Wilfrid Merydith Capper (1905 – 1998)
Wilfrid Capper is best known for creating the Ulster Way, a walking trail of over 600 miles round most of Ulster. Nine areas of outstanding natural beauty are on its route, 50 miles of which are called the Capper Trail, in honour of its founding father.
The Ulster Way was created in 1946, so 2021 is its 75th anniversary.
Born on 12 July 1905, Wilfrid Capper was a campaigning instigator who promoted safeguarding and gaining access to large areas of the Northern Ireland countryside. He took his inspiration from the outdoor movement in England, after the First World War, which encouraged groups of young people to follow an adventurous and healthy way of life. He recognised the worth of bringing to Ulster regional versions of bodies proving of great benefit elsewhere.
His education was at Bangor Grammar School, Methodist College, and Queen’s University, Belfast. He joined the infant Northern Ireland civil service in 1923, initially in the Department of Education. He moved to the Department of Agriculture, where he joined the forestry division, staying there for the rest of his civil service career.
But his major accomplishments were among the voluntary organisations of the countryside itself.
In 1931, with six friends, he established the Northern Ireland version of the Youth Hostel movement. In that decade he led a campaign to preserve Whitepark Bay on the shoreline of County Antrim. Thanks to their efforts, the Bay was bought and presented to the National Trust for safekeeping.
The Ulster Society for the Preservation of the Countryside was founded in 1936, at his instigation; for 40 years he was honorary secretary, and in 1995 he wrote its history in a book, Caring for the Countryside.
Inspired by the success of the Pennine Way in England, he determined to create around Ulster a similar long-distance route for walkers, the route partly based on connecting some 15 youth hostels dotted across Northern Ireland. Capper’s original proposal was made in 1946, though the full way-marked circuit of the Ulster Way was not formally opened until 1974. In more recent years, some changes have been made to the route.
Currently, the Ulster Way passes through Crawfordsburn Country Park, on the Coastal Path between Bangor and Holywood.
Capper was awarded the MBE in 1975. In 1978 he established the Ulster Federation of Rambling Clubs, and later gained the Sir John Hunt Award for services to the countryside.
He came to live on Carney Hill, above the Devil’s Elbow, in Craigavad. He would have been a regular visitor to Crawfordsburn Country Park.
He died on 27 July 1998. Two small memorials were subsequently placed in the Country Park to honour his memory.