Glorious Gortin features in next ‘Mahon’s Way’

THE stunning natural beauty of Gortin featured on TV screens across the North at the weekend.

The latest episode of UTV’s popular Mahon’s Way, was broadcast on Sunday at 7pm, and saw Joe Mahon return to Tyrone.

Joe begins his journey high up in the hills above the village. In 1967, Gortin Glen Forest Park became the first of its kind to be opened to the general public. Suddenly over 3,500 acres of recently-created habitats were there to be explored and appreciated, and a whole range of creatures that might otherwise have had nowhere to live, were discovered to have colonised it.

Many of these are nocturnal and not always easy to spot, but Julie Corry, the biodiversity officer for Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, has taken steps to ensure that, if children come to the forest park to see animals, they will not be disappointed. Joe marvels at the size of some of the animals on display.

Before descending to the village Joe meets Sean Harpur, a local man who has rambled this forest since early childhood, and Sean tells the story of a very special tree which was planted here over 50 years ago by a former US Ambassador, and then completely forgotten – until plans were laid out to build a new play area for children. What was discovered will certainly be around for a long time to come.

In the second part of the programme, Joe heads to the banks of the Owenkillew River, where he hears from Paddy Fitzgerald, of the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies, about the mixed fortunes of Scottish settlers who came to this part of Tyrone in past centuries.

Known for being ‘canny and thran’, many of them decided to seek their fortunes across the Atlantic and elsewhere, creating, in effect, an international network of entrepreneurs all linked back to this part of the world.

Finally, it’s back up to hills where the Gortin Lakes look beautiful in the early evening light, and where Joe hopes to spot a few members of that rare human species called ‘The Gortin Dippers’, who swim in the lakes all year round, whatever the weather.

• The episode which was aired on Sunday, August 21 at 7pm on UTV can be caught up on using the link: www.itv.com/utvprogrammes.