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PLANTATION TOWNS |
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South of Dungiven, well into the Sperrin Mountains, are more of the
Plantation towns of the London companies, most of them
characteristically planned around a central diamond. DRAPERSTOWN is
essentially a junction, with well-mannered houses facing each other in a
very grand street design. The Plantation of Ulster Visitor Centre on the
High Street (daily 11am-5pm; www.workplace.org.uk/plantation ; £3), as
its name suggests, recounts the story in more detail, using multimedia
technology. At UPPERLANDS , ten miles north beyond Maghera, you can get
some idea of the impact of the new eighteenth-century technology on the
area at the Old Mill Museum , a private textile museum owned by the
Clark family. In 1740, Jackson Clark dammed the river to provide power
and installed linen-finishing machinery here. If you want to look around,
phone William Clark & Sons in advance to arrange a guided tour (Mon-Thurs;
£1.50; tel 028/7964 3265). Ardtara Country House nearby offers a taste
both of Victorian elegance and of roast racks of Sperrin lamb (tel
028/7964 4490; over £130).
Heading south, MAGHERAFELT , granted to the Salters' Company by James I,
has another wide, sloping main street and an increasingly successful
Arts Festival in March. The town makes a reasonable base for exploring
Lough Neagh and the Bellaghy area and has an amenable tourist office (Mon-Sat
9am-5pm; tel 028/7963 1510) in The Bridewell, 2 Churchwell Lane. There's
accommodation at Laurel Villa , 60 Church St (tel 028/7963 3228;
£40-55), which also organizes heritage and angling breaks, and at the
comfortable new Hostel 56 , 56 Rainey St (tel 028/7963 2096;
www.hostel56.club24.co.uk ), complete with its own roof garden. There's
also plenty of eating choices, including the grand Fiolta's Bistro , 4
Union Arcade, for modern European cuisine; and Mary's , an exceptionally
pleasant old-time bar on the Market Place.
At one time a real gem, MONEYMORE , about five miles further south, is
now a run-down, traffic-choked disgrace. Dilapidated but once-graceful
pedimented buildings originally constructed by the Drapers (and restored
by them in 1817) face each other across a wide main street topped by an
Orange Hall; there are plenty of red, white and blue kerbstones here.
Moneymore was the first town in the North to have piped water -
amazingly enough, as early as 1615. Just outside town, Springhill
(April-June & Sept Sat & Sun 2-6pm; July & Aug Mon-Wed & Fri-Sun same
times; £2.75) is a typical example of the fortified manor houses built
by the early planters. Dating from the late seventeenth century, it's a
lovely bit of sober whitewashed architecture, housing a good costume
collection and a delightfully overgrown garden. You can camp in the
farmyard here (tel 028/8764 8210).
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