The West Strand peat story goes back over 8000 years

If, in these extraordinary times, your daily exercise routine takes you to the West Strand (aka Mill Strand) promenade, you will notice to the south of the Castle Erin promontory a layer of thick peat on the beach. The peat is particularly well exposed at present following the removal of sand from the beach by the winter storms. Some sand is removed from the beach each winter but during the past winter the amount seems to have been excessive, revealing large areas of thick, black peat. Close examination of the peat shows it to be very hard and dense (rather like the peat briquettes that you can buy) with numerous large fragments of tree trunks, branches and roots visible. On a low tide it is well worth taking a stroll on the beach to look at it – but please don’t walk on it – it is rather slippery! Within the next couple of months, as sand is returned to the beach by waves, the peat will disappear from view until the storms of next winter expose it again.