Carrick-A-Rede Bridge crossing

Carric a Rede Bridge

What is now a fun tourist attraction in Northern Ireland near the town of Ballentoy used to be the means of getting to a very important salmon fishery for a hundred fishermen.  When first erected the Carrick-a-Rede Bridge was simply a thick rope spanning the 60 feet between ridges and 1,000 feet in the air.  The fishermen would carry their equipment over in the morning and the fish they caught back in the evening, going hand over hand.  The distant island serves as a breakwater for the ocean waves from the Atlantic.  We could see large waves crashing the rocks on one side of the island, but calm waters for the fishermen to string their nets on the other.  This point is no longer used by the fishermen as the Atlantic Salmon is on the endangered species list.  A salmon fisherman’s house still on the island is shown in the picture below, click the ‘continue reading’ button below to see it.
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Characters Along the Way…

Painter

Previously I went on a rant stating I did not like guided tours, tourist trap experiences and many museums, preferring instead meeting the local people as best I could.  (August 23 post)  Here is one such fun encounter with a local.  When I first saw this old man in his 90’s, he was painting his ocean front cottage on a rare, warm sunny day in Northern Ireland.  It seemed as if he was getting more paint on himself and the window panes than on the sashes and frames.  Does he plan to later use a razor blade to scrape the paint off of the window or is this good enough?

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