Sunday 27th
August 2017
55 degrees 01.159N
06 degrees 34.815W
Coleraine –
Knocktarna House
Back in Northern Ireland.
We are very comfortably ensconced in a beautiful mansion
set in 12 acres of glorious woodland.
With trees dating back to 1836…
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| A most fabulous copper beech |
And what Paddy assures me is a badger sett! I am keenly looking out for a glimpse of an
actual badger…but they only come out at night to dig large gouges in the luxuriant
green lawn. Maybe tonight!
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| Hidden under the thick leaf littler...maybe a badger sett! |
We are staying with a delightful family with beautiful
dogs – Nala and Luke. They add value and
interest to every walk in the woods.
A miracle – no rain since we have been here!
Yesterday we zipped around in the little blue car,
seeing the sights of the coast of Northern Ireland along with a large cohort of
tourists, mostly in coaches, some in cars.
All carparks full, all walking tracks heaving. Occasionally I felt cross and aggrieved – why
wouldn’t these wretched tourists move out of the way so I could take an unencumbered
of an area of great natural beauty?? And
the tourists behind me were doubtless saying the same thing about me…
Loved the Giants Causeway. So did everyone else.
Near Carrick-na-Rede there is a rope bridge which
stretches out over a gap between a small island and he mainland, 100 feet above
the sea. It is quite a long walk, up and
down a step cliff path. Elbow to elbow
with our fellow tourists.
We were mildly keen to cross over to the little island
but…they were selling tickets and the next possibility for setting foot on the
bridge was one and a half hours away. So
we kept walking, expecting to see the bridge at close quarters anyway. Well…we did see it but my phone got a better
look because I held it out at arms length to take a photo of what I was trying to
look at…
We went up and down a few steep little roads to look at
steep little villages and tehn set off for our next estiantion – the Dark
Hedges. Pete didn't quite get why I wanted to see this avenue of twisty spooky
trees but…it was very lovely.
I took a photo of the branches above the road so as to
avoid the hordes on the path…
And then I found (thank you Google) a Game of Thrones
photos of the King’s Road.
Fabulous! Game
of Thrones tours are a big money spinner here – much of it was filmed here and
a bus tour will take you to ten different locations. Including the Dark Hedges of course!
This morning we went to Downhill Demesne, not far from
Coleraine, with Paddy, the dogs, three children, leaving Vanessa a blessed few
hours to work on her PhD.
It was very beautiful – a ruined mansion on a hilltop,
with a beautiful pavilion built by the earl for his beautiful cousin, in whom
he had a romantic interest. The pavilion
is set right on the edge of the cliff…but apparently when it was built there
was a road right around it, wide enough for a horse and carriage. The cliff has eroded away quite alarmingly and
presumably in the not too distant future this lovely little tribute to the beautiful
cousin will tumble into the sea and onto the railway line below.
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| Downhill Beach from the pavilion |
We made another stop at Hezlett House, which is very
unusual in that is has a thatched roof.
Most of the thatching in Ireland has been removed over the past decades –
very sad.
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| The National Trust is very active in the UK, preserving buildings like these |
Tomorrow we are going on the Coleraine-Londonderry
train, which is, so Paddy tells us, one of the most scenic train journeys of the
world.
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| Dunseverick Castle ruins (Ballycastle) |
This is all very lovely and fascinating. My brain is full of images and newly acquired
knowledge!
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| It is so damp here fungi grow in fantastic formations |
Stunning scenery! So who are the family you stayed with here?
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