Joe is ‘talking trees’ and ‘living wakes’

‘LOUGH FOYLE’ is a television travelogue series featuring the history, natural environment and cultural heritage of the Foyle catchment area, with particular emphasis on Ulster-Scots elements of the hinterland.

In Monday night’s episode, Joe Mahon teams up with Dr Liam Campbell for a visit to Silverbrook Mills, a beautifully preserved mill complex on the banks of the Burn Dennett River, which has been serving the local farming community around the village of Dunnamanagh in County Tyrone since the late 18th century. Silverbrook was only one of dozens of mills that this small tributary of the Foyle supported for hundreds of years.

Joe then meets Damien Devine, secretary of the Dennett Anglers, who has fished this river from the Sperrins to the Foyle since he was a small child. Damien has an aspiration to see his river restored to its natural place as a central provider for the local community - as a magnet for tourists and for angling competitions certainly, but also as a source of health and well-being for local people who only have to step out of their front door to be in such a pristine, unspoilt environment. Joe rounds off his visit to this hilly region of Tyrone with the story of a 19th century agricultural school that used to attract students from all over the country. Historian William Roulston outlines the important role it once played in the development of modern farming practices, though sadly not one trace of it remains in the remote location of Lough Ash.