NUMBER 492

BENCHMARKS continued

This one from M.C. is on the wall of a disused railway bridge on Raheen Road, Baltinglass, County Wicklow.

Below: The 'mark on Raheen Road, Baltinglass, County Wicklow.

 

Above: Looking east on the bridge on Raheen Road. The 'mark is a good bit along the wall at right, marked with white chalk.

NUMBER 491

BENCHMARKS continued

This one from M.C. is on a wall just to the west of Ashford in County Wicklow on the road to Nun's Cross and just past the turn-off for Roundwood.

Below: A 'mark in Ashford, County Wicklow.

 

Above: Looking east towards Ashford with the 'mark on the wall at bottom right.

 

NUMBER 490

BENCHMARKS continued

M.C. motored out to Ashford in County Wicklow where he found this one on a pillar at an entrance to Inchanappa House.

Below: A 'mark in Ashford, County Wicklow.

 

 Above: Looking south towards Ashford with the 'mark at bottom left.

NUMBER 489

BENCHMARKS continued

M.C. bagged this flatie - not easy to spot - on the boundary wall of a house on Carysfort Avenue, at its junction with the continuation of Sweetman's Avenue, in Blackrock, County Dublin. Until today Benchmarker was unaware that there is both a Carysford Avenue and a Carysfort Avenue in Blackrock. They are basically the same long avenue because one is a continuation of the other.

Below: A 'mark on Carysfort Avenue.

 

Above: Carysfort Avenue looking east. The 'mark is on the garden wall at extreme left near the red-brick pillar.

 

NUMBER 488

BENCHMARKS continued

M.C. donned a hard hat and entered the grounds of this house, which has the builders in, in order to photograph the 'mark on the window sill. The house is located on the South Circular Road in Dublin City at the junction with Bloomfield Avenue.

Below: The 'mark on the house on the South Circular Road at the junction with Bloomfield Avenue. The pastel shades are reproduced wonderfully by the digital process; for a moment Benchmarker felt it must be Ektachrome. Well done M.C.; a lovely, lovely picture.

 

Above: The house on the South Circular Road at the junction with Bloomfield Avenue. The 'mark is on the sill of the ground floor window, indistinct in the photo.

 

NUMBER 487

BENCHMARKS continued

Still in Blackrock, M.C. spotted this one on Sweetman's Avenue. Much of this street has fallen to the wreckers' ball and only a few of the buildings shown on the 25” map now survive. It is not certain but the building holding this one may date back to the time of the 6” survey.

Below: Crudely daubed in white paint (but not by M.C.), the 'mark on Sweetman's Avenue.

 

Above: Looking north into Sweetman's Avenue with the 'mark near the bottom of the corner.

 

NUMBER 486

BENCHMARKS continued

A flatie on the front perimeter wall of a house on Anglesea Avenue in Blackrock, County Dublin, is this one from M.C.

Below: The 'mark on Anglesea Avenue.

 

Above: Looking west on Anglesea Avenue with the 'mark on the wall in the near foreground.

NUMBER 485

BENCHMARKS continued

Another from M.C. It's on Connaught Street in Dublin City.

Below: A 'mark on Connaught Street.

 

Above: Looking west on Connaught Street. The 'mark is at the 'step-up' of the railings base. Sad to see that two of these fine old houses are boarded up. Back in the 60s, Benchmarker lodged at a similar house a little further up the street on the other side. So far no plaque has been erected on it.

 

NUMBER 484

BENCHMARKS continued

This one from M.C. is on a wall pillar, about halfway along the west side of Waltham Terrace in Blackrock, County Dublin.

Below: The 'mark on Waltham Terrace.

 

Above: Looking west on Waltham Terrace with the 'mark on the bottom of the pillar at left.

NUMBER 483

BENCHMARKS continued

M.C. also found one at the 12^th Lock of the Royal Canal. It's on Talbot Bridge, which crosses the Old Navan Road at Castleknock in Dublin.

Below: The 'mark on Talbot Bridge.

 

 Above: Looking west on Talbot Bridge with the 'mark in the foreground.

NUMBER 482

BENCHMARKS continued

This one from M.C. is on the 12^th Lock of the Grand Canal south of Lucan in County Dublin.

Below: The 'mark on the 12^th Lock of the Grand Canal.

Above: A view of the 12^th Lock with the 'mark at the top and to the left of the canal wall opposite.

 

NUMBER 481

BENCHMARKS continued

As Benchmarker was gallivanting in foreign climes for two months of the Summer, M.C. was on an epic odyssey that resulted in a grand haul of 129 'marks. If they gave out a Nobel Prize for benchmark hunting then M.C. would now be on the plane to Stockholm .. er .. or Oslo, maybe.

The first of them was recorded along the banks of the Royal Canal in Dublin's fair city in the shadow of Mountjoy Gaol. It's at the 4^th Lock.

Below: Highlighted with M.C.'s signature chalk, a 'mark on the Royal Canal at the 4^th Lock.

 

 Above: Looking north at the 4^th Lock with the 'mark at centre near the water's edge. It is gratifying to note that M.C.'s camera work seems to show an improvement. Benchmarker was reluctant to take a hard line, but it seems to have worked out well. It's called tough love.

NUMBER 480

BENCHMARKS continued

Any time Benchmarker crosses the border into the UK, it's back to old style benchmark hunting; trusting to instinct, persistence and luck. So it was that on a short visit to Strabane this one was bagged. It's on Main Street near its junction with Castle Place.

Below: A 'mark on Main Street, Strabane.

 

Above: On Main Street looking west with the 'mark at bottom right.

NUMBER 479

BENCHMARKS continued

With the light declining fast, M.C. and Benchmarker managed to record a shaky image of this one at the entrance to Mount Salus in Dalkey, and then departed with a hope that they might return ere long.

Below: The 'mark on Mount Salus Road.

 

Above: The entrance to Mount Salus with the 'mark - very indistinct in this shaky photo - on the bottom of the pillar at right.

NUMBER 478

BENCHMARKS continued

This one is at the southern end of Torca Road in Dalkey on the frontage of a house named Lohengrin.

Below: A 'mark on Torca Road.

 

Above: At the southern end of Torca Road with the 'mark at right on the gate pillar.

NUMBER 477

BENCHMARKS continued

There are any number of fine old houses, set in their own grounds, in the Dalkey/Killiney area. One of these is Clonlost on Killiney Road, and it has a 'mark on a pillar at its entrance.

Below: A 'mark on Killiney Road.

 

Above: On Killiney Road looking east with the 'mark at left at the bottom of the pillar.

 

NUMBER 476

BENCHMARKS continued

On the summit of Killiney Hill is a structure generally referred to as 'the obelisk'. It was constructed by John Mapas in 1742, perhaps to provide work for the poor. In 1840 it was repaired by Robert Warren, who built Victoria Castle that same year. At 512.2 feet, it appears to be the highest 'mark recorded here on this site so far.

Below: The 'mark on Killiney Hill.

 

 Above: At the obelisk on Killiney Hill looking south with the 'mark - a flatie - on the right foreground.

NUMBER 475

BENCHMARKS continued

This one is on the perimeter wall of the Holy Trinity Church on Killiney Hill Road.

Below: A 'mark on Killiney Hill Road.

 

Above: Holy Trinity Church from the road with the mark right at the bottom of the wall and a little to the left of the entrance way.

 

NUMBER 474

BENCHMARKS continued

At the junction of Glenalua Road and Hill Road in Killiney is this one.

 

Below: The 'mark on Hill Road.

 

Above: On Hill Road looking into Glenalua Road with the 'mark at left at the bottom of the wall pillar.

NUMBER 473

BENCHMARKS continued

A local landmark, this chunky turreted building on Victoria Road in Killiney appears to have started out as a gate lodge and gradually evolved into its present castle persona.

Below: A 'mark on Victoria Road.

 

Above: Looking south on Victoria Road.The 'mark is at the bottom of the corner facing, just under the arch.

 

NUMBER 472

BENCHMARKS continued

A short distance further on, on the south side of Victoria Road is this one.

Below: A 'mark on Victoria Road.

 

 Above: Victoria Road looking north with the 'mark on the wall at left close to the black and white pole.

NUMBER 471

BENCHMARKS continued

Proceeding into Victoria Road we come upon this one at the entrance to Victoria Castle.

Below: A 'mark at the castle on Victoria Road.

 

Above: Victoria Castle with the 'mark, left, on the corner below the cross shaped window opening.

  

P.S. M.C., who is is chief researcher for another popular website - thegpo.net - corresponded to inform of the history of the castle.

Built by Robert Warren in 1840 it was named in honour of the new queen.

Following a fire in 1928 it was restored by Sir Thomas Power of the whiskey family - of Thomas Street fame - and renamed Ayesha after the goddess who rose from the flames in Rider Haggard's novel She.

At a later stage it was owned by the Alymer family.

Enya bought the Castle in 1997 and out of her love for Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, re-dubbed it (get it?) Manderley for the fictional house that plays a central role in the 1938 novel.

If memory serves correctly, and it does so less and less these days, Benchmarker seems to recall that J.W. was on first name terms with Daphne du Maurier; and that he scooped the pot after choosing Rebecca as his specialist subject in a version of Mastermind.

Coincidently, Benchmarker bought a copy of She last week in a charity shop in Thomas Street. If good fortune smiles then perhaps a copy of Rebecca will materialize there also. Bon chance.

NUMBER 470

BENCHMARKS continued

About 100 yards further on up Vico Road from the steps shown in the previous post, the older maps show the boundary line that indicates we are leaving Dalkey and entering Killiney. This one is located in Killiney on the south side of the Vico Road at its junction with Victoria Road.

Below: A 'mark on Vico Road.

 

Above: On Vico Road looking south into Victoria Road with the 'mark at left on the wall.

NUMBER 469

BENCHMARKS continued

Even further onwards and upwards - 17 feet to be exact - on the Vico Road in Dalkey is this one located at the bottom of the steps that lead up to Torca Road.

Below: A 'mark on Vico Road.

Above: On Vico Road looking west with the 'mark at right near the corner of the wall.

NUMBER 468

BENCHMARKS continued

Onwards and upwards on the Vico Road in Dalkey brings us to this one located on an entrance gate-pillar to three dwellings, namely San Elmo, The Cottage and Sorrentoville.

Below: A 'mark on Vico Road.

Above: On Vico Road looking east with the 'mark at left, near the bottom of the gate pillar.