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Seskinore Rural Community Group along with local councillors recently visited Knockmany Forest outside Augher to see at first hand how a community lead project can bring about major investment in the local area and benefit all ages with access to improved outdoor spaces. Seskinore Rural Community Group met with Gerry McCaffrey from Eskra Community Association who shared his experience on achieving major investment in the Knockmany Forest.

The Knockmany Development Project which was completed in summer 2019 achieved funding of £265,000 involved construction of recreational trails, building a larger car park, clearage of trees & foliage, improved visitor facilities including a brand new building containing meeting spaces, kitchen and toilets (including state of the art disabled toilets). Eskra Community Association was a ‘vehicle’ to bring together the various funding bodies in order to facilitate the Mid Ulster Council to manage the Knockmany Project. The project was funded by Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs (Tackling Rural Poverty & Social Isolation Framework), SPORT NI (Outdoor Spaces Every Body Active 2020 initiative) and also matched funding from Mid Ulster District Council.

Members of the Group and local councillors went on a short walk around Knockmany Forest guided by Gerry McCaffrey who shared his knowledge on the ambitious vision to see the forest being fully utilized into a centre in which people of all ages can enjoy the outdoors in a healthy clean & safe environment. This was a useful learning experience for the Seskinore Group to see how a local community association can bring about change about to a local asset which has huge potential. Robert Riddell Chairman of Seskinore Rural Community Group said ‘The Knockmany project is a perfect example of what the Group would like to achieve in Seskinore. It was very encouraging to see how well used the facilities are and the obvious benefit for physical and mental well being’.

Local Councillors representing Sinn Fein, UUP, SDLP and DUP also attended the Knockmany Forest visit which was very encouraging for the group. Councillor Mary Garrity said ‘ that the trip to Knockmany really highlights the untapped potential in Seskinore Forest. The collaborative approach which took place in Knockmany between the community, council and departments is exactly what is needed for Seskinore’.

Speaking after the visit to Knockmany Forest Cllr Rainey ‘wished to express his thanks to the group and Gerry Mc Caffery for the conducted tour and informative talk along the way bringing the project to its present form. Whilst the typography of Knockmany lends itself to a more challenging and competitive groupings Seskinore has a more softer appeal for senior citizens and young families which Seskinore and surrounding area are blessed to have in abundance and crying out for an enhancement to the present existing vicinity. This challenge is not for the faint hearted but with the present community group re invigorated I feel confident that they are up for that challenge and all the problems that may present .As a councillor for West Tyrone I wish the community group every good wish and pledge my support for a positive outcome’.

Cllr Paul Robinson added ‘The visit to Knockmany Forest was very beneficial. I see that Seskinore Forest has a great potential and opportunity for the Community in tourism, Education, Health and wellbeing. I look forward to seeing the project develop’.

Seskinore Forest has been neglected for a number of years however it is a beautiful outdoor space with a diverse ecosystem, there are also heritage and history aspects with McClintock Family Estate and American Army WW2 bases linking various landmarks in the forest. Therefore Seskinore Rural Community Group have started to work with various parties including Fermanagh and Omagh District Council in order to develop Seskinore Forest with a view to improving facilities and making the forest more accessible for the local community.

The Architectural Heritage Fund is delighted to have awarded Seskinore Rural Community Group with a Project Viability Grant to allow them to explore the possibility of re-using a group of historic buildings in Seskinore Forest, just outside Omagh. The buildings form part of what was previously the McClintock family estate, now owned by Forest Service NI. 

The estate covers 335 acres of forest and contains a range of mid-19th century buildings, including a farm and stables, a substantial walled garden, the McClintock family grave, two former WW2 munition stores, and an ice/cold store. All the buildings are currently vacant and in various states of disrepair.

Seskinore (from the Irish ‘large bog/marsh’) is a remote rural village with a population of 162. The community group engages with local people to help establish their needs and provides social services and educational and recreational facilities. It will use this grant to engage a business planning consultant and to work with its partners (Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and DAERA/Forest Service) to identify viable options for the unused buildings, which will need to have the support of the community and can realistically be delivered.  

It will allow them to explore how they can integrate these plans with the forest, creating inclusive, family-friendly access to the natural environment and to the heritage assets. The historic buildings have the potential to provide forest education facilities, building on the interest shown by the local primary school and the wider public’s appetite to engage with the outdoors, as well as flexible community meeting and events spaces.

The grant will also cover the costs of commissioning a conservation accredited surveyor to assess the condition of the buildings and give a broad sense of the costs involved in the various phases, consequently, allowing them to devise an overall masterplan for the site and buildings.

Robert Riddell, Chairman of Seskinore Rural Community Group said:

“Seskinore Rural Community Group are very pleased to receive a Project Viability Grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund. This grant will help provide the group with much needed funds to start the journey of utilising the local forest to its full potential for the local community. Over the past number of years it has been sad to see the buildings in the forest fall into such a bad state of repair, especially for local people with memories of these buildings in better times.  The Group look forward to working with the Architectural Heritage Fund on the Seskinore Forest Project and utilising the buildings for years to come as part of a revitalised community asset.”

Matthew Mckeague, CEO of the Architectural Heritage Fund said:

These mid-19th Century buildings in Seskinore Forest hold great potential to help people interact with both nature and heritage. We are pleased to have awarded Seskinore Rural Community Group a Project Viability Grant to consider their best options for the reuse of the buildings. The group have been doing impressive work to engage with local people and we hope that the grant will provide the village with the facilities to help them come together and enhance their appreciation of the outdoors.

1. The Architectural Heritage Fund is a registered charity, working since 1976 to promote the conservation and sustainable re-use of historic buildings for the benefit of communities across the UK, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas. It is the only specialist heritage social investor in the UK, and provides advice, development grants and loans.

2. The Heritage Transformed programme in NI is funded by the Department for Communities, the Pilgrim Trust, and The Garfield Weston Foundation.

3. For media enquiries, please contact Rita Harkin on 07789 758080 / rita.harkin@ahfund.org.uk, or Oliver Brodrick-Ward on 020 79250199 / oliver.brodrick-ward@ahfund.org.uk. 
   
   Source: ahfund.org.uk 27 SEPTEMBER 2021|
   

Did you know Seskinore Forest was used as a base by the American Army during Second World War?The headquarters of 552nd Quarter Master Company was at Seskinore House, the home of the McClintocks. The 552nd arrived in Seskinore in October 1943. Most of them were from New York and New Jersey.

The Quarter Master railheads at Beragh and Seskinore were the supply depots for Seskinore. The 552nd landed at Utah beach on D day + 4 (20th June 1944) with no casualties. Near by at Knocknamoe Castle there was a centre for intelligence gathering and many US Army personnel and Free French, Poles and others were stationed there during the war.

General Eisenhower and Field Marshal Montgomery are said to have met at Knocknamoe on at least three occasions while planning the Normandy landings. There are still remains of the base in the forest you can see munitions huts & a cold storage unit.

When, while the lovely valley teems with vapor around me, and the meridian sun strikes the upper surface of the impenetrable foliage of my trees, and but a few stray gleams steal into the inner sanctuary, I throw myself down among the tall grass by the trickling stream; and, as I lie close to the earth, a thousand unknown plants are noticed by me: when I hear the buzz of the little world among the stalks, and grow familiar with the countless indescribable forms of the insects and flies, then I feel the presence of the Almighty, who formed us in his own image, and the breath of that universal love which bears and sustains us, as it floats around us in an eternity of bliss; and then, my friend, when darkness overspreads my eyes, and heaven and earth seem to dwell in my soul and absorb its power, like the form of a beloved mistress, then I often think with longing, Oh, would I could describe these conceptions, could impress upon paper all that is living so full and warm within me, that it might be the mirror of my soul, as my soul is the mirror of the infinite God!

O my friend — but it is too much for my strength — I sink under the weight of the splendor of these visions! A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine.

I am so happy, my dear friend, so absorbed in the exquisite sense of mere tranquil existence, that I neglect my talents. I should be incapable of drawing a single stroke at the present moment; and yet I feel that I never was a greater artist than now.

When, while the lovely valley teems with vapor around me, and the meridian sun strikes the upper surface of the impenetrable foliage of my trees, and but a few stray gleams steal into the inner sanctuary, I throw myself down among the tall grass by the trickling stream; and, as I lie close to the earth, a thousand unknown plants are noticed by me: when I hear the buzz of the little world among the stalks, and grow familiar with the countless indescribable forms of the insects and flies, then I feel the presence of the Almighty, who formed us in his own image, and the breath of that universal love which bears and sustains us, as it floats around us in an eternity of bliss; and then, my friend, when darkness overspreads my eyes, and heaven and earth seem to dwell in my soul and absorb its power, like the form of a beloved mistress, then I often think with longing, Oh, would I could describe these conceptions, could impress upon paper all that is living so full and warm within me.