Round Britain day 75

Concerto · 8 Aug 2022

OK, who turned on the solar heating? It has been the hottest day of this trip. A bit of a shock to the system after the cool days when further north and where all those down south were sweating in a heat wave.

Another short journey to just Carrickfergus, about 6 miles from Belfast. This was made under engine as about half the distance was under Belfast VTS control where sailing is not allowed in the approach channel to Belfast. Once berthed, I went and paid the fee with the offer of prepaying for one night and get one night free. Then I felt having a treat(?) by visiting McDonald's for lunch, the first time in over 2 months for any fast food. A stroll round town showed the traditional retailing area looked bleak with one street looking like 75% shops were closed, unless some do not open on Mondays. The shopping centre was reasonably busy and seems to have hurt the traditional shopping area. After a good look round I went back onboard as I felt so hot. I laid down and fell asleep for 3½ hours, so I must have been tired as I had already slept for 5½ hours overnight. Before I cooked supper, I visited Sainsbury's across the road from the marina for some supplies.

Now I feel more rested, I have something different planned for tomorrow that will involve a train trip, a bike ride and a walk. It sounds complicated, but is actually the best route to get to the entrance to The Gobbins Coastal Walk. This is something I spied when sailing past this section of coast going to Bangor and thought I should check it out. The Gobbins | A Wild Cliff-Face Walk

Carrickfergus Marina. Concerto is beside the red trawler.

Entrance area to the marina

Carrickfergus castle

For anyone wanting to read the reports from the start, this is the link to first one.
Round Britian day 1

Greg2 · 9 Aug 2022

The Antrim coastline is stunning and I am sure that you will enjoy the ‘Goblins Walk.’ I don’t think it was called that when we did part of it but it appears to have been developed of late.

Not sure if it is an option but hiring a car for the day and doing the coast road would be a great way to spend a day. We usually do it whenever we are over and never tire of it. Family live just outside Carrick, which is well placed to start the route.
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AngusMcDoon · 9 Aug 2022

One of the few marinas with a bath - huge, and in the shape of a boat if I remember correctly. Almost worth visiting just for that.

Concerto · 10 Aug 2022

Today I had the Gobbins tour booked for 1pm, but as I got to the station on my bike the train left the station. Drat. Not to worry, another one in half an hour. Tried to buy the ticket on the platform, but the machine was not working. So I locked the bike and went to the other platform and saw the ticket inspector and found they knew the machine was faulty, so sold me a ticket. The journey only took 10 minutes, but avoided this avoided a long slow climb and steep descent and the opposite on the return - all for just £3.20.

According to Google maps it should take 40 minutes to get from Whitehead station to the Gobbins visitor centre, but I did it in 20 minutes. No, I was not a speed demon but an electric bike can travel faster than a traditional push bike. After a quick bite in the cafe, it was time to helmet up and hop in the mini bus to the start of the tour. The walk does have some steep inclines and lots of uneven steps with bridge links made of stainless steel. It certainly was an impressive walk and very popular. From 9.00 to 2.30 there were tours every 10 minutes. The tour I was part of had 15 people plus the guide, but earlier one the group was 24 people. The tour takes about 2½ hours including the mini bus each way and the walk is just over 2 miles. There were plenty of Fulmars and Kittihawks still nesting along the cliffs, along with some other sea birds like cormorants and at the cliff tops some kestrels. Some people found the walk back up from the site a bit of an effort as it was up a 1 in 4 incline, but I led everyone up at a steady pace without stopping, unlike some. I made a detour to the public viewing platform which was 10 minute detour and not part of the tour. There are plans to extend the walk but needs funding to be allocated and then it will become a circular walk. I can thoroughly recommend this tour, but getting to the visitor centre is not easy by public transport and would probably be worth using a taxi for the 4.3 mile distance from the railway station.

Going back towards Whitehead, I saw a sign for a railway museum, so I made a detour only to find it was closed. Then on to the station to watch the train leave the station. Oh well I will have a look at the seafront rather than just sit on the platform. When I rode back towards the station I caught sight of someone with a railway museum shirt on, so I stopped him to ask when it was open. Only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We continued chatting until the train arrived and then continued on the train until it was my stop. I learnt quite a lot about trains and how his son is working flat out producing wiring looms for specialist vehicles as being in Northern Ireland is a perfect place to manufacture as they have access to the EU and UK markets.

Back in Carrickfergus I went riding around the town to see if it looked any better on a Tuesday, but alas the streets with lots of closed shops looked just as bad. As I was on the bike I decided a trip to the Tesco Extra store would be useful to pick up some heavier items that I was getting short of. So, overall it was a very good day.

The traditional signal box at Carrickfergus Station

The start of the walk where you pass through a low hole the right of "The Gobbins" carved in the rock. The poles on the right are to stop trespassers.