After our visit David and I headed back to Top Of The Rock for a walk around the farm.
The farm focuses on biodiversity with lot’s of bird friendly flowers & cover planted and the walk leads down to the river which is bursting with trout, salmon, kingfishers and much more – perfect for the nature lover.
The grey partridge has also recently been successfully re-introduced to the area.
David told me how the local farmers are joining the Walkways Scheme: Under the scheme, landowners receive payments for the development, maintenance and enhancement of approved marked ways and looped walking routes through their land.
With 16 farmers in the area already joined up it’s no wonder Drimoleague is a walkers paradise!
The farm itself offers a lovely river walk that is a perfect introduction to the area and brings you around in a circle back to the Pod Pairc where you can find out lot’s more about the local area and local walking routes . These include St Finbarr’s pilgrim walk, in their custom made walking centre full of maps, information and suggestions plus internet access with kitchen facilities for walking groups also available.
Top of the Rock also offer conference facilities -with a large projector screen, black out blinds and seats up to 80 people comfortably as well as retreats for those looking for a spiritual getaway.
The Pod Pairc itself is very nicely laid out with a variety (7 in total) of pods available to rent including standard pods, family pods and luxury pods.
There is a modern communal kitchen with each pod having it’s own assigned cupboard supplied with delph and pots etc.. and very nice easy to use showers where you pop a €1 coin into the meter for 5 minutes of hot shower time in clean and modern private cubicles.
The shower was fabulous and secure – I mention this having been walked in on during a shower many years ago when hostelling so a secure shower area is important to me and no doubt to others! 🙂
There is also a games room and again upstairs in the walking centre you can relax on a sofa and read a book while young children can play with the supplied toys, or eat as a group if the weather outside is not ideal to picnicking (it is Ireland after all)
There are also facilities for 5 camper van spaces and 5 or so tent pitches.
Open all year round, Top Of The Rock is the perfect destination for Walking groups, Romantic couples, Families and ideal for touring WestCork.
To contact David and Elizabeth visit their profile here >>
Listen to our Audio chat here: soundcloud.com/ecoactive/top-of-the-rock-podpairc
