. I reckon Scrabo Tower must be in the top 5 of our most well known and loved buildings. Hey thanks for your support. Best wishes
Hi JLF I've seen peregrine at Scrabo a good few years ago. They raised 3 chicks. But there have been none there in the last 10 years as as far as I know. I've seen buzzards over nearby Killnether wood. There was until recently a resident pair of kestrel in the lower quarry. We used to see them all the time but I haven't seen them in the last 2 years. I videoed raven at Scrabo a year ago. Have you seen any butterflies at all?
My late husband told me about walking up to the tower with his mum, and having one of the Millen sisters teas. They baked the scones themselves. I believe there may still be an odd goat roaming about
Hi Janice thanks so much for that wee personal reflection about your late husband getting a scone and tea from the sisters. These sisters were famous for 10s of miles around. My father took us down to Scrabo when we were small and I remember seeing these ladies too. That would be maybe 60 years ago in the late 1950s. Yes the goats, now really wild goats, are still there. Wild goats are rare in Northern Ireland. The place is coming done with all sorts of wildlife too. Best wishes
Thanks for this great film. Brought back memories. Went to the Model school in the 1940`s and used to climb up to the top. Des Roberts
Hi Desmond. Many thanks for your kind words of encouragement. You must be a fair age now! Do you still live locally or are you, like so many others, far away?
Best wishes from the Belfast Castlereagh hills.
Thankyou so much for making this video. I was up there as a child but can barely remember it. 65 now, and I must visit it again before l go, maybe late spring 2021, and hopefully it will be open. Thanks again, great job.😊
Hey your welcome post has made my day Mya! I am so pleased my wee video brought back happy memories. This is one of the main reasons I started my channel.
If you are going contact Tourism NI to make sure tat it will be open. I don't want you to have a wasted journey and disappointment. I have tried ro get in mant times but have found it shut.
@@TomMcClean Thanks for replying. Will do. Thought maybe that wee place beside the bus station in Ards could tell me when it'll be open. Roll on the spring! 😃
Beautiful tower Tom thanks
I thought you'd like that Mike. This tower gives some of the best views anywhere in Northern Ireland.
Thanks Tom,on my bucket list when over later this year from Sydney, From Maynooth origionally ben in Australia since 1967.Beautiful Tower what a place to sleep over..
Hope you enjoy a super visit Ray. Don't forget your raincoat and umbrella! lol
@@TomMcClean Will do,though be good to see rainy stormy weather for a change.lol.
I decided I wanted to learn a bit more about this tower and guess who's video I stumbled on? My favorite tour guide's! What an incredibly well built structure!!! Those walls are so thick. Incredible. And the the views from the lookout at the top. Amazing!!! You can see forever. That is a really incredible tower. Way better built than that one that is falling over in Italy. I can't believe I've never heard of it before! I'm going to do some more homework to see how they got all of those stones up there. Thanks again for sharing this, Tom. Really good stuff.
'Way better built than that one that is falling over in Italy.'
This made me smile Greg! Thank you for that.
The stones are from the local sandstone quarries down below the tower. These quarries are now given back to nature. ( Yes I have vidoes of them too. ) Scrabo sandstone was used to build many rf the churches and famous architectural buildings in Belfast and beyond. This much prized stone would have been cut out and hewn in the quarries and dragged by clydedale type horses on sledges up to the top. I suppose they used cranes and winches to get the stone upwards. ( I'm obvioulsy not too sure. ) This was indeed an amazing feat of engineering with no modern machinery available. I'm glad you liked that Greg. We have another very famous WW1 associated tower nearby over at the Clandeboye Estate Bangor. Yet another hidden treasure!
Helen's Tower Clandeboye Estate Bangor
ua-cam.com/video/I1LmzMm-d2g/v-deo.html
Tom McClean Positive Belfast Thanks for pointing me to Helen’s Tower at Candleboye Estate, Tom. Another cool tower! Sorry you had to work so hard at finding it when there was an easy way in. One thing I find really interesting about these fairly new towers, is that they are built the old way. Heavy stone and more stone. When I see these types of things, towers, castles, etc..I can’t help but immediately think of the work involved in creating them, something that would have been lost on a younger version of me. But go out and try budge, yet move, a few smallish 100- 150 pound stones around and one very quickly develops an appreciation for the labor put in here. Cutting, fitting, moving, lifting, placing heavy stone. Another impressive video, Tom. I’m really starting to get a feel for all of the work you have done in creating your collection of work over the last six years. Good work, it is and plenty of it! From the simple to the stunning, you’ve got it covered.
Yes Greg I also now appreciate the amazing craftsmanship, design and sheer physical hard work and toil that are behind these buildings. I enjoyed doing all these videos. I learned so much in their making/research. I'm just passing what is there on hoping that others might take an interest learn and enjoy. As usual you are very kind in your supportive words.
I am planning a trip to Ireland and thank you for this video. It does look beautiful and will be on the to do list. Thanks again!
High Charles You are very welcome to come but you need to wait until this Covid virus thing has passed. Almost everything here is shut. Pubs restaurants and historical buildings. Very few places remain open. We are Northern Ireland and we are under the jurisdiction of mainland UK. Southern Ireland is complete shut down. Absolutely nothing is open there. I would suggest thinking of coming after 6 more months. Sorry!
I have 3500+ videos mostly about Belfast and surroundings. These amateur videos take in parks, forests, high points, places of interest, historic site/buildings, street art, famous sculptures, graveyards, harbours etc etc etc Many of the places I film are off the beaten track. I film a lot of places touists would not know about. I hope you can come and see us when things have opened up again but for now I would not recommend it. Best wishes from Belfast
Sorry I meany Hi Charles! Oh dear I'm getting older by every second! lol
@@TomMcClean its all ok and thanks for the quick reply. Right now we are planning for June as long as, you said it... COIV goes away. There are many wonderful places you have and we hope to see many. Many thanks to you for posting some great videos. I plan to watch and learn from you as much as I can :)
Hi Charles again. I'm just an old ( I'm 67 ) amateur UA-camr Charles. Discover Northern Ireland is a great UA-cam Channel. It has the professional approach in presenting this wee place. It will show you all the top ranked tourist spots.
Yes I would wait until June next year.
Scrabo Tower should be open again by then. It is well worth seeing the views from the top. Could I also recommend Carrickfergus Castle and Dundrum Castle ( near Newcastle Co Down. ) Then there are the Botanic Gardens near the wonderful Ulster Museum. FREE! ( Well worth seeing. )
Stormont Estate is superb and they do a FREE! tour. The Belfast City Hall is brilliant and they have a walk round permanent exhibition area of something like 17 large rooms. They also do a FREE! tour.
I enjoy exploring in round Titanic with the Titanic exhibition and WW1 HMS Caroline ship museum/exhibition. Don't forget about the fabulous Ulster Folk and Transport Musuem at Holywood. It has a real rebuilt outdoor village churches, Irish cottages with all theartifacts etc and a transport section and I reckon a more authentic Titanic Exhibition than at Titanic. ( I have made videos on all of these. )
If I can be of any further help please do not hesitate.
ps If you are of Irish/Ulster/Northern Irish descent, the Public Records Office will try and help you trace your ancestry and the Ulster/Scots Centre in town might also be helpful.
Best wishes Tom
Cracking video, love scrabo tower,you can actually see Scotland too. unbelievable views!👏👍
Fab video! I was looking for info about Scrabo Tower and was so pleased you had made a video about it, as I am already subscribed to your channel and also I knew that you would do the subject justice. As soon as we can travel back to NI, my husband and I will be climbing the tower. Thanks again 👍💕
Hi Claire many many thanks for your very encouraging comments. Once all the restrictions are finally removed the tower should be open but it is always wise to ring beforehand and make sure. I believe the tower is managed by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. It sometimes uses National Trust volunteers to man it. It is only open in summer months. I can't seem to access a phone number!!!!! The Belfast Welcome Centre would be the place to ask. 028 9024 6609
Dundrum Castle is another fantastic 'tower'/castle viewpoint that is open all year round. I have made 3 short videos about the castle
Dundrum Castle part 3 Views from the top of the Keep
ua-cam.com/video/43rKn2cXB8s/v-deo.html
Scrabo Tower Sunrise Ramble Rant -Long Video
ua-cam.com/video/dfQe1mwYbls/v-deo.html
Best wishes from Belfast Northern Ireland
@@TomMcClean thank you for all this wonderful info. 👍💕
You are very welcome indeed!
Thank you very much for the history off Scrabo Tower it was interesting
Hi Jeanette Thanks for that.
Fantastic Tom. Never been there .very interesting. The view from the top is like being in an aeroplane. Thanks.
Yes you are well up Joan. this must be one of the highest buildings/viewpoints in Ireland. The walk up and the 122 steps are quite challenging. I was a bit breathless! lol
Thanks for sharing loved it...
Hey Ray many thanks for your encouraging post. Best wishes from belfast Northern Ireland.
We need a bus service going up that hill. There is a bench on the hill, it’s quite hidden with a nice view over the lough but once you sit down you can’t be bothered to walk up the rest of the hill
I would have trouble walking up the hill now too!
It look nice, friend. Have a nice day, 👍
And thank you for dropping by to my channel Kim. And I hope you have a good day today too.
2:32 at night there’s a red light in top and you can see that from far away
The red light is to warn low flying aircraft that they are close to the tower.
Tom McLean ✅
Positive ✅
Belfast ❌
Good video, only been there once but would like to go myself again
A great wee spot Z.
Nice video Tom did the Tower myself I’m subscribed 👍
Hey thanks for calling in Rodpiker. I reckon Scrabo Tower must be in the top 5 of our most well known and loved buildings. Hey thanks for your support. Best wishes
Your welcome Tom u did the inside and I did the outside of the Tower it’s a lovely spot👍
Did you notice the " Graffiti "?
Soldiers scratched their initials and service numbers in the stones.
Same at Dundrum Castle.
Some WW1 era.
I'm kicking myself that I managed to miss this graffiti in both places when I videoed John.
@@TomMcClean You can see it a bit on the stones on your Video at the top.
I hadn't even noticed! Oh dear!
Hi Tom i was up there earlier in the Year,did you see or hear any Peregrine Falcons or Buzzards or Kestrels at Scrabo.
Hi JLF I've seen peregrine at Scrabo a good few years ago. They raised 3 chicks. But there have been none there in the last 10 years as as far as I know.
I've seen buzzards over nearby Killnether wood.
There was until recently a resident pair of kestrel in the lower quarry. We used to see them all the time but I haven't seen them in the last 2 years.
I videoed raven at Scrabo a year ago.
Have you seen any butterflies at all?
My late husband told me about walking up to the tower with his mum, and having one of the Millen sisters teas. They baked the scones themselves. I believe there may still be an odd goat roaming about
Hi Janice thanks so much for that wee personal reflection about your late husband getting a scone and tea from the sisters. These sisters were famous for 10s of miles around. My father took us down to Scrabo when we were small and I remember seeing these ladies too. That would be maybe 60 years ago in the late 1950s. Yes the goats, now really wild goats, are still there. Wild goats are rare in Northern Ireland. The place is coming done with all sorts of wildlife too. Best wishes
6:05 you walked up the hill to find it’s closed (sorry for all the comments lol)
The tower is open in the summer time.