September 2023 - Day 2
Sunday morning was dreich in Portrush when we all woke up but, we'd planned to head out and about anyway so .....
I was up first, threw on my walking togs and headed out. Out onto the headland to the West then down onto the West Strand, along the beach top the pier then back up onto the road and home, 5 miles in all.
Looking back to Portrush from the headland
As you can see it was a grey, flat kind of morning but loads of people out walking and swimming!
Sea defences
I followed a path down the hill towards the beach and town meeting quite a few people, one of the biggest things that stands out about this holiday is the friendliness of just about everyone we met, always cheery and ready with a hello and how are you? Too many people live trapped in a bubble these days, hardly daring to engage with anyone at all, a smile and a hello makes a big difference to all our days.
The beaches are very clean, obviously well looked after or, people over here are more mindful of their surroundings and don't dump their rubbish wherever they stand?
West Strand beach on a chilly Sunday morning
I mentioned in Day 1 that the coast of Scotland is almost always visible, the coast of Donegal, part of Ireland is also visible from Portrush, along the coast to the West
The coast of Donegal from West Strand
I walked right along the beach to the first pier, a cafe on the pier already had people sitting outside and in, some after their morning swim.
A windsurfer tails a fishing boat out of the harbour
There was a windsurfer out there the entire time of my shoreline walk, a small fishing boat left the harbour as I walked out onto the old pier and he tailed the fishing boat out for a short while. I headed back towards town and back up the main road to our B&B, we had plans for today and I didn't want to be the late one.
We had planned to head out to Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne so once we were all ready to go, we headed in that direction despite the dreich day. We stopped off at Castlerock, I thought we could walk along the beach to Downhill Strand and Benone Strand but it wasn't to be so, a wee wander along the shore before back to the car and on to the temple and house.
Castlerock beach looking back towards Portstewart
We parked at Bishop's Gate Lodge, being the first entrance we encountered and walked into the site from there. There are a couple of walks through garden areas here, including back down to Castlerock.
The exterior of Bishop's gate Lodge, County Londonderry ©National Trust / Mike Henton
Find out more about the History of Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne
As you climb the hill up from the Bishop's Gate the house started to appear over the horizon, the dull skies didn't do much for photography but did add a little ominous mood in some cases.
Downhill House over the horizon
Downhill House as you move closer
You can see here that there was another tourist standing in front of the ruined building but I liked the bright red of their jacket. It's quite some ruin, I read that the owner kept having more great ideas, sacking his builders and constantly changing his mind.
The imposing frontage of the house
The house frontage looking East
The path we had taken leads across the front of the house to the East side and then up to the front stairs. Portstewart can be seen in the distant background with Castlerock just over the horizon. The river Bank runs out to the sea from Coleraine direction.
Inside the ruin there are all sorts of areas, shapes and designs, all mixed up, which only shows the designers mind and how it kept changing.
Standing in roughly the same spot, I turned left and looked along the inside of the front of the house.
The left wing at the front of the house looking East
Looking back at the bay from inside the ruin
We wandered around some of the internal areas in the house, some areas are blocked off for future renovations work.
Looking down the East side from the front
Coming out of the house, at the front, the path leads back down the East side towards the cliffs and the back of the building, it's down here that the Temple lies. You see more of the haphazard design of the building, the more you see of it.
Mussenden Temple stands out on the clifftops and makes for quite an impressive site from all around the area.
Mussenden Temple at the back of Downhill House
It's quite an impressive sight from here too, walking down the path towards it, it would make for wonderful photographs given better weather or ..........an Aurora?
Mussenden Temple from the rear of the house
Walk down to the temple and you start to see the views to the East and West, Castlerock & Portstewart to the East and Benone Strand and the Foyle estuary to the West. Donegal can be seen to the NW of the Foyle estuary.
We walked to the West and looked out over Downhill Strand, leading on to Benone Strand and Magilligan Point.
Downhill and Benone Strand
Donegal stretches off to the right in the shot above and the Foyle estuary can just be seen beyond Magilligan. At the left end stands Londonderry. We never found out what the crowd on the beach was all about?
We carried on around to the Dovecote and car park, looking for a coffee in the little cafe which .......... was shut! So, back to the car just as the rain started which pretty much ended our explorations for the day but, we braved the elements for a light meal in Portstewart on the way back.
