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Hidden Places   While walking across Mount Benevenagh our team of roving reporters came across this place. It is marked on no Ordnance Survey map but must be an ancient cairn, possibly from the Bronze Age. The only visitors to this site apart from sheep, birds and nosey Newsbrowser investigators are the odd seriously lost mountain hikers. A wonderful place.

The Spring Weather   Locals will know what we are talking about. The weather during most of May was so terrible, it qualified as bad November weather. The 'before' and 'after' pictures on the right show the same rape seed field in Myroe. The top photograph was taken at the beginning of May, the bottom one towards the end of the month. The crop damage is obvious. Let's hope the fields recover during the next few months or hay fever sufferers in the valley will have nothing left to sneeze about.

Road closure This impressive collection of signs informs the unwary that the Windyhill Road, beloved by motorists as the back way to Coleraine, is closed for repairs. This is just as well because the only thing level on that road were some of the road signs. The old road is famous because Cushy Glen, a notorious local outlaw who lived in a cave on Mount Benevenagh, dumped the bodies of some of his victims along here. In an age when people knew that a robust name improves the character of a road they named it 'The Murderhole Road' - which tells at least part of the story and has a certain ring to it. The modern name - by comparison - is just a load of useless old warm air.

The New Forest   Many of our readers who drive along the new bypass from Ballykelly to the Aghanloo Rabout may have noticed all the trees that have been planted as part of this project. We feel that the government department concerned deserves a hearty pat on the back. Builders in Northern Ireland usually look a tree square in the eye and then knock it down. "That tree will knock that wall down" or some such pithy remark will leave their lips while the chainsaw whines. This time round they have planted a new forest. Sean Trainor - the valley's Town Centres' Manager (we bet you didn't know that the town centres could be managed), has supplied us with the relevant figures. They make impressive reading:

Altogether they have planted 1140 alders, 1219 ash trees, 2470 beeches, 1204 birches, 2549 bird cherry trees, 2000 hawthorns, 950 field maples, 135 willows, 141 pines and - best of all - 3020 oak trees of three different kinds. It didn't just stop with the trees though. As can be seen on the left many places have been transformed into veritable garden shows. Little foxes that live along the bypass will never need to have cold paws again. Congratulations to all concerned.

The changing face of Main Street   When our photographer first came across this scene he thought he was witnessing an imaginatively blatant high-level bank robbery. He quickly realised his mistake when a passer-by pointed out that this was not the Northern Bank. It then became obvious that the council is finally making room for the new town hall. The buildings were bought some years ago at great expense and to little effect because lottery funding was refused. All seems to be well now and our editor is already looking forward to writing a suitably referential article describing the opening of the new facilities. Oldtimers will soon not recognise Main Street any more!

Do some of the above mentioned - who have remained young at heart - remember the wonderful pink icecream made by Maxwell's? Maxwell's had a shop in one of these ex-houses and their icecream rivalled Coghlan's and Moore's for yummyness and is still remembered by at least one old hand, working here at the News Browser.

Conundrum of the month   Regular readers may remember our past series of cunning conundrums. Here is another one. The picture shown is a straight forward photograph taken recently in the area. The question is: "What happened next?" To answer, just click the link below. E-mail to the editor

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