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BALLYGALLEY AND GLENARM |
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The impressiveness of the road builders' achievement becomes
apparent the moment you leave Larne's dull suburbs. The view expands to
take in the open sea and, beyond it, the low outline of the Scottish
coast. Carnfunnock Country Park (daily 9am-dusk; car-parking charge
related to length of visit) is a good walking stop with a maze in the
shape of Northern Ireland, a walled garden, a time garden with a
collection of sundials ranging from the simple to the arcane, and a nine-hole
golf course. You can also camp here (late April to Sept; tel 028/2826
0088). The first settlement you come to is BALLYGALLEY , with a wide,
wild bay and a sandy beach embraced by hills. There's something about
the sobriety of the architecture that makes it look more like Scotland,
an impression heightened by the crow-stepped gables of Ballygally [sic]
Castle , built by seventeenth-century planters. You can call in here for
a drink - it's now a hotel (tel 028/2858 3212; res@bgr.hastingshotel.com
; £70-90) with, they tell you, a ghost in the dungeon bar - although the
building is more impressive from the outside.
The southernmost of the glens, Glenarm , is headed by a village of the
same name, which grew up around a hunting lodge built by Randal
MacDonnell after Dunluce Castle, further up the coast, was abandoned.
Glenarm became the major seat of the Earls of Antrim, something that
might lead you to expect that Glenarm Castle would be worth seeing, but
major rebuilding in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have left it
an architectural mishmash of conflicting styles. GLENARM village itself,
though, is a delight and very much a taste of what's to follow, with a
narrow main street of colour-washed buildings broadening out as it
approaches an imposing gateway, the old estate entrance, which now
provides access to the glen itself. The lower part of the glen is
blighted with Forest Service conifers, but carry on and you reach
National Trust land, with far better walking. Back in the village,
you'll find a couple of cosy bars and a salmon processing plant on the
outskirts with a shop where you can inspect the wares. There's a tourist
office here in the Community Hall (Mon 1-5pm, Tues, Thurs & Fri
9.30am-5pm, Sat 1-4pm, Sun 1-6pm; tel 028/2884 1087) and a smattering of
comfortable and affordable places to stay , including Margaret's House ,
10 Altmore St (tel 028/2884 1307; £26-33), Riverside House , 13
Toberwine St (March-Sept; tel 028/2884 1474; £33-40) and Nine Glens , 16
Toberwine St (tel 028/2884 1590; £26-33).
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