Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

Carrick-a-Rede makes a classic silhouette: delicate rope bridge dwarfed by the chasm it spans between mammoth jutting cliffs. Swaying 23 metres above the sea, you’d be crazy not to look down. The blue-green water shimmers, flocks of birds flutter by, and the serrated coastline stretches for miles behind you. Mother Nature was really showing off when she fashioned this pocket of seaside splendour out of the Antrim coast.

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Behind the Ropes

Drawing 247,000 visitors a year wasn’t always the day job for the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. It began life as a way for fishermen to get across to the island and to the superhighway of salmon going past it. We’re talking as far back as 1784, when it was just a single rope with wooden slats. Many, many versions later have made it into the ultra-safe wire rope affair we know today. The fishermen left for good in 2002, when the salmon catch dwindled to meager levels. Now the National Trust operates the site, and its main job is being an area of outstanding beauty. What would it be like to work in a place like this? Our blog asked the site manager, in a little behind-the-ropes exposé.

The Island

So you swallowed your fear, shrugged off vertigo as ‘just some Hitchcock invention’, and crossed to the other side. The island is your reward. Carrick-a-Rede translates as ‘the rock in the road’, referring to its position in the middle of the salmon migration route. Diverse birdlife thrive here, including fulmars, kittiwakes, guillemots and razorbills (the excuse to say them aloud is worth the crossing alone!) and uninterrupted views across to Rathlin Island and Scotland. All this super geology, flora and fauna make it an area of special scientific interest too. The unassuming white cottage on the island is the former fishery, which in April 2012 will become a museum to the island’s fishing history, and demonstrate how life would have been for the fishermen decades before.

Coastal Cousins

A stroll along these parts is no walk in the park. Oh no, it’s a lot prettier than that. Take your legs (when your knees have stopped trembling) along the cliff-edge coastal path from the bridge to that other iconic namesake of the Causeway Coast, the Giant’s Causeway. Expect eye-popping views of seascapes, the heart-breakingly beautiful White Park Bay, and even Scotland on a clear day. Continue west for vista after vista of coastal crackers, from the cliff-perched ruins of Dunluce Castle, to Roman-inspired Mussenden Temple. Head east from the bridge, and you’ll be an island-hop from the birdwatcher paradise of Rathlin Island. While you wait for the ferry in Ballycastle, munch on Morton’s fish and chips, reputedly the best in the region. As salty and fresh as the breeze itself—delicious.

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