The Antrim Way — Glenarm to Ballynure, 1995

Day 1 - Thursday, October 19 — Glasgow - Larne

The alarm went off at six and I reluctantly got up, made the usual ablutions, had breakfast and went out for a bus just after half past seven. The trouble with using Change Saver tickets is that I had forgotten the fare into town and put 75p in the box rather than 80p. The driver told me that the fare was either 70p or 80p and gave me a 70p ticket. Anyway, I was soon at the station, bought a Herald and a Low Saver return to Larne (£42).

The train arrived at the last minute and we piled aboard. One gentleman got quite a fright as the train moved while he was helping his companions with their luggage but it was just to separate the coaches and he quickly got out when the doors reopened. It was some minutes before we left due to “signalling difficulties in the Glasgow Area”, and the driver had to get out at a couple of signals before we reached Shields Depot. Ten minutes late at Paisley and we never recovered that time. There was nothing more than the odd spot of rain although some town streets suggested that there had been rather more rain earlier.

At Stranraer, it was straight on to the Stena Caledonia without any luggage check, a quick wander round the deck (not a lot on this boat) and into the bar for the duration of a smooth crossing. We almost caught the P&O ferry Spirit of Ailsa as we approached Larne. The captain announced that we would have to wait outside the harbour but it was just for long enough to turn the vessel before reversing in. The passenger gangway appeared quickly and I headed for the buffet for a quick cup of tea and a sandwich.

I wandered along the street into Larne, noting the accommodation named in the Lonely Planet Guide (but nothing more) and drifted around the town centre, extracting some money from a cash machine as I went. A list of accommodations outside the Tourist Office suggested I would be as well using one of the places near the ferry terminal so I headed back in that direction and, without making a deliberate choice, booked into the Seaview House for two, possibly three nights.

The room was at the back, small but comfortable, not far from the toilet and shower and came with a radio alarm clock. I unpacked in a leisurely manner, watched the news on TV and then went back into the town for a short pub crawl to pass the evening.

Day 2 - Friday, 20 October — Glenarm - Ballyboley Forest

Up at the back of seven and down to breakfast at a quarter to eight. I asked for a small fry and it was rather larger than I had hoped for, but I finished it nonetheless. At a quarter to nine I set off for the bus station, about ten minutes walk, and waited for the 0910 bus to Glenarm. A pleasant run up the coast road, got off at the river bridge and walked up the main street, pausing to buy a couple of small bottles of juice and a couple of chocolate bars.

Then I set off through the main street (very quite) and up the Town Brae. It was just as steep as I remembered it from last year but I made better time, being fresher. The brambles by the roadside looked a bit dodgy, mostly withered fibrous material as if the fruit had never developed, so I decided not to eat any, who knows what (if anything) may have been sprayed on them in the name of highway maintenance... Things improved further on but the brambles never looked really healthy so I continued un-refreshed.

I reached the stile rather sooner than I expected and was delighted to get on to the hill. Over the first rise, down into the dip and up the slope to Black Hill I went, and paused there for a swig of juice and to admire the view. Kintyre, Sanda, Ailsa Craig and the Ayrshire/Galloway coast were all discernible in the distance and the line of Larne Lough stretched away to the south.

Last year, my route off Black Hill was less than perfect so I headed a bit further north this time, skirting most of the bog but still found from the way marks on the other side that I had cut too far south. Maybe I’ll get it right next time.

As I trod the pleasant ridge towards Scawt Hill, I noticed that the tread on my boots was becoming clogged with sheep dung. Ten yards further on, descending into a shallow gully, my feet shot from under me and I slid fifteen feet on my posterior, the only damage was to my dignity but luckily the only witnesses were the sheep. I wasted little time in finding a suitable implement to clear the dung.

Looking back from Scawt Hill, I managed to convince myself that I could see the south end of Arran in addition to the other bits of Scotland. Sun dappled the patchwork of fields down to Ballygalley and towards Larne.

03. Looking south from Ballygilbert Hill to Ballygalley Head, Islandmagee and Larne Lough	04. Looking south from Scawt Hill to Larne Lough and Knock Dhu	05. From Scawt Hill to Ballygalley Head

I made a swift descent to the road, crossed and set off up to the Sallagh Braes. I was definitely following the way marks for a while but then found myself being pushed well off track by a wall. It took some time to find a place where I could cross without disturbing the generally loose structure. There are a lot of these loosely constructed walls around the Antrim glens, I don’t know how they have stood so long (they certainly weren’t erected at today’s labour rates) unless the force of the wind is dissipated by blowing through the gaps. I had to climb a second wall with equal caution to recover the correct line.

06. Looking south from Sallagh Braes over Larne, Islandmagee and Larne Lough	07. Looking north along the Sallagh Braes

The view is good to the east and I walked a very pleasant mile before turning away to head for the Standing Stone. Time for another quick snack before crossing a stretch of featureless moor to the foot of Agnew’s Hill where it was a short sharp slog up the hillside to the summit. The stretch south from here to the next top (Shane’s Hill?) presented no difficulties and from that top I could clearly see the road emerging from Ballyboley Forest. And that’s where I got it wrong.

There was a mark just before the top which pointed west, but I could see none on the down slope so I set off in the direction of the road at the edge of the forest, an easy descent, and I saw no marks on the way down. At the road, I realised I was off the route when I had to step over a fence (and I wasn’t the first) rather than climb a stile. Nor were there any signs on either side of the road. Och well, time to light my pipe and wait for the bus.

The bus seemed reluctant to stop at my signal but it did and I asked for a single to Larne - “if we get there” said the driver. Then I noticed the steam billowing from the front of the bus. We started, travelled twenty yards and stopped to flag down a police motorcyclist travelling the other way. The driver got out, spoke to the policeman and returned to say that he would go down the road and contact Ulsterbus for a replacement vehicle. A couple of schoolboys set off to walk, apparently they were nearly home, the rest of the passengers waited. The driver remarked that the bus had received some treatment for the heater that morning and maybe a hose had come off. It was only twenty-five minutes before the replacement arrived driven by a mechanic, we all transferred and set off just as a recovery vehicle arrived.

The route into Larne meandered through a housing estate and when we reached the bus station the mechanic was there before us. “Was it something serious?” asked the driver, and I am sure I heard the mechanic say “No, they forgot to replace the cap.”

Back to the digs for a quiet evening drinking tea and playing with the TV remote control.

Day 3 - Saturday, October 21 — Ballyboley Forest to Ballynure

The bus times for the return to Ballyboley Forest were either 07:45 or 11:00 so I had some time to kill, and spent it in a leisurely stroll along the esplanade, noting the arrival of the 07:15 ferry from Stranraer and the small fleet of spare ferries loitering outside the port. The Tourist Office produced a detailed guide to that part of the Ulster Way within the Larne Borough Council area and I was able to check just where I should have reached the road yesterday.

The driver of the Ballymena bus was the same man who had taken me up to Glenarm yesterday, he enquired whether I liked walking. I got off at the edge of the forest, stepped over the fence and skirted the edge of the forest for a third of a mile until I reached the stile. It is an odd logic that provides a stile over a slight fence but no help to cross a substantial ditch on the other side.

The path led through a firebreak wherein I met the first walkers of this trip. (I met only one in five days last year and that was in Cushendall YH.) The road was soon crossed, a short distance on a forestry road where I met a party of mostly noisy weans, then up another firebreak to the top of Carninard. A quick look over an open prospect to the east then on again, down another firebreak where I misjudged one boggy patch and after a short stretch of forestry road, I reached the entrance to the forest where several carloads of people were picnicking.

From here it was downhill on minor roads for some time, pretty tedious going but enlivened at one point by a dog.

As I approached a large bungalow, I noticed a collie heading for the fence and expected the usual barking as I passed. However, as I reached the fence, the dog put its front paws on the top and dropped a rubber ring onto the verge at my feet. Well, even I knew what was expected so I threw the ring across the garden and walked on. The dog shot off, caught the ring in the air and came back to reach the fence a yard in front of me.

This time it did not drop the ring so I pulled at it briefly before noticing that the ring was partially split. I told the dog that I was not prepared to be caught with a broken ring, if it wanted me to throw I would but there would be no tug-of-war. The dog dropped the ring, I threw it well away and walked on ... and the dog was back with the ring again. I threw a third time with the same result.

At this point the lady of the house came out to make sure all was well, I said there was no problem, we chatted awhile with the dog waiting patiently then one more throw and I was clear of the property and soon fell back into a steady trudge.

It was about two o’clock when I reached Ballynure and decided to call it a day. The cloud was increasing, my heel was complaining, I was getting bored with road walking and there was a fair bit more before I would reach the next public transport access at Whiteabbey. The only problem was that I had not checked the times of buses back to Larne so I went into the Ballad Bar to ask.

I felt I had to take a pint just to be sociable (well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it) then made enquiries. It seems the locals don’t use buses much, there is a bus about half past four on weekdays but it might be different on Saturdays. The chap in the local shop would know - but he wasn’t sure, it might be half past three. The butcher didn’t know either, though he did know that the folk next door used the bus sometimes, but they were out.

Back to the pub, yes it might be half past three, or that might be the other way to Belfast. Anyway, I had time for another pint, went out at twenty past and the Belfast bus came round the corner so that’s where I went, via Ballyclare.

It was just before half past four when we reached Belfast and I headed for the Crown. There is a noticeable increase in traffic since my last visit in May, the result no doubt of the lifting of security restrictions. Not all consequences of the present peace process can be classed as improvements. The Crown was busy, the beer in its usual good condition and I enjoyed a leisurely couple of pints before I decided it was time to eat.

The Botanic district seemed the best bet and I found a flash chip shop called Robinson’s where they had run out of haddock so I ordered cod. The chips were a bit soft and the cod was a bit strange, especially compared to that which I had in Limerick in May. I had eaten half of it and was well on my way to Central Station when I realised that it was whiting. Och well, it was edible.

At Central, I discovered that the new Gt. Victoria St station is now open so the timetable I picked up in May is out of date already. The ticket office was closed so I asked the lad on the barrier whether there was much alteration, he pointed out that there was an information office open and therein I obtained a new timetable. It was about fifty minutes till the next Larne train so I repaired to the bar to read the timetable.

As train time approached I headed for the platform and discovered that it was the lad at the barrier who sold the tickets, not the guard on the train. That sorted, I caught the train and was back in Larne just after eight. I stopped for a quick pint in the Station Bar, a medium-sized barn built as part of the station, not very busy, most people taking turns at the pool table.

Then it was back to the digs to clean up, take tea and spend what remained of the evening playing once again with the TV remote control.

Day 4 - Sunday, October 22 — Larne - Glasgow

Well, I knew that the clocks went back in the night but when I woke just after seven, the fact that the music on the radio was not the usual fare for that time on a Sunday morning did not serve as an adequate reminder and I was on my way down to breakfast before I realised that there was something wrong about the level of daylight, and scuttled back to hide in my room for another hour.

The drizzle was not too bad when I left just after nine and I headed along to the shore where I found visibility was pretty limited. I walked along the promenade and up the first path to the park, at the top of which path I found a shelter and made myself comfortable to pass an hour with my pipe. Conditions gradually improved until, by the time I moved on, I could almost see Kintyre and the drizzle was almost off.

A bit of a wait at the ferry terminal before boarding the Stena Antrim, to find the drizzle had picked up again so after a quick tour of the deck, I established myself in the bar with a pint. The boat was quite busy, mostly Irish voices, perhaps returning to work/study after a weekend break. The sea was calm most of the time, just ten minutes of movement in mid channel. As we neared Stranraer, I approached a stewardess in search of a revised timetable for post-November 12 sailings (when the Irish end will move from Larne to Belfast) to be told that nothing was available.

We arrived on time at Stranraer but there was the usual fifteen minutes delay before the foot-passengers were allowed ashore through the car deck. The two coach train was in the station with doors closed and lights off and a small crowd gathering on the platform, until one intrepid woman pushed the button and a door opened. I boarded too, to find that many seats were reserved but I quickly grabbed a table.

We started to move five minutes after the scheduled departure time of ten to two with most of the reserved seats unoccupied, travelled the length of the platform, and stopped again. It was announced that we would be waiting another five minutes for SeaCat passengers to catch up. (The SeaCat was due into Stranraer five minutes before the ferry but had not been there when we arrived.) When we finally got going just after two o’clock, we were twelve minutes late.

As we travelled north, the train gradually filled, picking up about fifteen passengers at Barrhill (where do they all come from?) and more at Girvan, and after Ayr there were folk standing between the carriages. We would have been back on time at Paisley but were held for several minutes after Johnstone and finally reached Glasgow three minutes late at 17:06. Not long to wait for a bus and home before six.

Holiday over

PS Waverley at Tighnabruaich — Saturday, 6 April 1996

08.

PS Waverley in Loch Long — Sunday, 7 April 1996

09. The former MOD pier opposite Arrochar	10. North ridge of Ben Lomond through the Arrochar - Tarbet gap

PS Waverley at Ardrishaig — Saturday, 27 April 1996

11.	12.	13. Crinan Canal basin

PS Waverley at Millport — Sunday, 28 April 1996

14. Bridge without dodgers	15. Departing

16. The hills of Arran beyond Millport Bay	17. Arriving

Views from the Campsie Fells — Friday, 3 May 1996.

18. North-west from Dumgoyne to Loch Lomond. Killearn on the right	19. South-west from Earl's Seat through the Garnock Valley to Ailsa Craig (just)	20. North from Earl's Seat over Balfron

Around Charing Cross — Tuesday, 7 May 1996.

21. Between Woodlands Road and St Georges Road	22. North up St Georges Road and the M8 near Charing Cross

23. That ugly building at Charing Cross	24. Charing Cross Mansions