Matrimonial mountain message

Over a two month period, the Carnalbanagh manclambered up Slemish mountain 20 times carrying 12 seven foot wooden poles to spell out his matrimonial message to girlfriend Diane Alexander (32) who is originally from Glenarm.

In November John told Diane that he was starting to train in the evenings as he wanted to lose weight - but this was a cover story to mask his mountainous mission!

While his fiancée thought he was out training, he was hauling the wooden poles up to the top of Slemish.

On Christmas Eve he pitched a tent, and in the wee small hours began erecting the poles with lights on them spelling out ‘I Love You’.

At 6.20am he phoned Diane and told her to find a red box he had left in the house - in it were binoculars, gloves, a camera and a three-page-poem about their relationship.

It read: “In the box I have put the means to see, an example of one way I can show you what you mean to me.

“ I have picked the highest spot I could find to show you how I feel, look out the bedroom window, and yes you aren’t sleeping, this is real.”

He told her to meet him at a stand-alone tree at the bottom of Slemish, where he got down on one knee, popped the question, and an overwhelmed Diane said yes.

And while he may have said he was losing weight as a cover-up - he did shed more than three stone in the arduous process.

Diane said: “It was pretty magical. Because it’s John I always knew it would be something special, he puts his all into everything he does.

“But I would never have dreamt it would have been like this.”