Drewstown Expansion

This year we decided to prepare our facilities in Drewstown House for our new Kids Summer Camps. For those who have never been, Drewstown House is an 18th century Georgian manor nestled in nine acres of woodland in a secluded part of the Boyne Valley beside Girley Bog. It is home to our High Ropes adult course, abseiling wall and our low ropes challenge. It includes a three acre lake which is perfect for flat water paddling on our sit-on top kayaks. Over the years it has become a popular facility for groups and schools as we can also run archery and other activities in the spacious grounds. The facility is a large part of our operations.

As an eco-friendly company we wanted to make sure that the woods were being well looked after before the Summer Season started. The winter storms had left a lot of debris on the forest floor and we felt that a cleanup was overdue. We also wanted to make sure that all the Rope features were ready for the summer season.

We contacted original course builders, Vertical Engineering. They started clearing away overgrowth and debris, restructuring the low course and ensuring that the High Ropes could be certified. Andrew and the team from Vertical Engineering are great because along with being proficient woodsmen they specialise in creating courses which encourage a sense of play in young people. Every day the woods were full of the sounds of laughter and chainsaws. This may seem odd but it actually is pretty common in the Deep South U.S. neck of the woods where the Vertical Engineering lads hang about.

Every day we had lunch on a clearing at the edge of the woods overlooking the lake. We would sit there having the sandwiches, watching the squirrels and the ducks on the lake while thinking up new ways of making the courses better. I dunno which one of us came up with the idea to run a zipline across the lake from the woods. It seemed daft at first. The lake is very large (215 metres!) and it would need a fair bit of height to clear the water. The Vertical Engineering lads had to build a special launch platform which would give us the 10m height we needed not to end up with wet arses.

We think they did a mighty job on the new Drewstown Zipline.

Check it out!

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1301006719977540