C S Lewis Centenary Group

The C S Lewis Trail in Belfast and North Down

County Down

Lewis began to love the hills and mountains of County Down early in life. As a young man he wrote "None loves the hills of Down better than I".

The Hills of Down
The Hills of Down
[Photo courtesy of Charles Bateman Photography]
From DUNDELA VILLAS, the young Lewis saw the line of the green Castlereagh Hills close by. The view awoke in him a wonderful longing, which the writer would later call "joy".

After the family moved to LITTLE LEA, Jacks and Warnie would walk the HOLYWOOD HILLS together, and go cycling into the County Down countryside.

Jack and Warnie
Jack and Warnie
[Photo courtesy of C S Lewis Centenary Group]

From the crest of the Holywood Hills, the boys would see THE MOURNE MOUNTAINS in the distance. Warren believed that his brother drew greatly on the County Down landscape, and the Mourne Mountains in particular, in creating the magical country of NARNIA.

The Mourne Mountains from the Holywood Hills
The Mourne Mountains from the Holywood Hills
[Photo courtesy of Charles Bateman Photography]

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