Northern Ireland, UK

Northern Ireland is a country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km), about a sixth of the island's total area. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west. At the time of the UK Census in April 2001, its population was 1,685,000, constituting between a quarter and a third of the island's total population and about 3% of the population of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland consists of six of the nine counties of the historic Irish province of Ulster. In the UK, it is generally known as one of the four Home Nations and is the only one that is not located on the island of Great Britain.

Coast near the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge
Coast near the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge
Coast near the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge
THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY The coastal scenery adjacent to the causeway is some of the most beautiful and awe inspiring that you are likely to find anywhere. The majestic cliffs and inaccessible bays combine with myth and legend to inspire, but look carefully amongst this breathtaking landscape and you will find echoes of another reality, isolated ruins, kelp walls and shoreline fields bear testament to the harder life of subsistence farming and fishing endured by past generations.
THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY Dotted around the coast you'll find small sheltered harbours and slipways, fishermen's cottages and rock formations that you will never forget. Many ships have foundered below these towering cliffs but none so tragic as that of the Girona, a galleass of the Spanish Armada. Carrying the crews from two previous Armada shipwrecks, the Girona was on passage from Killybegs and trying to reach the relative safety of Scotland.
THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY This is a photo with the sun well under the hills.
THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY Continuing the story... As she rounded Inishowen peninsula, heavily over laden and in deteriorating sea conditions, her rudder failed. In the teeth of a full blown north-westerly gale, the crew battled to keep her off the coast but she finally struck Lacada Point in view of the Giants Causeway at midnight on October 30th 1588 with the loss of over twelve hundred men.
THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY Only five are believed to have survived. Local folklore tell of descendants living here and that victims of the wreck, maybe Spanish nobility, were buried in St. Cuthbert's graveyard near Dunluce Castle, it is known that cannons from the wreck were placed here.
$THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY During the Paleogene period, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive lava plateau. As the lava cooled rapidly, contraction occurred. While contraction in the vertical direction reduced the flow thickness (without fracturing), horizontal contraction could only be accommodated by cracking throughout the flow. The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today. The basalts were originally part of a great volcanic plateau called the Thulean Plateau which formed during the Paleogene period.$
THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY During the Paleogene period, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive lava plateau. As the lava cooled rapidly, contraction occurred. While contraction in the vertical direction reduced the flow thickness (without fracturing), horizontal contraction could only be accommodated by cracking throughout the flow. The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today. The basalts were originally part of a great volcanic plateau called the Thulean Plateau which formed during the Paleogene period.
THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (36 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places.
Although the basaltic columns of the Giant's Causeway are impressive, they are not unique. Basalt columns are a common volcanic feature, and they occur on many scales (faster cooling produces smaller columns). Other notable sites include Fingal's Cave and the 'Kilt Rock' on Skye in Scotland, North of Hov on Suduroy in the Faroe Islands, Jusangjeolli on Jeju Island, South Korea, the Garni gorge in Armenia, the Cyclopean Isles near Sicily, Devils Postpile National Monument in California, The Cove Palisades State Park in eastern Oregon, Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, Santa Maria Regla Basalt Prisms in Hidalgo, Mexico, the "Organ Pipes" formation on Mount Cargill in New Zealand, Chongsokjong in North Korea, the giant "Rocha dos Bordões" ("Rod Rock") formation in Flores (Azores), at Gành Đá Đĩa in the Phú Yên province of Vietnam.and the "Columnar Cape" (Russian: Mis Stolbchaty) on Kunashir, the southernmost of the Kurile Islands in Russia.
For some reason they still use 'Warded Locks'.... A warded lock (also called a ward lock) is a type of lock that uses a set of obstructions, or wards, to prevent the lock from opening unless the correct key is inserted. The correct key has notches or slots corresponding to the obstructions in the lock, allowing it to rotate freely inside the lock. Large warded locks are still in use today in the UK and Ireland for internal and external doors. Warded locks in America are commonly used in inexpensive padlocks, cabinet locks, and other low-security applications, since a well-designed skeleton key can successfully open a wide variety of warded locks.
A fullres version of this photo is here: http://www.robertcain.info/photos/429355045_UtNMh-X3.jpg I forgot which of the 8 ales I drank, I did however have a skull splitter. Aggghhhh... From here: http://www.adrians.utvinternet.com/camrani/history.htm History of CAMRA NI Birth of the Branch Theakston's Best Bitter had been on sale in the Linenhall Bar, Linenhall Street, Belfast for some months during 1981, largely as a result of members of the Ulster Orchestra badgering the landlord to supply real ale. On 17th October 1981 a group of nearly 50 CAMRA supporters met at the newly opened Hilden Brewery near Lisburn, Co Antrim. Those present were given a tour of the brewery by Ann and Seamus Scullion and saw the first commercial brew in progress. Unfortunately it was to be a week or so before the first 'Hilden Ale' was ready for drinking. Paul Carter, National Executive member from CAMRA HQ in England discussed the value of having a local branch of CAMRA and 23 new members joined CAMRA on the spot. At the same time an embryo Northern Ireland local branch was formed under the chairmanship of Adrian Saunders, with his wife Cheryl as Secretary.
CAMRA NI aims to: * promote cask ale in Northern Ireland * support CAMRA in its work on all fronts * provide information for visitors to Northern Ireland looking for cask ale * lobby for licensing liberalization and family access to real ale outlets * support quality food in real ale pubs
The Wheel of Belfast in partnership with Ulster Bank World Tourist Attractions Ltd is proud to announce the arrival in October 2007 of a brand new 60m wheel, in partnership with Ulster Bank, Belfast City Council and the Department for Social Development. The wheel is located in the grounds of Belfast's historic City Hall, in the vibrant heart of town.

RobertCain

Northern Ireland, UK