Joining the Green party

DAVID YOUNG AND HIS FAMILY HEAD TO 'THE KINGDOM' OF KERRY'S GREENWAYS IN SOUTH WEST IRELAND

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OUR eldest Martha zips under the old railway bridge at pace, holding off a spirited challenge from her younger sister Rose. Behind them, their two-year-old brother charts an altogether more erratic course.

George isn’t interested in the race ahead; instead concentrating his efforts on ramming his scooter into my ankles.

We're on the last stretch of the delightful greenway that runs from Tralee, the largest town in Co Kerry, to the seaside village of Fenit.

As we reach the end of this former rail track, Martha, nine, claims victory as she sweeps by the platforms where passengers boarded steam train carriages 100 years previously.

Rose, seven, disputes the result, making several unspecified allegations of cheating.

George secures his own form of victory by crashing into my shin a final time.

As my wife Kerri conducts a steward’s inquiry, I clear the debris field of discarded helmets and scooters.

The backdrop for this typically chaotic family scene is a spectacular one. Shafts of autumnal sunshine dance across Tralee Bay while, on the other side of the water, low-hanging clouds rest atop the Slieve Mish Mountains on the Dingle Peninsula.

That tranquil picture is in striking contrast to the post-scoot tumult at Fenit's old terminus station as we attempt to marshal the kids toward the nearby Boat House Cafe for lunch.

It's happy pandemonium though, with red cheeks and broad grins evidence of a morning well spent on our greenway adventure.

The Tralee to Fenit rail line opened in the 1880s with the intention of establishing the village’s harbour as a key hub for trans-Atlantic trade.

That boon did not materialise and the track ceased running regular passenger services in 1935, albeit it stayed open for another four decades for freight transportation and holiday excursion trips.