Around the year AD 1500 Ulster had thirteen Lordships and these powerful past rulers and their families played out wars and rivalries, alliances and marriages, betrayals, hostage taking and assassinations, not unlike the Game of Thrones television series. County Down in the 1500s saw a power struggle between the Gaelic chiefs of the McGuinness and the Clandeboye O ‘ Neills and the English – Normans who arrived with the White Knight, John de Courcy, in 1176, and who for a time dominated this landscape. Inauguration sites where Gaelic Kings were crowned, lofty monasteries, humble...

On Friday 28th Feb, local students studying for an NVQ in Horticulture with the charity Action Mental Health New Horizons Downpatrick joined Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership (SLLP) and True Harvest Seeds (THS) for a morning of seed planting with a difference! For these were no ordinary seeds, these were the seeds of endangered coastal plants found in only a few special places around our coast. Plants that are at risk of disappearing from our shores if we do not act to protect them!

Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership and True Harvest Seeds have developed a project to...

Beyond Westeros - The Real Game of Thrones Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Tourism NI, as part of European Year of Culture and Heritage

Help create a new medieval themed tour!

Hear incredible tales of the bloody rivalries, intrigue and power fuelled marriages of the twelve overlord families of Ulster around 1550, and the south eastern dynasties of the Magennises, Dunleaveys, Savages, O’Neills and de Courcys.

Learn to read the medieval landscape – still visible today!

Help shape a new...

The AONB Partnerships have teamed up with the Woodland Trust to invite interested members of the farming community to come along for a discussion on resilient farm businesses. If you miss the workshop tonight in Crossmaglen Community Center at 7.30pm- call in to Tollymore Outdoor Recreation Center tomorrow night at 7.30pm or Wednesday 30th at 7.30pm  Workflow Newtownards 46 High Street, BT23 7HZ...

Current and past editions of the Marine Litter Watch Newsletter can be found here:  https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/marine-litter-watch-newsletter

The aim of the Northern Ireland Marine Litter Strategy is to help realise the vision of "clean, healtht, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans"

Join us in Portaferry for the National Lottery "thank you" Campaign 15th December 11 am Term & Conditions apply 

Terms & Conditions

• The offer is valid on 15th December 2017  from 11.am to 1.00pm
• All National Lottery games qualify for free tours including tickets from any National Lottery draw based game or National Lottery Scratch Card. Proof of a ticket can be paper or digital
• One National Lottery ticket provides free tour for a family of up to six
• Organisers have the right to refuse participation in the unlikely...

Yesterday Strangford Lough & Lecale Partnership Coastal Guardian volunteers took to the beach once again for another litter clean up. This time we headed to Ardglass for a beach clean as part of The Love Your Landscape initiative. In just 2 hours we managed to remove 50 bags of rubbish from the shore. A fantastic effort! Our thanks to all the volunteers that came along, thanks also to Andrea McQuoid Communitty Life Champion Asda Downpatrick for bringing along fruit snacks to keep the volunteers going. Grateful thanks to Jim Masson Down News for some of the pictures

On Thursday 21st September volunteers joined us to clean a further stretch of the Lecale Way. Yet again the weather was on our side and we were able to clean up about a mile of coastline. With 12 volunteers in total we managed to lift over 20 bags of litter, assorted lengths of rope, 4 small storage drums, and a car wheel. Our thanks to all the volunteers that came along, your hard work is greatly appreciated.

Rural Partners Ards and North Down Business Investment Pre Application Workshops 

Skiffie Worlds are fact approaching; please take the time to ensure that your Skiff measures up and complies with the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association rules and regulations, this is essential to enter the Worlds in July.

Scottish Coastal Rowing Association Measurement Rules