Bray head had a chairlift?

Creamy Goodness

i think this is a much better view tbh than the chair lift landing one.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27310711@N06/2545909079/sizes/l/

the cross is to the right of the photo and this peak is a little higher than the cross just so you know where it was taken from.

ArmaniJeanss

Apols for the mega bump, but this article in last Saturdays Indo might be of interest re the chairlift.

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/the-story-of-the-chairlift-that-took-you-to-the-eagles-nest-in-bray-3275971.html

Judgement Day

What a let-down! I thought that someone was going to rebuild it. You would think that multi-millionaire Fergal Quinn might like to leave a legacy behind him, but alas, the days of philanthropy are dead and buried in Ireland.

Mebuntu

The newspaper article is not correct when it says "without serious incident". I was there the day a very serious accident took place. From memory one of the chairs further up the cable slipped its moorings and rolled down to strike the following one and people fell to the ground. I was just a boy at the time so those facts may not be 100% accurate but I can still vividly recall watching the aftermath with ambulance in attendance.

Wicklowandy

Mebuntu wrote: »

The newspaper article is not correct when it says "without serious incident". I was there the day a very serious accident took place. From memory one of the chairs further up the cable slipped its moorings and rolled down to strike the following one and people fell to the ground. I was just a boy at the time so those facts may not be 100% accurate but I can still vividly recall watching the aftermath with ambulance in attendance.

Thats a brilliant bit of living history,, anyone know about this or can find a link to newspaper report about this?.

kevc2

The chairlift stopped operation because of constant high winds made it dangerous. It would be nice to have it back but they would run into the same problem. There used to be a dance hall in the Eagle's nest. There's pictures in one of the Bray books of Ollie the barber as a kid operating it.

Judgement Day

kevc2 wrote: »

The chairlift stopped operation because of constant high winds made it dangerous. It would be nice to have it back but they would run into the same problem. There used to be a dance hall in the Eagle's nest. There's pictures in one of the Bray books of Ollie the barber as a kid operating it.

What nonsense, how did it manage to operate for years before closure - was there no wind back then?

Alun

I agree, any winds around Bray Head pale into utter insignificance compared to the wind strengths you get in some ski resorts.

Skill Magill

Lil' Smiler wrote: »

Yeah years ago... really odd you brought that up actually coz i had this dream last night that there was a water slide all the way from the top down last night, like a swirly slide. Looked pretty cool i have to say!!

Braybow Rapids?

kevc2

Judgement Day wrote: »

What nonsense, how did it manage to operate for years before closure - was there no wind back then?

My parents used to take the chairlift and have lived in Bray all their lives. They told me this is the reason that it stopped running. They took it regularly. They are also friends with Ollie the barber that ran it as a kid.

Judgement Day

I traveled on it many times in the 1960s/early 1970s and never experienced any problems with wind. As far as I know falling visitors numbers coupled with a need to invest in maintaining the infrastructure led to its closure.

Calibos

Judgement Day wrote: »

I traveled on it many times in the 1960s/early 1970s and never experienced any problems with wind. As far as I know falling visitors numbers coupled with a need to invest in maintaining the infrastructure led to its closure.

Falling Visitors would spell doom for chairlift operators anywhere in fairness.