White Park Bay, County Antrim
At one end of this beautiful sweeping bay, sheltered below the cliffs from the prevailing winds lies the small fishing hamlet of Portbraddon and at the other end the myriad basalt islands that surround Ballintoy harbour. Whitepark Bay was one of the first settlements of man in Ireland and evidence of these Neolithic settlers are continually being exposed on the raised beach and sand dune system. It is known that the manufacturing and exporting of axes and arrow heads took place from here, the limestone cliffs being a rich source of flint nodules. Three passage tombs stand on the high points of surrounding hills overlooking the bay, the most striking being the dolmen known as the Druid's Altar which was placed on the highest point above the bay. The area is breathtaking in its beauty and pristine landscape and an excellent location to base yourself to explore the wonderful North Antrim coast from. The dune system is a declared area of scientific interest and exposed near the beach edge are the remains of an old summer school.
Size: 5200px × 3481px
Photo credit: © Richard Human / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: antrim, ballintoy, basalt, bay, beach, beautiful, blue, building, castle, cliffs, coast, coastal, derelict, dunes, dunseverick, fishing, fl, flag, goban, gobban, hamlet, harbour, hostel, ireland, irish, island, national, northern, park, portbraddon, protestant, rathlin, route, saint, sands, sea, small, sweeping, trust, white, whitepark, youth
