The?Roe Valley Country Park?is a forested area containing part of the?River Roe, south west of?Limavady,?County Londonderry,?Northern Ireland. It is maintained by the?Northern Ireland Environment Agency, which is part of the?Department of the Environment?of Northern Ireland.
The park is approximately three miles (4.8 km) long and consists of mainly deciduous, riparian woodland on each side of the Roe. The terrain next to the river is mostly steep sided gorge, with some areas of flat grassland on the northwest bank. As the river has a large, freely draining catchment area, it significantly increases in volume and speed soon after heavy rain. This is most visible around the visitor centre, where the river is forced through a narrow section of the gorge.
A visitor centre provides managerial office space, a cafe, exhibition space and a presentation area.
The area around the visitor centre contains the?Green Lane Museum, with exhibits on local history, the area?linen?industry, agriculture and artefacts of rural life.
In the 18th century, the local linen industry was based on the same site, the remains of which include?flax?drying fields with watch towers, derelict buildings and a waterwheel originally used to power the machinery.
There is also a disused hydroelectric generating station which was the first to operate in Northern Ireland in 1896.
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