‘If you can take it, you can make it’ Louie Zamperini
Stage Ten: Islandmagee to Carnfunnock, Larne (43k or 27miles)
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<Author: Gerry O'Boyle>
Saturday 11 November 2017
Dawn is just breaking as we arrive in Islandmagee to start stage 10 of our coastal adventure. Since our last run last month we’ve had Hurricane Ophelia and Storm Brian but today the weather wasn’t too bad at all – a little cool but we quickly warm up after a mile or two.
Islandmagee-the Beanies
In early medieval times Islandmagee was known as Semne and we met a lady who told us that the native Islandmagee people are known as ‘beanies’. This comes from the fact that years ago, beans were grown here to supply nitrogen to the soil.
It’s just the three regular runners today (Helen, Sean and me) and it’s the first coastal run on our own since April (Kilkeel to Dundrum).
We leave Earls Cafe at exactly 8.00am and continue north along Mulloughboy Road, taking a left turn after about 500 metres into Portmuck road. After another 500 metres we take a right leading us down to the lovely Browns Bay beach. We continue along the shore passing by Larne Golf course on our right and then taking a left into Ballylumford road. We’re now running along the west side of the Peninsula and shortly we pass the site of N.Ireland’s main power station at Ballylumford.
Ballylumford (lapsed) ferry:
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| Ballylumford power station with Carnfunock visible across the headland (our first uphill of the day) |
I had read somewhere that there was a ferry crossing between Ballylumford and Larne. I rang the ferry company and they informed me that due to insufficient demand the ferry stopped running 18 months ago. So instead of a nice short ferry trip across to Larne we faced a much longer round trip!
About a mile further south we pass the ‘Druids Altar’ Dolmen. This monument dates to 2500BC and some archaeologists even date it as a Neolithic Tomb dating back as far as 4000 BC.
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| Oddly a house has been built immediately behind the Dolmen |
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| Ballylumford Dolmen |
As we continue running we realise that Islandmagee is quite hilly and in fact hills dominate our whole story today! It might be a coastal run but this morning we seemed to be climbing all the time. It’s brightening up now though and we have lovely views across to the hills on the mainland, which we will tackle later!
Witchcraft Trial
In Terry Eakin’s blog, he refers to a Witchcraft Trial in 1710 where eight women in Islandmagee were convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment. As recently as 2015 a memorial was proposed by the author Martina Devlin. However the memorial was objected to by TUV councillor Jack McKee who believed the plaque could become a "shrine to paganism" and furthermore Jack stated that he wasn't convinced that the women weren't guilty!
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| A beautiful road for a run! Sean couldn't hold himself back - Run Forest Run! |
We continue along Ballylumford road which joins up with Millbay Road on the west side of Islandmagee, keeping the sea (as always!) on our right hand side. We come back onto the Low road and eventually we come to a wee roundabout, take a right turn and sadly leave Islandmagee.
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| Crossing the bridge to leave Islandmagee |
I should mention that Helen was worried that today’s stage would be too short, so to appease her, I planned a slight diversion inland to add a few more miles to our journey! We cross the bridge (leaving Islandmagee peninsula) and decide at this stage not to take the main/busy road into Larne. Instead we cross the road and head up to the village of Ballycarry. It’s a tough (and long!) climb up to Ballycarry but the views from the top are worth it as we look back across to Islandmagee and Scotland in the distance. We take a right turn at the top of the hill into Hillhead Road.
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| View from the village of Ballycarry |
Ballycarry
Ballycarry, previously called Broadisland, boasts the oldest Presbyterian congregation in Ireland - founded in 1613. It’s also the home of James Orr (known as the Bard of Ballycarry) who wrote ‘the Irishman’ which contains the famous lines
The savage loves his native shore,
Though rude the soil and chill the air;
We continue along the quiet country roads through Hillhead Road which joins up with Ballypollard Road and after a couple of miles we take a left turn into Craiganee Road, then a right turn into Newlands and eventually we come to the beautiful village of Glenoe. We face another tough climb (more hills!) up to Glenoe Waterfall.
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| Helen's face says it all! |
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| Glenoe Waterfall - worth the 19% gradient climb! |
I don’t think Helen is really that impressed with my ‘inland diversion’ and admittedly the terrain here is not as flat as the coastal route! However Sean is not complaining and is now in complete ultra-marathon mode as he sprints up the steep hill in Glenoe. We’re now four miles inland so maybe it is time to head back to the coast again.
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| Refreshment stop at A.McDowell Stores |
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| Alas the poppies purchased during our run had mostly fallen off but we made a stop in Glynn during the 11th hour. |
At its Remembrance Day today we pause to pay our respects at the War Memorial at the village of Glynn. We’re now only two miles from the town of Larne.
Friends’ Goodwill
Exactly 300 years ago in 1717 a small ship called ‘Friends Goodwill’ made her way out of Larne Harbour as one of the first emigrant boats to cross the Atlantic. The vessel encountered a storm, food ran low and it was reported that the crew caught sharks and dolphins for food and collected rain water on the deck. The historical account of the voyage tells us that things were so bad that lots were drawn as to who would be eaten first when the worst extremity came. Thankfully in September 1717 (four months after leaving Larne) the City Commissioners in Boston were apparently informed that ‘Forty nine miserable persons arrived from ye North of Ireland on a single vessel’
Meanwhile back in 2017, three ‘miserable persons from ye North of Ireland’ arrive at last in the town of Larne, also tired and hungry!
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| From the other side: Looking across to Ballylumford where we started the day |
Sean has a ‘romantic connection’ with Larne and so is able to guide us through the town and eventually down to the coast at the majestic Chaine Round Tower (built in 1888 as a memorial to James Chaine, an MP who developed Larne as a sea port). As it happens, Larne Athletic Club are just finishing their Club Handicap Race today beside the tower. We stop to chat with some local runners outside the Leisure Centre and they offer us tea, coffee and biscuits which are just what we needed before we complete the last three miles to Drains Bay.
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| Gerry, Sean and Helen at Chaine Tower |
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| Thank you for the warming tea Larne AC |
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| Black Cave Tunnel |
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| Final approach to Drains Bay |
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| Brian met us for chips at Carnfunnock! |
Total distance to date: 408k or 255miles
Next leg: Saturday 16 December (Carnfunnock to Cushendun)
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