The fun of travelling is the fun of travelling. Over the years I have been to and experienced many places. A good rummage through the archive here will give you a good idea of my wanderings.
However, sometimes, with all the travelling, it is easy to miss some of the gems that are underfoot, closer to home. One of these gems that I’ve not been to before is the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I do know that a lot of people have found the Causeway underwhelming. Not as impressive as they thought. Somehow…… smaller.
The Giants Causeway, part of the Causeway coast is a fantastic and fantastical geological phenomena. It’s not unique, but it is one of the more visible and outstanding examples of the type. There are number of examples in the Hebrides, north of the UK, and one excellent example, Fingals Cave, on the Isle of Staffa.
But the Causeway Coast is perhaps one of the more accessible as well as dramatic areas, although there are puffins on Staffa. Surprisingly though, this was the first time I’d been to the Causeway Coast and the Giants Causeway itself. The area around the stones themselves is not only a UNESCO site but also an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, officially, and it is not hard to see why.
As we walked along the Coast, battered and billowed by the wind hurtling in from the North Atlantic I learnt about past plans for a golf course, intended to sit mid point between the existing Bushfoot Golf Club and the Causeway itself. It was opposed by almost everybody, except of course middle aged golfers. Too many golf courses.
The Giants Causeway itself is fantastic. Created between 50 and 60 millions years ago, a geological reaction to molten basalt lava and chalk which contracted and cracked as the basalt cooled. It is part of a run of basalt stretching through what is now the North Atlantic. The National Trust also has a really fun Legend of Finn McCool video.
Clambering on and around the basalt it’s easy to see how and why the mythology was enchanting to the seventh and eight century Celts who lived there. Even today, more people are probably aware of the McCool story than care about basalt and chalk reactions.
Either way, the Causeway Coast and the Giants Causeway formation itself is amazing and I am glad that I have, at last, had the experience. What is perhaps more amazing is that it has taken me so long…..
C’est la vie.
Mark Daniels 