{"id":4691,"date":"2024-12-09T19:30:33","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T19:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/picton-lynas.co.uk\/walkingblog\/?page_id=4691"},"modified":"2024-12-09T19:39:41","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T19:39:41","slug":"portballintrae-to-portrush-and-ramore-head","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/picton-lynas.co.uk\/walkingblog\/ulster\/portballintrae-to-portrush-and-ramore-head\/","title":{"rendered":"Portballintrae to Portrush and Ramore Head"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

9th December 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I haven’t been on the road for the last three months for one reason or another – Esme wanting a sibling for the Duck-Duck a main one (could be twins) – and I needed to run in the new boots if I’m going to take them to Fuerteventura in January, fingers crossed.
I decided, therefore, that a couple of days on the north coast and a few miles in the cold air would sort me and them right out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Portballintrae and it is a bit crisp, I think is the best way to describe it. Never mind, as long as I keep moving should be fine. Strange memories returning – things I’d forgotten about for 40 years, which is the last time that I’d stayed here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Bay View hotel (centre) is now all grown up with a fancy glass frontage and central heating,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Donegal on the far side of Lough Foyle and in the far distance Malin Head.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A one room fixer upper – maybe a bit bleak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Heading along the cliff edge – Gawd! Only for a few yards.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dunluce castle and in the distancce White Rocks bay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Six quid a pop to view. I’ll stay outside the fence, ty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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That furthest head is the Giants’ Causeway and over in Scotland the sun is shining.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The needles below and another view of White Rocks Bay. Hard to believe that I last walked it in 1998.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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And a little arch that will become the next needle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Wet, slimy and dangerous drops – I’m not having to go down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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And a big hole in the process of becoming an arch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Down to the beach.
Some brave souls are surfing in the somewhat chilly water and air.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Right, the boots – which are far too bright in the daylight – have done a few miles on the hard stuff, time to try the sand.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Big dunes. lovely to run down, heart bursting to climb. A baby compared to that one in Crete.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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You’d think that the sun was setting in the East.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The old Portrush approaching. Remembering Kelly’s nightclub. Driving up from Belfast in my first car, a dark blue Vauxhall Viva, for the night because they were happy to let a 17 year-old in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Quite nice schooner sculpture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Over there, on top of the dark cliffs I met the girl with the bright green eyes. The rest of the North West 200 bike racing was ignored. God! I liked her – can’t remember her name though.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Portrush harbour and their lifeboat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The actual sunset over Lough Foyle. Getting bloody cold now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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And yet to the East we seem to have another one. Ramore head.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Clouds well alight, Sheppard’s delight? or Armageddon?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Is that the Pingu bod trapped in that house or an imitation immigrant Polish version on the cheap taking his job?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At the bus stop waiting for my ride back to the hotel. Just in time as the light has gone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Quite strange doing this again so many years later. I hate the fact that I’ve forgotten so much, but them’s the cards ya get dealt. Onwards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

9th December 2024 I haven’t been on the road for the last three months for one reason or another – Esme wanting a sibling for the Duck-Duck a main one (could be twins) – and I needed to run in the new boots if I’m going to take them to Fuerteventura in January, fingers crossed.I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":661,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4691","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/picton-lynas.co.uk\/walkingblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/picton-lynas.co.uk\/walkingblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/picton-lynas.co.uk\/walkingblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picton-lynas.co.uk\/walkingblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picton-lynas.co.uk\/walkingblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4691"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/picton-lynas.co.uk\/walkingblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4697,"href":"https:\/\/picton-lynas.co.uk\/walkingblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4691\/revisions\/4697"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picton-lynas.co.uk\/walkingblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/picton-lynas.co.uk\/walkingblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}