Open Country

Over the centuries the River Quoile has carried Vikings, steam ships and cargoes of coal and timber from as far afield as the Baltic and Canada. Today it's a river for leisure pursuits – popular with canoeists, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts.Cadogan Enright is a councillor, environmental campaigner and chairman of the local canoe club. He takes Helen Mark out on the river to sing its praises, but also to point out concerns. He tells her that Downpatrick and the surrounding countryside were prone to tidal flooding in the past, but now the threat comes from the land - with increasing winter storms leaving the land saturated. Helen meets Robert Gardiner, chairman of the railway museum, who shows her how the water flooded their exhibition gallery last year and has threatened the museum's financial future.Back on the riverbank, Helen meets Stephen O'Hare, a member of the River Quoile Trust which campaigns for improvements to the river. He shows her the remains of quays along the riverbank, which were once busy d