Knocklayde Mountain 2001
The most prominent feature of North East Antrim is the round dome of Knocklayde mountain rising to 500m in height.
This mountain has a graceful and rounded form, rising about 1,685 feet above sea level. It does not appear to be elevated and it is really owing to the nature of the intervening ground, and it is in Glenshesk about a mile from Glenbank that its outline from base to summit is shown to its fullest extent. There are no cragged rocks or projecting spur to attract the eye or make the accent more difficult, but a smooth green surface extending to the summit. The lower part of its western slope is partly cultivated and partly covered with a small plantation. The varying tints of the fields and weeds and the rich dark green colouring of the upper slope impart a greater beauty to the undulating landscape. The colouring along Kilcraig becomes more brilliant when the whine are covered with their golden bloom; but these soon fade, and in August are replaced higher up by the purple heather. It is then that the slope assumes its most exquisite beauty, as there appear the brown and russet mingling with the greenish tinges on the trees, The green, yellowish green and golden tints on the ripening fields, the purple glory of the heath stretching like a sheet above the wooded part, and higher up the shadow-flecked slope near the summit. Extending along the base of the mountain can be traced the billowy form of the eastern slope of Glentow, along its upper reach to the skyline, its fields glittering with the ripening colours of harvest, with the greyish green of the pasture lands, and the rich dark green colouring of the root crops.
" People rave of the scenery out in the West,
And they say of all lands 'tis the fairest and best;
But they don't know the talent Dame Nature displayed'
When she last touched her canvas and painted Knocklayd.
The flowers of the tropics are fair to behold,
Where the orange tree nurses her globules of gold;
Still, it seems to my mind they don't ` equal' the shade
Of the blossom-clad whine on the side of Knocklayd."
John Wilson