Mourne Side River Walk, Sion Mills to Victoria Bridge, 3 Nov 2019, v1 Short

Old Railway Bridges

Camus GNI Railway Bridge (known locally as Cams Bridge) & Breen GNI Railway Bridge were constructed as part of the Enniskillen Railway Company (L&ER) route from Sion Mills to Victoria Bridge crossing the River Mourne at a number of locations.

 

Line construction began in 1845 at Derry and followed the west bank of the River Foyle southwards for 12 miles (19 km) to Strabane, which was reached in 1847. The L&ER's terminus in Derry was Londonderry Foyle Road Station on the West bank of the River Foyle.

Revenue from the line was substantially lower than initially projected and capital to extend the line further south was not raised until 1850. The line was continued up the Mourne Valley via Newtownstewart, where the river name changes to the Strule, then continued up stream to Omagh, both towns being reached in 1852. The line reached its summit at Fintona, County Tyrone, in 1853. Its final extension was from Fintona Junction (which was just north of Fintona town) descending South-westwards to its terminus at Enniskillen which was reached in 1854.

 

Between Newtownstewart and Strabane several of the earlier cast-iron girder trellis bridges, which in turn replaced the original timber bridges put up by the Londonderry & Enniskillen Railway Company (L&ER). Approximately 185 of them were replaced between 1910 to 1912 by enclosed troughs of riveted iron sheets, supported on massive steel girders, current examples include Camus Bridge (constructed 1911), Breen Bridge and Mulvin Bridge.

 

The Irish gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway (L&ER) reached Strabane in 1847, Omagh in 1852 and Enniskillen in 1854.The Great Northern Railway Ireland (GNI) took over the L&ER in 1883.

 

The Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway opened the station at Sion Mills on the 9 May 1852. It was taken over by GNI in 1883 and it closed on 15 February 1965.

 

Strabane (GNI) opened 19 April 1847 and closed 15 Feb 1965

Victoria Bridge (GNI) opened 9 May 1852 and closed 15 Feb 1965

 

Victoria Bridge to Castlederg Tramway was 3’ 0” gauge and ran from Victoria Bridge via Glen, Stonewalls, Fyfin, Crew, Spamount and then into Castlederg.

 

Sadly after 75 years of service the ‘Great Northern Railway (Ireland)’ shut down operations in 1966.

 

River Mourne

The River Mourne begins a couple of miles South West of the village of Victoria Bridge, at the confluence with the River Derg. Upstream of here it’s the River Strule, which is one of many tributaries of the Mourne. From its confluence with the River Derg, the Mourne flows in a North Westerly direction, past Douglas Bridge, Victoria Bridge and Sion Mills on its way to join the Foyle at the Strabane / Lifford border (Co. Donegal) known locally as McGirr’s Point (Point of the Finn), a total of about 8 miles.

 

The Mourne is a big, fast flowing river, which is more than 20 metres wide for almost all of its entire length. Over recent years it has developed a reputation as being right up there with the Finn, the Moy, the Lower Bann and the Munster Blackwater, as one of Ireland’s top salmon fisheries. That’s possibly hard to disrupt as it’s estimated that upwards on 15,000 salmon enter the Mourne each year.

 

The salmon fishing can be very good from the end of May onwards, with the peak months being June and July however this can vary with water levels. The Mourne is not a spate river but like many other Irish rivers, it fishes best as the water fines down, but because of its size it usually fishes well for 3 or 4 days after the flood waters have receded. The Grilse will often press on unless the water is really low.

The full version of this video is available on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1cFNy_7-Tw&t=5s

Done