Wednesday 14 August 2019

White Park Bay

There are no scones at White Park Bay in County Antrim. In fact, during my 45 minutes there, I saw nothing apart from the beach, the sea, and the waves.

I was beyond delighted with myself that I'd shown a bit of spontaneity on the Grand Scone Tour of Northern Ireland 2019, pulled in to the car park on my way to Carrick-a-Rede, and been rewarded with such a beautiful and peaceful spot.

And then I mentioned on Twitter that I had been there, only for someone to ask "did you see the cows?" and I laughed, thinking he meant that Antrim was just generally a very cow-laden place, but then I checked the NT website and saw this:

Cows on White Park Bay beach
I was very, very sad to have missed the beach lovin' cows but to be honest I'd probably have run a mile if I had seen them.

Instead I was just treated to beautiful views on a Wednesday morning:

White Park Bay

It wasn't cold but the sea had that slightly wintery vibe going on, where it didn't really feel like August anymore:

The sea at White Park Bay

It's an ancient area, like so much of the Causeway Coast - full of fossils and history. There was a sign saying that the remains of an old hedge school could be found nearby, so I took loads of picture of the white building below only to find out later that this was actually the old youth hostel. I never did find the hedge school (a hedge school was an illegal school set up in Ireland in the 18th and 19th century to teach Catholic and Presbyterian children - only Anglican children were allowed to be educated back then).

Hedge school at White Park Bay

Some National Trust properties are just beautiful beyond words, even without scones. Like Chapel Porth in Cornwall, I am adding White Park Bay to that list and encourage you to go there as soon as you can. 

White Park Bay: 5 out of 5
Scones: 0 out of 5 but I knew they didn't have any so it doesn't count
Beach bum cows: 5 out of 5 - even though I didn't see them

Other stops on my tour of Northern Ireland: CromCastle CooleFlorence CourtSpringhillCushendunDivis and the Black MountainThe Argory

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