Schools are back - the weather has improved! Bangor to Glenarm 30 August 2024

 

Top - The Gobbins looking well as we passed this morning.
Bottom - one of three groups of (intrepid?) visitors being guided along the
cliff path on this glorious day. HDs

Well, no sooner do the schools go back but the weather takes a turn for the better.  We had four days of calm sunny weather forecast, so we are taking the opportunity to get a late summer trip in.  Glenarm and Rathlin.  Though, as I write (in Glenarm) the forecast has reduced to two days of calm sunny weather, so we will see how far we get. 

The journey up from Bangor was beautiful - calm and warm.  Disappointingly we saw no cetaceans, but we did see five (or six) Pale-bellied Brent Geese which will have left Iceland probably yesterday morning and won’t stop flying until they get to Strangford Lough.  They fly southeast from Iceland until they get to the north coast, then follow it eastwards to Fairhead, and then follow the Antrim coast south - using the coastline as their navigational aid. You can’t beat a birdbrain!

We also saw two Red-throated Divers, also heading south.  These and the geese are winter visitors for us, and it’s still only August. Jolly early.

Back on 19th May this year I was singing the praises of Glenarm - its various hidden treasures.  As I now know, it has even more treasures than we realised then.  It’s full of them!  So, today we’ve had the chance to explore a bit more.

These two beauties are part of the winning display in the Village category of the “Translink Ulster in Bloom” competition which Glenarm won three years in a row (2012 - 2014). Is it any wonder?!

We found the Layde Walk (pronounced Layed) which was created by Arthur O’Hara who wheelbarrowed 200 tonnes of beach pebbles up the hill (over several years) to fill in an old industrial waterway that had been dug out of the side of Glenarm Glen in the early 1800s. The circular walk, also called Artie’s Way, takes you up above the houses, has great views, and gets you to see bits of Glenarm you would otherwise miss.

Oh, give me a walk on the beach
There the heart of a man it would charm
Where the blithe Kittiwake loudly screams
O’er the beautiful bay of Glenarm 

Glenarm Bay by James Kelly (1895 - 1978)

Fabulous ice cream from the shop in Glenarm Castle grounds, and Mary fell for a superb pink cardigan - her Barbie days are starting. My credit card has suffered.

Barbie for dinner this evening (not the cardigan!) along with a Naked Wines Cabernet Sauvignon. HDs!


The boat bird list is short at just 18 species, but remember those Pale-bellied Brent Geese and the Red-throated Divers.

Our route:



What do you call a pony with a sore throat?                A little horse.




 
























































































































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