Throne Wood's fit for a king.

Byline: MAURICE FITZMAURICE

BY MAURICE FITZMAURICE AN urban wood steeped in history is to get a revamp in a bid to get more people using it.

Throne Wood, at the foot of Cave Hill in North Belfast, will see paths improved, interpretation panels erected and pond improvements including a new 'dipping platform' as part of a PS48,000 facelift funded by the Alpha Programme.

The wood is believed to have been planted in the early 1800s and belonged to a house marked on the 1830 Ordnance Survey map as The Throne. The poet Sir Samuel Ferguson, who was admired by WB Yeats, lived there in the 1820s. The Woodland Trust says "only faint traces of Throne House remain", but that there are "some magnificent veteran trees - including beech and lime - managed to survive".

They say the mature trees, "are alive with insects and birds, including the goldcrest, treecreeper, jay and sparrowhawk" as well as several species of bat.

The Woodland Trust's Rosie Irwin said: "This is a truly special wood, but something of a secret. Thanks to funding from the Alpha Programme, we have an opportunity to put Throne Wood on the map."

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GATEWAY Entrance to woods in North Belfast

jungle book Toni Wilkinson and Andrew Christie in Throne Wood yesterday