Lagan Valley Regional Park

Lagan Valley park seems to have had a facelift since it’s last review. Rather than having untamed greenery and boggy grassed areas the park was actually extremely well kept with two council members even straightening the picnic benches while I was there. The Park itself is broad and expansive with winding paths that stretch far in to the distance. This park would be the perfect place to come for a run or to walk your pooch.
Unfortunately when I visited it was pouring down with rain but this shouldn’t take away from the park’s rating. There’s loads of parking spaces which I can imagine would be well used on sunny days. The park itself is really well mapped and by the looks of things there’s plenty to do — once again the rain put me off delving in to the full park grounds but I will definitely be back, either weilding an umbrella or when the sun is out. The sign at the entrance says ‘Discover, Explore and Enjoy’ and that’s exactly what I recommend you do at Lagan Valley Park.

Stuck in Dunmurry village, not that much do to… an interesting (to say the least) park just so happens to present itself to you, whilst the sun makes a welcome appearance at that very same moment. Curiosity decides to get the better of you, and that long, foreboding path that lies in front of you, framed (un)tidyily by dozens and dozens of sprawling bushes and untamed greenery, located right by a rushing river, seems to be a strangely alluring option…
Uneven paths, laden with muddy puddles, become occasionally impassable due to their waterlogged nature, but onwards the journey continues. The unearthly silence that has pervaded the air for the last five minutes, is broken only by a group of rowdy teenage boys, who quickly pass you by. A sudden sweep to the left, and the path follows a steep set of steps upwards. Panting in the humid heat of the afternoon, you gradually find your way up this arduous trek of a hill, anticipation seizing you all the while. Reaching its altitudinous summit, you look around, gasp and realise…
…that you’re standing in the middle of a huge green field. Yes, a field. With some noisy kids in football strips kicking a ball around.
Bolting back down the steps, a sudden burst of energy rippling right through you, you note that one possible exit doesn’t look too promising, and appears to lead into the back of someone’s garden. A second exit, further back, is over a rickety bridge, and leads into what appears to be a housing estate.
Eh, how the heck am I meant to get out?! And what, precisely, is the point to this confusing, and quite frankly, completely cumbersome park?
A supposed link in the Lagan Valley Regional Park chain, which stretches from Stranmillis to Lisburn, fills me full of bewilderment. Surely a linear park has an exit?
Mmm, well, what do I know? Back to the entrance it is, I guess…