Â鶹ԼÅÄ

Presenter Marie-Louise Muir explores the forest, open moor and bog land surrounding the Glenshane mountain pass, which cuts through The Sperrins on the main road between Belfast and Londonderry.

In this half-hour programme Marie-Louise stops at the Ponderosa Bar which first opened in 1858, and at 980 feet above sea level claims to be Ireland’s highest pub.

Two local mountain men, Jimmy  McLaughlin and Will Gribben, take Marie-Louise on a trek up to the ‘old coach road’, the main thorough fare between Derry and Belfast before the modern road we know today opened in 1967.

Jimmy reveals the history behind the Glen of Shane and takes Marie-Louise to the summit of Carntogher Mountain with its magnificent views across the Sperrin Mountains and Lough Foyle.

Glenshane sheep farmer Danny O’Kane talks about the difficulties of moving his herd across the busy road, and Marie-Louise gets lost in Glenshane Forest with Eamon and Geraldine from Dungiven Parish as they try to find a Mass Rock and the source of the river Roe.

Marie-Louise also meets Martin McKenna, a weather and night sky photographer, bus driver Ronan Ward, and Pauline Ross who shares her early memories of journeys along the Pass.