05:51 BS 8.1 not waking and only 57 minutes after eating before I go to bed. Stayed up to watch the final episode of GOT. As ever, no spoilers. GOT has come to an end.
As I’ve said before it’s done wonders for our tourist industry coach loads of tourists coming to visit the film locations. Apart from the film studios in Belfast there have been 25 locations where GOT was filmed in NI 6 of them are on The Causeway Coast! Comprising the film set that my brother keeps saying he, & my family & I, grew up on. I’ve been to 5 of those places many times & I feel duty bound to say my own hometown was one of those locations: The Dark Hedges in episode The Kingsroad; technically just outside the village of Stranocum in the Ballymoney borough council 6 miles away from me. I’ve said to people on the forum before that my hometown is best known for being the hometown of Joey Dunlop 5 times World Motorbike Champion but, it’s fast becoming more well known for The Dark Hedges because of GOT.
All the Causeway Coast locations, except for us, are on the open top Causeway Coast Scenic bus route all the way from Cushendun, the only place I’ve never been to, to Derry along the entire Causeway Coast: it’s what a lot of people do. The bus fares are at least double the normal fares & possibly more now as it was 25/30 years ago when I was on it once before: local people don’t use it; only tourists as it’s VERY slow! Very misnamed The Causeway Coast Flyer!
The Dark Hedges also won Countryfile’s photograph of the year in 2013 & featured on their calendar in 2014. It’s a country lane off the main little country B road lined with over a hundred year old beech trees that form a dome over the road. It was a lane to a country manor house that has since been ruined & is no longer there: literally a road that goes nowhere. Until last year people went in their vehicles on the lane but, the Ballymoney council had to ban that as there were too many fatalities from accidents, as the lane cannot sustain that level of traffic. You now have to park at the Dark Hedges Hotel & walk down there.
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So, if you’re ever in NI you can visit the locations on the scenic bus route & a little out of the way The Dark Hedges & drop in to visit me! Incidentally tree lined roads are very common around here as it’s bogland. Ballymoney in Irish is named after the bog: Bally means town & Money means bog; always amuses me that my hometown is Bog Town in Irish. The trees are the only way roads can be built as the roots support the road & stop it sinking into the bog!
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Right, tourist guide cap off, I’m going to bed now & wish you all a Good Morning at the start of a new week!
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