Note track-way delineated by double dotted line
An ancient forest which hugs the Glasheen River as it descends through Knockalisheen has for many years been known as Morrison's Ravine. It forms part of the natural north eastern boundary of the Townland and was named after a local farmer , Alexander Morrison whose family owned the nearby farm and Knockalisheen House up to 1952. As the watercourse flows under the stone arched bridge at Spur Hill , it emerges into a thick canopy of vegetation and trees and falls rapidly towards Waterfall where it is joined by another streamlet flowing in from Kilmurriheen.
Both watercourses then make their way northward with the Bandon Road as its companion before detouring around the present day South Ring Road and meandering its way around Deanrock to turn sharply left at Clashduv Bridge leaving Togher behind before eventually merging as a culvert with the Curraheen River which empties into the River Lee.
A well worn trackway leads from a turnstile ( see above ) at Spur Hill all the way down to the Bandon Road and a gate. Access is fraught with danger being located off a main thoroughfare. The gate is a handy marker which acts as a separation point between 2 Townlands , with Knockalisheen on its left and Kilmurriheen on its right. The stream itself is located some meters in behind the ditchline.However , the entrance top side has recently been fitted with CCTV and a " Keep Out " warning sign , both nailed to a tree located just inside the turnstile.
showing possible large ring fort to its south in Kilmurriheen
The wooded enclosure , believed now to be designated as a game reserve , is a remnant of a much older covering and is a prime example of how much of the region looked going back several centuries before the trees were cleared to make way for agricultural and grazing lands. It should be noted that the Glasheen River , which emanates from a spring near the Airport was once a dis-tributary , with its southern cousin flowing slightly south of its northern brethren. It too up to the 19th Century displayed woodland along its banks until it was dammed off in the early 20th Century. However the old course of the now extinct branch of the Glasheen River can still be deduced from aerial maps with some of its old woodland still in place.
