Helen’s Tower

Helen’s Tower is a local attraction and a bit of a Newtownards landmark. Situated way up high in the dark, vast, Clandeboye forest this tower is majestic and unfolds from the landscape looking almost ghostly.
The walk up to Helen’s tower starts out easy. Park at the corner on the main road (careful now!) and walk through the turn style onto the path. Simply follow your nose and you will come to a large green area, which quickly transforms into a very large pond with lots of ducks and swans — very pretty. If you keep walking for another while you will come to a crossroads and if you go right you will begin the uphill climb to the tower.
The track isn’t so clear from now on and you will need to stop every so often to put your head up in order to see the top of the tower and plan your path.
The tower was commissioned by Lord Dufferin of Clandeboye, designed by Scottish architect William Burn and completed in October 1861. The tower was named in honour of Dufferin’s mother, Helen Selina Blackwood, the Lady Dufferin.
As I was writing this review my fiancé was yelling at me to mention THIEPVAL, so here goes — A close replica of Helen’s Tower, the Ulster Tower, was built at Thiepval in 1921 to honour the men of the 36^th (Ulster) Division who fell at the Battle of the Somme.
A nice day out but you can’t actually get into the tower itself and bring water; I was blooming knackered after the hike.