JULY/AUGUST 2001
www.celtic-connection.com
Page 25
THE PROMENADE at Bray which stretches over a mile-long from the harbour at Bray to the bottom tip of Bray Head.
Exciting Times for Bray, County Wicklow
By
BRENDANFLYNN
UBLINERS have always asserted how special the train journe)^ is from Dublin to Bray. It must surely rank as one of the world's great train journeys. This is not because of distance travelled, but due to the spectacular scenery and historic places along its route.
Trains have run continually along the short 12-mile journey from inner-city Dublin along the east coast, south to Wicklow and the town of Bray for more than 185 years. Originally, steam was the driving force, then came diesel-powered engines pulling ever so ornate and comfortable carriages.
Nowadays, the line is electrified and the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) trains run from morning to evening along the same route travelled back in 1880's when William Dargan, Ireland's railroad pioneer first developed the route.
The journey will always be one where even the most experienced commuter or visitor cannot resist a gaze at the scenery along the route south.
The train snakes past Dalkey Island, then, via a tunnel under Killiney Hill where natural daylight returns to expose to the south a beautiful setting. There, in its entire splendor lies Bray Head in the distance with the beaches of Killiney, Shankill and Bray in unison.
The beauty of this scene is hard to surpass, especially on late summer evenings as the sun sets to the west and the Irish sea laps onto the beaches below.
One cannot help marvel at the scenery while listening to the clickity click of steel wheels on steel rail. The journey seems to culminate so rapidly as the train speeds through the Golf Course at Woodbrook, crossing the Dublin Wicklow border into Bray.
It is this journey which has drawn prosperity to Bray from Victorian times, particularly when the town became a Mecca for visitors from Dublin and Northern Ireland but also from England Scotland and Wales, and now continental Europe.
Bray Station has seen sonic mod-
ernization over the years, but even today, it maintains that dated look, which gives it character and warmth for the thousands who use it every day to commute to Dublin City.
Within only a few strides from the station is probably one of Bray's most famous landmarks. The Promenade or The Prom to the locals who use it throughout the year call it. It stretches.over a mile long from the harbour at Bray to the bottom tip of Bray Head. No matter what end you're at, it seems as if the other end is an eternity away in the distance.
For years, the Irish Sea has been a friend and an enemy to the people of Bray. It has attracted tourists in summer and has caused widespread flooding during high tide or winter months.
In recent years, erosion and weakening of the promenade wall has caused detrimental effects. Within the last few years the town has engaged consultants to design a barrier to control the damage to the promenade wall, especially at the harbor end where wave action was always more powerful due to deeper waters. The result has been two rock jetties constructed as breakwaters, strutting out from the prom and harbor walls respectively.
Many people of Bray have said that the jetty construction may drive the sea back from the promenade wall in coming years. Unfortunately, they will also tell you, if this occurs, tourists will be driven away.
The simple fact is that while jetties may be an effective barrier, they are unattractive and do not encourage tourists to return.
Time still has to prove how effective a barrier has been built and if, indeed, a secondary problem has been created.
Fortunately, there are some who say that all is not lost for businesses along the Bray Promenade. Businessman Myles Freeney and a consortium of others now have a plan to restore what the Irish Sea has taken from the town over the past 100 years.
The plan is to build a new breakwater and promenade beyond the current rock jetties which will include a 1,200 wide strip extending out from the promenade location from Bray Harbor to the bottom of Bray Head. This will be the largest and perhaps the costliest project undertaken in Bray town but, in reality, it is overdue if Bray is to continue to attract tourism in coming years.
New hotels, pubs, parking, amusement arcades and numerous other facilities are to be constructed on the reclaimed land. Widening of Strand Road along the existing promenade will also allow for better access to the beaches and new developments. It is an exciting time for Bray if the people share in the dream.
Expansion of the Promenade at Bray may seem excessive to some, but in reality Bray's very existence as a tourist resort may not continue beyond the decade unless such a development can take place. The work will be tremendous and careful attention must be given to every detail before the undertaking. But the day will arrive when even those who now criticize the plan will welcome the rewards in the coming years.
Bray's boundaries are now bursting on all sides and there is not a square foot of land available for development or for new housing. Hence, reclamation from the sea has been the obvious solution.
For the people of Bray, seeing such an enormous development through to fruition will also be a milestone in the town's history. By the way, just try and get a seat on the train from Dublin to Bray when the project is complete. There may not be many empty seats that's for sure.
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