Urban watercourses of Ards: Golden Glen River

Tucked away alongside the lane extending from Westland Drive to the Belfast Road is the surface course of the Golden Glen and Whitespots rivers, heading south-west towards the drainage canals.

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Difficult to believe that just 50 metres way is one of the busiest arterial roads in the town...

The Whitespots river originates in the Lead Mines to the north of the town and has been culverted to join the Golden Glen river to the north of the Mountain Road. Subsequently the river turns to flow alongside of the Crawfordsburn Road, formerly on the surface at the foot of the front gardens but when the road was widened in the 1970s it was ducted. A hard turn takes it westwards towards the Belfast Road, alternating between surface and culvert.

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Some other locations to view the river are at the base of Judes' Crescent ( requires climbing a brick wall! ) and south of the Strangford Arms hotel.