I had considered trying to tackle Fairhead but Paul Sayer, whom I had met on the walls of Londonderry/Derry last year, offered that was too much and suggested I walk the flat beach area to Marconi Cottage used during the construction of the first wireless signal. He was right.
Ramoan Parish church across the street from Deirdre’s B&B where I spent four days.
To get to the beach you cross the Margy River
The Mull of Kintyre in the distance with Fairhead on the right.
Just as a late morning rain starts I spotted this cave. It is obviously carved out and not a natural one thereby leading one to think of smugglers.
From here the beach turns into a rocky shore that would be a bad idea to cross but there is a path up to the tarmac. I liked what erosion had done to this rock.
Oystercatchers are my favorite shorebird.
Looking back at Ballycastle. Bally in old Irish means “place of”.
Lots of glasswort.
Leaning out to figure out why there was a break in the wall keeping cars out of the water. Had to see the stairs even when right on top of them.
Carrick-a-Rede
This cave might be natural but barred for safety reasons. Water was pouring through it.
Another erosion carved rock.
And this caravan park has incredible views.
Old and tenacious ivy
Marconi was offered a contract by Lloyd’s to set up a wireless link between Rathlin Island and Ballycastle. Rathlin was the most important point in this chain of information, as all shipping inward bound from America or Canada passed by Rathlin East lighthouse en route for Liverpool (then the largest port in the UK) or Glasgow or Belfast. The lighthouse keepers kept a record of all ships passing, the problem was to get this valuable information to London in the quickest possible time. This was the location of a cottage he stayed at. Now it is a holiday home that I’m told, is rarely visited by the owners.
When the tarmac ended so did my trek as the ground looked ripe for a spill or twisted ankle.
There were a couple benches so I decided to just sit and enjoy the quiet. I went about 45 minutes without sharing this view with another person. It made me think about how, when you have a one way ticket, you are able to take time to enjoy, to be rather than do. When you have an open ended program you have the luxury of time.
I’m not sure what this rock looked like, maybe a woman carrying a bucket out of the water?
After the 7 mile walk and with another mile to go I was parched so I stopped in to The Diamond Bar which is owned by McVeigh, my brother-in-law’s name.
And as I approached this house I wondered why the dog seemed to be eating grass? Then wondered if it were a black sheep. I was very surprised to find a pygmy pony in an unfenced front yard.
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