The 'Jan Mayen Clump' near Bangor

Image: © Rossographer Taken: 15 May 2008

The 'Jan Mayen Clump' is one of a number of tree rings planted close to Bangor/Helen's Bay in the mid 19th Century - they are found close to Clandeboye Avenue http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2710578 which runs from Clandeboye House to Helen's Bay. The trees were planted Lord Dufferin and commemorate many of the places he travelled to around the world. This clump is named after 'Jan Mayen Land' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Mayen , a 35 mile long island in the Arctic Ocean which lies between Iceland and Spitzbergen - Lord Dufferin visited it during a voyage on his schooner 'Foam' c1856. Two similar features nearby are named the 'Niagara Clump', 'Ottawa Clump', 'Toronto Clump' and 'Montreal Clump' - these commemorate the years Lord Dufferin spent as Governor General of Canada. The Environment and Heritage Service of Northern Ireland offer the following information taken from http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/content-databases-nismrview.htm?monid=6180 : "A landscaping feature which encircles the summit of a rounded glacial knoll with fine views in all directions. This large site,110m in diam. is defined by an intermittent stone-faced bank which, where it survives, stands a uniform 1m above the cultivated exterior & 0.3m above the rough interior. A thorn hedge grows on the external edge of the bank for much of the perimeter. The interior is heavily planted with mostly mature, mixed deciduous trees. There are no signs of an earlier site on the hill top."

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