Today dawned bright, calm and warm. It had all the makings of a really lovely day for our last on the Wild Atlantic Way. It would be only 70 miles from start of day to the rest place for the evening. I wanted to be on the County Antrim coast to set us up to visit the Giants Causeway the following day. Under a bright blue sky we set off.
As I was to turn right out of the beach carpark I spied this right opposite and thought it was another gem of a find and simply had to be researched for more information. Alas I could find nothing so if there are any sleuths out there I would be interested to know. Not least why an RAF pilot is flying a Royal Navy aircraft.
On we went following green and pleasant lanes to the west coast of Lough Foyle. I wanted to see the lighthouse at Inishowen head. It flashes Fl(2) WRG 10s. This means that it is a sectored light having a white sector, a green sector and a red sector and flashes twice in 10 seconds. The fact it is sectored means that is covering a danger. To be safe and clear of the danger you must stay in the white sector as you approach the Lough. If you see a green light you are too far to starboard and need to come to port to enter the white sector. If you see red you are too far to port and need to alter your course to starboard to enter the white sector. It is likely guiding ships into Lough Foyle passed some outlying rocks or sandbanks. Here is the mariners chart showing the light house circled and the three coloured sectors. The red is indeed covering outlying sandbanks whilst the green helps clear the headland. By keeping the light dead ahead and white ships can safely enter the Lough.
But as I have mentioned previously it is what you find that you did not know about that brings these places to life.Next to the lighthouse there was this information board.
The board talks of Colmcille. You may know him better as Columba. For it was from here that Columba sailed to Scotland and the Island of Iona to take Christianity to the Picts. I have been to his monastery on Iona but I always thought he left Ireland from closer to Rathlin island further east along the coast. If interested you can read more here.
We then took the road south along the Lough to the delightful little town on the waters edge of Greencastle to take on supplies before continuing south to the larger town of Moville. Still modest in size, Moville is a quintessential seaside town. It was a very pleasant little place. A notice board in the town states “Moville was a point of embarkation for travellers, especially emigrants, to Canada and the United States of America. In the late 19th century, steamships of the Glasgow-based Anchor Line and Allan Line made port at Moville while en route to and from New York, while just after the turn of the 20th century, the Canadian Pacific Line also established a terminal at the port as part of their service connecting Liverpool and Montreal for Canadian-bound Irish immigrants.”
Another feature on interest was an arrow carved in a stone in a layby that we stopped briefly in, in yet another blink and you miss it item of interest. I can imagine that the sealed road was a cart track when the surveyors stone was inlaid into the wall.
We continued on to the border with Northern Ireland and the end of the Wild Atlantic Way. The way ends right on the border in the rather nondescript town of Muff.
In the blink of an eye the road signs are in miles per hour instead of Kilometres and the phone numbers on businesses are now familiar UK format. There is no formal border crossing, no duty free, nothing. The road changes from the R238 on the Irish side to the A2 on the Northern Irish side. It is the same road. All the formalities we went through in Rosslare with the dog and the expense and the visit to Irish customs simply don’t exist here. We could simply have crossed the border and back with zero checks at all. Weird!
We passed through the large town of Derry/Londonderry. The name depends on who you talk to. The first road sign for Londonderry had the London spray painted over.
The adventure is not over yet. We will now pass along the Antrim Coast tourist route to get to our ferry in Belfast. We still have another 11 days with the van so we will cross to Scotland as there is still unfinished business there to attend to.
Our campsite tonight is the Golden Sands campsite in Benone. It is huge and busy and full of families enjoying the weather parked on top of each other. It is not our cup of tea at all but it was all I could find that had space available on a Saturday night. The glorious weather has brought everybody out for the weekend. Give me Sleepy Hollows campsite with its 10 pitches over this any day. There must be close to 300 caravans, motorhomes and large caravan homes here. But it will do for a night.
Todays distance: 70 miles.
Total distance: 1544 miles.
Woodend Wanderer 