As
some of you may know, I grew up near Glendalough, just outside a
village called Roundwood in Co.Wicklow. Glendalough was, in a sense, our
back yard. We used to go there with our mother and set up a camp beside
the river, build a fire in which we would put tinfoil wrapped potatoes
so they cooked in the embers and Mum would set up a kettle over it to
make lovely smoky tea. We would splash about in the river, explore the
woods, sing songs and gambol about. Of course, nowadays you can't light a
fire and you even have to pay exorbitant fees just to park near the
lake. It makes me furious in a way. I went there recently and was so
incensed that I had to pay some ridiculous amount of money to only stay
one hour (you can't pay by the hour!!) and felt it was like having to
pay to get into my own garden. I left in a huff.
