Page 197 - WDT MAGAZINE IRELAND ISSUE WINTER 2018

Northern Ireland is home to many scenic treas-
ures, such as this lane of arching beech trees in
County Antrim called The Dark Hedges. HBO’s
“Game of Thrones” used such shadowy locales
to advantage, as The Dark Hedges doubled as
the dreaded “Kings Road” in the hit series.

Soon we were driving atop bluffs that afforded a anchored firmly at each end, with rope handrails and
view of the Irish Sea and, on the distant horizon, Scot- wood planking providing a firm footing.
land. Our next stop was one of the coast’s more hair- So here was our challenge: Dare we fork over 8 Brit-
raising experiences, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. This ish pounds each to risk life and limb to visit this moss-
precarious link connects the main island with a craggy covered rock? Or should we play it safe and just wave
rock that juts up from the water 20 meters away. Some at the rock from the safety of the shore? After a quick
350 years ago fishermen slung a rope bridge across conversation we chose the better course, paid the
this gap from which they hung nets to catch salmon. money and lined up to walk the plank, I mean, bridge.
The net-dangling fishermen are long gone, but the rope Vincent remained onshore on grounds he had done
bridge survives. The modern version consists of cables this previously and didn’t need to relive the experience.

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